Certified General Accountants (CGA)

About Certified General Accountants

CGA, short for Certified General Accountant, is an accounting professional possessing expertise in taxation, finance, business strategy, management, auditing, and business leadership. Moreover, CGA is a designation for professionals who are jointly the members of the Certified General Accountants Association of Canada.

It is, however, essentially important for the CGAs to meet the education, experience, and established examination requirements which are regularly revised by the CGA-Canada. The CGAs work throughout the world in industries like finance, commerce, government, not-for-profit sector, and public practice. These CGA professionals are able to provide business guidance and advice in addition to tax preparation services.

Role of a CGA

• Auditing

A certified general accountant applies the commonly accepted auditing standards for reviewing an organization’s internal controls, like processes, policies, and mechanisms, thus ensuring that such controls meet the terms with regulatory standards, industry requirements, and top leadership’s references.

• Tax advisory

A CGA proffers four different types of tax advisory services to its clients –

i. helps a company in filing tax returns and further operating data with fiscal authorities

ii. ensures the tax reporting systems to be adequate and functional

iii. provides tax-saving advice to a company

iv. recommends wealth management in addition to estate planning strategies to a business organization

• Financial accounting and reporting

A CGA reviews the accounting records of a company and makes sure that such data is fair, up-to-date, and complies with the generally accepted counting principles, industry regulations, and corporate policies.

Training and education

A certified general accountant generally holds a four-year college degree in tax, finance, audit or accounting. A CGA specialist might also hold a master’s or a doctorate degree, for college or university professors and senior professionals. Besides, the candidate might also have a degree in liberal arts, but must be 24 hours in auditing, tax or accounting. Moreover, it is essential for a CGA to take minimum Continuing Professional Education (CPE) sessions to abide by the licensing rules.

Career Scope

A CGA enjoys the benefit of a variety of opportunities for career growth. After a period of 10-15 years, a CGA expert is capable of becoming a partner at a public accounting firm or a senior government accounting officer.