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In the United States, a certificate may be offered by an institute of higher education. These certificates usually signify that a student has reached a standard of knowledge about a certain vocational or professional subject. Certificate programs can be completed more quickly than associate degrees and often do not have general education requirements. Undergraduate certificates represent completion of a specific program offered in coordination with a bachelors degree. Graduate certificates represent completion of studies beyond the bachelor's degree, yet short of a masters degree.

In the State of Maryland, a Certificate of Merit was, until recently, issued to graduating high-school seniors who met certain academic requirements (such as completion of advanced courses and a cumulative GPA of 3.00); the statewide certificate has since been replaced by "endorsements" defined by each local school system.[3]

It also may be awarded as a necessary certification to validate that a student is considered competent in a certain specific networking skill area in information technology. Thus a computer engineer or computer science graduation most likely will have to obtain additional certificates on and pertaining to the specific technologies or equipment used by the hiring corporation; if not, such employer may suffer unwanted penalties like foregoing (voiding the contract) the protections of a certain level of customer service or warranties.

A certification is a third-party attestation of an individual's level of knowledge or proficiency in a certain industry or profession. They are granted by authorities in the field, such as professional societies and universities, or by private certificate-granting agencies. Most certifications are time-limited; some expire after a period of time (e.g., the lifetime of a product that required certification for use), while others can be renewed indefinitely as long as certain requirements are met. Renewal usually requires ongoing education to remain up-to-date on advancements in the field, evidenced by earning the specified number of continuing education credits (CECs), or continuing education units (CEUs), from approved professional development courses.

Many certification programs are affiliated with professional associations, trade organizations, or private vendors interested in raising industry standards. Certificate programs are often created or endorsed by professional associations, but are typically completely independent from membership organizations. Certifications are very common in fields such as aviation, construction, technology, environment, and other industrial sectors, as well as healthcare, business, real estate, and finance.

According to The Guide to National Professional Certification Programs (1997) by Phillip Barnhart, "certifications are portable, since they do not depend on one company's definition of a certain job" and they provide protential employers with "an impartial, third-party endorsement of an individual's professional knowledge and experience".[1]

Certification is different from professional licensure. In the United States, licenses are typically issued by state agencies, whereas certifications are usually awarded by professional societies or educational institutes. Obtaining a certificate is voluntary in some fields, but in others, certification from a government-accredited agency may be legally required to perform certain jobs or tasks. In other countries, licenses are typically granted by professional societies or universities and require a certificate after about three to five years and so on thereafter. The assessment process for certification may be more comprehensive than that of licensure, though sometimes the assessment process is very similar or even the same, despite differing in terms of legal status.

The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) defines the standard for being a certifying agency as meeting the following two requirements:

1. Delivering an assessment based on industry knowledge that is independent from training courses or course providers
2. Granting a time-limited credential to anyone who meets the assessment standards

The Institute for Credentialing Excellence (ICE) is a U.S.-based organization that sets standards for the accreditation of personnel certification and certificate programs based on the Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing, a joint publication of the American Educational Research Association (AERA), the American Psychological Association (APA), and the National Council on Measurement in Education (NCME). Many members of the Association of Test Publishers (ATP) are also certification organizations.

• Phillip Barnhart, The Guide to National Professional Certification Programs (1997), HRD Press. ISBN 0-8493-9960-2 Retrieved electronically 7 July 2009.

• Master of Professional Studies in Real Estate. "Advanced Professional Certificate in Real Estate | Georgetown University School of Continuing Studies". Scs.georgetown.edu. Archived from the original on 16 July 2012. Retrieved 18 May 2012.

• "Certificate Programs". lesley.edu.

Accounting or accountancy is the measurement, processing, and communication of financial information about economic entities[1][2] such as businesses and corporations. The modern field was established by the Italian mathematician Luca Pacioli in 1494.[3] Accounting, which has been called the "language of business",[4] measures the results of an organization's economic activities and conveys this information to a variety of users, including investors, creditors, management, and regulators.[5] Practitioners of accounting are known as accountants. The terms "accounting" and "financial reporting" are often used as synonyms.

