1. Obj. 7.01 Understanding Accounting Career Opportunities
Careers
Obj Understanding Accounting
Career Opportunities

2. There are many accounting career opportunities with varying educational and experience requirements.
Accounting Clerk
Bookkeeper
Accountant
Certified Public Accountant

3. Accounting Clerk
Responsible for recordkeeping for payroll, accounts receivable or accounts payable.
Usually requires one to two accounting courses.
Requires little or no work experience.

4. Bookkeeper Responsible for recording business transactions.
In large firms, may supervise accounting clerks.
Usually requires one to two years of accounting education plus experience as an accounting clerk.

5. Accountants
Responsible for preparing financial statements and reports for a business.
Possibly supervises bookkeepers.
Usually requires a bachelor’s degree.
Sometimes can be filled with a person who has experience as a bookkeeper or has a two year degree. Size of the firm will impact the education and experience requirements.

6. Certified Public Accountants (CPA)
Trusted financial advisor who helps individuals, businesses, and other organizations plan and reach their financial goals.
Requires a certain amount of education and experience as well as passing a Uniform CPA exam. Majority of the states require 150 credit hours of education at an accredited college or university as a prerequisite to CPA certification.

7. Accountants usually choose one of the following career paths to practice:
Public Accounting
Managerial Accounting
Governmental Accounting

8. Public Accounting
Accountants that work for pubic accounting firms which provide services for other companies. Most accountants are CPAs.
Provide services such as:
Auditing – Reviewing financial statements to assess their fairness and if they adhere to GAAP.
Tax Accounting – Involves tax compliance and tax planning.
Management Advisory – Helping customers improve their business performance.

9. Managerial Accounting
Also known as private accounting.
Involves working for a single business in industry.
Provides financial information about business segments, activities or products.

10. Governmental Accounting
CPAs in government have responsibilities in the areas of:
Auditing
Financial Reporting
Management Accounting
Types of Governmental Accounting
Federal Government
State and Local Government

11. Federal Government
Some areas in which accountants work at the Federal Level are:
FBI
IRS
Securities and Exchange Commission
Homeland Security
Department of the Treasury
General Accounting Office

12. Federal Government Duties may include:
Investigating white-collar crime
Managing financial statement audits for government agencies
Performing research and analysis on financial management issues
Testifying before a legislative committee on an audit or on the impact of pending tax legislation

13. State and Local Government
CPAs are involved in conducting financial, performance, or compliance audits which may include:
Analyzing a school district’s ability to remain viable
The propriety of expenditures for constructing prisons
The effectiveness of the worker’s compensation system
The regulatory compliance of hazardous waste programs