Careers In Accounting

Dr.L.Lakshmi

INTRODUCTION

Accounting is the study of how businesses track their income and assets over time. Accountants engage in a wide variety of activities besides preparing financial statements and recording business transactions including computing costs and efficiency gains from new technologies, participating in strategies for mergers and acquisitions, quality management, developing and using information systems to track financial performance, tax strategy, and health care benefits management.

There’s a lot to get out of a career in accounting. Perhaps most important: You will learn how business works. The field of accounting offers stimulating and challenging work that is constantly evolving. Because accountants spend a lot of time looking under the hoods of businesses they really learn how business works. It’s no surprise that many successful players in business began their careers as accountants. It’s also no surprise that most Chief Financial Officers of large corporations have a background in accounting. An accountant is perfectly positioned to become a CFO because he or she probably has the best understanding of what drives business and profits in a company.

Audit: Work in audit involves checking accounting ledgers and financial statements within corporations and government. This work is becoming increasingly computerized and can rely on sophisticated random sampling methods. Audit is the bread and butter work of accounting. This work can involve significant travel and allows you to really understand how money is being made in the company that you are analyzing. It’s great background!

Budget Analysis: Budget analysts are responsible for developing and managing an organization’s financial plans. There are plentiful jobs in this area in government and private industry. Besides quantitative skills many budget analyst jobs require good people skills because of negotiations involved in the work

Financial:  Financial accountants prepare financial statements based on general ledgers and participate in important financial decisions involving mergers & acquisitions, benefits/ERISA planning and long-term financial projections. The work can be varied over time. One day you may be running spreadsheets. The next day you may be visiting a customer or supplier to set up a new account and discuss business. This work requires a good understanding of both accounting and finance.

Management Accounting: Management accountants work in companies and participate in decisions about capital budgeting and line of business analysis. Major functions include cost analysis, analysis of new contracts and participation in efforts to control expenses efficiently. This work often involves the analysis of the structure of organizations. Is responsibility to spend money in a company at the right level of our organization? Are goals and objectives to control costs being communicated effectively? Historically, many management accountants have been derided as “bean counters”. This mentality has undergone major change as management accountants now often work side by side with marketing and finance to develop new business. Tax

Tax accountants prepare corporate and personal income tax statements and formulate tax strategies involving issues such as financial choice, how to best treat a merger or acquisition, deferral of taxes, when to expense items and the like. This work requires a thorough understanding of economics and the tax code. Increasingly, large corporations are looking for persons with both an accounting and a legal background in tax. A person, for example, with a JD and an CPA would be especially desirable to many firms.

PLACES WHERE ACCOUNTANTS WORK

Public Accounting Firms: Public Accountants work in partnerships which provide accounting services to individuals, businesses and governments. The largest, high-profile public accounting firms are known as the Bix Six and dominate the field of accounting. This field offers advancement potential to audit manager, tax manager or partner reached by only two to three percent of new hires.

Government: Government accountants may work at the local/state level or the federal level and administer and formulate budgets, track costs and analyze programs. This work can have high impact on the public good but can also get political and is subject to bureaucratic obstruction. Government accounting offers advancement in most organizations to controller and possibly to higher administrative positions. Places which hire heavily at the federal level include the Department of Defense, the General Accounting Office and the Internal Revenue Service.

Corporations: Corporations big and small typically have an accounting group which prepares financial statements, tracks costs, handles tax issues, and works on international transactions. The work is exciting and offers tracks to audit manager, tax manager, cost accounting manager and controller on the accounting side or to manager of financial planning and analysis and Treasurer on the finance side.

Solo: A time-honored form of employment is to become a CPA and hang out your own shingle. This form of work requires you to generate your own business, but has the benefits of offering close customer contact, a high degree of independence and, depending on how good you are, high financial rewards. This work can be risky but puts you in the midst of community affairs.

ACCOUNTING: SKILLS AND TALENTS

Accounting offers superb career opportunities in many different contexts. The field is normally divided into three broad areas: auditing, financial/tax and management accounting. The skills required in these areas differ as follows:

Skill                                  Audit Accounting                     Tax & Financial      Management Accounting

People skills                            Medium                                  Medium                                    Medium

Sales skills                              Medium                                  Medium                                    Low

Communication skills          Medium                        Medium                                     High

Analytical skills                                  High                          Very High                                               High

Ability to synthesize          Medium                         Low                                                High

Creative ability                       Low                          Medium                                         Medium

Initiative                              Medium                      Medium                                        Medium

Computer skills                High                                 High                                            Very High

Work hours                     40-70/week                              40-70/week                                     40-50/week

NATURE OF ACCOUNTING

Accounting is very team-oriented: You will usually start as a junior member of a team responsible for auditing an important account or preparing financial statements. It is important then that you enjoy working as part of a team and that you learn to do so in your education.