Accounting can be divided into several fields including financial accounting, management accounting, external auditing, tax accounting and cost accounting.[6][7] Accounting information systems are designed to support accounting functions and related activities. Financial accounting focuses on the reporting of an organization's financial information, including the preparation of financial statements, to the external users of the information, such as investors, regulators and suppliers;[8] and management accounting focuses on the measurement, analysis and reporting of information for internal use by management.[1][8] The recording of financial transactions, so that summaries of the financials may be presented in financial reports, is known as bookkeeping, of which double-entry bookkeeping is the most common system.[9]

Accounting is facilitated by accounting organizations such as standard-setters, accounting firms and professional bodies. Financial statements are usually audited by accounting firms,[10] and are prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP).[8] GAAP is set by various standard-setting organizations such as the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) in the United States[1] and the Financial Reporting Council in the United Kingdom. As of 2012, "all major economies" have plans to converge towards or adopt the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).[11]

Financial accounting focuses on the reporting of an organization's financial information to external users of the information, such as investors, potential investors and creditors. It calculates and records business transactions and prepares financial statements for the external users in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP).[8] GAAP, in turn, arises from the wide agreement between accounting theory and practice, and change over time to meet the needs of decision-makers.[1]

Financial accounting produces past-oriented reports—for example the financial statements prepared in 2006 reports on performance in 2005—on an annual or quarterly basis, generally about the organization as a whole.[8]

This branch of accounting is also studied as part of the board exams for qualifying as an actuary. These two types of professionals, accountants and actuaries, have created a culture of being archrivals.

Management accounting focuses on the measurement, analysis and reporting of information that can help managers in making decisions to fulfill the goals of an organization. In management accounting, internal measures and reports are based on cost-benefit analysis, and are not required to follow the generally accepted accounting principle (GAAP).[8] In 2014 CIMA created the Global Management Accounting Principles (GMAPs). The result of research from across 20 countries in five continents, the principles aim to guide best practice in the discipline.[34]

Management accounting produces future-oriented reports—for example the budget for 2006 is prepared in 2005—and the time span of reports varies widely. Such reports may include both financial and non financial information, and may, for example, focus on specific products and departments.[8]

Auditing is the verification of assertions made by others regarding a payoff,[35] and in the context of accounting it is the "unbiased examination and evaluation of the financial statements of an organization".[36] Audit is a professional service that is systematic and conventional.[37]

An audit of financial statements aims to express or disclaim an opinion on the financial statements. The auditor expresses an opinion on the fairness with which the financial statements presents the financial position, results of operations, and cash flows of an entity, in accordance with the generally acceptable accounting principle (GAAP) and "in all material respects". An auditor is also required to identify circumstances in which the generally acceptable accounting principles (GAAP) has not been consistently observed.[38]

• Needles, Belverd E.; Powers, Marian (2013). Principles of Financial Accounting. Financial Accounting Series (12 ed.). Cengage Learning.

• Accounting Research Bulletins No. 7 Reports of Committee on Terminology (Report). Committee on Accounting Procedure, American Institute of Accountants. November 1940. Retrieved 31 December 2013.

• DIWAN, Jaswith. ACCOUNTING CONCEPTS & THEORIES. LONDON: MORRE. pp. 001–002. id# 94452.

• Peggy Bishop Lane on Why Accounting Is the Language of Business, Knowledge @ Wharton High School, September 23, 2013, retrieved 25 December 2013

• "Department of Accounting". Foster School of Business. Foster School of Business. 2013. Retrieved 31 December 2013.

• "Accounting Software".

• Weber, Richard P., and W. C. Stevenson. 1981. “Evaluations of Accounting Journal and Department Quality.” The Accounting Review 56 (3): 596–612.

• Horngren, Charles T.; Datar, Srikant M.; Foster, George (2006), Cost Accounting: A Managerial Emphasis (12th ed.), New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall

• Lung, Henry (2009). Fundamentals of Financial Accounting. Elsevier.

• "Auditors: Market concentration and their role, CHAPTER 1: Introduction". UK Parliament. House of Lords. 2011. Retrieved 1 January 2014.

• IFRS Foundation, 2012. The move towards global standards Archived 2011-12-25 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved on April 27, 2012.

• Robson, Keith. 1992. “Accounting Numbers as ‘inscription’: Action at a Distance and the Development of Accounting.” Accounting, Organizations and Society 17 (7): 685–708.

• A History of ACCOUNTANCY, New York State Society of CPAs, November 2003, retrieved 28 December 2013

• The History of Accounting, University of South Australia, April 30, 2013, retrieved 28 December 2013

• کشاورزی, کیخسرو (1980). تاریخ ایران از زمان باستان تا امروز (Translated from Russian by Grantovsky, E.A.) (in Persian). pp. 39–40.

