A Career in Accounting As a field of study and work, accountin

A Career in Accounting
   Accounting is a growing field throughout the world today. It generally offers good starting salaries and excellent opportunities to move-ahead. As we pointed out, many people with top jobs in management have risen through the accounting office. In addition, jobs in accounting are only slightly affected by changes in business cycles or by seasonal variations in employment. Those accountants who have become CPAs enjoy a professional status similar to that of doctors or lawyers.
   In fact, there are two major paths that a career in accounting might follow. One is through employment by a business or government organization in its accounting office. This is the broad area of internal accounting within which there are many different specialties such as taxes, financial planning and budgeting, and internal auditing. To rise to the top of the field in private accounting requires a combination of both fiscal and management ability.
   One starting point for a career in private accounting is bookkeeping. Modern accounting practices grew out of bookkeeping procedures about a hundred years ago. Indeed, a knowledge of bookkeeping is essential for an accountant. The financial records of an organization are the raw materials on which accounting is based. Large organizations keep separate books of account or ledgers for many different accounts, activities, and operations. Many clerical workers with an aptitude for bookkeeping study accounting in order to acquire additional skills.
   Business or commercial schools in many countries train people in the fundamentals of accounting practices. A business or commercial school offers training in the kinds of jobs performed by white-collar, or office workers. These traditionally include typing, stenography (shorthand), and bookkeeping; more recently many commercial schools have also added courses in accounting and computer programming. Most commercial schools offer night classes to enable someone already holding down a daytime job to work and study at the same time. As the principles and procedures of accounting have grown more complex, the trend has been to extend the training to a two-year period.
   In addition to the commercial schools, a variety of home-study or correspondence schools also offer training in accounting. In this case, the student buys a package that usually consists of textual material and assignment papers. The student reads a section of the text and does the homework related to it. He or she then mails the homework to the headquarters of the school, where the paper is corrected and returned. If the student receives a satisfactory grade he or she goes on to the next textual section and assignment; if not, the student is usually asked to repeat the previous lesson.
   While many commercial and correspondence schools flourish today, education in accounting is tending to become regular function of the universities. This corresponds with the general movement to give accounting the status of a profession. Indeed, the entire field is changing from a white-collar occupation to profession. Certainly, most people who wish to become CPAs now take university courses in accounting and related subjects in order to be as fully prepared as possible for the certification examinations. This is the second major path to a career in accounting.
   A large number of universities now have business schools that offer regular four-year programs leading to a bachelor’s degree in accounting, business administration, business law, and other areas that equip the student for professional or management careers in business. An accounting student in a university commercial college has the enormous advantage of being able to take courses in many of the related fields that are important to him or her. In fact, on the certification examination, which is prepared by a board of practicing CPAs, questions on tax and business laws that relate to accounting are always asked.