Accounting as a career

Accounting as a career

Accounting jobs require a minimum of bachelor’s degree in accounting or a related field.

Those seeking a career in accounting must obtain professional recognition through certification or licensure, a master’s degree, proficiency in accounting and auditing computer software, or specialized expertise will have an advantage in the job market.

Competition will remain keen for the most prestigious jobs in major accounting and business firms.

Accountants help to ensure that firms to run more efficiently, its public records kept more 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 to their clients. Broadly, these services include public, management, and government accounting, as well as internal auditing. In each of these major fields, however, accountants and auditors continue to carry out the fundamental tasks of the occupation—prepare, analyze, and verify financial documents in order to provide information to clients.

Specific job duties vary widely in the four major fields of accounting.

Accountants perform a broad range of accounting, auditing, tax, and consulting activities for their clients, who may be corporations, governments, nonprofit organizations, or individuals. For example, some Accountants concentrate on tax matters, such as advising companies of the tax advantages and disadvantages of certain business decisions and preparing individual income tax returns. Others are consultants who offer advice in areas such as compensation or employee health care benefits; the design of accounting and data processing systems; and the selection of controls to safeguard assets.