• Oldroyd, David & Dobie, Alisdair: Themes in the history of bookkeeping, The Routledge Companion to Accounting History, London, July 2008, ISBN 978-0-415-41094-6, Chapter 5, p. 96

• Oldroyd, David: The role of accounting in public expenditure and monetary policy in the first century AD Roman Empire, Accounting Historians Journal, Volume 22, Number 2, Birmingham, Alabama, December 1995, p.124, Olemiss.edu

• Parker, L. M., “Medieval Traders as International Change Agents: A Comparison with Twentieth Century International Accounting Firms,” The Accounting Historians Journal, 16(2) (1989): 107-118.

• MEDIEVAL TRADERS AS INTERNATIONAL CHANGE AGENTS: A COMMENT, Michael Scorgie, The Accounting Historians Journal, Vol. 21, No. 1 (June 1994), pp. 137-143

• Heeffer, Albrecht (November 2009). "On the curious historical coincidence of algebra and double-entry bookkeeping" (PDF). Foundations of the Formal Sciences. Ghent University. p. 11.

• Mariotti, Steve (2013-07-12). "So, Who Invented Double Entry Bookkeeping? Luca Pacioli or Benedikt Kotruljević?". Huffington Post. Retrieved 2018-08-03.

• Lauwers, Luc & Willekens, Marleen: "Five Hundred Years of Bookkeeping: A Portrait of Luca Pacioli" (Tijdschrift voor Economie en Management, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, 1994, vol:XXXIX issue 3, p.302), KUleuven.be

• Timeline of the History of the Accountancy Profession, Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, 2013, retrieved 28 December 2013

• Perks, R. W. (1993). Accounting and Society. London: Chapman & Hall. p. 16. ISBN 978-0-412-47330-2.

• Labardin, Pierre, and Marc Nikitin. 2009. “Accounting and the Words to Tell It: An Historical Perspective.” Accounting, Business & Financial History 19 (2): 149–166.

• Baladouni, Vahé. 1984. “Etymological Observations on Some Accounting Terms.” The Accounting Historians Journal 11 (2): 101–109.

• Pixley, Francis William: Accountancy—constructive and recording accountancy (Sir Isaac Pitman & Sons, Ltd, London, 1900), p4

• "accounting noun - definition in the Business English Dictionary". Cambridge Dictionaries Online. Cambridge University Press. 2013. Retrieved 30 December 2013.

• "accounting noun - definition in the British English Dictionary & Thesaurus". Cambridge Dictionaries Online. Cambridge University Press. 2013. Retrieved 30 December 2013.

• "accounting". Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster, Incorporated. 2013. Retrieved 30 December 2013.

• "accountancy". Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster, Incorporated. 2013. Retrieved 30 December 2013.

• "accountancy noun - definition in the Business English Dictionary". Cambridge Dictionaries Online. Cambridge University Press. 2013. Retrieved 30 December 2013.

• "accountancy noun - definition in the British English Dictionary & Thesaurus". Cambridge Dictionaries Online. Cambridge University Press. 2013. Retrieved 30 December 2013.

• King, I. "New set of accounting principles can help drive sustainable success". ft.com. Retrieved 28 January 2015.

• Baiman, Stanley. 1979. “Discussion of Auditing: Incentives and Truthful Reporting.” Journal of Accounting Research 17: 25–29.

• "Audit Definition". Investopedia. Investopedia US. 2013. Retrieved 30 December 2013.

• Tredinnick, Luke (March 2017). "Artificial intelligence and professional roles". Business Information Review. 34 (1): 37–41. doi:10.1177/0266382117692621.

• "Responsibilities and Functions of the Independent Auditor" (PDF). AICPA. AICPA. November 1972. Retrieved 30 December 2013.

• "1.2 Accounting information systems". Introduction to the context of accounting. OpenLearn. Retrieved 3 February 2014.

• Pathak, Jagdish; Lind, Mary R. (November 2003). "Audit Risk, Complex Technology, and Auditing Processes". EDPACS. 31 (5): 1–9. doi:10.1201/1079/43853.31.5.20031101/78844.1.

• Droms, William G.; Wright, Jay O. (2010), Finance and Accounting for nonfinancial Managers: All the Basics you need to Know (6th ed.), Basic Books, 2010

• "IFAC Members". ifac.org. Retrieved 25 March 2016.

