Aissata
What is the day to day schedule like from an accountant?
I am a senior at Achievement First Brooklyn High School. I ask this because I am interested in accounting as a career after college. I also know that accounting will require good math skill, which I am not nervous about because I am confident with that subject. However, since I do not know anyone who is an accountant, I am very curious about it. #accounting #accountant
5 answers
Joshua Levine
Joshua’s Answer
Hi Aissata,
Depending on the type of work you do as an accountant whether it is at a private corporation, big public accounting firm or small accounting firm, your day to day schedule will differ. I personally work at PwC which is a Big 4 accounting firm as an auditor. Throughout the year we have times in which we are busy and work later than a normal 9-6 work day but we have other times where we are slower and more flexible with our work schedule. My days are generally filled with performing audit procedures and ensuring that the financial statements of companies are correctly stated, meaning we are making sure companies are not lying about the money they have. I also talk with our clients regarding various accounting issues. Although we do a lot of math, reading and writing skills can also be very important depending on the type of accounting you perform so make sure you are working hard in those areas as well.
Martin Nguyen
Martin’s Answer
Hi Aissata!
First of all, its a good choice to pick accounting as a career and major in college! I'm currently in my junior year studying it and love it. Most people think accounting is all numbers and math in a cubicle. It's not, accountants are not only those who keep track of the financial records of a company but also work as consultants for businesses. Accounting opens so many doors for you. You can work in any sector you want from public, private, corporate, or start your own CPA practice. In terms of the math skills required, I think of it more as a puzzle than a math problem. Yes numbers are involved but if you can do basic algebra you won't have issues doing the math. The difficulty lies within where you put the numbers, which to use and knowing when to add, subtract, divide and multiply. Most people who major in accounting have the large versatility to work in a stable, low unemployment career.
Career wise, with accounting you can do audit, tax, and general accounting.
Kevin Boeving
Kevin’s Answer
I love this question. I think it definitely depends on what type of accountant you want to be. You may decide to go work in industry (work in the accounting department of Coca Cola or your local grocery store or maybe a start-up company) or you might decide you want to work in public accounting (Price Waterhouse, Deloitte, Armanino, or a local public accounting firm). Once you know what type of company you'll work for, you'll have to figure out if you're going to be a tax accountant, auditor, bookkeeper, etc. It's alot to think about, but I think you'll find that after you take a few college courses and listen to a few people who've been through it before you'll figure out what's best for you.
I'm a tax accountant for a public accounting firm though and I'll give you my perspective of day to day life. A public accounting firm works with alot of different clients as opposed to someone who works in industry who just works for that particular company. I have a few hundred clients and some are small clients who we just help with their personal tax return once a year and some are large clients who we do detailed tax planning, audits, tax projections, help pay their bills, work with their family to educate them on financial issues, etc. We have everything in between as well.
When you first start out in accounting, you're in the learning phase. You'll get a lot of easier tasks and smaller clients to work on to try and master basic skills. As you progress, you'll probably be asked to meet with clients more often and as the clients become comfortable with you, they'll start reaching out to you directly with questions. Your days are still probably filled with alot of excel files and completing various tax forms, but as you progress in your career, basic math and working with excel files becomes less important and building relationships with clients becomes more important and you'll spend a big portion of you day talking to your clients and training other staff.
Shante G
Shante’s Answer
Aissata -
An Accounting career is a rewarding career, it just depends on the industry you rather work in. You can go into Government, Local Government, Taxation, Hotel Industry, Entertainment Industry, etc. Every business needs an accountant that is the good thing. As long as you are organized and pay attention to detail because you work with numbers all the time, you will be a good fit. Try interning with a bookkeeping firm or a small accounting firm to get some experience if you will actually like it as a career.
Goodluck!
Tom Wilber
Tom’s Answer
I have worked as a CPA where you visit various clients (typically month to 3 month assignments), an internal auditor where you work on 3-6 month audit engagement and did a tax internship where you typically work in the office preparing client returns and researching issues.
As a controller you will typically be in an office. The understanding of the business from your accounting experience will serve you well moving into a number of other roles.