If you're interested in exploring the various types accounting careers, you'll be delighted to learn there are many jobs you can get with a degree in accounting. Some of these careers will require additional schooling or training, but all of them rest on the foundation of an accounting degree:
Management Accountant
You can work for either a private firm or a government branch as a management accountant. You can start off as a cost accountant or a junior internal auditor, and then move your way up through both training and schooling to become a CFO, controller, budget director or account manager. You can choose between small business accounting and working for a larger firm or the government, depending on your preferred work environment.
Financial Planner
Financial planners do not have to have a degree in accounting, but it will certainly help your credibility to possess such a degree, and confidence is key when building a client base. A degree in accounting will help potential clients trust you with their personal budgets and financial plans.
Underwriter/Actuary
Depending on how much schooling you wish to pursue, you can find work with a private company (insurance companies are big employers of people with accounting degrees) as an underwriter or an actuary. Getting an actuarial degree and certificate is challenging, but the pay is excellent and the opportunities plentiful.
Loan Officer
If you enjoy the banking industry, you may enjoy being a loan officer, determining loan qualifications and connecting people with loans. As a loan officer, you'll need both math and people skills.
Government Accountant
If you'd like to work for the government and audit tax returns, this is the job for you. You could find a job working for the IRS, the Securities and Exchange Commission or the Department of Defense. Government accountants can work as auditors or as IRS investigators, depending on your area of interest.
Certified Public Accountant
As a public accountant, you'll learn to manage auditing and tax functions. While you can open up a business on your own, most CPAs work with larger firms or join forces with other, more experienced accountants.
 | Forensic accounting is a popular career choice, since you'll get to use your mathematics skills just like any other accountant, but you'll also get to do investigative work. |
 | Managerial accounting is a valuable part of running any business. If you get a job as a managerial accountant, you will be responsible for keeping the managers of an organization aware of the financial goings-on of the company at large. |
Cost accounting is a method of evaluating costs, profits and everything in between when it comes to running a business, and you can use that information to help leaders of your company make decisions. |
Accounting ethics is a code of conduct that guides those in the profession to behave in a respectful, controlled and moral way. Clients need to have confidence in the business practices of professional accounting firms. |
While this isn't a complete dictionary of accounting terms, these basic terms and definitions will give you a foundation to help you get started. These terms are commonly used in business accounting software. |
