Difference Between A Banker And An Accountant

People often mistake bankers for accountants, they assume that everyone who works in a bank is an accountant because they deal with money, open accounts for customers, grant loans and other financial functions.

People also think that when an accounting student graduates from the University or college, they will get employment in the bank and start their accounting careers. But all these are not totally true, so in this article, we will be discussing about the difference between an accountant and a banker.

A banker is usually refered to a person that hold an executive position in the bank industry. In fact, it may be possible that the majority of bankers have a major in finance and not accounting. Cashiers in the bank are mistaken for bankers, but they are not, they are called bank workers. As long as you don't hold an executive position in the banking industry, you are just a bank worker. Bank workers include: Customer service attendance, cashier, teller person, etc.

An accountant is someone who is trained in bookkeeping, auditing and analysis of accounts. They are saddled with the responsibilities of analysing, interpreting, communicating financial information for decision making. Although there are accountants who work in the bank, their job in the bank is to carry out accounting duties. So when an accountant is performing any duty that is not related to his or her field, then they are not working as an accountant. A banker cannot work anywhere outside the banking industry but an accountant can work anywhere as long as they have financial records. E.g; Schools, hospitals, Church, farm, etc. The accountant will also prepare payroll.

For someone to be an accountant, he or she must first get a degree in accounting from a university or college, then enroll to become a chartered accountant via Professional accounting bodies like ACCA, ICAN, etc and become an Associate Chartered Accountant (ACA) then after 5 years of accounting practice, the person will become a Fellow Chartered Accountant (FCA) which is the highest qualification for an accountant. For someone to become a banker, they will have a degree majoring on finance (banking and finance). Nowadays, banks still employ people who didn't study any finance related courses in the Univeristy or college. After employment, the bank will train the new staff on how to go about his or daily activities which relate to the job.

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