TAX ACCOUNTANT CAREER

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Career description

If you intend to follow a career path in tax accounting, you will be expected to prepare taxation records for companies, perform bookkeeping apart from providing advice to top managers of companies about business decisions based on the effect that tax will have on them according to their capital allocation.

How to become a tax accountant

You will first need to complete your high school education

Go to college and study an accounting course. Most community colleges will provide you with a certificate in accounting. However, if you want to have a tax accountant career in a notable CPA firm and to climb up the career ladder, you need to get at least a degree in an Accounting program or any other business related program. To work as a junior accountant, you only need an Associate degree.

To be successful in your career path, you need to engage in continuous education. Most tax accountants choose to have added certification; therefore, they become Certified Public Accountants (CPA).

You will be able to get some senior or management accounting jobs only if you have attained Masters Degree in Accounting.

Courses, training, programs

It is not enough to have an accounting degree; you need to show that you have had at least 24 class hours in accounting. Some colleges offerdegrees that specialize in accounting only so you have the choice of narrowing your degree to a special subject such as auditing or taxation.Some courses give you the option of attending internships for a semester before you graduate.

Some of the classes you will attend in your accounting training include budget preparation, tax law, financial planning and financial ethics.

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You have the option of taking electives or to minor in a course that will go together with your accounting degree such as public relations, business administration or Math.

Learning opportunities for accounting courses can be found through distance learning and certification online courses if you do not have time to attend class. For instance, through AIU online programs. You will be able to attend classes and do tests even if you are working full time.

TAX ACCOUNTANT CAREER Schools/colleges, education

You will need to have a high school diploma as a prerequisite if your objective is to gain admission into an accounting degree program. Most colleges will demand you sit an entrance exam according to their admission information

TOP 5 colleges/ Universities

Florida National College

Indiana University System School of Continuing Studies

Colorado Technical University Colorado Springs

Auburn University-Distance Learning

TAX ACCOUNTANT Job opportunities, salaries/pay.

The job outlook for those in the tax accountant career is expected to grow at the rate of 18% through to 2016.  Those in a tax accountant career prefer to be self-employed rather than engage in a job search. The increased recruitment of tax accountants is due to the increased need for tax and revenue reporting especially to bodies such as the IRS. Globalization too has an impact in the internal accounting for companies. On the lower side, the pay for tax accountants is $56,000 while it is $89,300 on the higher side according to the US Department of Labor.

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