If you enjoy working with numbers more than you enjoy working with people then consider majoring in accounting in college. With an accounting major, you can go on to make a lot of money using the skills that come naturally to you.
Many people think that an accounting major only lets you get a single job; CPA. And while that’s a great job to get, with plenty of opportunities, there’s so much more you can do with accounting majors.
So what are the different types of accounting jobs available once you become an accountant? Read on below to learn eight different ways to make money with accounting.
1. CPA
The most common way to work as an accountant is as a certified public accountant (CPA). Most people are aware of the fact that CPAs help clients prepare tax returns to maximize returns and minimize tax liabilities.
They can help both individuals and businesses file tax returns, which can be complicated for many people. But CPAs are capable of doing so much more.
They can help provide tax advice throughout the year to make the process of filing taxes much easier when tax season starts. But CPAs often work for companies to manage things like accounts payable and receivable, conduct internal audits, and manage or create budgets.
2. Forensic Accountant
If you want to fight for justice, while at the same time sitting at a comfortable, safe desk, consider becoming a forensic accountant. This specialized accountant will act as a financial investigator. Your goal is to find information about those who are involved in fraud, bribery, money laundering, embezzlement, and other forms of financial crimes.
While you get to do a lot of research and work with numbers, the job isn’t for the faint of heart. Forensic accountants may work on specific trials and even have to testify in a court setting.
3. Accounting Manager
Every company deals with vast amounts of financial information. And those companies need ways to collect, analyze, and interpret this information to be useful.
An accounting manager will work to develop systems and applications to aid in the process.
4. Analyst
As an accounting analyst, you’ll work with larger companies to analyze financial data. You may be looking for errors, opportunities to save money, or opportunities to increase profits. Some analysts work in-house for big companies, while others work for a third-party agency, hired to analyze other companies’ records.
5. CFO
Want to be the big dog at a large corporation, without having to be the ambitious leader and center of attention like a CEO? After you study accounting and take various jobs in the industry, you can eventually work your way up to becoming a chief financial officer (CFO).
CFOs oversee the entire financial departments of large corporations and have a direct role in helping companies grow and chart their path forward.
CFOs manage the accounting departments to ensure cash flow is managed properly. They’ll be able to point out the financial strengths and weaknesses inside an organization and provide solutions to increase profitability, which can have massive impacts on every department of a company.
As a CFO, you can work with well-established companies that have been around for decades, or you can take a more exciting role at a startup to help build a company from the ground up.
6. Financial Advisor
This is one of those jobs that utilize your accounting degree but requires a ton of face-to-face interaction. So if you love both numbers and people then advising people on managing their finances and investing for retirement is a great option.
Financial advisors work with individuals and couples to create unique financial plans to help them meet their short-term and long-term goals. A big component of this is investment advice, to ensure on-track retirement. But it also means immediate budgeting, tax planning, and insurance.
In a sense, you get to act as a mentor or counselor to your clients, so empathy and the ability to understand a client’s goals are very important.
But you also get to become a specialist in complex financial matters, such as investing. This practical skill can be put to use in your own life to ensure personal financial success; a win-win.
7. Business Consultant
As a business consultant, you get to utilize both your accountant brain along As a business consultant, you get to utilize both your accountant brain and your entrepreneurial and managerial skills. Your goal as a business consultant is to work with companies to provide internal organization and systems that help them run more efficiently.
As an advisor, you’ll work closely with managers of a company to implement or streamline existing operations in every department, not just the financial department.
Greater business efficiency results in more profits and allows companies to grow beyond what they thought was possible.
8. Freelancer
Want to be your own boss? Want to work remotely, so you can sleep in every day and work from home? Or do you want to hit the open road and travel the globe, while putting your accounting skills to work?
Many accounting-based roles can be performed remotely. So if you receive a job as a bookkeeper, CPA, or another type of accountant, your employer may let you work wherever you want.
Otherwise, you can work freelance, find individual clients yourself, and build a business around you. As a freelancer, you get to decide which services you’d like to perform and set your own rates. A good freelancer can make much more than those performing the same tasks for a corporation.
You can choose to work directly with individuals, or you can pursue commercial contracts with businesses. Whichever route you take, freelancing puts you in the driver’s seat. Since freelance CPA jobs are the most common, check out https://www.taxfyle.com/freelance-cpa-jobs for ideas of how to get started.
Accounting Majors Aren’t Boring
With accounting majors, you can go on to do so many different things with your life. You can dream big and work for the next big tech company. Or you can keep it simple and work as a local CPA.
The only limit is your imagination, so open up that mathematically inclined mind of yours and envision what your life could be like one day.
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