It’s a good time to be looking for a job as an accountant. After contracting during the business slowdown of the early 2000s, hiring is now on the rise—especially, as demand for accounting services soar due to a newly healthy business climate, for experienced candidates who can come in and start contributing on day one.
Job growth in this number-crunching sector is set to grow more quickly than the national average, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). There are many reasons for the increased demand. Partially this is due to the usual reasons, including a rapid increase in the number of new businesses opening, along with ever-changing business and tax laws. Apart from that, business finances are being scrutinized more closely by regulatory agencies and the Internal Revenue Service. But it’s not just corporations that are looking for accountants. The growing number of self-employed people, possible increases in bankruptcies as a result of the slumping housing market, and the wider impact of the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) have all spurred demand for accounting services among individuals.
Far and away, the most positions available in public accounting are in audit, with tax coming in second. The need for forensic accountants—specialized accountants who focus on digging into clients’ balance sheets to look for red flags—is growing as the industry and its clients look to rebuild their reputation. Demand for in-house corporate accounting and finance employees is expected to grow, as well. Some accountants, especially those with several years of experience under their belts, will opt to go off on their own and practice as independent contractors or start their own firms.
The accounting industry is emerging from the tough times it faced in the early 2000s, when all the major accounting firms were implicated in one scandal or another. Accounting rule changes have added work to the plates of public accounting firms, individual tax advisers, and industry finance departments alike.
What You'll Do
The responsibilities of accountants are more wide-reaching than just balancing the books, although that is an important part of the job. The cornerstone of an accountant’s work is making sure money is coming in and going out in an appropriate manner, taxes are paid on time, and public filings are done properly. In addition to this, however, accountants who deal with businesses, either as part of a CPA firm or in-house accounting department, are also an important part of the management team. In order to help the company make key decisions about growth, accountants are often expected to be able to analyze budgets to determine whether they’re reasonable; provide investment and financial planning to help fatten the company’s bottom line; advise about financial information technology options, such as accounting and inventory tracking software; and provide limited legal services, on such topics as stock filings, business registrations and the like.
Of course, accountants balance the books, track expenses and revenue, execute payroll, and pay the bills. They also compile all of the financial data needed to issue a company's financial statements in accordance with government regulations. When dealing with individuals, accountants help with planning to reduce the chunk of income that Uncle Sam takes in taxes. To be sure, an accountant's day-to-day work is still very different from that of a lion tamer, especially for those who are just entering the field. Most public accountants, for example, still need to know the specifics of tax law and must file audits that meet the generally accepted principles of accounting (GAAP). Here, there's little room for people who want to think outside of the box. The box has been well thought out, and it's the accountant's job to make sure a company's records fit inside it and are in lockstep with the law.
Who Does Well
Finance and accounting jobs require critical, detail-oriented thinking. If you have a knack for using numbers to understand patterns that influence business, you're going to be valuable to a company. If you have a tough time finding the “on” switch on a calculator, let alone using it to crunch and analyze numbers, this isn't going to be the right job for you. You should also like, and be good at, solving problems. Being able to think critically about the numbers with which you’re working is an essential skill for accountants. While accountants need to be good at math and have strong analytical thinking skills, attention to detail is usually considered equally important. And as accountants are increasingly being promoted to senior management and even landing in the board room, they are finding it necessary to develop strong written and verbal communication skills.
The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants strongly recommends that all accountants balance their technical business training with a classically liberal arts education. This type of broad-based education is important because, in addition to understanding numbers, accountants need to understand the wide range of individuals and occupations they will encounter. Furthermore, as business is increasingly being performed electronically, accountants need to pick up as much knowledge about computers and information systems as possible, not only to understand their utility but also to assess their value to a company.
