5 Advantages of Choosing a Career in Accounting

It’s almost graduation season, and now it’s time to think about which careers you should seek out with your new degree. A career in accounting holds an abundance of advantages for recent graduates seeking to build a career and future.

Here are five reasons how you could benefit from exploring a career in accounting:

• • 1. Demand
    Almost every business and person needs an accountant in their corner in some form or another, which creates for a high demand career choice. Even with accounting being a centuries-old practice, it continues to grow. According to the Department of Labor Statistics, employment of accountants and auditors is projected to grow 10 percent from 2016 to 2026, faster than the average for all occupations. With this amount of growth you can also note that those graduating with a degree in accounting can relax as the unemployment rate for those seeking jobs in accounting or auditing was 1.8% (3.8% being the national unemployment average) for the first quarter of 2019. A career in accounting offers more job security than most positions available to fresh graduates.

 

• • 2. Salary
    In comparison to most starting salaries for recent graduates, accounting falls on the higher end of the spectrum. An average starting salary for a fresh accountant walking off the graduate stage is open to the firm/company you are joining. On top of salary, most positions will offer a full range of benefits including retirement, health and more. A majority of firms offer competitive salaries for full-time employees and will guide your potential for growth, which leads to reason number three.

 

• • 3. Potential to Advance
    It never hurts to gain some recognition for your hard work, and as you grow in an accounting career, you can add prestigious letters to the end of your name as you advance. For example, the next step many accounting students have to complete after their college degree is sitting for the CPA exam.  At Atherton, we support or employees in their pursuit of a CPA License including a discount on a review course, paid time off and a bonus for passing the exam. After gaining a CPA license, there are a number of accreditations for specialized services that can add to your title. Accounting is a developing landscape that creates endless opportunities to learn new technology, software, and more which keeps those in the career actively learning.

 

• • 4. Options & Variety
    Those who choose a life of accounting might be surprised to know that there are a variety of career options. Depending on your preferences you can choose to work in the public or private sectors or can even be self-employed.Here’s a small sample of job paths an accounting degree can take you:

 

• Public Accountants
  

• • Cost Estimator
  • Enrolled Agent
  • Forensic Accountant
  • Real-Estate Appraiser
  • Tax Accountant
  • Tax Preparer
  • Tax Associates
• Private Accountants
  • Accounting Clerk
  • Accounts Payable/Receivable Clerk
  • Accounting Information System Specialist
  • Actuarial Accountant/Insurance Accountant
  • Bookkeeping
  • Budget Analyst
  • Capital Accountant
  • Controller/Financial Controller
  • Cost Accountant
  • Environmental Accountant/Sustainability Measurement
  • Payroll Accountant
• Government accountants
  • Fund Accountancy
  • IRS Jobs
• Management accountants
• Forensic Accountants
• Auditors (Internal/External)
• Investment accountants
• Consultants
• Loan officersNo matter what title you choose, the people you work with will offer you an assortment of personalities whether it’s co-workers or clients.

• • 5. Networking
    Crunching numbers may be what most people envision on an accounting job, but you will also have many interactions with different people. Clients will come from different industries and different backgrounds giving opportunities to create a vast networking community.   Not to mention the in office relationships that will build over time with coworkers. For example, at Atherton, we implement a buddy system that helps foster learning, professional relationship development, and career growth.

 

There are countless reasons a career in accounting is something to invest in, but we’re hoping these five reasons shed some light on the core benefits.

Here at Atherton and Associates, our motto is,

“Work here, live here, play here.  Invested in our community.”

We believe in developing talented professionals and emphasizing development to help you achieve your individual career goals. You can jump-start your future by visiting the Atherton and Associates careers page and seeing all our currently available career opportunities.