<p>I’m not taxguy, but I’m an accounting major, so I guess I’ll try to throw something out here.</p>
<p>creamgethamoney:</p>
<p>Tax and audit are generally the two major service lines that many accounting firms will have. So, generally, when you progress later on in an accounting career, you will choose which you would like to specialize in. I mean, don’t get me wrong…if you specialize in one, you’re not necessarily stuck in it forever and ever, but someone who wants to work in tax will have to have a lot of tax technical know-how that won’t be as necessary in audit, and an auditor will have to learn a lot of Audit standards, FASes, etc.,</p>
<p>The question in audit might be: is a company reporting its financial information properly according to GAAP or IFRS or whatever other standard? </p>
<p>However, the question in tax might be: is a company conducting its financial transactions in a way that will maximize after-tax income and reach their goals (are they taking advantage of deductions, income shifting and timing strategies, etc.,?)</p>
<p>When the firms come by, the auditors will like to say that audit is for more outgoing, extroverted kinds of people who are willing to go out to the client firms and ask questions to get the required information while tax people stay in the office and stick to the numbers. However, the tax people are likely to counter that the auditors are more likely to get sent into some hole in the wall city counting inventory, but tax, on the other hand, allows for more creativity (because there are so many different ways to structure different transactions, different tax or non-tax considerations to take into consideration.)</p>
<p>Anyway, inter-group joking aside, I think that audit would be more fit toward people who want things to be just so. The audit will have an audit plan, and basically, that plan has a checklist that needs to be checked off down the list. However, that’s not to say that audit is no fun. With an audit, there’s always the possibility to discover some kind of fraud or discrepancy and then that’s a whole new ballpark. And I think that tax would be more fit toward people who are comfortable with thinking outside the box…at looking at multiple options, researching the tax consequences of these, etc.,</p>
<p>Like I said earlier, though, I don’t think that if you pick one, you’ll be stuck there forever and ever and ever…</p>
<p>Now…to address openedskittles:</p>
<p>I don’t go to UT, and A&M has different tracks for our similar kind of program, but I think I can still relate. “Financial reporting and assurance” seems like the UT program’s term for audit, while tax is tax.</p>
<p>Managerial accounting and control is a bit different. Whereas audit and tax are generally service lines by public accounting CPA firms (because they are outside, ‘neutral’ entities), managerial accounting is the accounting that is done within an industry firm. So, for example, with cost accounting, you might want to know how much of your costs are attributable to your labor (direct and indirect), your materials (direct and indirect), or to overhead and administration. That way, you can budget and make documents that can be used by the company’s management to make production goals, sales goals, etc., etc.,</p>
<p>And then, of course, you’d be preparing the financial statements (income statement, balance sheet, etc.,) that would be audited by an auditor, or you’d be wondering about the tax implications that would be advised with the help of a tax consultant.</p>
<p>Generalist seems like a fun kind of specialty track. As it says on the website, you’d be able to select your own grad courses out of taxation, info technology, audit or fraud examination, etc.,</p>