On September 1, 2009, I completed 37 years of service in a wonderful profession of our society. The profession of Certified Public Accountant. It is a professional title for which I pledged on October 29, 1973, to serve to the best of my ability. I have always tried to uphold this pledge.
The late Ioannis Kambalouris, Certified Public Accountant and for many years President of the Body of Certified Public Accountants, gives the following definition for a Certified Public Accountant:
"A Certified Public Accountant is the officially recognized by the State, or acknowledged by the relevant accounting organizations of a certain country, a specialized professional who responsibly conducts objective and unbiased audits or expert evaluations of accounting books, records, and statements regarding the financial operations and financial status of all types of businesses, legal entities, organizations, and economic units in general."
The term certified, meaning one obligated by oath, has prevailed among us in the terminology of this category of auditors or experts, primarily because certified public accountants, prior to assuming their duties, take the oath before the competent authority, and in a broader sense due to their responsibility towards the State and the financial environment in general. For conducting audits of companies' financial statements, adequate accounting education and experience are primarily required; it is, moreover, a rule that without any accounting organization, and indeed a competent one, managerial audits are not feasible. The term certified public accountant has prevailed among us and elsewhere.
