accountant

American  

[uh-kaun-tnt] / əˈkaʊn tnt /

noun

• accountants
  plural

1. a person whose profession is inspecting and auditing personal or commercial accounts and providing financial advice to the account holders.

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accountant British  

/ əˈkaʊntənt /

noun

1. a person concerned with the maintenance and audit of business accounts and the preparation of consultant reports in tax and finance

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• accountantship
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• accountants
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of accountant

First recorded in 1425–75; account + -ant; replacing late Middle English accomptant, from Middle French, Old French acuntant, present participle of acunter “to account ”

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Compare meaning

How does accountant compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• actuary vs. accountant

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Explanation

An accountant is a person whose job involves keeping financial records for a business. To be a great accountant, you've got to be good at math. When a company hires an accountant, it turns over the management of its accounts to that person, who is responsible for keeping track of spending, income, and any other financial information. An accountant is also held accountable for the accuracy of a company's books, and usually has to be officially certified before working in the field. The word comes from account, by way of the Old French aconter, "to count."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

accountant accountants

"Much like the father in the story, my own dad... was an accountant, but he quit his job to grow tomatoes. So it kind of touches on both of our fathers," he told BBC Newsday.

From BBC ● Oct. 13, 2026

"The price of gas driving up there is outrageous," said Barber, a steelworker of 22 years who later became an accountant after losing her job.

From Barron's ● Oct. 8, 2026

The institute was also required by law to hire an accountant to audit its books every year, so that it might report its spending to Congress.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026

Alan Burye, a retired accountant who lives just outside San Diego, said he prefers more moderate candidates because he thinks they are more productive politicians.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 28, 2026

One of the men asked my father if he was a tax accountant, and he answered, "No, an engineer."

From "Me Talk Pretty One Day" by David Sedaris

Upon protest, Warner Bros. reversed course and sold the movie, which did little to allay concerns that its favorite creatives are accountants.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026

The first is whether cloud companies start reporting a separate lifespan for these chips, which would mean their accountants concluded the hardware is genuinely different.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 20, 2026

He denied intentionally dodging taxes or breaking the law, testifying that he disliked handling tax and other financial matters, so he relied on office managers and accountants.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026

His campaign manager said Friday that accountants are still working on the new filing.

From Salon ● Jul. 24, 2026

I have a lot to get caught up on, and you know that these last few weeks before April 15th are crunch time for accountants every year.

From "Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie" by Jordan Sonnenblick

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Related Words

• actuary
• analyst
• auditor
• bookkeeper
• clerk

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