There are many different types of accounting
and because of this there are many different career paths in accounting
but they all tend to have one thing in common and that is an accounting degree.
A one year certificate of completion in accounting for prepares graduates for entry level clerical positions,
basic bookkeeping jobs,
and positions concentrated on financial accounting.
A 2 year AAS accounting degree
prepares graduates for entry level clerical positions
with the possibility of supervising that function with experience,
some graduates become junior accountants for small businesses.
Others can specialize in areas of accounting like tax,
payroll, or governmental accounting.
A 4 year bachelor's degree in accounting preparers graduates for staff accountant positions in every size of company.
Graduates often specialize in careers that interest them like tax, governmental accounting, audits
cost accounting, or financial accounting and reporting.
Depending on state regulations this degree is the minimum degree needed to sit for a CPA - to sit for the CPA exam.
There are several masters and doctorate degrees available in accounting as well.
Those who achieve these degrees tend to be in management positions or academia.
By almost any measure for as long as I've paid attention, accounting is almost always listed in a Top Ten Job - Jobs for starting salary
and/or job growth and opportunities.
Let's look at a few of the careers mentioned in this presentation.
Financial Accounting is the basis for all accounting.
All of the specialization areas mentioned start with the basic accounting cycle of Financial Accounting.
Financial Accounting sometimes called financial reporting,
prepares reports for parties external to the organization.
Investors and creditors are the primary users of Financial Accounting Data.
The reports created in Financial Accounting are collectively called the financial statements.
Managerial accounting provides information to internal parties like managers.
There are no standard reports generated by Managerial Accountants information is collected
and analyzed and presented for the specific needs of management.
Tax Accounting involves preparing taxes and giving advise on tax strategies.
This could not included on personal income tax, corporate tax, estate tax, and taxes for small businesses.
Tax strategies often included by somehow to minimize tax liabilities.
Government and not-for-profit accounting refers to the accounting required for organizations that are not
focused on generating a profit such as legislative bodies and charities.
Since the primary purpose of these organizations is not generating profits for shareholders,
the accounting and reporting needs must be modified in order to suit the needs of the users of this information.
Auditing is an area of accounting responsible for reviewing and evaluating the accuracy of financial reports.
Auditors can either be a employees of the organization, which recall internal auditors,
or hired by the firm
which we call external auditors.
Firms whose stock is traded on the public exchange
must have financial statements examined by a external auditors.
And that includes this brief review of accounting careers.