Accountants play a critical role in a company’s many financial facets. In general, they balance books, record costs and profits, execute payroll, pay taxes and bills, and issue financial statements to outside organizations. Employers now seek Accounting applicants that are not only math and detail-oriented, but possess analytical thinking skills that lend them to spot and solve problems. Still, even the best solutions are worthless if they cannot be communicated to a member that can implement it. Therefore, strong written and verbal communication skills are important qualifications for the modern accounting position. A bachelor’s degree in finance, business, or management of information systems (MIS) is considered suitable training by employers for the technical, analytical, and communication skills necessary to succeed in entry-level positions. Qualifications for bookkeeping positions are much more lax, offering positions to high school graduates, associate degree holders, or people with a degree in an unrelated field.
The Big Four Accounting Firms offer a far from shabby starting salary in the mid $30,000s to $40,000 for entry-level accounting employees who quickly move up to the mid $40,000 to high $50,000 upon reaching seniority status. Management Accountants earn $60,000 to mid $70,000 a year and partners generally make more than $120,000. Although smaller firms may offer slightly lower wages, salaries in general are projected to continue rising in the industry over the next few years
ACCOUNTING JOBS
