Accounting is not an easy job, and certified accountants should ensure that they are performing to the best of their ability every single day. By maintaining good accounting standards, accountants can rest assured that they are not endangering themselves, their company or their customers. The following standards are approved by almost all accounting companies and should be followed avidly by any dependable accountant. They are known as the GAAP, or Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, and make accounting practices universally applicable despite the type of company.

• Enforcement. In order for accounting standards to work, they must be enforced equally and in every instance. That is why one of the standards includes a regular enforcement for the regulations regarding accounting practices. All laws, rules and other considerations must be followed regularly.
• Honest practice. When accounting departments and firms record financial information, it should adequately reflect the reality of the company’s dealings. Accounts should reflect financial statements as they truly are. This extends into all records; nothing should be withheld or changed in the financial history of the company. All records should be available for review and display accurate information. This includes offering full disclosures and prudence, where employees don’t alter records to improve company’s standards.
• Certainty and consistency. Accounts should never input any information unless the data is absolutely, 100% certain. This takes care of the need to edit records after they’ve been written, or the problem of keeping a faulty record. Everything recorded by an account should also have a consistent format. Item, services, statements and other information should be input in the same fashion every single time, as changing data sheets and documents can cause unneeded confusion.
• Informed customers. Accountants should make important information known to customers and clients as soon as possible. No personal information or records should ever be kept from a client, and they should be fully informed of the consequences of their financial decisions if it involves action on the part of the account. In essence, accounts should disclose all information to the client that pertains to them.

There are also some more specific, financially focused principles within the accountant standards, such as policies surrounding compensation. Accountants should also make sure to divide up their financial statements according to certain time periods (such as every three months). These GAAP rules are general for almost all locations; however, the International Financial Reporting Standards may have additional requirements, especially for larger companies. In general though, the above accounting standards apply worldwide.