Careers in Accounting

Melissa Miller

ACC 100

                NAURI AHMED

            Careers in Accounting

02-29-16

Accounting has a variety career paths in its field. There are many levels of accounting. Accounting is considered the financial informational system that gives an understanding of how a company runs financially. There will always be a need for an accountant for every and any type of business.

Now I will touch on a couple paths within the accountant field.

Certified Public Accounting

CPA stands for certified public accountant. This is one of the many career paths in the accounting field. Becoming a CPA means you’ll have a wide variety of career choices, in two general areas: public accounting, or corporate and business accounting. A CPA helps individuals and companies with their financial planning, taxes, investments, mergers and many more entities.

The CPA does many services besides doing the normal auditing services. Internal auditors verify the accuracy of its financial data, and check for waste, mismanagement and fraud. The services the CPA may conduct are: Assurance and Consulting services, Information (IT) Services specialize in activities such as testing systems to ensure security, accuracy and compliance with regulations. Forensic specialists look for evidence of securities fraud, money laundering and embezzlement. environment accounting is taking care of compliance audits, and managing disputes.

Being a CPA also has several different jobs inside the career path. A CPA could be a manager which can oversee other accountants, help prepare annual reports. There are also positions within the government. Now that does mean automatically the CPA will be working for the Internal Revenue Services (IRS). A CPA can be assigned to the federal, state and local government positions. (Institute for Career, R (2006)

Becoming a CPA is rigorous and demanding challenge. Regulations vary by state, but most require 150 hours of higher education – which is considered 30 hours more of the typical four-year bachelor’s degree. Some states require a minimum number of semester hours in accounting and or a minimum number of hours in business. Many CPAs hold bachelor’s degrees in accounting; others earn business degrees. After completing the education an additional test must be passes.  The test is a four-part exam that can be taken in two days. The four parts are: Business Law & Professional Responsibilities, Auditing, Accounting & Reporting

Financial Accounting & Reporting (Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS, www.bls.gov).

Book keeper

The next career I will be speaking about will be book keeping.  A bookkeeper performs general accounting duties. The bookkeeper maintains complete financial records and verify the accuracy of procedures used for recording financial transactions. Bookkeepers are employed by private businesses, governments, and any other type of businesses.

Bookkeepers should be accurate and knowledgeable about debits and credits. The basic formula of the accounting procedures sales and accounts receivable, payroll, and more. Each bookkeeper's responsibilities vary by type and size of the business. The bookkeeper's role may be expanded to include adjusting entries for the bookkeeper to generate income and balance sheets from the computerized accounting software. The bookkeeper's work is usually overseen by an accountant and or the business owner.