How to start an accounting career

2. Get accounting education

It is generally expected (though, not required) that you get an accounting degree if you want to have an accounting career.  Accounting degrees may include:

  • Associate’s degree (several years)
  • Bachelor’s degree (about 4 years)
  • Master’s degree (about 1-2 years)
  • PhD degree (about 5 years)

Getting a degree means going to higher education institution (e.g., private or public universities, community colleges).  While in school, you will be taking accounting specific as well as general education classes.  For accounting specific classes, you will likely be taking courses in introduction to financial accounting, introduction to managerial or cost accounting, intermediate accounting, governmental and non-profit accounting, auditing, accounting information systems, introduction to taxation, and so on.

As we noted earlier, an accounting degree is not a must for a career in accounting.  People with non-accounting degrees can do accounting too; however, it is important to note that a minimum number of educational credits (some of which need to be in accounting) will be required to get a CPA license, for example.  So if somebody with a non-accounting degree wants to get CPA certified, they may need to go back to college to obtain missing accounting classes.

3. Obtain initial accounting experience

This step is optional but is highly valuable and involves getting an internship or similar accounting work experience while you are going to school.  There are internship opportunities in public accounting and private sector available to college students.

Usually during the junior or senior years of college, accounting students can apply for summer, fall or spring internships with different companies.  Additionally, sometimes colleges allow credits to be earned for participation in such internships.

Getting an internship experience is a great way to get your feet wet with the real-world accounting.  It gives you an opportunity to see what accounting entails, work and network with experienced professionals, and get a better understanding of several different accounting paths (especially if you can get several internships while you are in college).

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