Accounting is the study of how businesses track their income and assets over time. Accountants complete many tasks besides preparing financial statements and recording business transactions. Besides preparing financial statements and recording business transactions including computing costs and efficiency gains from new technologies, participate in the set up for acquisitions and mergers, quality management, developing and using information systems to track financial performance, tax strategy, and health care benefits management.
Types of Accounting related jobs
Accounting jobs can be categorized into the following four major areas:
Audit. Audit involves checking accounting ledgers and financial statements to verify its accuracy and detect fraud and inconsistency. Public listed firms are required by law to do yearly to verify its financial reports in order to safeguard publics’ money.
Budget Analysis. Budget analysts are responsible for developing and managing an organizations financial plans.
Financial Accounting. Financial accountants prepare financial statements based on general ledgers and participate in important financial decisions involving mergers & acquisitions, benefits/ERISA planning and long-term financial projections.
Management Accounting. Management accountants work in companies and participate in decisions about capital budgeting and line of business analysis. Major functions include cost analysis, analysis of new contracts and participation in efforts to control expenses efficiently.
Tax Accounting. Tax accountants prepare corporate and personal income tax statements and formulate tax strategies involving issues such as financial choice, how to best treat a merger or acquisition, deferral of taxes, when to expense items and the like.
Where Accountants work?
Essentially, an accountant can find himself or herself working for any one of the following places:
- Public Accounting Firms. These firms provide accounting, taxation and auditing services to individuals, businesses and government.
- Government. Government accountants prepare budgets, track costs and analyze government initiatives.
- Corporations. Businesses of all sizes usually have an accountant or accounting department that prepares financial statements, tracks costs, handles tax returns, and works on major transactions.
- Independent. Working as a self-employed accountant means generating your own business.
Below are some skills you need to have in order to be successful in the field:
- Communication skills
- Analytical skill
- Problem solving skills
- Computer skills
- Aptitude for mathematics
- Good business ethics
Some common subjects found in most Bachelor Accounting Degree are as follows:
- Cost accounting
- Financial accounting
- Managerial accounting
- Organizational behavior
- Database management
- Budget control
- Interpersonal communication
- Information system
- Business law