You’ve got to Surf Waves of Innovation: The field of accounting has seen constant technological and intellectual innovation in recent decades. Firms are implementing new electronic systems for submitting and preparing financial statements. And ways of tracking costs have improved with the introduction of techniques such as activity-based costing.

Cultivate Your Network: It’s important to have a good network of business contacts in consulting as you progress. New business development becomes part of your job. As your classmates rise in their respective business areas it is important to stay in touch with them as they may become your future customers.

ACCOUNTING JOBS IN INDIA

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Accounting as a profession holds its roots back to the early days of human civilization. It’s one of the oldest professions that have ever existed. With the recent phenomena of globalization taking hold of the world economies, accounting jobs India has made their presence felt in the corporate sector. It has again made its way up to the top jobs category. Accounting jobs in India are among the most sought after jobs. Every small, medium and large corporate house is on the hunt for efficient accountants. If you have it in you, fat pay-packets are there for the grab.

ACCOUNTING FIELDS: If you are interested in making it big in the accounting profession, you may try various options. Colleges offer bachelors degree in commerce with specialization in accountancy or finance. A B.Com Honors degree is all what it takes for a well paid job. There would be at least one institute in every small town that provide specialized trainings and crash courses to prepare you with some practical demos for accounting job. Once you pass out with flying colors, getting a job of your liking isn’t a big deal.

A company accountant is trusted with duties like:

Setting up an accounting system

Preparing the annual audit

Filing the annual tax return of the company

Help in company secretarial work

Provide interim help with preparing accounts or book-keeping

Running the company’s payroll

Advice in corporate finance

The accounting discipline offers the following accounts jobs:

Accountant

Accounts Executive

Financial Accountant

Cost Accountant

Chartered Accountant

Accounts Manager

Taxation Manager

SCOPE

If you thought that the scopes with this profession lie only with corporate houses, you aren’t probably aware of the bigger picture. Accounting has its applications in the following sectors, which also offer number of opportunities to qualified accountants, such as Schools, Colleges, Universities, Government organizations, NGOs, Small, medium and large scale commercial units.

Financial Jobs: Financial Jobs, the source for professional careers in banking, accounting, corporate finance and investment. Browse this site for open positions accounting & financial jobs, entry level jobs in finance, corporate finance jobs, banking finance job, financial job search, financial job listing, finance manager job, finance director jobs, and real estate finance jobs.

Accounting Jobs: Accounting and financial jobs site that has openings in disciplines like Accounting & financial job USA, finance jobs in Canada, healthcare finance jobs, finance executive jobs, MBA Finance jobs, financial jobs in Dubai, auto finance jobs, finance jobs in UK etc .Accounting has always had an image problem, stuck in the public consciousness as a profession populated by math geeks who love crunching numbers but little else. While this stereotype may have been accurate at one point in history, it no longer presents an accurate picture of what the career is like. While the basic mechanics of accounting can certainly become tedious, such functions are increasingly becoming automated, with accountants focusing more on analysis, interpretation and business strategy.

In fact, accounting has been rated one of the most desirable professions available. According to the 2002 Jobs Rated Almanac, “accountant” was the fifth best job in terms of low stress, high compensation, lots of autonomy and tremendous hiring demand. Furthermore, the National Association of Colleges and Employers’ Winter 2002 Salary Survey ranked the accounting services industry first among the top five employers with job offers for graduating college students.

There are several other financial services that offer good career prospects. These include costs and works accountancy, chartered financial analysis, financial planning, investment planning, business finance, merchant banking, foreign exchange dealing and so on.

Cost and Works Accountancy: This specializes in stabilizing budgets and standards, evaluating operational efficiency and the effectiveness of production and service management, formulating the profile planning programme, guiding managerial decisions, identifying accountability for cost and profit variance, and thus rendering valuable assistance to the management. The Institute of Cost and Works Accountants of India (ICWAI), New Delhi, provides training in this area. It has several branches all over the country.

