The stigma of boring accountant jobs is long gone.  All one needs to do is check out the more famous accountants.  Getting an accounting degree online might land you in a very prestigious position.

Accountants earn a “better than average” salary when positioned in one of the more lucrative accounting firms in New York, New Jersey, or California.  Getting into an entertainment or sports position can bring almost limitless cash.

According to the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), an accountant position requires at least a bachelor’s degree in accounting to adhere to their guideline for acquiring an accounting license.

Once that degree and license are yours, the sky is the limit.  The variety of career choices available to you is tremendous.

 

Public Accountants (CPA’s)

Public accountants work with businesses, private individuals, and governmental agencies.  The work is never boring, because they work with a large pool of varied clients.  Firms such as Friedman Kannenberg represent musicians, recording studios, and other music industry professionals.  Many are Certified Public Accountants (CPA’s).

 

Governmental Accountants

This field is exciting because you’re working with governmental agencies.  The goal is keeping private businesses with regulatory budgets honest.  Employment is with state, federal, and local entities, and it requires managing public funds, solving financial white-collar crimes, investigating fraud, performing audits, and managing state and local funds.

7 Awesome Accounting Jobs

Creative Commons License
Accounting by 401(K) 2012, on Flickr.  This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic License.

 

Forensic Accountants

Frank J. Wilson was a forensic accountant.  He put Al Capone in prison for tax evasion in 1931.  This work involves investigating those who cheat on taxes such as embezzlers, inside traders, and people who defraud insurance companies.  They work with private companies and law enforcement, mostly the FBI.  They’ve been known to put some pretty influential bad guys away and have been put under “armed guard” as key witnesses to a crime.

 

Entertainment Accountants

These accountants are specialists in the TV, film, theater, and music industry and are heavily relied upon.  The work involves long-term financial planning, production budgets, set payroll, tax returns, and royalty payment negotiation.  Many work directly for entertainers as business managers who handle their client’s financial needs.

 

Corporate Accountants/Chief Financial Officers (CFO’s):

These private accountants generally work “in-house” in large businesses or Fortune 500 corporations.  They are the ones who literally run the company.  They are highly paid and responsible for the financial well-being of the business.  Their work involves budgets, long-term financial strategies, reporting, and industry compliance.

 

Sports Accountants

If you’re a sports fan, this might be the career choice for you.  College and professional athletes need accountants to negotiate salaries, monitor franchise profits, give sound financial planning advice, issue payroll, draw up budgets, and give advice on player’s salaries, trades, and promotional events/merchandising.  Perks include choice tickets to sporting events.

 

International Accountants

If you love to travel, this could be your dream career.  These accountants work with global firms that need their financial endeavors handled in their overseas offices.  The work involves trade treaties, multiple governmental tax return services, dealing with currency exchange rates, and analyses of the accounting systems for countries in an effort to seek advantages for their clients.

 

No matter what accounting career choice you make, an accounting degree can take you there.  It can also place you behind the scenes with some of the most exciting positions imaginable.

Tom
 

Arnel Ariate is the webmaster of Money Soldiers.

Click Here to Leave a Comment Below 0 comments

Leave a Reply: