Accountants and Auditors

Auditor: You certainly know that most companies and businesses, whether small or large, handle thousands of transactions and financial activities every day, ranging from receiving payments, lending and borrowing money, purchasing goods and services, paying salaries and taxes, and many other transactions and activities that must be recorded with extreme accuracy, since their value can often reach millions of dollars. That's why these organizations hire a range of specialists and experts -- accountants, financial analysts, and others -- to carry out and record all the company's transactions and activities and prepare financial reports. But even though these transactions fall under the responsibility of a group of professionals who follow best accounting practices, they can still often make mistakes and enter incorrect figures, and some dishonest individuals among them may attempt fraud or embezzlement. The consequences of errors or fraud can be serious, including financial losses, legal liability, reputational damage, and even bankruptcy. That's why various organizations and businesses place people above their accountants and other staff -- to monitor their work, review the transaction records they process, verify the accuracy of the figures in the books, and detect any fraud or theft these employees might commit. These people, tasked with overseeing all the financial operations and transactions carried out within companies, are called "auditors," and in the lines ahead we'll talk about the nature of their profession in more detail. Accountant: What do you do when you get sick or you're in pain? You certainly go to the hospital so doctors can treat you, like we all do. But what if the hospital itself gets "sick" -- where does it go to find its cure, and who's capable of treating it? Wait a moment, what do you mean by that? How can hospitals get sick? Yes, a hospital can get "sick" just like people, but with a different kind of illness. For example, any hospital might face the specter of bankruptcy, accumulating debt, or tax evasion, and all of that can expose it to very serious problems. To really understand what I'm telling you, you need to realize that a hospital is like a company, just like any other business in the world, and it has a great many financial transactions that must be recorded with extreme precision so it doesn't run into financial trouble. For example, any hospital has expenses related to staff wages -- doctors, nurses, and others -- other expenses related to buying the equipment, devices, and medical tools it needs, and other expenses related to repaying loans it has taken out. All of this is called "expenses." On the other hand, there's "revenue" -- what the hospital earns daily from patients in exchange for the services it provides. Both expenses and revenue must be recorded very precisely so the hospital's profit can be determined, which in turn allows the tax rate it owes the government to be calculated. These figures also let hospital management know whether it's making good profit or not, and it might decide to cut costs or raise the price of its services to avoid financial trouble. So now the question is: who's responsible for all these financial matters in hospitals and other institutions and companies? Accountants, of course. When it comes to numbers and financial details in any organization, big or small, they're at the forefront. They're responsible for recording all financial transactions in any company, and it falls on them to carry out the analyses related to calculating expenses, revenue, profits, and estimating taxes. The accountant is someone you'll find everywhere -- in hospitals, in factories, in engineering firms. You'll see them working at the biggest company in the biggest country in the world, and you'll find them at the smallest company in the smallest country in the world.

Meet the Writer: Waleed Abo Omiraa