Katherine
What kind of job opportunities will I have once I have an accounting degree?
I'm currently in college for accounting and considering being a CPA, but I was wondering if there are any other jobs that I might be interested in once I attain an accounting degree. #accounting
4 answers
Shannon N
Shannon’s Answer
I went to school for both accounting and finance, and have my CPA. With an accounting degree you can work in either public or private accounting. If you want to work in public accounting, like PwC, you likely will need your CPA. However, if you want to work on the business side, where you would work directly for a company, you may not necessarily need your CPA, however it is usually preferred when looking for jobs. If you decided to go into public accounting there are several career paths you can follow. For example, you can go into tax, external audit, or advisory/consulting to name a few. If you were to go into private accounting, you could be a staff accountant that posts the journal entries for a company (among several other responsibilities), you could be in internal audit, or technical accounting that researches new accounting standards, just to name a few. I recommend looking into public vs private accounting to determine what route is best suited for you. Further, I recommend thinking about the courses you are taking and which classes are most interesting to you to help you determine what role is right for you. I also recommend searching linked in for accounting to see what you find. A quick search will help you see that there are several different paths you can take with an accounting degree. Best of luck in your search.
Mohamed Behiry
Mohamed’s Answer
Accounting degree has many work opportunities, you can work at Accounting and Auditing firms as (Auditor, Consultant, Tax accountant), and you can work as accountant at a Company in may sections such (AR accountant, AP accountant, Treasury, Tax, ....).
Good luck.
Joshua Levine
Joshua’s Answer
The great thing about having a degree in accounting and a CPA license is it gives you access to a whole bunch of career opportunities. Here at PwC we have avenues that I hadn't heard of prior to starting at my firm. Besides the basic auditing, tax and consulting, we have process assurance which is more IT auditing, we have valuation services, and consulting has a whole bunch of areas. I think the coolest thing about working at a big firm if that is the route you want to take, is it gives you access to a lot of opportunities domestically and internationally. Even if you would not like to work at a big firm, you can work in accounting at a private or public company, you can work in some sort of finance role or even an operational role. I would advice to look on Linkedin and other job sites for occupations and job opportunities that prefer an accounting degree and/or a CPA license. You will be surprised by the amount of jobs out there that a person with an accounting degree can do.
Chi Ngo, CIA, CAMS
Chi’s Answer
As someone who went from English, Biology, Theatre, then to Accounting as my major, I had the same question. Fortunately, there are many career opportunities for someone who has an Accounting degree. Accounting gives you a solid foundation across key areas in business and financial reporting that would prove relevant across many careers. Keep in mind that being a CPA doesn't mean that is your job. "CPA" is a certification that you can choose to pursue should you deem it helpful for your selected career path, but it doesn't require you to only be an accountant. I suggest you look into other career opportunities into which an Accounting degree would squarely fit, such as External/Financial Audit, Tax, and Internal Audit (what I went into).
I went into internal audit, which allowed me to leverage my accounting background and build my technical skills in risk management and internal control, as well as the soft skills that are required of a professional in client service, with a direct reporting line to an organization's audit committee. Internal Audit must understand and assess an organization's strategy and the risks (business/strategic, financial, operational, compliance/legal, etc.) that can deter it from meeting its strategy, and develop and execute an internal audit plan consisting of assurance and consulting projects with the objective of adding value to the organization.
Hopefully my perspective helps you widen your appreciation for what is available to you. I suggest you speak to your college's business school counselors/mentors/professors for additional guidance, and research service lines of various professional firms (e.g., https://www.pwc.com/us/en/services.html) to further expand this appreciation.