To pursue a public accounting career, you need to have a good aptitude for figures and be good at problem solving. Public accountants usually prepare financial statements for companies. In addition, they do tax returns, prepare and at the same time audit financial statements. Public accountants also, prepare and manage benefit plans for employees. You will also be expected to provide financial advice to your organization or employer.
How to become a Public Accountant
Enroll in a Bachelors degree. Whatever degree program you choose, remember to specialize in either accounting, finance or a management option if you want to become a public accountant.
You can choose to further your education and get an MBA.
It will be advisable for you to pursue internship opportunities when you are still a college student as most employers will demand some level of experience in accounting before employing you.
Types of Public Accountant careers
Your career path as a public accountant depends largely on the area you choose to specialize in. It could be tax, accounting, management, consultancy or financial planning.
You can choose to work for corporate organizations, individuals, accounting firms or the government as a public accountant. Alternatively, you can start your own accounting firm.
Most public accountants usually go ahead to become CPA’s
Public Accounting Career Courses, Training, Programs
You have the choice of doing any accounting course in college or university that will lead to an accounting degree. You can pursue a Business Administration degree, or a B.Com. If you do not have an accounting background, you can pursue an MBA to get into the accounting industry. You also have the option of doing a Bachelor’s degree program in finance to get into a public accounting career.
You are legally required to take at least 150 hours of accounting classes as a prerequisite to graduation.
You can look for courses that also offer accounting packages classes together with their training programs since you need to be proficient with computers as a public accountant.
public accounting Schools/colleges, prerequisites, entrance exams.
To be admitted to study an accounting course in college, it is a prerequisite for you to have a high school diploma with a minimum of 15 units from grade 9-12. It is advisable to take courses in accounting in high school. You will also need to submit SAT and ACT scores and take entrance exams. You should request for more information from the college you want to be enrolled in, depending on your course objective.
TOP 5 Colleges/ Universities for carrer in public accounts.
DeVry University’s Keller School of Management
Virginia College Online
South University
Capella University
University of Phoenix
public accounting Job Opportunities, Salaries/Pay.
The job outlook for public accountants is bright since number of jobs available for public accountants will continue to increase at a faster rate than for other careers through to the year 2016. This is due to the increased number of businesses which shoots up the recruitment levels for accountants. The US Bureau of Labor and Statistics averaged the rate of pay for those in public accounting career to $ 69,000 by 2007. The entry level salary ranges from$31,700-$51,250. For better opportunities, the advice given to public accountants is that they should pursue CPAtraining especially if they intend to advance to senior executive positions in organizations.
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