An accounting analyst evaluates public company financial statements.
Public companies issue these (10-K) annual financial statements as required by the Security and Exchange Commission.
Specifically, the notes to the financial statements contain considerable quantitative detail supporting the financial statements along with narrative information.
Or, they may have additional experience in applying international accounting standards based on the rules put out by the International Accounting Standards Board.
As an example, the accounting analyst may work for a financial research company evaluating differing financial accounting principles and how they influence the company's reported wealth.