• "Accounting Bodies Network". The Prince's Accounting for Sustainability Project. Archived from the original on 3 January 2014. Retrieved 3 January 2014.

• "Getting Started". AICPA. AICPA. 2014. Retrieved 3 January 2014.

• "The ACA Qualification". ICAEW. ICAEW. 2014. Retrieved 3 January 2014.

• "Auditors: Market concentration and their role, CHAPTER 2: Concentration in the audit market". UK Parliament. House of Lords. 2011. Retrieved 1 January 2014.

• "Definition of big four". Financial Times Lexicon. The Financial Times Ltd. 2014. Retrieved 1 January 2014.

• "IESBA | Ethics | Accounting | IFAC". ifac.org. Retrieved 25 March 2016.

• "IAESB | International Accounting Education Standards Board | IFAC". ifac.org. Retrieved 25 March 2016.

• "IPSASB | International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board | IFAC". ifac.org. Retrieved 25 March 2016.

• Knowledge guide to UK Accounting Standards, ICAEW, 2014, retrieved 1 January 2014

• "How to Become an Accountant or Auditor". U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. United States Department of Labor. 2012. Retrieved 31 December 2013.

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• "European Accounting Qualifications Explained | CareersinAudit.com". CareersinAudit.com. Retrieved 2017-12-13.

• The Relevance and Utility of Leading Accounting Research (PDF), The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, 2010, archived from the original (PDF) on December 27, 2013, retrieved December 27, 2013

• Burchell, S.; Clubb, C.; Hopwood, A.; Hughes, J.; Nahapiet, J. (1980). "The roles of accounting in organizations and society". Accounting, Organizations and Society. 5 (1): 5–27. doi:10.1016/0361-3682(80)90017-3.

• Oler, Derek K., Mitchell J. Oler, and Christopher J. Skousen. 2010. “Characterizing Accounting Research.” Accounting Horizons 24 (4): 635–670.

• Coyne, Joshua G., Scott L. Summers, Brady Williams, and David a. Wood. 2010. “Accounting Program Research Rankings by Topical Area and Methodology.” Issues in Accounting Education 25 (4) (November): 631–654.

• Chua, Wai Fong (1986). "Radical developments in accounting thought". The Accounting Review. 61 (4): 601–632.

• Buchheit, S.; Collins, D.; Reitenga, A. (2002). "A cross-discipline comparison of top-tier academic journal publication rates: 1997–1999". Journal of Accounting Education. 20 (2): 123–130. doi:10.1016/S0748-5751(02)00003-9.

• Merigo, Jose M.; Yang, Jian-Bo (2017). "Accounting Research: A Bibliometric Analysis". Australian Accounting Review. 27: 71–100. doi:10.1111/auar.12109. ISSN 1835-2561.

• Swanson, Edward (2004). "Publishing in the majors: A comparison of accounting, finance, management, and marketing". Contemporary Accounting Research. 21: 223–255. doi:10.1506/RCKM-13FM-GK0E-3W50.

• Korkeamäki, Timo; Sihvonen, Jukka; Vähämaa, Sami (2018). "Evaluating publications across business disciplines". Journal of Business Research. 84: 220–232. doi:10.1016/j.jbusres.2017.11.024.

• Astrid Ayala and Giancarlo Ibárgüen Snr.: "A Market Proposal for Auditing the Financial Statements of Public Companies" (Journal of Management of Value, Universidad Francisco Marroquín, March 2006) p. 41, UFM.edu.gt

• Bratton, William W. "Enron and the Dark Side of Shareholder Value" (Tulane Law Review, New Orleans, May 2002) p. 61

• "Enron files for bankruptcy". BBC News. 2001-12-03. Retrieved 15 March 2008.

        School Description

Choose the education that's right for YOU!               

Code	Concentration	More Info
CA/AC	Business - Accounting
School: Pioneer Pacific College Program: Learn the complete accounting cycle, from the original source document to the preparation of financial statements. Through this program, you will receive: A broad background in business administration A thorough understanding of accounting concepts and theory Hands-on training in computerized accounting Study to become: Accountant :: Concentration: Accounting :: Campus    ::  Location: Portland, OR ::  more info

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School Description

Learn the complete accounting cycle, from the original source document to the preparation of financial statements. Through this program, you will receive:

• A broad background in business administration
• A thorough understanding of accounting concepts and theory
• Hands-on training in computerized accounting

Study to become:
Accountant

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