For many, becoming an accountant seems like it's probably a good career choice. However, if it was that simple, then everybody would be an accountant.
Let's take a look at what you need to do to become an accountant, what it takes to be successful in your field, how to progress, the skills that you'll need to get you there, and what the future looks like for the accounting industry.
Are you ready to become a successful accountant?
How to Become an Accountant
As with any skilled job, you need to develop the necessary skills and gain the right qualifications.
The exact skills and qualifications will vary according to the type of accountant that you're aiming to be and the roles that you're thinking about doing.
Here, we'll just look generally at what you need to do to become an accountant. Naturally, there'll be a few more steps to take once you're on your way and have decided what your specialization will be.
Get Your Degree
More often than not, an accountant will have a college degree in accounting or a similar field. Generally, this will be a four-year degree and will leave you in a good position to apply to entry-level accounting roles or consider further study. You can't become an accountant overnight and some of your accounting classes will be difficult!
As with most fields, there are post-graduate options and master's degrees in accounting and it's quite common for accountants to be educated to a master's level.
Accounting is a fairly common degree and as the outlook is good (more on that later), plenty of schools across the country offer your typical accounting classes and degree programs for aspiring accountants.
Choose a Specialization
As you're studying to become an accountant, you'll learn more and more about the various types of accounting and what different accountants do.
During your studies, you'll have the opportunity to move towards certain specializations through the classes you choose to take.
Naturally, every college program is different and some will offer more in the way of specialization than others, but specialization is something that every aspiring accountant should be considering during their education.
Gain Experience
Even as you're working towards becoming an accountant, you must gain experience. As with most lines of work, accounting also suffers from the problem of wanting experienced graduates.
Make sure that you're always looking for internships and other opportunities to gain real-life experience to make you stand out from other candidates, especially when you're looking for your very first jobs in accounting.
Sadly, there are still a lot of employers who are reticent about hiring graduates straight out of college without any experience. Fortunately, there are plenty of places to intern and you can always ask your college to help you with finding opportunities.
Is Accounting Right for Me?
Now that you have a better idea of what it takes, you should think carefully about whether doing all this is worth it and if you really want to be an accountant.
The worst thing you can do for your career is graduate and then realize that you don't want to do the thing you spent so much time studying!
It can be easy to view any job through rose-tinted glasses, after all.
Similarly, you don't want to graduate and find out that there isn't any work for accountants or that the pay is terrible.
What Is the Future Like for Accountants?
As long as there's money moving around and companies to move it around, there'll be a need for accountants.
While there isn't likely to be a huge boom in the demand for accountants unless something massively changes, accounting is a fairly safe career choice.
Here are just a couple of the reasons why.
Demand
The projected demand for accountants isn't likely to explode in the coming years, but it is expected to grow in line with overall job growth.
Estimates put this at around 6% over the next decade which equates to around 136,400 yearly job openings for accountants and auditors.
Basically, by the time you're ready to start working as an accountant, there'll be jobs opening for you.
Earning Potential
It's all well and good having a job, but you want to make sure that the pay is good and fair, especially if you're going to have to potentially complete a master's degree to get it.
The median salary for accountants is around $77,000 with the top earners bringing in closer to $100,000.
Generally, these higher salaries are for those in more advanced roles and with years of experience so it might be wise to look at the lower end of this range to understand what you're more likely to earn when you leave college.
The lowest 25% of earners are on $60,000 a year, which puts them above the national average for college graduates.
Basically, accountants earn a decent salary for their education level with the potential to increase their earnings as they progress through their careers.
Keep in mind that these statistics don't include more specialized accountancy roles, which tend to command even higher salaries.
What Skills Do Accountants Need?
Since you know what it takes to become an accountant, what you need to study, and whether or not it's worth it, let's see what skills you should be learning as you study accounting and gain experience.
For simplicity, we've split these into the skills that are specific to accountancy and soft skills that are recommended for accountants but would also be useful in many other lines of work.
Accounting Practices
If you're studying to be an accountant or already working as one, you should certainly be au fait with all the relevant accounting practices (just one of the many benefits of studying accounting). If you don't, you could land yourself in a lot of hot water, especially if accounts aren't in line with the relevant standards and practices.
Accounting Software
Much like knowing accounting standards and practices, you must know the tools of your trade. In the digital age, most accounting, especially at corporations and the government level, are done using accounting software.
You'll likely get familiar with a lot of these software applications during your time studying at college, but there will also be industry-specific software solutions for accounting that you'll need to learn how to use on the job.
Data Analysis
Accountants need excellent data analysis skills and in many cases, might be the only people at a given company to have these skills.
If you're the only accountant at a given firm, your data analysis skills will be relied upon by others to make the financial decisions essential to the successful running of the company or financial entity.
Financial Statements
As an accountant, you're going to see a lot of financial statements. You must know what they mean, what they're for, and how they're put together.
Financial statements will likely be made and put together using the relevant financial software solutions we mentioned and following the relevant standards and practices.
General Business Practices
Last but not least, an accountant will likely be working in a business so they'll need to know exactly what standard business practices are so that they can fit in well within their working environment and become a valuable member of the team.
Which Soft Skills Should Accountants Have?
Accountants need more than just an exceptional knowledge of accounting, they'll also need some transferable skills to make them the best possible accountant that they can be.
These are just a few skills that accounts should develop or hone to launch or further your career as an accountant.
Communication
Whether you're talking to other members of the finance or accounting team or chatting with people outside your milieu, you'll need excellent communication skills.
You'll need to get ideas across to people who aren't familiar with accounting as succinctly and accurately as possible. While the numbers don't lie, you'll have to explain what they mean to people who mightn't understand them so that they can make well-informed decisions.
Critical Thinking
Accountants need to solve problems and to do this, they need to think critically. They need to be able to see what's wrong, analyze things, and come up with a well-informed judgment.
Curiosity
Accountants need to be curious. You need to always be learning and up-to-date with everything required of you as an accountant.
Whether it's the latest methods, accounting software, or practices, never stop learning because the second you fall behind, it could cost you your job!
Organization
The best accountants are organized and you'll learn very quickly in college that if you're not organized, you'll never make it as an accountant.
The organizational skills that an accountant needs will likely be above and beyond your average employee at a company.
You should always be looking to improve your organization where possible if you want to be an accountant.
And, of course, if you still need more help succeeding in accounting, it couldn't hurt to enlist the help of a private accounting tutor!
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