What It Takes to Become an Accountant
Accounting isn't necessarily a glamorous career, but that doesn't mean it doesn't have a lot to offer. Accountants enjoy stable job prospects, the opportunity to work with a wide variety of clients and the satisfaction of helping their business and individual clients make crucial careers and stay on the right track. All of this requires a certain type of character and a lot of training. But if you have what it takes, you could be on the path to a rewarding career.
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Personality
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Everyone knows that accountants should be comfortable with numbers. Any job in the field will require you to be comfortable reviewing and analyzing your clients' financial information, sometimes helping them make complicated decisions about taxes and investments. But with most of your competition adept at math and more and more of companies' basic bookkeeping being handled by automated computer programs, good communication skills can make all the difference. Accountants must be able to explain complicated concepts in terms their clients can understand, help solve problems and work under pressure with teams of other experts.
Education
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Accountants need specialized education that in most cases starts in college. To get a job at an accounting firm, you will most likely need at least a bachelor's degree in accounting or a related field, according to the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics. "The Wall Street Journal" reported in 2010 that most firms expect a little more: the accountants they hire should be ready to sit for their Certified Public Accountant (CPA) exam the minute they step through the door. In most states, that means you should have at least 150 hours of college coursework, or 30 hours beyond the typical course load required of a four-year bachelor's degree. While the course requirements to qualify for the CPA exam are not specified, fewer than half of the candidates who take the four-part exam pass on the first try, according to the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics. That means it's a good idea to focus on accounting-specific courses during your undergrad study, or consider a specialized five-year program or a one-year master's degree offered by many universities.
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Experience
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Competition for well-paying, entry-level jobs at accounting firms can be fierce, so it's a good idea to set yourself apart with professional experience through summer or part-time internships. The majority of new accounting hires who start as associates with major firms have spent at least one summer working there as interns, according to "The Wall Street Journal."
Additional Skills
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Starting accountants should also be prepared to work with basic accounting and computer software packages, including Adobe Acrobat, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and QuickBooks.
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References
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