Accounting Careers

Becoming an accountant gives you many potential options: types of accounting and where you can work. Keep the different types of accounting in mind: From forensic, government, certified public accountant, investment accountant, and more, you have lots of options. Each type of accounting carries similar responsibilities, but your employer’s goals may be very different.

Accounting—What it Is

To work as an accountant means that you’ll help your employer maintain the business’ financial accounts. No matter the specific type of accounting you were hired for, you will be expected to have a high level of information about your employer’s financial operations. To obtain this knowledge, you’ll have to keep track of financial transactions in balance sheets, profit and loss statements and a general ledger. Your analytical skills help you figure out where accounting discrepancies have begun.

Your employer may also want you to make recommendations on various financial actions they may want to take. Expect to justify your recommendations to your employer.

Certified public accountants serve a wide variety of needs for both businesses and individuals. Business owners depend on their CPA to help them keep their books in order, balance their records on a monthly basis, and report their tax forms to the IRS. Individuals also often hire a CPA to help them do their taxes or to give them advice on their financial affairs. Accountants can handle most basic questions or issues regarding bookkeeping

or accounting. If you need more involved legal or financial advice, they may refer you to a tax attorney or certified financial advisor.

It's important to remember that CPAs are not tax attorneys or financial advisors. Their training deals more with the daily upkeep of record books and ledgers that reflect the income and "outgo" of their money sources and balance their accounts.

Organizational tasks are often difficult for the busy entrepreneur. CPAs help them keep track of their revenue and help them plan how to cut expenses or increase their revenue to reach their business goals.

The job title that you may have a CPA certification will depend on the institution that you work for, as well as the role that you are hired to play. For example, a business may want a regular CPA on staff to handle all of the books of business. This is an important job and would be a full-time position if the business has regular revenue that they must keep track of.

In addition to keeping the books, a CPA may also be responsible for paying bills that the business owes such as overhead, utilities, or even cutting checks for staff and employees. CPAs may work with a company's payroll department, and they may also be present in the event of an audit from the IRS or other financial entities.

Another possible title that a CPA may hold is Tax Preparer. Some firms, businesses, or individuals hire CPAs for the sole purpose of having them help them with their taxes. While CPAs are not tax attorneys, they are often highly skilled in the area of IRS and state tax law. This is a requirement to receive their CPA certification. So CPSs are more than qualified to advise, prepare, and send a company or individual's tax forms to the IRS or state tax office for them.

Taxes are perhaps the number one reason that CPAs are called on to help. Business owners who have changed their status from a "Sole Proprietor" status to an "S-Corporation" status, for example, need tax advice on which forms to fill out since they are going from being an individual only to a corporation. The forms and processes that are involved in filing taxes as an S-Corp are significantly different than those involved with a Sole Proprietorship.