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The computer might keep track of the books, but someone has to feed the numbers into the computer. A ninth grade high school drop out can't do it because they don't understand which column the numbers must be placed in.
Someone has to be able to understand the books to make sure the numbers are correct for a purchase of a company.
Someone must be able to understand the accounts to make sure employees aren't stealing.
Nobody understands all the income tax law, not even the IRS, but an accountant has a better chance of not landing you in jail than if you turn your accounts part time over to a counter boy who works at mickey dee's.
Filing income tax forms, by the way, is no small deal.
Some of the big corporations pay pretty well but overall I agree with you. Just look around on Craigslist and you are sure to get a laugh.
Craigslist is not a good judge of what any profession pays. It is not the good companies, or good jobs that are advertising/advertised there. Example bookkeepers and accountants. The jobs here are for small local companies, using simple software such as quick books, excel, word, not high powered accounting software used by the big companies today. There are professional places to place your resume that attracts the better companies looking for professionals They also use professional recruiters, to send potential employees to them. The good ones, use professional sources to find their employees, not Craigslist which is kind of the bottom of the barrel.
One woman I know for the last 3 top positions she has held, has just placed her resume on one of the professional listing services, and was flooded with offers. We are talking about a woman in the upper side of 6 figures income. Job she selected was with a company with 123 different locations, that she was to tie together with one computer program, so that the officers could sit at their desk at corporate headquarters and be able to check all locations financial position at any time. Would be able to bring their SOX audit problems to an end, and to keep track of everything from supplies and output at each facility. It took a person that was a top accountant, as well as a Software specialist in that one program able to adapt and implement different sections of the program, including writing software changes. Offers were from Boston, Portland, Seattle, Austin, Los Angeles, Silicon Valley where she was raised, New York, and many other major markets. Offers were thrown at her, that they would beat any offer she had from other companies.
There are a lot of good high end jobs out there, that are almost impossible to fill as most people never do more than the minimum and never learn more than enough to handle the basic job, then wonder why they never get those top professional positions. And yes, they pay great. Ironic thing was she dropped out of a major university start of her Junior Year, and built herself up in 15 years so she could have a top professional job with many companies. The one she chose, had been desperately seeking someone like her for over 2 years and this was kind of normal with the companies that went after her.
It is funny, how some people use Craigslist to judge what is happening in professional type jobs. Craigslist is kind of like putting a classified ad in the local throwaway weekly paper. No good company wants to sink that low.
Another salary guide published last week by staffing services provider Robert Half projected that average starting salaries for U.S. accounting professionals will grow between 4.0% and 5.3% over the previous year.
Craigslist is not a good judge of what any profession pays. It is not the good companies, or good jobs that are advertising/advertised there. Example bookkeepers and accountants. The jobs here are for small local companies, using simple software such as quick books, excel, word, not high powered accounting software used by the big companies today. There are professional places to place your resume that attracts the better companies looking for professionals They also use professional recruiters, to send potential employees to them. The good ones, use professional sources to find their employees, not Craigslist which is kind of the bottom of the barrel.
One woman I know for the last 3 top positions she has held, has just placed her resume on one of the professional listing services, and was flooded with offers. We are talking about a woman in the upper side of 6 figures income. Job she selected was with a company with 123 different locations, that she was to tie together with one computer program, so that the officers could sit at their desk at corporate headquarters and be able to check all locations financial position at any time. Would be able to bring their SOX audit problems to an end, and to keep track of everything from supplies and output at each facility. It took a person that was a top accountant, as well as a Software specialist in that one program able to adapt and implement different sections of the program, including writing software changes. Offers were from Boston, Portland, Seattle, Austin, Los Angeles, Silicon Valley where she was raised, New York, and many other major markets. Offers were thrown at her, that they would beat any offer she had from other companies.
There are a lot of good high end jobs out there, that are almost impossible to fill as most people never do more than the minimum and never learn more than enough to handle the basic job, then wonder why they never get those top professional positions. And yes, they pay great. Ironic thing was she dropped out of a major university start of her Junior Year, and built herself up in 15 years so she could have a top professional job with many companies. The one she chose, had been desperately seeking someone like her for over 2 years and this was kind of normal with the companies that went after her.
It is funny, how some people use Craigslist to judge what is happening in professional type jobs. Craigslist is kind of like putting a classified ad in the local throwaway weekly paper. No good company wants to sink that low.
It's the same people who don't know anything about the profession.
For example, Big Four and large regional firms recruit on campus. These jobs are on the campus recruiting boards. The large corporations normally hire auditors and tax people who worked on their engagements from the accounting firms.
Of course the lower level jobs that pay nothing are going to be on craigslist.
There is a high demand for accountants simply because every organization imaginable needs them, but the supply of accountants is incredibly high.
I work in that field, and I am well aware that my employer could get rid of me and fill my position the very next day while I would have to fight with 100 different people for a new job.
