Accounting Facts
Some You May Have Not Known About
As a tax preparer you probably already know quite a bit about accounting. And perhaps you’ve considered expanding your business to include accounting services. We thought you might appreciate a few facts about accounting in order to get a bigger picture of a stable profession that seems to grow every year.
An Ancient Profession
It’s often said that accounting is the second oldest profession in the world (we won’t talk about the first…). Since mankind began using currency, there existed the need to track it. Academicians say that accountants developed writing, helped establish money and banking, invented the double entry bookkeeping that propelled the Italian Renaissance, saved countless entrepreneurs and inventors from bankruptcy during the Industrial Revolution, and more. Luca Pacioli, an Italian monk, wrote the first known book on double-entry bookkeeping in 1494. While he may have written the book, he didn’t invent the system which was used by Italian merchants during the renaissance. But regardless of who did, Pacioli described the accounting cycle in nearly the complete form used today.
A Growing Profession
As stated above, the need to track income and expenses has existed for hundreds of years, and considering how businesses are growing; the need for accounting will continue to exist for hundreds of thousands of years to come. You’ve probably already heard that accounting and bookkeeping jobs are growing at a quick pace. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that by 2014 accounting jobs will increase by 20%! “In addition to openings resulting from growth, the need to replace accountants and auditors who retire, or transfer to other occupations, will produce numerous openings in this large occupation,” the bureau said in a recent report.
A Profession with Countless Opportunities
There are four basic types of accountants and bookkeepers: public, management, government, and internal auditing. And while those descriptions lack luster, consider that jobs within those areas can include anything from a payroll clerk to a treasurer to an underwriter to a collections specialist to a personal financial planner to a chief financial officer, and the list goes on. Of course, experience and training play a role in the type of accounting or bookkeeping job you can get, but it’s important to realize all the options an accounting background can offer. Here’s a list of jobs accounting professionals might find:
PUBLIC ACCOUNTING
· Partner
· Director
· Manager
· Staff Accountant
PRIVATE INDUSTRY
· Chief Financial Officer (CFO)
· Treasurer
· Controller
· Assistant Controller and Assistant Treasurer
· Tax Manager
· Accounting Manager
· Senior Accountant
· Accountant (General, Cost)
· Internal/EDP Audit
· Manager, Financial Analysis
· Senior Analyst
· Analyst (Financial, Budget, Cost)
· Credit Manager
· Assistant Credit Manager
· Collections Specialist
· Full-Charge Bookkeeper
· Bookkeeper
· A/P Supervisor
· A/P Clerk
· A/R Supervisor
· A/R Clerk
· Assistant Bookkeeper
· Accounting Clerk
PAYROLL and DATA ENTRY
· Data Entry Operator
· Payroll Manager
· Payroll Clerk
A Profession for Entrepreneurs
In addition to being a great profession in the private sector, accounting is a great freelance profession as well. Small businesses are on the rise, and the forecast looks good for their future. Accounting practices make good small businesses. Not only that, but other small businesses are always in need of accounting services. Over 85% of the opportunities in the accounting field are within small businesses. Universities prepare their students for corporate accounting which doesn’t address small business needs. More than 50% of small businesses fail, and much of that failure can be attributed to lack of accounting expertise. Small businesses are in need of accountants well-versed in small business accounting.
Universal’s Professional Bookkeeper Program Can Help Anyone Interested in the Accounting Profession
Accounting is a long-standing profession in great demand and offers numerous employment opportunities to trained accountants and bookkeepers. If you’re interested in pursuing this career path, UAC’s Professional Bookkeeper Program can help. In just 60 hours you can earn the PB designation and be on your way to a successful career in accounting, with a specialty in small business accounting.
In an informal pole taken by the success coaches here at Universal Accounting, we contacted 100 graduates of our Professional Bookkeeper Program 12 months after their graduation. 74% are now working in the accounting field, have been promoted to a management position or own their own accounting business. See what they have to say.
Visit Universal Accounting Center Today!
Learn more about our Professional Bookkeeper Program. We’re so confident that our program will work for you that we offer a 100% money-back guarantee.
“If, after completing the course, you feel the course didn’t live up to your expectation, simply return the materials to Universal, for a 100% refund of any monies paid.”
Don’t wait another day to enter a profession that has existed almost as long as currency itself has. Enroll in the Professional Bookkeeper Program today!
