If you have ever thought about becoming an accountant, then this article is for you. You'll learn everything you ever wanted to know about becoming an accountant, where accountants work, how much they get paid, what kind of additional in-service training they need, how you can become an accountant, some involved in the job and when you can expect to retire.
Being an accountant is like being a "financial physician", you try to find problems with peoples money and sometimes may deal with frustrated customers that are defensive about their way that they manage their money.
Mainly accountants track revenue and expenses, and they prepare financial reports like balance sheets and income statements. Also, they can give financial advice to business and people.
On typical day, accountants track money so that could be income, expenses, taxes, and investments. Also, they review financial records and help business's make better financial decisions. Sometimes, they can meet clients to explain financial situations.
Mainly, accountants work at offices, but they can sometimes work at home. You can either work for small firms or big firms and once you acquire a lot of experience and get really good at accounting you can eventually open your own accounting firm.
Once you finish high school you can either get a bachelors degree in accounting, finance or business administration. These programs usually take 3 years to complete. Once you get your degree you can either enter the job market or continue studying to become a CPA (Chartered Professional Accountant).To become a CPA you have to complete extra courses and pass a final exam at the end, it usually takes 2 to 3 years to complete.
On average accountants can make $86 500 a year. Beginners make around $66 000 and the experienced make up to $100 000.
Like I mentioned earlier it is better to get your professional certification (CPA). You will also need to learn different accounting software's and other programs like Excel. But, accountants gain most of their experience by doing the job.
There are not that many dangers but the main dangers are stress and burnouts. Sometimes, you could have multiple tight deadlines at the same time and the job can sometime get a bit repetitive which can lead to burnouts.
For the moment accountants are not likely to be replaced because they are still needed to work with clients and make professional decisions with their judgment.But, certain repetitive task like data entry are already being automated by robots and artificial intelligence.
The typical accountant retires at the age of around 65. You would have learned a lot about the industry. You will probably have a lot of good contacts, and you will be able to manage your money.
Personally, I am currently studying to get my accounting degree, and after I get it, I want to study for my CPA certification. I know it will be a lot of hard work, a lot of sacrifice and a lot of dedication but at the end of the day it will be worth it because I will get well-payed, and I will complete my dream.
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