Find Your Way: The Career Path for an Accountant

Accounting Career Paths

Employment of Accountants is projected to grow 7 percent from 2020-2030, about as fast as the average for all occupations. About 135,000 openings for Accountants are projected each year, on average, over the decade. There has never been a better time to pursue a career path as an Accountant. 

What Type of Education Does an Accountant Need?

Accountants need a Bachelor’s degree to qualify for entry-level jobs, typically in Accounting or a related field. Some states require advanced coursework beyond a Bachelor’s degree in subjects such as financial reporting, taxes, auditing, and other business areas. Bookkeepers and Accounting Clerks can begin their careers with an Associate degree. Many Accountants pursue a Master’s degree and CPA licensure.

Accounting programs are very popular, and are available at most colleges and universities across the U.S.

What are the Different Fields of Accounting?

There are four major fields to Accounting, which include corporate, public, government, and forensic.

Corporate Accounting

Corporate Accountants handle accounting for companies, prepare their accounts and any cash flow statements, analyze and interpret the financial results for the business, and look at any events such as absorption, amalgamation, and consolidated balance sheets.

Public Accounting

Public Accounting refers to a business or individual who helps a range of clients, from individuals to corporations, prepare financial documents. They may also prepare tax returns for both individuals and organizations. Other duties may include audits, consulting services and tax advising.

Government Accounting

Government Accountants are employed at all levels of government — federal, state and local. At the federal level, Government Accountants manage public funds, investigate white-collar crime, perform financial statement audits for government agencies and conduct research on emerging accounting issues. At the state and local levels, Government Accountants manage use of local revenues, investigate frauds, perform financial, performance and compliance audits and recommend corrective action where needed.

Forensic Accounting

Forensic Accounting is a specialized area of accounting. A Forensic Accountant investigates incidents of fraud, bribery, money laundering and embezzlement by analyzing financial records and transactions, tracing assets, and more.

How Will Working For a Small Accounting Firm Versus a Well-Known One Change Your Career Trajectory?

Working for a small accounting firm versus a well-known one can change your career trajectory as an Accountant. There are pros and cons to working within each organization. 

Better Exposure and a Well-Rounded Accounting Experience

Smaller firms are able to give their employees better exposure and a more well-rounded accountancy experience. They are able to offer more flexibility in terms of work-life balance, working arrangements, and work hours. Smaller firms can also offer a more welcoming, collaborative environment. 

Clear Path to Promotion

At smaller accounting firms, you have the ability to work on a range of projects and therefore be continuously learning. Smaller firms can also change your career trajectory faster - they give you the ability to progress your career quickly. You have a higher chance of advancing to a Partner level or higher than at a larger firm, and in a shorter amount of time.

Learning and Growth Opportunities

A more well-known accounting firm offers other benefits as well. Well-known accounting firms are larger, with lots of opportunities for learning and growth. Accountants can receive both informal and formal training, mentoring, coaching, and hands-on experience from more seasoned co-workers. 

Robust Benefits

Well-known accounting firms can offer above average benefit packages than a smaller firm. Many bigger, well-known firms offer parental leave, a 401(k) match, excellent health benefits, and more.

However, unlike smaller accounting firms, it is harder to be promoted, and the work-life balance is often skewed, especially during the “busy tax season.” 

How Does Working as an In-House Accountant Versus With an Agency Impact Your Career?

In-house accounting refers to accounting activities of an organization that are performed by employees who work for that organization. For small businesses who have very specific, specialized, or unusual set-up, in-house accountants are extremely beneficial.

Accounting agencies are large organizations that are equipped to cover every single type of accounting service. They can help clients with a wide array of services, such as accounts payable/receivable, bookkeeping and payroll processing.

Working as an in-house Accountant versus with an agency can impact your career. There are benefits to both career paths that will determine the level of experience and your work environment.  

Gain Knowledge

Working as an in-house Accountant helps you to gain knowledge in a very specialized field of accounting, ultimately being the subject matter expert in a specific area of accounting. 

Flexibility

As an in-house Accountant, you have more flexibility over your time, work load, and tasks. In-house accountants can quickly and easily adapt to fulfill a company’s needs, which leads to a more personalized relationship. 

Collaborative Environment

Working in an agency as an Accountant allows for a more collaborative environment, and helps you stay abreast of the newest laws and regulations, since you will be working closely with other accounting colleagues. 

What Type of Specializations Might You Look into if Your Career Stalls?

If your career stalls, or you desire a change, there are several accounting specializations that you can pursue to advance your career - tax, assurance/auditing, and analytics.

Tax Accounting

Tax accounting will teach you the fundamentals of tax returns for corporations, nonprofits, and individuals to file with the IRS or state revenue departments every year. In tax accounting, accountants learn and interpret tax laws, as well as the ethics in tax preparation and filing, both in corporate and personal tax services and regulations. Possible roles include:

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