Accountants & Auditors

Accountants and Auditors

If you love to read financial statements perhaps you could consider a career in accounting. A variety of careers are available including auditors, public accountants, and tax accountants. The career education information presented here will help you learn more about the field of accounting, the job outlook, the education required, and the career opportunities.

Learn more in the career education information listed below:

Overview

• Most jobs require at least a bachelor's degree in accounting or a related field.
• Jobseekers who obtain professional recognition through certification or licensure, a master's degree, proficiency in accounting and auditing computer software, or specialized expertise will have an advantage in the job market.
• Competition will remain keen for the most prestigious jobs in major accounting and business firms.

Job Description

Many accountants now are required to possess a wide range of knowledge and skills beyond the fundamental tasks of preparing, analyzing, and verifying financial documents. Specific job duties vary widely among the four major fields of accounting:

Public Accountants - perform a broad range of accounting, auditing, tax and consulting activities for their clients, who may be corporations, governments, nonprofit organizations, or individuals. For example, some public accountants concentrate on tax matters, such as advising companies of the tax advantages and disadvantages of certain business decisions and preparing individual income tax returns. Others are consultants who offer advice in areas such as compensation or employee healthcare benefits, the design of accounting and data-processing systems, and the selection of controls to safeguard assets. Some specialize in forensic accountinginvestigating and interpreting bankruptcies and other complex financial transactions. Still others audit clients' financial statements and report to investors and authorities that the statements have been correctly prepared and reported. Public accountants, many of whom are Certified Public Accountants (CPAs), generally have their own businesses or work for public accounting firms.

Management Accountants - also called industrial, corporate, or private accountants - record and analyze the financial information of the companies for which they work. Other responsibilities include budgeting, performance evaluation, cost management, and asset management. Usually, management accountants are part of executive teams involved in strategic planning or new-product development. They analyze and interpret the financial information that corporate executives need to make sound business decisions. They also prepare financial reports for non-management groups, including stockholders, creditors, regulatory agencies, and tax authorities. Within accounting departments, they may work in various areas including financial analysis, planning and budgeting, and cost accounting.

Government Accountants and Auditors - maintain and examine the records of government agencies and audit private businesses and individuals whose activities are subject to government regulations or taxation.

Internal auditors - verify the accuracy of their organization's records and check for mismanagement, waste, or fraud. Specifically, they examine and evaluate their firms' financial and information systems, management procedures, and internal controls to ensure that records are accurate and controls are adequate to protect against fraud and waste. They also review company operations - evaluating their efficiency, effectiveness, and compliance with corporate policies and procedures, laws, and government regulations. There are many types of highly specialized auditors, such as electronic data processing, environmental, engineering, legal, insurance premium, bank, and healthcare auditors.

Computers are rapidly changing the nature of the work for most accountants and auditors. With the aid of special software packages, accountants summarize transactions in standard formats for financial records and organize data in special formats for financial analysis. These accounting packages greatly reduce the amount of tedious manual work associated with data management and recordkeeping. Personal and laptop computers enable accountants and auditors to be more mobile and to use their clients' computer systems to extract information from large mainframe computers. As a result, a growing number of accountants and auditors have extensive computer skills and specialize in correcting problems with software or in developing software to meet unique data management and analytical needs.

Accountants also are increasingly assuming the role of a personal financial advisor. They not only provide clients with accounting and tax help, but also help them develop a personal budget, manage assets and investments, plan for retirement, and recognize and reduce exposure to risks. This role is a response to demands by clients for one trustworthy individual or firm to meet all of their financial needs.

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Working Conditions

Most accountants and auditors work in an office setting. Self-employed accountants may be able to do part of their work at home. Accountants and auditors employed by public accounting firms and government agencies may travel frequently to perform audits at branches of their firm, clients' places of business, or government facilities.

Most accountants and auditors generally work a standard 40-hour week, but many work longer hours, particularly if they are self-employed and have numerous clients. Tax specialists often work long hours during the tax season.

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Employment

• Almost 1 out of 4 salaried accountants work for accounting, auditing, and bookkeeping firms.
• Approximately 3 out of 25 accountants or auditors were self-employed.
• Many accountants and auditors are unlicensed management accountants, internal auditors, or government accountants and auditors. However, a large number are licensed Certified Public Accountants.

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Education, Training & Qualifications

• Most positions require at least a bachelor's degree in accounting or a related field.
• Some employers prefer applicants with a master's degree in accounting or with a master's degree in business administration with a concentration in accounting.
• Previous experience in accounting or auditing can help an applicant get a job. Many colleges offer students an opportunity to gain experience through summer or part-time internship programs conducted by public accounting or business firms.
• Practical knowledge of computers and their applications in accounting and internal auditing is a great asset.
• Professional recognition through certification or licensure provides a distinct advantage in the job market. For example, a CPA designation is earned through a combination of experience and passing the Uniform CPA Examination prepared by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA).
• The AICPA also offers members with valid CPA certificates the option to receive the Accredited in Business Valuation (ABV), Certified Information Technology Professional (CITP), or Personal Financial Specialist (PFS) designations.
• The Institute of Management Accountants (IMA) confers the Certified Management Accountant (CMA) designation upon applicants who complete a bachelor's degree or attain a minimum score on specified graduate school entrance exams.
• Graduates from accredited colleges and universities who have worked for 2 years as internal auditors and have passed a four-part examination may earn the Certified Internal Auditor (CIA) designation from the Institute of Internal Auditors.
• The Information Systems Audit and Control Association confers the Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA) designation upon candidates who pass an examination and have 5 years of experience in auditing electronic data-processing systems. Auditing or data-processing experience and a college education may be substituted for up to 2 years of work experience in this program.
• The Accreditation Council for Accountancy and Taxation, a satellite organization of the National Society of Public Accountants, confers three designationsAccredited in Accountancy (AA), Accredited Tax Advisor (ATA), and Accredited Tax Preparer (ATP).
• The Association of Government Accountants grants the Certified Government Financial Manager (CGFM) designation for accountants, auditors, and other government financial personnel at the Federal, State, and local levels.

