Steps 5: Promotion Opportunities
Senior Accountant: Becoming a senior accountant is a promising step in the promotional ladder. Senior accountants have more responsibilities than staff or junior level accountants. Senior accountants are responsible for preparing financial documents, assisting with monthly reconciliations, and assisting with audits.
Accounting Supervisors: The next level up from senior accountants are the accounting supervisors. Accounting supervisors are in charge of the staff and senior accountants. They are also in charge of hiring accountants, creating financial reports, and developing budgets.
Accounting Managers: Accounting managers are the next level up from the accounting supervisors and have a lot of responsibilities.
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Such skills are as followed:
Analytical/Research Skills: Working as an accountant requires strong analytical skills as accountants’ must analyze important financial figures and charts, as well as complete thorough research and organize financial data.
Integrity: Due to the nature of confidentiality surrounding the accounting profession, accountants must work with the highest integrity and ethical standard. Accountants must stay loyal to both their company and their clients.
Computer and Technical Literacy: Accountants do most of their work on the computer, therefore, they must understand the basic functions of computers and the way to operate certain accounting software. In addition to this, accountants must be able to adapt to technological advances and changes.
Communication: Accounting is a profession centered around communication. On a daily basis, accountants must work with clients, colleagues, and a wide variety of others. Communication is key in developing inter-personal
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Joining professional accounting organizations look good to employers and colleagues due to the prestige of such organizations. In addition they also provide connections between accountants at various firms.
One accounting organization that is both reputable and popular is the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). Accountants who are members of the AICPA are offered a multitude of benefits, such as professional guidance and development, a sense of community, a wide array of discounts, as well as access to accounting trade journals.
Another well-known accounting organization is the American Accounting Association (AAA), which has been around for over a hundred years. This organization provides accountants with useful information regarding research and practice. Being a member of AAA gives accountants access to accounting trade journals with valuable
First, the Code of Professional Conduct encourages accountants to behave ethically. Encouraging accountants to behavior ethically is a strength because it helps create customer loyalty, positive work environments, and dedicated employees, which helps avoids legal issues. Accounting professionals have to behave ethically just because of the profession they are in. Accountants need to behave ethically because the investors, creditors, and rest of the public rely on an accountant’s professional judgment to make
Morrison's definition of an accounting supervisor is someone that oversees accountants and fiscal officers. On top of that, she deals with bank reconciliations, financial statements preparation, and a lot of general banking for the company. As Morrison was describing her duties she chuckled, "That's generally my
Why should you have an accounting degree in the first place? You should have an accounting degree because there are always jobs in this field and the chances you will actually get a job are really high in either public or private accounting firms. People say, having an accounting degree can have 360 different job opportunities. You can work anywhere because everyone needs an accountants from in businesses, for the Government, or even by yourself the options are unlimited.
In the case of a private accountant the end of climbing the professional pyramid is at becoming the chief financial officer (CFO). Within a company, this is the most prominent position for a person of an accounting background and field. Prior to becoming a CFO, the private accountant must tackle the positions of control such as assistant controller and controlee. At the achievement of becoming a CFO, the accountant would take on the same responsibilities it once held but to a higher level. It is expected to take control of the companies’ entirety of accounting functions. For a private accountant to reach the level of CFO is quite an accomplishment, but this position bestowed by a small, low-key company does not appear as well on paper as the accomplishment of a public accountant who made a name for themselves.
Accounting is basically a service activity. Its purpose is to provide quantitative information that principally used by the managers, investors, tax authorities, and other decision makers to make the financial decisions within companies, organizations, and public agencies. Accounting is also widely known as the “language of business.” An accountant measures, communicates, and interprets financial activities. They prepare financial statements or reports for individuals, businesses, government agencies, or other non-profit organizations. They use the accounting systems to categorize the expenses and income to the typical groups. They also keep tract of the money received or paid out to see if the transactions are accurate and complete. Accountants are familiar with the computer operation. They use the computer...
It is highly essential for accountants and business professionals to maintain a standard of ethical conduct in the workplace as the nature of their work places them in position of trust. (Senarante, 2011). Accountants have the responsibility to ensure that their duties are performed in accordance with the five fundamental principles set out in the Code of Professional Ethics such as integrity, objectivity, professional competence and due care, confidentially and professional behaviour (Cunningham et al. 2014). Accountants are expected to be reliable and trustworthy. Thus they are required to act ethically in relation to their clients, employers and the general public in order to provide quality services in the best interest of the society (Eginiwin & Dike, 2014). The International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) have established a code of ethics for accountants, allowing each specific country to add their own national ethical standards to the code to reflect cultural differences. The code provides emphasis on the five fundamental principles as well as resolution of ethical conflicts. In Australia, professional accounting bodies such as CPA Australia, Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia (ICCA) and the Institute of Public Accountants (IPA) adopt the Australian Professional and Ethical
Managerial accountants need to use accounting information in seeing to it that they are able to plan, evaluate the company performance, manage risks and control the business operations in a manner that is deemed beneficial to the business as a whole (Caplan, n. d). This can be achieved through: having high standards of ethics in all situations; employing the techniques of management reports, budgetary control, and analysis of fund flows and financial statements; making prudent capital investment decisions; and maintaining continuous quality control systems.
