Grace
Is there an accounting career where you counsel people on how to be responsible with money? If so, what's it called?
I want to learn more about alternative careers.
#accounting
5 answers
Emily Gutman
Emily’s Answer
This is a great question and I agree with Emily. There are a number of paths to take to get there but the first steps might be to get exposure to different scenarios and strategies by seeing what successful people are already doing with their money. A potential route that I've seen many Financial Advisers/Planners take is to start in public accounting in a tax or business management practice, obtain their CPA (Certified Public Accountant), and then later go on to get their CFP (Certified Financial Planner). Additionally, here, at PwC, we do a lot of youth education and present in classrooms on fiscal responsibility to get them started on the right track. Hope this is helpful!
Mark Diment
Kellie (Kinsella) Casey
Kellie (Kinsella)’s Answer
John Verderese
John’s Answer
Many accountants do this type of counseling/advising - most couple it with a certification (not a degree) called "Certified Financial Planner". An accounting or finance degree is an excellent foundation for being a financial planner. You also don't need to have a finance/accounting degree to do this work - you can be trained - communication and relationship skills are very important. My brother has had an excellent career as a financial planner and he did not have a business degree.
John recommends the following next steps:
Mikayla Kenney
Mikayla’s Answer
Hi Grace,
What you're referring to sounds like a financial consultant or advisor. For this career path, you'll typically want to focus more so on finance classes and the CFA or similar certifications, rather than accounting classes and the CPA.
Darren Hoveydai
Darren’s Answer
Expanding on of Emily's comment about Financial Advisors and Financial Planners, if you have not been exposed to much financial advising or financial planning; some companies and schools will offer financial literacy materials or programs to educate people on being responsible with their with money. If you are interested do not hesitate to reach out to people or companies asking about programs for you or people you know who would be interested. Typically, they can be a great foot in the door in the financial advising and planning world before structured classes about them. Best of luck!!!