The accounting field is far from dying. It is over-saturated.
Do you have your CPA license? I usually see the exact opposite of what you're seeing. The CPA with a 3-5 years of experience in large public accounting firms is the one who can walk out the door anytime and go work for a client. Up or out.
After grad school I lived and worked in Parssippany NJ, and dealt with accountants. Parssippany location is important to my point because that's where Deloitte is located for my state.
While I refuse services to accountants my next door neighbor preferred to join the marine core to taking her CPA exam. (I have the credits needed to CPA in my state, but I never bothered to take the test.)
I have nothing positive to say about accounting field.
The only thing worth saying is that "I am happy to refuse services to accountants." the word happy is emphasized.
So the 2 highest hurdles to becoming a CPA are completely foreign to you. The uniform CPA exam, and the work experience.
I'm glad you posted this. If it wasn't clear to others before that you have no idea what you're talking about, at least now they can see how irrational and biased you are.
Usually the "Big 4" hire students directly out of college. They only hire students from schools with well respected accounting programs. You are not likely to be offered a big 4 job after working low level temp jobs.
+1
Further, unless you're a rock-star student (4.0 GPA), you'll get pushed into a "process specialist" role in big 4 firms now. Knew several kids who were so enamored with the idea of working at a Big 4 firm that they took these roles only to be incredibly disappointed (all they did was send out AP/AR confirmations), underpaid, and overworked. This is what I heard from these students-it may not be the same experience for everyone else in these roles.
I have my accounting degree and do not have a CPA. I did not go the public accounting route and did not have a 4.0 GPA (3.3) and have done well. I started as a Staff Accountant with a Fortune 200 company, and they did not pay that well but I moved into Cost Accounting/FP&A and have done much better. As someone else said, there's plenty of opportunity within Cost Accounting, Business Analysis, Financial Analysis (the realm I work in), and other analytical roles like that.
Another thing I'd mention is location-there's a lot of posts on this thread with a lot of generalizations about the entire field. But if you're looking to move to a popular area (Tampa, for example) where people want to live, then you'll probably face some competition and be competing with people willing to accept a lower wage to live in a "nice" area. I moved outside of the city and have found plenty of opportunity with virtually no competition.
Further, unless you're a rock-star student (4.0 GPA), you'll get pushed into a "process specialist" role in big 4 firms now. Knew several kids who were so enamored with the idea of working at a Big 4 firm that they took these roles only to be incredibly disappointed (all they did was send out AP/AR confirmations), underpaid, and overworked. This is what I heard from these students-it may not be the same experience for everyone else in these roles.
I have my accounting degree and do not have a CPA. I did not go the public accounting route and did not have a 4.0 GPA (3.3) and have done well. I started as a Staff Accountant with a Fortune 200 company, and they did not pay that well but I moved into Cost Accounting/FP&A and have done much better. As someone else said, there's plenty of opportunity within Cost Accounting, Business Analysis, Financial Analysis (the realm I work in), and other analytical roles like that.
Another thing I'd mention is location-there's a lot of posts on this thread with a lot of generalizations about the entire field. But if you're looking to move to a popular area (Tampa, for example) where people want to live, then you'll probably face some competition and be competing with people willing to accept a lower wage to live in a "nice" area. I moved outside of the city and have found plenty of opportunity with virtually no competition.
That is how it is in my profession. The nice locations where everyone wants to live has the toughest competition for chemist jobs. Houston, Atlanta, Silicon Valley have intense competition. All the call backs I received for full time chemist positions were in rural flyover states. I had an interview for a quality assurance management trainee position in Iwoa and got a call for an analytical chemist position in West Virginia two weeks ago. In my profession there are plenty of temp chemist positions but obtaining a full time chemist position requires extreme geographic flexibility. This applies to pretty much all professions now.
That is how it is in my profession. The nice locations where everyone wants to live has the toughest competition for chemist jobs. Houston, Atlanta, Silicon Valley have intense competition. All the call backs I received for full time chemist positions were in rural flyover states. I had an interview for a quality assurance management trainee position in Iwoa and got a call for an analytical chemist position in West Virginia two weeks ago. In my profession there are plenty of temp chemist positions but obtaining a full time chemist position requires extreme geographic flexibility. This applies to pretty much all professions now.
out of curiousity , what degrees do you have in chem?
i think this applies to engineering/science/manufacturer, especially, where jobs are usually located in the middle of nowhere.
out of curiousity , what degrees do you have in chem?
i think this applies to engineering/science/manufacturer, especially, where jobs are usually located in the middle of nowhere.
I have a bachelors in Biochemistry. I have been working as a temp for the past 8 and half months as an associate chemist thermosetting formaldehyde resins for a well known paper company in the Atlanta area. My goal is to become an analytical chemist for a pharmaceutical company analyzing peptides and biomolecules. I just had two phone interviews for such job so fingers crossed.
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