Are you worried about your career in accounting? If yes, then you need not be worried anymore. Accounting is one of the vast industries in the world. There are many types of accounting jobs in various industries. It would be best if you were not the Master of accounting to get the accounting jobs. There are entry-level to high-level jobs in accounting. Therefore you always have a large job area to explore in the field of accounting.
Whenever someone thinks of a professional who indulges in the accounting profession, they always envision a somewhat-frazzled professional working to file their clients’ tax claims. Most people think that there is only a single type of accounting job that covers each aspect of accounting. But in reality, no one can perform all the accounting operations efficiently. Therefore there are many types of accounting jobs in the world that have different job responsibilities. Here in this blog post, we will share the types of accounting jobs in the world. But before we dig into it, let’s have an overview of what is accounting:-
What is Accounting?
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Accounting is the process that is used to record financial transitions within a business. It includes analyzing and reporting the transactions to oversight agencies, regulators, and tax collectors. For instance, at a supermarket, everything from recording the number of transitions made to profit earned is done with accounting.
Accounting is everywhere, from small enterprises to large MNCs. Every financial transaction is managed by accounting. Accounting is more than keeping track of purchases and expenditures. It also involves the capital, assets, and liabilities of the business. Accountants are the key person for this process; they always navigate complex financial materials and provide analysis and insights.
Types of Accounting Jobs
Let’s have a look at some of the leading types of accounting jobs in the world. From entry-level to the expert level:-
1. Certified Public Accountant
It is one of the most high-level accounting jobs in the world. These accountants are recognized as the experts in the organization’s accounting records, taxes, and financial standing. They are the masters in dealing with the text and do in-depth work with the taxes. These accountants are considered the most trustworthy advisors, and they help the clients plan and meet the organizations’ financial goals.
They also assist the other financial matters of the organizations, such as audits, reviews, forensic accounting, consulting, and many more. Indeed, one of the career paths for a CPA is working with the biggest accounting firms in the US, which provides them with considerable professional growth. To become a CPA, you must have a Bachelor’s degree in an accounting program, and then you need to obtain the certification by passing the Uniform CPA Examination.
2. Forensic accountant
As the name suggests, these types of accountants are the detectives of the accounting world. These professionals analyze every organization’s financial record to ensure that the record should be compliant with the standards and laws. Apart from that, these accountants are responsible for uncovering the errors and outright frauds in financial records. But being a forensic accountant is never that easy; you need to have some unique skills that can help you land a forensic accountants’ position.
These skills are combining the mind of a numbers person with the investigator’s curiosity. These accountants work in the investigation and litigation support. They can also deal in court proceedings as expert witnesses. If you want to become a forensic accountant, then you should have a bachelor’s degree. Apart from that, you should also need to earn some more certifications. You can also try the CPA credentials for the extra impact on your profile.
3. Auditor
When it comes to accuracy, then the first job profile that comes to our mind is the auditor. Yes, auditors are the best at their work. They provide the results with accuracy. Every single organization in the world needs to conduct an annual audit to ensure the records are precise. Auditors always hire from outside to ensure the unbiased audit of the records.
They analyze the records and ensure to get the audit report without any preconceived bias. These accountants are tasked with examining financial statements, inspecting account books, accounting systems, organizing and maintaining the fiscal records. They also provide recommendations for improvement as per the experience in a particular industry.
4. Management accountant
As the name suggests, management accountants are those who are part of management in any organization. They are making critical strategic decisions that the business needs to maintain good financial health. Apart from that they also find the causes that can affect the financial health of any organization. They help the business to make sound decisions that can be beneficial for the business’s financial growth.
Although these accountants handle various tasks, some of the most common management accountants are planning and budgeting external financial reporting, risk management, profitability analysis, and many more. They are masters with technical accounting skills. Apart from that, they are also good at organizing information and presenting it simply for the other management staff to understand—the business executive to work with it. You need to have a bachelor’s degree and have a certificate like Certified Management Accountant(CMA) credential for this job title.