Chartered Financial Analysis: This is basically an additional qualification for financial executives. A financial analyst’s areas of expertise include corporate finance, which deals with management accounting and financial management; investment management, which includes aspects of economics, quantitative techniques, economic legislation and security evaluation; and financial services, which cover project planning, merchant banking services, portfolio management, venture capital, leasing, hire, purchase, new issue management, credit rating and other allied areas. The ICFAI is the premier institution for this programme. Some business management institutes also offer this course.

Financial Planning: Financial planning is required mainly in the financial services sectors of banking, insurance and investment advisory services. The International College of Financial Planning, New Delhi (with branches in Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bangalore and Hyderabad) provides training in certified financial planning. The Institute of Financial and Investment Planning, Mumbai offers a diploma course in financial and investment planning.

Business Finance: This is a specialization which not only includes aspects of conventional auditing and accounting but also as vast range of activities like fund raising, foreign exchange, treasury management, investment banking, money market operations and broking. The Department of Financial Studies, University of Delhi (South Campus) offers a master’s degree in finance and control essentially to commerce/economics graduates. The Indian School of Finance, New Delhi offers a master’s in business finance.

CONCLUSION

Thus accounting offers a variety of job opportunities to the students in different fields. There are many institutes offering divergent courses on accounting to update their knowledge and improve their skills.

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List of Accounting Careers

Every year, different colleges and universities from all over the world produce graduates with different college degrees. It only means that every year, the unemployment rate increases and very few newly-grads land a job. It is very important to choose the college degree that you’re going to take to ensure your professional career in the future.

Among the top college courses of degree is accounting. Accounting involves different tasks which include keeping track of income, assets, liabilities, and a lot more. You can learn more about these tasks if you choose an accountancy course.

In accounting, you will learn a lot of things like how businesses and companies work. Successful businessmen are accountants one way or another. You see, accounting is essential in businesses. It is a way of evaluating the business situation, whether a company is losing or earning profits.

In short, the business’ language is accounting. All business activities are quantified through accounting and this is where all business reports are derived and later on, communicated to the management level. What career opportunities can you expect if you’re a graduate of accountancy?

 

1. Public Practice – if you become a CPA, you can do public practice. You can give your services to clients in exchange for an affordable fee. Usually, CPAs work in partnerships and they offer their services to businesses, governments, and even to individuals. The job responsibilities of an accountant in public practice will usually include auditing, taxation, management advisory services, etc. You can gain a lot of work experience in this field.

 

2. Education – accountancy graduates can also teach after they get their methods of teaching. They can become a researcher, reviewer, and a professor. If you choose this profession, you can learn a lot of things. You can clear out certain accounting issues, conduct research, and then distribute the results.

 

3. Government service – you can look for job opportunities in the state or federal level. Government accountants are responsible for tracking costs, budgets, and analyzing the various government programs that involves huge amounts. Being a government accountant can give you the chance of improving the conditions of the poor however, due to political influence, your will experience bureaucratic impediment.

 

If you want to become a government accountant, you have to think twice because the public usually think differently of those in position. But it doesn’t really matter what other people think as long as you’re doing your work honestly and effectively.

 

4. Commerce – accounting groups are maintained by corporations, whether big or small. The groups of accountants prepare and organize all the financial statements, handle tax issues, track costs, handle international transactions, and a lot more.

 

After years of being a member of the accounting group, you will have your chance of becoming the department head or you can be promoted as the cost accountant, budget officer, chief accountant, or even the company auditor. The size of the corporation determines the various responsibilities of the accountant.

 

Now you know that by taking up a course in accounting you will be offered a myriad of opportunities in the future. You must be able to choose the right career path. Before making a decision, you have to consider the responsibilities and nature of work of a certain accounting career.

 

Choose the one that you like most and one that you’re passionate about.

 

