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Government Accounting, Or How Accountants For The Public Are Not Public Accountants

You'd think working for the government would label these professionals as 'public accountants', but in reality, performing accounting work for the government is entirely separate. Thankfully, if that's something you might be interested in doing, you can keep reading to find out more about what these accountants specialise in, what their jobs look like, and how you can get started in your new career.

What Accounting Does The Public Need Done?
Running a city is complicated. Resources need to be appropriately allocated, the peoples' needs must be met, and most importantly, you need to be able to make sure the city doesn't run out of money. That means expenses must be tracked, and everything possible should be done to minimise expenditure while maximising revenue without taxing the citizens more than necessary. Considering how complicated that request is, it's no wonder you need to directly engage dedicated professionals instead of just a firm of public accountants.

How Do Government Accountants Carry Out Their Jobs?
First of all, if you're working in government accounting, you'll need to be able to pass a more stringent background check than if you were to work for the public or a corporation, as you will have access to politically sensitive or generally privileged information. To complicate matters further, these accountants also generally utilise frameworks that are different to other accountants, which means you'll need to be familiar with a more dedicated and specific set of skills than the ones you'd be able to utilise to freely switch between a public or internal role elsewhere.

What Does The Daily Life Of These Professionals Look Like?
As we've said, maintaining the accounting for an entire city is a dedicated task. There are taxes that need to be audited, financial records from a wide variety of branches and bodies of the government that need to be maintained, and this all needs to be done on top of the standard requirements of any organisation, such as expenditure-tracking or record-keeping.

With all of that in mind, these tasks need to be carried out to the highest level of detail to avoid creating complications for the taxpayer, who can be some of the strictest clients you can find. 

Need To Know More?

It's okay to still have questions – it's a big decision to make the leap over to government work. Thankfully, if you've got any other questions, the M.A.S Partners and our business accountants might be able to help. We're experts in all fields of accounting, so we understand what these jobs entail and how to land your first contract. To speak with our team of small business accountants in Sydney about what we can do for you, call us on (02) 9211 5000

 
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