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Choosing an accounting career is a great move in life for many. Unlike many other industries, there is virtually never a shortage of work in this industry. In fact, there can never be too many accountants in the world because every single corporation requires at least one, but often several and in particular, those with expertise in particular aspects of accounting. Therefore, as long as business is good, careers in accounting will be good as well.

And if you can improve your accounting skills over time then you will be richly rewarded for them. This includes specializing and gaining more training and education. Many accountants have a master’s degree in accounting and several years’ worth of experience. It’s always nice to know before you start a career that there is room for advancement, and accounting is a career where there is plenty of room. Whether you plan to work for a large corporation and work in-house, or for an accounting business, there is always room to grow your experiences. And as we will discuss, you may even think about going into business for yourself.

Some of the benefits of being an accountant include:

- Constant work and little chance of losing your job
- Plenty of opportunity for career advancement and pay rises
- Many areas of expertise to choose from
- Ongoing study options
- Great salary
- Ability to understand finance in detail which can benefit your own personal finances
- Option to become self employed

Self Employed Accountant vs Employed Accountant

Accountants are fortunate in that they can either choose to work for themselves or work for someone else. In general, a self employed accountant will deal mainly with personal income tax and possibly corporate tax. They can also become auditors and other roles. In general, self employed accountants are limited in the work they can do unless they have extensive experience in a corporate environment before undertaking self employment.

The employed accountant on the other hand has many options and a great capacity to gain more skills and experience. It is not uncommon for accountants to be both employed and self employed at the same time, meaning income is increased. They key is to be able to balance the work load of both roles.

All accountants must become certified by undertaking an accounting degree at a university or college. Here you will learn all the skills required to be good at your job as well as life skills like communication and attention to detail. You can choose to focus on one aspect of accounting after you have been studying for some time. This could be tax accounting, auditing, corporate accounts, payroll and many more fields.

Anyone can become an accountant but it helps to have an interest in finance and numbers. Analytical skills are vital as is a high attention to detail, as mistakes in accounting can often cause major problems for companies. You can choose to work in the public or private sector, with there being benefits in both.

Tags: Accounting, career, career advancement, Know