Once you receive your undergraduate degree in accounting and start looking for employment, you will have to make a decision about whether you want to work as a public accountant with a local or a national firm. You do need to look at the turnover statistics for both to determine which one will give you the best possibilities for long term employment. The possibilities for advancing in your career to higher paying positions in both are other aspect that you have to look at when making your decision. You should understand the work conditions of both national and local firms, such as the number of hours you will be expected to work, the rate of pay, the amount of competition that exists for promotions and the scope of the work.
If you decide you would prefer to work as a public accountant with a local firm, such environments are usually owned by one or two certified public accountants and the environment may be very informal. You will often work independently and have very little supervision of your work, after you gain some experience with the firm. For most accountants starting out with a local firm, the duties involve many routine tasks until you get used to the policies and operating procedure of the firm.
You will have a wider variety of duties when you work as a public accountant with a local firm. These firms have a wide variety of clients and some of your duties could include auditing work, payroll and tax preparation.. Since you need to have a broad work experience to become eligible for the CPA exam, you do need to choose a job where you have a wide scope of responsibilities.
In a national firm, working as a public accountant means you will have a large number of partners, managers, seniors and staff accountants that you interact with on a daily basis. You will likely be part of a team and as such have support to draw on if you are working on a challenging case. You will probably perform only one type of task, which will not give you much opportunity to gain an overview of all the specialty areas of the accounting industry. You will have little contact with the upper echelons of the corporate world and will have a direct supervisor to whom you report and direct any questions.
Take a serious look at both of these employment opportunities before you decide where you submit your applications to work as a public accountant. You need to look for what suits you and your goals best. While there may not be much opportunity to advance in a local firm, you will gain a much broader accounting experience. National firms give you more opportunity for advancement and travel, but you may have to specialize in only one area of accounting. Although the salary offered by both is important, it is equally important that you find a position where you love going to work every day.
