Accountant Career Overview

Accountants and auditors essentially keep track of an organization's money. Managers look at the accountants' reports to see how well their companies are doing. Governments use the reports to tell how much tax a company should pay. Some people read them to decide if they want to invest in the company. And others use them to decide if they want to lend money to the company or not. Accountants and auditors help to ensure that the companies are run efficiently, its public records kept accurately, and its taxes paid properly and on time. They perform these vital functions by offering an increasingly wide array of business and accounting services, including public, management and government accounting, as well as internal auditing, to their clients. Many accountants now are required to possess a wide range of knowledge and skills like preparing, analyzing and verifying financial documents in order to provide information to clients. Accountants and auditors are broadening the services they offer to include budget analysis, financial and investment planning, Technology Degree">information technology consulting, and limited legal services.

Accounting Degree and Career Opportunities

Many business students choose to earn their degree in accounting, since it opens the door to a wide variety of career opportunities in almost any area of the business world. A career in accounting generally requires individuals to have a bachelor's degree in accounting or equivalent experience and education combined. Most employers are looking for individuals who have a master's degree in business or accounting, have previous work experience in the field, and possess good analytical, math and computer skills. Public accountants are required to take a special test for certification and get a special license from the state in which they live.

There are four kinds of accountants: public accountants, management accountants, internal auditors and government accountants and auditors. Public accountants work for public accounting companies, doing accounting, auditing, tax and consulting work. Management accountants keep track of companies' credits and debits. Internal auditors make sure that a company's accounting records are up-to-date and accurate, and safeguard the records to prevent fraud or theft. Government accountants and auditors make sure that government accounting records are accurate and also check the records of people or groups doing business with the government.

Becoming an accountant is a great career choice!

Professionals with degrees in accounting are in greater demand than ever. In fact, according to the U.S. Department of Labor, employment of accountants and auditors is expected to grow faster than the average for all occupations through the year 2014.
This demand is in part because business dealings have become more complicated, but also because of worries about the possibility of fraud. The competitive pressures and new opportunities in the global economy require expertise in traditional accounting and finance best practices, as well as the knowledge and foresight to help companies adapt to change and seize opportunities. Keeping track of money in business is seemingly both simple and complex, but not always easy. That's where accountants come in, offering a level of expertise and assurance to stockholders, regulators and the public about the integrity of their businesses.

Accountants and auditors work out of offices and typically work out of cities, where the larger companies tend to be. Accountants generally work a standard 40-hour week, but some work 50 hours a week or more. Tax accountants often work long hours during the tax season, from January to April. Accountants working for the government and public companies are required to travel to audit other companies or branches of their own company. The salaries of accountants vary based on how long they have been working and what degree they earned. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, in 2004, the middle half of all accountants earned between $39,890 and $66,900 annually. The lowest-paid 10 percent earned less than $32,320 and the highest-paid 10 percent earned more than $88,610 a year.

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