5 Careers in Accounting

Careers

There are many different careers in the field of accounting ranging from 

entry-level bookkeeping to the Chief Financial Officer of a company. To 

achieve positions with more responsibility and higher salaries, it's 

necessary to have a degree in accounting as well as achieve various 

professional designations.

One of the primary milestones in any accountant's career is to become a 

Certified Public Accountant or CPA. To become a CPA you have to go to 

college with a major in accounting. You also have to pass a national CPA 

exam. There's also some employment experience required in a CPA firm. 

This is generally one to two years, although this varies from state to state. 

Once you satisfy all those requirements, you get a certificate that 

designates you as a CPA and you're allowed to offer your services to the 

public.

Many CPAs consider this just one stepping stone to their careers. The chief 

accountant in many offices is called the controller. The controller is in 

charge of managing the entire accounting system in a business stays on 

top of accounting and tax laws to keep the company legal and is 

responsible for preparing the financial statements.

The controller is also in charge of financial planning and budgeting.  Some 

companies have only one accounting professional who's essentially the 

chief cook and bottle washer and does everything. As a business grows in 

size and complexity, then additional layers of personnel are required to 

handle the volume of work that comes from growth. Other areas in the 

company are also impacted by growth, and it's part of the controller's job 

to determine just how many more salaries the company can pay for 

additional people without negatively impacting growth and profits. 

The controller also is responsible for preparing tax returns for the 

business; a much more involved and complex task than completing 

personal income tax forms! In larger organizations, the controller can 

report to a vice president of finance who reports to the chief financial 

officer, who is responsible for the broad objectives for growth and profit 

and implementing the appropriate strategies to achieve the objectives.

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