Certified Public Accountancy firm (CPA) is the title used by the government for a certified organization within the United States who have finished the Standard Certified Public Accountant Examination and have completed additional state-specific requirements, and have also met needs with regard to accreditation as a CPA. Candidates who have passed the Exam but haven't yet completed the necessary on-the-job experience or have previously completed it, but haven't completed their continuing professional education are, in several states, allowed to use the title "CPA inactive" or an equivalent term. For the majority of U. S. states, only CPAs who are licensed can easily offer publicly attestation (including auditing) opinions on financial reports. The real-world conditions for this particular rule are Arizona, Kansas, North Carolina and Ohio in which, even though the "CPA" designation is set, the process of auditing isn't.

Many states have a lower level of accountant firm certification (below that of certified public accountant) usually deemed "Public Accounting Professional" ( in addition to the designation characters such as "PA"). However, most states have got closed the name "Public Accountant" in order to new entrants, with no more than 10 states still having their use their own the designation. Many PAs participate in The National Society of (Public) Accountants.

A number of states prohibit the use of the designations "Certified Public Accountant" or "Public Accountant" ( or maybe the abbreviations "CPA" or "PA") for individual who has not been certified as to be an CPA or PA in the state. In many instances, an outside-of-state CPA is not permitted to use the CPA designation or letters of designation until a certificate or license from that state is obtained.

Texas is also prohibited from using of the designations "accountant" or "auditor" for a person who is who isn't certified as CPAs like a Texas CPA, unless that person is a CPA from another country, a non-resident of Texas or otherwise meets what's needed for practice in Texas by non-state CPA firms and practitioners.

The primary functions CPA provide are assurance services or public accounting. For assurance services, also known as financial auditing, CPAs verify the reasonableness of disclosures, their freedom from material misstatement as well as the compliance with the applicable generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) for financial reports. CPAs can be utilized by corporations-termed "the private sector"-in the area of financial capability, such as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) or finance manager, or as CEOs who are able to use their complete understanding of business and apply. These CPAs do not provide services directly to the general public.

Although certain CPAs have been referred to as business consultants, their consulting function is being scrutinized due to the corporate environment in the aftermath from the Enron scandal. This has resulted in divestitures within the consulting departments of several accounting firms. The trend has since been reversed. For auditing, CPAs are ( and have been) legally required by professional standards as well as Federal and State laws to remain independent ( in fact as well as in the appearance) from the entity for which is conducting the attestation (audit and review) engagement. However, the majority of CPAs working as consultants do not work as auditors.

CPAs have also found a niche within the tax preparation industry. Many promising small to mid-sized businesses have both an auditing and a tax division.

If they are providing services directly to the general public or being Best CPA in Broomfield Colorado used by corporations or associations, CPAs can operate in almost any financial sector including corporate finance, tax returns, income tax, management and so on.