Is Accounting a good Career?
Wow! That's a ton of questions. Let's start here. Accounting is an outstanding profession, but it isn't the most exciting. You have two paths to choose from: Public accounting...where you will work for CPAs and do taxes for personal and corporate clients. Option number 2 is corporate accounting where you will do AR/AP, Payroll, creating financial statements, etc. My personal recommendation is to go for the public accounting job because corporations are the clients. Once they see a competent tax accountant, they try to recruit the person...and the CPA is cool with that because now he has a contact within the corporation. But let me get to what I really wanted to talk about. The decision of where to go to school matters. If you get your undergrad from Devry, or UOP or one of non-traditional schools, you will have a more difficult time being hired at one the big 4 tax firms. Once you have your master's that will ease up...especially if you get it at a traditional school. It matters. You can't go wrong either way with a masters in Accounting or Finance. It's six of one / half a dozen of the other. Just make sure that you get your required 150 units to qualify you for the CPA exam. Let's talk about that for a minute. If you get hired on a big firm, they are going to work you to death. 50-60+ hours during tax season. Get ready for that. But in return, they have the tools to study for the CPA exam, and if you pass, some companies pay the bill. They won't do it if you fail, though. Good luck. Let me know if you have questions.
What is the truth about a career in accounting?
The truth is all of the things you mention are true. Accounting tends to be a very stable career with numerous opportunities. Every aspect of a for profit business revolves around the financial activity of the organization in some way and since accounting is the language of business, accountants are the linguistic experts. Many accounting jobs can be mundane, demanding and at times feel like they suck your soul out of you, mostly because you are not sure what you do matters. I will say it does matter, but it is not curing cancer or even writing an app that millions of people will depend on.As Mark Rigotti points out the answer lies in you. If you are content with having a steady job that offers you opportunities for advancement, then accounting may work for you. If you have an overriding need to change the world today, then you probably will not like accounting. Not to sound like the old crumudgeon, but I think a lot of 20 somethings in 2015 are career impatient and need that instant gratification to know that what they do matters and to be relevant sooner rather than later. Unfortunately in accounting it is still probably going to take you years to get to the point that you will get that feeling from your job. It is one career, where you do still have to "pay your dues" so to speak to get to the higher level jobs, where you can have a much broader perspective on what it is that accounting is all about and to be in a position to make decisions that matter.Working at a big 4 firm is one of the quicker ways to get there, because you pay a lot of dues early on, but you get the opportunities quicker. Still even with a big 4 job, it will be a minimum of 5-8 years or more before you get the real opportunities outside of public accounting.
Is it better to get a bachelor's or master's in accounting?
It really doesn’t matter that much.I work at a Big 4 Accounting firm(I’m going to refrain from specifying which one for the firm’s sake), and I would say it’s a pretty even split between Master’s and Bachelors of Accounting degrees amongst the people I work with.I have a Bachelor’s degree, but one of my good friends graduated from a top university with a Masters degree. We both work at the same company, making the same salary. Maybe he has since gotten a raise, but back when we both got our offer letters we had the same salary.Anyway I firmly believe that an MBA is much more valuable than a Masters in Accountancy. So if you are going to spend the extra money on a Master’s degree, go for an MBA.Not only will the MBA look good to Accounting firms, it also looks good if you choose to go into industry. Across virtually every industry, an MBA results in a higher wage.As long as you have your CPA, a Masters in Accountancy won’t matter that much. With a CPA, Bachelor’s in Accounting, and an MBA, however, you are an incredibly attractive prospect.
MS in accounting vs. CPA vs. Accounting Certificate?
I have a BA in Economics and a minor in Bus Admin. I am wanting to become a CPA and want to know the best route to make me the most marketable to future employers. I can either take 14 hours of Acct courses and then sit for the CPA, go back to school full time and get a Masters in Accounting, or go back to school for an Accounting Certificate (which is for students who have a BA in a field other than accounting). Any information would me helpful. I have been struggling with this decision for awhile and do not know any accountants to talk to. Thanks so much.
Question to people in the Accounting field?
