A public accountant is a general accountant working for an accounting firm. Graduates with an undergraduate degree in accounting start their careers working for national or local public accounting firms and gain experience in all facets of the industry. When you first get started you will likely start out in an entry –level position and work at routine tasks, such as accounts payable, receivable or payroll providing assistance to the certified accountant.
The job of public accountant is one in which the tasks are varied and change from day to day. Auditing may be one aspect of this job, either auditing the books of the company you work with or doing external auditing for a third party. You can also concentrate on tax matters. Preparing income tax returns for clients or providing consulting or advising services on financial matters. If you have skill or training in information technology, you can become certified as an information systems auditor so that you can take a closer look at the financial reporting of a company by assessing their computer systems and databases.
There are three levels at which you can work as a public accountant. The first is the entry-level where you will work as a staff accountant, a junior auditor or in the tax division of a firm. You don’t need any prior experience to obtain this job, although your undergraduate degree will include a work term that will give you some experience working in the industry. Along with your degree, you do need to be proficient working with Microsoft Excel for the use of spreadsheets, which will be the main tool you use in your profession. You will work on a variety of tasks for different clients such as preparing audit papers and work on tax returns.. You will have a role of assistant to the senior accounting staff.
The mid level of the work as a public accountant includes such job titles as senior associate or manager in an accounting firm. In order to advance to this level, you do need to have CPA certification. Once you have this designation you will find that you have many doors open to you in other areas of accounting. You should also have an MBA or an advanced degree, which will also satisfy the requirement for engaging in continuing education for the renewal of your CPA certificate. The requirement is that you engage in eighty hours of continuing education every two years once you are a CPA. You will supervise teams in this position and the junior accounting staff, review audits and tax returns and help in the planning activities for the budget of the firm.
At the senior level as a public accountant you have the opportunity to become a partner in a firm, a director or open your own accounting practice. It also means you can become the chief financial officer of a firm. You do need to have at least eight or nine years of experience and you definitely need a master’s level degree. The salary is much higher at this level, but so is the type of challenging work you will perform. This is a high stress position in which you will oversee audits, tax preparation and engage in consulting activities. In private practice, a CPA at this level will work with many different clients and perform a wide variety of accounting duties.
