2 answers
Rihanna
Student
Nashville, AR
2
Questions
Asked
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What about being a Finance Accountant difficult?
I’m 15 in the 9th grade, and I’m worried about being an financial accountant.
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2 answers
Joanna Pilch
10
Answers
Kraków, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, Poland
Updated
Joanna’s Answer
Hello Rihanna,
It is normal and ok to be worried about any career/path we are interested in. If you are interested in becoming an accountant, then embrace it and learn, learn and discover everything you can about this position.
It surely requires lots of work and study time. The difficulties when you start working in the financial sector are usually related with being on top with the current fiscal and tax legislation and the timelines for proper documentation processing. But it becomes a habit after some time of working in this field.
You could try to contact your school and ask, if it would be possible to have some classes or workshops about the role you are interested into, as well as inviting an accountant to speak about his daily activities and be able to ask him any question and raise any concern you have.
If you do have the possibility and time, you could also try to find and internship /summer activity within an accounting company, so that you could learn first hand form already seasoned professionals.
Lastly, I encourage you to pursuit your dream, if you want to become an accountant.
Please also remember, it is also always possible to switch/change/adapt your career path, if you will feel the need for it. Learn with curiosity and be open to opportunities you find interesting. Keep dreaming big and doing what you feel is good for you - the difficulties will then become just regular steps to pass forward, same as any other you will take along your journey.
It is normal and ok to be worried about any career/path we are interested in. If you are interested in becoming an accountant, then embrace it and learn, learn and discover everything you can about this position.
It surely requires lots of work and study time. The difficulties when you start working in the financial sector are usually related with being on top with the current fiscal and tax legislation and the timelines for proper documentation processing. But it becomes a habit after some time of working in this field.
You could try to contact your school and ask, if it would be possible to have some classes or workshops about the role you are interested into, as well as inviting an accountant to speak about his daily activities and be able to ask him any question and raise any concern you have.
If you do have the possibility and time, you could also try to find and internship /summer activity within an accounting company, so that you could learn first hand form already seasoned professionals.
Lastly, I encourage you to pursuit your dream, if you want to become an accountant.
Please also remember, it is also always possible to switch/change/adapt your career path, if you will feel the need for it. Learn with curiosity and be open to opportunities you find interesting. Keep dreaming big and doing what you feel is good for you - the difficulties will then become just regular steps to pass forward, same as any other you will take along your journey.
I will use this advice as I prepare for my career.
Rihanna
Brian Baptista
Financial Accounting
7
Answers
Rocklin
Updated
Brian’s Answer
Hi Rihanna,
Great things to think about. The business world of "financial accounting" is a lot larger than how you might be defining it. If you are envisioning financial accounting as doing taxes, closing books, booking entries...sure there is a specialized world and accounting firms for that. But for me, being someone with an Accounting degree, I never went that route. I used my degree and entered a large retail company with a job in financial analysis, which in my circumstance, meant analyzing my company's monthly expenses. From there (and within the same company), I went to Accounts Payable and Procurement/ Purchasing. After 5 years, I moved and got another job in procurement and financial reporting with a very large telecom company. I then moved on to work in the Fixed Asset Acct dept (yes, actually accounting !) . But all that experience I gained in my previous roles allowed me to then get a position in charge of running field financial operations which required knowledge from all areas I learned before - purchasing, procurement, AP and accounting. Fast forward 10 years later, and now I am on a special project to build a financial system for my company that would serve all the financial functions. Because I know how they all work, I have a lot of input to offer. I have been with the company now for 22 years.
I say this all to you not to boast about what I've done, but to share my path and see what opportunities are out there by just starting with an accounting degree. Not all paths are the same, but my main point is - the world of opportunities is more open than you think. Every company has financial operations in some capacity so you would be a candidate in almost any industry having a finance or accounting degree. So I hope you don't continue to feel worried about entering this field. The world of opportunities in finance and/or accounting will be enormous. What's more important is you just have to work hard, distinguish yourself, and find what you like...and success will follow. Good luck!
Great things to think about. The business world of "financial accounting" is a lot larger than how you might be defining it. If you are envisioning financial accounting as doing taxes, closing books, booking entries...sure there is a specialized world and accounting firms for that. But for me, being someone with an Accounting degree, I never went that route. I used my degree and entered a large retail company with a job in financial analysis, which in my circumstance, meant analyzing my company's monthly expenses. From there (and within the same company), I went to Accounts Payable and Procurement/ Purchasing. After 5 years, I moved and got another job in procurement and financial reporting with a very large telecom company. I then moved on to work in the Fixed Asset Acct dept (yes, actually accounting !) . But all that experience I gained in my previous roles allowed me to then get a position in charge of running field financial operations which required knowledge from all areas I learned before - purchasing, procurement, AP and accounting. Fast forward 10 years later, and now I am on a special project to build a financial system for my company that would serve all the financial functions. Because I know how they all work, I have a lot of input to offer. I have been with the company now for 22 years.
I say this all to you not to boast about what I've done, but to share my path and see what opportunities are out there by just starting with an accounting degree. Not all paths are the same, but my main point is - the world of opportunities is more open than you think. Every company has financial operations in some capacity so you would be a candidate in almost any industry having a finance or accounting degree. So I hope you don't continue to feel worried about entering this field. The world of opportunities in finance and/or accounting will be enormous. What's more important is you just have to work hard, distinguish yourself, and find what you like...and success will follow. Good luck!
Thank you for sharing your perspective.
Rihanna