If your college offers an internship as part of the degree, you might be able to get a position at an accounting firm. You can also be an internal accountant for businesses, you could work with the IRS if your strong suit is tax accounting, or you could go into forensic (criminal justice) accounting and work with your state Bureau of Criminal Investigaion or the FBI. Talk to your guidance counselor and someone within the business department of your intended college about just what you can do with your degree...but be aware: to be a CPA, you might need to get a master's in accounting.
Does it matter if I get my bachelor's in accounting online?
Do Degrees Matter?It’s a complex question, because really when you get down to it, what matters is who your employer is. Typically, the best thing you could have to open up a number of job opportunities for yourself in a market is a bachelor’s degree from a reputable school, on-campus. However, not everyone will care about the details.For example, statistics as per Forbes show that most college graduates don’t actually pursue the career their degree entails. In lieu with that, there are plenty of employers who don’t care whether you got your degree online or on-campus, so long as: a.) the degree is legitimate, from a certified and reputable school like CBU Online, and b.) it’s at least a graduate degree, like a bachelor’s degree.Finally, some employers actually may consider an online education to be a boon, due to the difficulties presented by studying online such as the increased need for discipline in order to finish a degree – online colleges typically produce less graduates because it’s not easy to stick to distance learning, but that doesn’t mean they are ineffective in producing quality workforce members.There is still some stigma regarding online college. Plenty of employers and HR professionals remember the diploma mill scandals of the late 20th and early 21st century, when the Internet was even younger than it is today – but the reputation of known online colleges has much improved, and large institutions are offering online distance learning further legitimizing it for the future.
As an undergrad, if I major in accounting at NYU or Baruch, does the name of the college matter when I apply for a job?
The biggest difference maker will be the relationships those schools have with the local accounting firms.For instance, if you hope to go into public accounting, you could talk to the career counseling centers at your perspective schools to see what their connections to the Big Four are (i.e. if they hold on-campus recruiting events, help you find an internship, etc.).In my case, I went to a co-op school (Drexel University) that had a great relationship with the accounting firms and I was able to get an internship and full-time employment at Ernst & Young through that program. Most of my co-workers were recruited in similar ways. There were also individuals there that graduated from University of Pennsylvania, but they were working exactly the same job with twice the amount of student loan debt.Hope this helps. Good luck with your choice!
Will doing an expensive master in accounting really help?
When you apply for the job, will you be evaluated based on your skills and how well they match to what the company needs - or based on the size of your student loans?Yes, the answer is obvious - no one cares whether you had paid $10k or $100k for your education. And only if your school can guarantee - in writing - that this 3x expense is a sure way to a job upon graduation should you even think about this expense.(No, your school will not put this in writing because then you can take them to court and get damages for false claims).You are in accounting, you understand finance (well, hopefully) - so when you have a product that's expensive and a product that's 3 times as much, why would you go with what someone else (who will profit from it) would suggest to you? Do your own research.Make your own conclusions. If needed, contact a couple of employers and ask for an informational interview with their HR department, and ask whether the school will matter - I can save you a trip and say that it won't matter, unless you're talking some regional school vs Harvard University or Yale University or University of Oxford or the like.
For Accountants: Does it really matter where you get your Accounting degree?
I am considering two different programs for a Masters in accounting: one is a top notch program (one of the top five) and the other is a run-of-the-mill type program. The really good program would entail me getting into debt (about 71K, including student loans and personal loans); whereas the average program would run more like 12K. Somebody told me that it really does not matter enough to make it worth the additional debt. He indicated that, once I had my CPA license, few would care enough about where I received my degree to justify the expense. I would appreciate any feedback whatsoever. Thanks
Which accounting concentration is the best?
I answer you based on your location is US or Canada. What you need to do is to obtain a B Com or BA in accounting then CPA if you are in US or CA if in Canada while you article with an public accounting firm. Then, you can decide for yourself depending upon your career goal whether you want to stay with public firm doing audit or tax, to work as an internal auditor in industry, or to get a controller position (managerial position) in industry. Do not worry about which specific area of accounting you major in your university because most public accounting firm does not care as long as your major is broad accounting/finance/commerce. Just try to finish your degree and then get a job in public firm. All those things you worried are something that you need not to worry about. Trust me.