Accounting Careers in Pontypridd

Have you ever been to Pontypridd? You don’t read the name as it is written. Here’s how you read it – Pontyp’reath’ and not ‘ridd’. To avoid confusion, local residents simply call their place ‘Ponty’. Pontypridd is a small town in Wales with a population of only 29,781 back in 2001. You can find this town north of Cardiff city, about twelve miles. Even in such a small town, you can find accounting career opportunities. You see, businesses exist all over the world; from the smallest town to the biggest cities. You know by now that business makes use of accounting. But it’s not only businesses which use accounting; even individuals use accounting in their everyday lives. It’s no wonder if you can find accountants in Pontypridd. Since the town is small, you can’t expect a lot of employment opportunities but if you’re one of the best accountants in town or of you’re diligent with your studies, you’ve got yourself a job. You see, the accounting career is among the top choices of students and professionals these days. There are many reasons why most people prefer the accounting profession but it doesn’t really matter. As long as you’re determined and motivated to become an accountant, you can still do that even in Pontypridd. Most businesses nowadays rely on technology, in current business practices, and in updated laws. Because of this fact, there is a great need for CPAs to perform such difficult duties. Don’t be discouraged just because you live in a small town in Wales; if you like numbers and you’re a fast learner, you can take advantage of the job opportunities in the accounting field. You can find accounting graduates in corporations, public agencies, charitable organizations, and even educational institutions. You can’t find world class colleges in Pontypridd but you can surely find accredited colleges and universities online which offers accountancy degree courses. As long as you have an internet connection, you can already search for these online colleges and choose one that you want to enroll. Young and old alike can still take up a course in accounting especially on the internet. You can stay at home while you’re trying to earn a degree. Aside from that, some of the accreditations in accountancy can already be secured online. Thanks to the new technology of today, more people are given the opportunity to finish college despite the problems they encounter everyday. Living in a small town like Pontypridd is not that bad. You can stay connected as long as there is an internet connection in your home. You can also meet new friends from around the globe. All you need to do is to surf the internet patiently until you come across the right accounting opportunity for you. Some people don’t have the time to attend classes in school. If you lack the time probably because you have an existing career or if you’re taking care of the kids, take advantage of the internet’s power. Log online and see what you can discover about Pontypridd and the accounting careers available in town. Don’t waste your future in a work that you’re not even satisfied or happy. Pursue a career in accounting that you really like; you must have the driving passion so that you can keep yourself motivated. That way, you can work peacefully and efficiently. http://career-in-accounting.blogspot.com

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Accounting Careers: Promising Opportunities and Tips

Accounting or accountancy is one of the most promising types of profession today. It is always in demand and the career opportunities here are huge. If you are considering a profession as an accountant, then you will definitely see that this will change your professional life.

First of all, you have to know how you can start in the accounting field. Here are some tips that will be able to point you the right way to success.

The first thing that you have to do is decide on the field of accounting that you are interested in. There are basically lots of different fields in the accounting career and you will surely find the right one.

It is also a good idea to research about information related to accounting or accountancy, such as the college or university you are going to take the course in. You have to consider that companies are quite picky when it comes to the college or university that accountants graduated in. Also, by doing this, you will be able to know which college or university offers quality education particularly on accountancy.

Try consulting accounting professionals and teachers who are knowledgeable about the subject. They will be able to give you a lot of information coming from their experience.

If you plan on pursuing a career in accounting, then you have to enroll in a bachelor’s degree in accounting. Even if you are good in accounting, you can never have a good job if you don’t have at least a bachelor’s degree.

After graduating, don’t set your ambitions too high. Always remember that everyone starts small and work their way up to their goals. Start off as a junior accountant or as a trainee. This will not only give you a chance in the accounting career, but it will also provide you with valuable experience as well as knowledge about accounting.

Always remember that accountancy is a continuing education. As much as possible, you have to update your knowledge about accounting in order to keep up with the standards of the industry.

As mentioned before, there are lots of career opportunities in accounting. There are many fields of accounting and it is up to you to choose which one you want to take on as a career.

After college, you will be able to qualify for a certified public accountant or as registered public accountant license. Even though you can still get a job as an accountant even if you don’t have any license, you have to remember that more opportunities will open up if you have one.

In this profession, you can become an auditor, a management consultant, a financial officer, an analyst, and even as a tax accountant.

Being independent or being a freelancer in this field can also be a promising career. However, you do need a good network of contacts in order for you to earn more money and get more experience.

You can also try other specializations in accounting, such as forensic auditing where you will be responsible for investigating crimes related to company’s finances as well as tax fraud.

Another great career choice for accountants is by simply becoming a teacher of accounting. This is a very rewarding career choice.

As you can see, there are quite a lot of career opportunities for accounting or accountancy. All you need to do is follow the mentioned tips and you can be sure that you will be well on your way in to becoming a successful accountant in the field you choose.

Visit BusinessEnglishPod.com to download this video and others covering more business ESL vocabulary. This Business English video ESL lesson introduces English vocabulary for finance and accounting related to the key concepts of GAAP.