Persons planning a career in accounting should have an aptitude for mathematics and be able to analyze, compare, and interpret facts and figures quickly. They must be able to clearly communicate the results of their work to clients and managers. Accountants and auditors must be good at working with people, as well as with business systems and computers. Because millions of financial statement users rely on their services, accountants and auditors should have high standards of integrity.

Capable accountants and auditors may advance rapidly; those having inadequate academic preparation may be assigned routine jobs and find promotion difficult. Many graduates of junior colleges and business and correspondence schools, as well as bookkeepers and accounting clerks who meet the education and experience requirements set by their employers, can obtain junior accounting positions and advance to positions with more responsibilities by demonstrating their accounting skills on the job.

Beginning public accountants usually start by assisting with work for several clients. They may advance to positions with more responsibility in 1 or 2 years, and to senior positions within another few years. Those who excel may become supervisors, managers, or partners; open their own public accounting firms; or transfer to executive positions in management accounting or internal auditing in private firms.

Management accountants often start as cost accountants, junior internal auditors, or trainees for other accounting positions. As they rise through the organization, they may advance to accounting manager, chief cost accountant, budget director, or manager of internal auditing. Some become controllers, treasurers, financial vice presidents, chief financial officers, or corporation presidents. Many senior corporation executives have a background in accounting, internal auditing, or finance.

In general, public accountants, management accountants, and internal auditors have much occupational mobility. Practitioners often shift into management accounting or internal auditing from public accounting, or between internal auditing and management accounting. However, it is less common for accountants and auditors to move from either management accounting or internal auditing into public accounting.

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Job Outlook

• Accountants and auditors who have earned professional recognition through certification or licensure should have the best job prospects.
• Applicants with a master's degree in accounting, or a master's degree in business administration with a concentration in accounting, also will have an advantage in the job market.
• Proficiency in accounting and auditing computer software, or expertise in specialized areas such as international business, specific industries, or current legislation, also may be helpful in landing certain accounting and auditing jobs.
• Employers increasingly seek applicants with strong interpersonal and communication skills. Because many accountants work on teams with others from different backgrounds, they must be able to communicate accounting and financial information clearly and concisely.
• Employment of accountants and auditors is expected to grow about as fast as the average for all occupations through the year 2010.
• As the economy grows, the number of business establishments will increase, requiring more accountants and auditors to set up books, prepare taxes, and provide management advice. As these businesses grow, the volume and complexity of information developed by accountants and auditors regarding costs, expenditures, and taxes will increase as well.
• The growth of international business also has led to more demand for accounting expertise and services related to international trade and accounting rules, as well as to international mergers and acquisitions.
• Internal auditors will increasingly be needed to discover and eliminate waste and fraud.
• However, these trends will be offset somewhat by a decrease in the demand for traditional services and by the growing use of accounting software. Accountants will spend less time performing audits, due to potential liability and relatively low profits, and will shift away from tax preparation, due to the increasing popularity of tax preparation firms and software. As computer programs continue to simplify some accounting-related tasks, clerical staff will increasingly handle many routine calculations.

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Salary Expectations

In 2000, the median annual earnings of accountants and auditors were $43,500. The middle half of the occupation earned between $34,290 and $56,190. The top 10 percent of accountants and auditors earned more than $73,770, and the bottom 10 percent earned less than $28,190. In 2000, median annual earnings in the industries employing the largest numbers of accountants and auditors were:

According to a salary survey conducted by the National Association of Colleges and Employers, bachelor's degree candidates in accounting received starting offers averaging $39,397 a year in 2001; master's degree candidates in accounting were initially offered $43,272.

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Related Occupations

Accountants and auditors design internal control systems and analyze financial data. Others for whom training in accounting is invaluable include budget analysts; cost estimators; loan officers; financial analysts and personal financial advisors; tax examiners, collectors, and revenue agents; bill and account collectors; and bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks. Recently, accountants increasingly have taken on the role of management analyst.

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Associations, Resources & Accreditation

Information about careers in certified public accounting and CPA standards and examinations may be obtained from the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants

Information on CPA licensure requirements by State may be obtained from National Association of State Boards of Accountancy.

Information on careers in management accounting and the CMA designation may be obtained from Institute of Management Accountants.

Information on the Accredited in Accountancy, Accredited Business Accountant, Accredited Tax Advisor, or Accredited Tax Preparer designations may be obtained from Accreditation Council for Accountancy and Taxation.

Information on careers in internal auditing and the CIA designation may be obtained from The Institute of Internal Auditors.

Information on careers in information systems auditing and the CISA designation may be obtained from The Information Systems Audit and Control Association.

Information on careers in government accounting and on the CGFM designation may be obtained from Association of Government Accountants.

Information on obtaining an accounting position with the Federal Government is available from the Office of Personnel Management through a telephone-based system. Consult your telephone directory under U.S. Government for a local number or call (912) 757-3000; Federal Relay Service: (800) 877-8339.

Information for accountants in Canada include:

• Certified General Accountants Association of Canada
• The Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants
• Certified General Accountants Association of Canada
• The Society of Management Accountants of Canada

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Source:

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2002-03 Edition, Accountants and Auditors, on the Internet at http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos001.htm

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