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

I remember he goes, “Now that you’re making money, now get an accountant, you’re not gonna know what to do with your money. You’re just gonna waste it. Just get an accountant.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 22, 2026

"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

Prosecutors have questioned potential witnesses about his longtime accountant and lawyer.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 25, 2026

Sergeant Kruger and I would leave after court adjourned at one o’clock on Friday, and after arriving at my office, I would work with Davidoff and our accountant Nathan Marcus.

From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela

In his remarks, Torrez alleged that Epstein's crimes were "made possible by handlers, by lawyers, by accountants, by others who have yet to face real consequence".

From BBC ● Oct. 21, 2026

"I was once in a room of accountants, and one of them stood up and said, 'My clients come to me for the personal touch, the human process'," he remembers.

From BBC ● Oct. 10, 2026

Instead of relying on the same degree of accountants, lawyers and vendors, you can do a lot of it yourself.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 21, 2026

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

If a judge were to mandate the dissolution of the company, its factories would remain standing and its workers, accountants, managers and shareholders would continue to live—but Peugeot SA would immediately vanish.

From "Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind" by Yuval Noah Harari

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Related Words

• actuary
• analyst
• auditor
• bookkeeper
• clerk

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