5. Cost accountant
As the name suggests, these types of accountants manage the cost of overall expenses of the business. Every business in the world tries to improve their processes to save money, for this cost accounting put their efforts to minimize the businesses’ cost. They handle all the activities responsible for examining every single expense associated with an organization and then conduct a profitability analysis and budget preparation.
They analyze every aspect of the cost, such as labor, materials, shipping, production, and many more. Then they compile the information with their technical expertise and then communicate it to the higher management. It helps them to identify ways to improve their financial efficiency. To be a cost accountant, you need to have a bachelor’s degree in accounting or finance. Apart from that, you should also have a strong command of math and statistics. You should also have the CPA credential or CCA accreditation if you want to have a better career as a cost accountant.
6. Government accountant
Government accountant deals with the government norms. There are several types of government accountants in the world. At the top level, we find the government accountant who works under the federal government. Other than that, we find the government accountant who works with state, country, city, and other government entities. These accountants keep track of the government money.
They always make sure that the high earned taxpayer money is spent wisely and prudently. They also make the financial plan for the government agencies for a fiscal year. Some of the government accountants also work as auditors for private banks and individual firms. If you want to be a government accountant, then you should acquire Bachelor’s degree in accounting. Apart from that, you can also have a Master’s degree in accounting, finance, and taxation.
7. Project accountant
As the name suggests, these accountants do not work for any particular organization. These accountants work on the project by project basis. In other words, they handle lots of accounting projects instead of focusing on a single project. They oversee all the aspects of a project that can affect the overall cost. It also includes preparing and collecting invoices, approving expenses, employee verification, and much more.
The project accountant can work with different kinds of projects, from a startup to a well-reputed organization. They work with the project managers and other professionals. In other words, they work within a team where communication is the strength aspect. Apart from that, interpersonal skills and teamwork are also necessary for project accountants. If we talk about the qualification, then you should have a bachelor’s degree in accounting. But if you have CPA or CMA credentials, you can have easily got a job in accounting firms as a project accountant.
8. Investment accountant
These accounts deal with the investment part of the finance. It is a fast-paced field as compared with other types of accounting jobs. It would help if you were active to work with full efficiency as an investment accountant. These accountants often work with brokerage and asset management firms. They should have a keen knowledge of stocks, bonds, investment vehicles, and many more.
They are responsible for maintaining the investment of their clients in different shares and bonds within the regulatory. Apart from that, they also help in developing the key financial strategy for the business. To be an investment account, you should have a bachelor’s degree in accounting, finance, and business. Apart from that, if you have CPA credentials, you can have a great career as a personal financial specialist.
9. Staff accountant
The most common accounting job profile is staff accounting. These accounting professionals are responsible for financial statement preparation, maintaining the business’s general and subsidiary accounts, cash management, payroll management, and many more. In the small organization, the staff accounts can also work as a bookkeeper to perform all the major and minor bookkeeping duties.
Apart from that in the large organization with some other works to perform. These types of accounting jobs vary from organization to organization and from position to position. Therefore these jobs don’t have any particular duties. If you want to be a staff accountant, you should have a bachelor’s degree in accounting.
Some other Types of Accounting jobs are:
- Anti-money laundering (AML) specialists
- Bookkeepers
- Financial analysts
- Payroll clerks
- Risk and compliance professionals
- Senior accountants
- Environmental accounting
- International accounting
- Accounting education and research
- Entertainment accounting
- Information technology accounting
Conclusion
In this blog post, we have covered all significant types of accounting. Now you can choose the best one for you as per your learning ability and skills. However, it is not impossible to master accounting skills and get additional certifications. But if you want to start your career as an accountant, you can start with bookkeeping or staff accounting.
After that, you can be in the position of senior accountant. And after getting plenty of years of experience, you can work as an auditor. Apart from that, you can master the technical accounting skills and then earn some more certification to get started with the well-paid and reputed job to start your career as an accountant. Get the best accounting assignments help from our accounting assignment experts at the lowest charges.