When I think of a financial manager, accountant quickly comes to mind. The role of accountant and financial manager are similar in several ways and often times they work closely together on various projects. The role of an Accountant is to ensure that their organization is run efficiently, make sure their records are accurate, and that their taxes are paid properly and on time. Accountants perform a broad range of accounting, auditing, tax, and consulting activities for their clients. They record and analyze the financial information of the companies for which they work. Other responsibilities include budgeting, performance evaluation, cost management, and asset management. “The role of the financial manager has expanded beyond traditional responsibilities related to company's finances. A financial manager, through his/her understanding of the company's financial health, the current market, and the goals of the company, helps set direction and guides decision making.” Financial managers perform several different task related to finance for their organization they normally oversee the preparation of financial reports, direct investment activities, and implement cash management strategies.
Increased competitions and high expectations of the companies have put high pressure on the accountants. Making the most accurate decisions and helping the companies maximize their financial performances have become almost basics of the accountants’ duties. Many business owners question why they need to seek the services of an accountant when they can do many things themselves with the help of the technological tools. Today, an accountant must provide more than what technology can do for the company. They have to set business plans, goals and provide guide to achieve them with less cost and most profit. They have to advise business on their investments and project the most profitable decisions for the company. Beside the investments, accountants expected to consult the firms on their consolidations with other firms. Making decisions and researches on reducing costs, and sharing resource while providing variety of offerings puts lots of stress on the
I feel that this major is of a great interest to me because its diversity. Both career paths have advantages and disadvantages. Public accountants have greater variety of exposure in working with different clients and industries; also, advancement opportunities may become sooner. On the other hand, private accountants can reach management levels without a CPA license and advancement opportunities may not come as quickly. This overview presented me a better idea of where a degree in accounting could take me. Knowing that I have a variety of opportunities and room for growth give me the confidence I need to Pursuing the degree would definitely open up the doors for me. Similarly, knowing that I have a detail oriented personality is a perfect fit for the world of accounting; I feel confident that my analytical, math and communication skills will help me to become a trustworthy and reliable accountant who help people to become more efficient with their
The Revenue Act of 1924, which President Calvin Coolidge signed into law to give CPAs the recognition by the federal government to be a professional class. The AICPA (American Institute of Certified Public Accounting) has been given four different names throughout history. It began as the AAPA (American Association of Public Accountants) in 1887. In 1916, the AAPA was succeeded by the Institute of Public Accountants, which changed its name to the AIA (American Institute of Accountants) a year later. That name was taken in 1936 when the AIA merged with the American Society of Certified Public Accountants. The AIA renamed itself the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) in 1957. In 1896, New York Gov. Levi P. Morton signed the first CPA bill into law. Twenty-two members were part of the AICPA when it was formed in 1887. The 16th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, ratified in 1913, permitted a federal income tax (Tysiac).
What does the accountant of the future need to be successful? A sturdy education that while is based on traditional accounting practices, also prepares future accountants for the plethora of changes happening in the accounting universe. Frequently, most of the institutions responsible for educating professionals fail to evolve as rapidly as the professional practice itself (Bedford et al. 4). In every way, accounting is expanding and in order for the future to have competent accountants, accounting education must expand as well. Major changes occurring in the world of accounting include the expansion of services and products, changes in competition, an increase in specialization, and an increase in and an advancement of technology. It is up to academic institutions to find proactive ways in which to prepare students for such changes. Accounting education of the future will require more breadth to cover the inevitable expansion of services and products, increased knowledge of economics, marketing, management and information systems to increase competitive advantage, a balanced course load that provides a general accounting knowledge as well as increased knowledge of a specialization, and also a greater, proactive focus on the use of continuously advancing accounting technologies (Bedford et al. 8). Also in play is the chance of change in accounting standards, the move from US GAAP to IFRS. While there are no certainties surrounding the threat of such change, students in the U.S. should acquire at least a general, basic feel for the practices used in regards to IFRS. The future health of the accounting profession depends, to a great extent, on the health of our students (Gormon and Hargadon 4). Reorganization of curriculums would surely be difficult and assumedly time-consuming, but nevertheless, completely
From the first tutorial, ‘Current Conceptions of Accounting’, we had already change our prediction on accounting professional. At the beginning, we through that accounting professional would be more formal and format. From what we have learnt from the first two semesters of accounting, we need to do everything under the current structure, standards, and regulations. Accounting is a tool and skill that help us to achieve our career successful. However, the first tutorial activity, which require us to bring up our view of ‘accounting, accountability, or an accountant’ from a lifestyle magazine. This activity make us found that accounting could be just next to us, not just in the career field, but also could find it anywhere in our life. This activity has open up our mind of accounting
Accountants are becoming a needed job in the business industry and play a very important role in the success of many businesses. This job usually requires at least a bachelor’s degree in accounting and sometimes even a CPA (Certified Public Accountant). There are many other things that are needed to be considered before choosing this career. The job environment, education, skills, and benefits are just some of the many things that need to be thought through before considering this career.
Accounting is a very important term to our modern society. It is the career for men and women who at the start have their eyes set on top positions in industry, management, government, and general business. Accounting is a basic need of every businessman, from the operator of a filling station to the government of the United States. It's so important to our society. None of the business organization can operate without is. They are there-somewhere-in every business. In small business, people use pen, ink and skill keep the records. In large business, modern accounting machines are used to operate. Men and women are directing these machines in the accounting process. Wise businessmen enter business must have some accounting knowledge.