List of Accounting Careers

Generally, people think accounting to be a homogenous industry, but it has a whole lot of variety in it. In other words, there is no set accounting career path. One can choose from several different fields of accounting to make a career in. The fields also have their area of focus and specialization.

It may be noted that almost all accounting careers need a basis in fundamental technical accounting skills, you can then choose any career path depending on your interests. Here isa list of accounting careers you can consider to choose the best accounting career path.

• Public Accountant: A public accountant provides auditing, tax, consulting, and accounting services for many clients belonging to different businesses including individuals, nonprofits, and governments.
• Tax Accountant: Is an accountant who is specialized in tax-related accounting which may include preparing annual and quarterly tax returns for individuals or companies on a local, state, or federal level.
• Forensic Accountant: Is specialized in examining the financial statements of companies and also provides analysis for legal cases or crime investigation in issues like fraud and embezzlement.
• Financial Accountant: Is an accountant who works for a single business or organization, preparing reports that assess fiscal performance for individuals outside the company like stockholders and tax agencies.
• The other types of accountants include Managerial accountants, Financial Planners, Internal auditors, and government accountants. They basically do what their name suggests.

Educational Requirements for Accountants

Before choosing a career path in accounting, one must know what level of education is required to become an accountant. Most professional accounting jobs require a bachelor's degree, preferably in commerce.

However, one can also become an accountant specific to a particular area by pursuing specific accounting programs along with their bachelor's degree. It may be noted that most accounting professions do not need a master’s degree but may be required when trying to become specialized in a particular sector.

The Work Environment for Accountants

If you are wondering what the working conditions are for an accountant, then the Work environment for accountants can vary depending upon the type of accounting work that you do.

A managerial accountant has a consistent work pace doing similar work day after day. However, the pace and workload can change for other types of accounting, especially tax accountants.

They tend to have very busy periods during the tax season, followed by a slower period of relatively less work.

Although not always stressful, sometimes the daily work can become demanding for accountants. Then again, most accountants work full time, but some accountants only work part-time.

One good thing about being an accountant is that it sees a very mild amount of workplace competition. However, accountants, rarely if ever get a chance to show any creativity.

What is the Future of an Accounting Career?

With the rise of technology, the accounting industry is also evolving. The industry is facing the introduction of computers, software, automation, minibots, machine learning, and adaptive intelligence that can do lightning-fast calculations and predictions.

So it is natural to ask the question what is the future of an accounting career? But it does not mean the humans are out and there will be terminators everywhere.

Intelligent technology is new and has a lot to learn. Besides, they still need people to make use of them. We only use AI to simply do some tasks for us but in the end, the final report has to go through human eyes.

This means, that upcoming accountants only need update their learning and become tech-savvy.

They will need to learn skills in emerging accounting technologies like cloud computing, automated accounting tasks, and blockchain technology.