The rights against the obligations of the accountants

Abstract

Quality, timely and accurate information is extremely important for making a timely and
accurate decisions. A large number of stakeholders (owners, management, employees,
customers, suppliers, investors, financial institutions, the state, ....) are interested in the
operation of business entities. The most reliable source of information on the financial
operations of business entities are the audited financial statements prepared in
accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards. The responsibility for
preparing the financial statements lies w-ith the management but in practice the
responsibility for the truthfulness and accuracy of the information presented in the
financial statements lies with the certified accountant. Even during the Covid-19 pandemic,
accountants worked tirelessly on all the risk posed by the pandemic and gave support to
the business sector to apply for the anti-crisis measures.
The obligation and responsibility of the accountant for the accuracy and completeness of
the information presented in the financial statements arises in a number of laws (the Law
on Accounting, the Law on Trade Companies, the Law on Securities, ...), which prohibits
the certified accountant to sign incorrect or incomplete financial statements, i.e. financial
statements that cause delusion and which are contrary to international financial reporting
standards.Accountants are the core of the economy, an important link between the state
and the business sector, responsible for calculating and collecting taxes that fill the
budget, business sector consultants.
How proud this sounds!
But do accountants really feel proud in practice? In 2012, the Law on Accounting was
adopted, which was expected to put order in the profession and raise it to the pedestal it
deserves. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to conduct research to identify the rights
and obligations of accountants and how much accountants believe that there is a balance
between rights, responsibilities and obligations. The research will be conducted by means
of a questionnaire submitted to the accounting companies registered in the register of
ISOS (Institute of Accountants and Certified Accountants). According to the answers to the questionnaire, we will give suggestions for overcoming the problems and improving
the situation in which this extremely important profession finds itself.