Choosing a career in the accounting industry is not just a matter of being good with numbers and having university training. For most accounting jobs, you do need an undergraduate degree in business or with a major concentration in Math. There are jobs in this field that require a two-year course from a technical or vocational college. In each of the jobs that fall under the general term of accounting, you would perform different tasks. Therefore you do need to have knowledge of what accounting is and why this work is so important to a company.
A career in accounting can run the gamut of jobs such as a bookkeeper, a payroll clerk, an accountant and all the way up to senior management. Companies that have a larger number of employees cannot operate without the services of a payroll clerk. This is a career in the accounting industry in which you would be responsible for making sure all the employees get paid on time and that each one has the correct amount of deductions from each paycheck.
When you have a degree in accounting, you have many options to choose from for a career in the accounting industry. Many accountants start off in an entry level position and then take additional courses to specialize. In this industry, you can become an auditor, not necessarily for the IRS, but an auditor for an independent company. You can also choose a career in taxation, information systems,, budget analysis and more.
If you choose a career in the accounting industry as an auditor, your main duties will be to check account ledgers and financial statements within the company or organization that you work for. This type of work gives you the experience you need to specialize in another area or gain the experience you need to move up to higher paying positions. Another position in the field of accounting that might interest you is that of budget analyst. In this job, you would develop and manage the budget plans of the company. There are many such jobs available in both government and private industry for a person in this capacity.
When choosing a career in the accounting industry, you should look closely at what is required of the various types of jobs. You mat find that the job of a financial accountant may be more to your liking. In this job you would take information from financial ledgers to prepare financial statements. You would also be involved in the decision making part of the business with respect to acquisitions and long term planning for the financial budget.
Another aspect that you have to take into consideration in deciding which accounting career is right for you is whether you want to work with the government, with a private firm or whether you would like to have your own business. As an independent accountant, you can set up your own office and perform different tasks, such as preparing income tax returns for both individuals and small and large businesses and preparing financial statements. You can set your own hours and determine how much or ho little work you do.
