Out of all of the accountants such as a tax accountant, a chartered accountant and personnel working in corporate accounting, the best-known accountants in the United States are probably the accountants who work for the government.

Government accountants work for local, state and federal governments analyzing programs, tracking costs and formulating and administering budgets. Government accounting can become political and bureaucratically obstructed, but may also highly affect the public good. Government accountants usually have the opportunity to advance in their organization to a controller or even to a high administrative position. Some well-known places where you are sure to find a government accountant are the Internal Revenue Service, the Department of Defense as well as the General Accounting Office.

In addition to maintaining and examining government agency records, government accountants are also responsible for auditing private individuals as well as private businesses that has their activities taxed and regulated. Government accountants use accounting software to present and create reports. These accountants also have the responsibility of examining financial data for any signs of fraud, tax evasion and all other activities deemed as not legal.

Government accountants are typically good with mathematics, able to work business systems as well as computers, and are usually analytical and conscientious.