Different Types of Careers in Accountancy

This article explores the different types of careers in accountancy including accountant, accounting assistant, accounting manager, accounts receivable clerk, and chief financial officer. It discusses the educational requirements and job roles of each position.

Running head: MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTING
Management Accounting
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note

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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
The different types of careers in accountancy.................................................................................2
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................5
References and Bibliography...........................................................................................................6

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Introduction
Accountants have been and always will be an integral part of the economy including the
public, private and nonprofit organizations. An individual opting for the career of an accountant
can be deduced as a smart decision. A single career in accounting can present the pursuer with a
wide range of options in the same field. A career in accounting also facilitates the application of
the subject in the daily operations of life. Moreover, the need of an accountant is imperative in
case of any business and most of the companies hire an accountant for the proper management of
the financial records of the company.
The different types of careers in accountancy
 Accountant – the career in accounting majorly revolves around the preparation and
monitoring of the financial statements of the company. The other jobs of an accountant
may be in the range of preparation of the tax statements, bookkeeping and internal of the
prepared financial statements. The minimum requirement for applying for the post of an
accountant is the bachelor’s degree in accounting. The desired job role in case of an
accountant is the position of a certified public accountant. A certified public accountant
apparently holds enough quality for serving the roles of payroll supervisors and corporate
auditors (Ng Caes et al., 2017).
 Accounting Assistant – an accounting assistant is in the nature of an entry-level job. This
means that in order to become an accounting assistant, the certificate is required for
employment. The job role of an accounting assistant revolves around the maintenance of
records, typing of the reports and the assistance of the accountant. The role of an
accounting assistant fundamentally is about assisting the accountant of an organization.

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However, an accounting assistant has enough scope for improvement. This means that an
accounting assistant can always be a certified public accountant. Moreover, an
accounting assistant has enough opportunity to learn the tricks of the trade. An
accounting assistant can manage the functions like double or cross checking the financial
particulars that already have been authorized by the accountant. It should be noted here
that the accountant is a human thus, is prone to commit human error. Therefore, the
availability of an assistant accountant makes the entire job of accounting easy (Samsuri,
Arifin & Hussin, 2016). The job role of an accounting assistant if summarized will result
in the following functions:
 Completion of the basic duties like the monitoring and evaluation of the
financial statements
 Skills in regards to entering the financial transactions strengthen the
accounting skills of the assistant accountant
 The applications that an accounting assistant in general has to deal with
are financial accounting management, accounting software applications
and spreadsheet applications
 Accounting Manager – one of the most valued positions in the career of accounting is the
position of an accounting manager. The position of an accounting manager demands high
level of education. This means that that such a top position in the field of accountancy
requires the related degrees in the subject. The certification that is required for
authenticating the post of an accounting manager requires hard work and takes much
longer time. However, the results are worth the effort taken. The career of an accounting
manager may fetch an annual payment of $100,000. The fundamental functions of an

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accounting manager revolve around the management of the money that is flowing in and
out of business. The accounting manager is often phrased as the accounting executive.
Therefore, the particular fact, that the accounting manager being responsible for the
accountants of the organization is a common assumption. Moreover, the functions of the
accounting manager include the monitoring and the evaluation of the budget,
management of the internal audit, assisting the chief financial officer and the chief cost
accountant. Here, it should be noted that in case of an accounting manager, experience is
a crucial factor that should be considered in determining the skill of the accounting
manager. This is because top accounting positions like these gain the much needed skill
and acclamation from the experience that may be gathered by working in the managerial
position for a number of years (Dalcı & Özyapıcı, 2018).
 Accounts Receivable Clerk - An accounts receivable clerk is in charge of keeping track
of the payments that have been forwarded to business and the payments that have been
made by business to the third parties. This means that the accounts receivable clerk
checks the bank deposits that have been prepared by the business for making the
necessary payments through the medium of debit or credit cards and money orders or real
cash. The major functions of an accounts receivable clerk revolve around contacting the
clients about the payments that have been due and provide the required assistance to the
clients by updating the files and facilitating the verification of the data. The educational
requirement that is mandatory for airing the post of an accounts receivable clerk is an
associate or an advanced degree in accounting (Lam, Azriel & Swanger, 2017).
 Chief financial officer – A chief financial officer is one of the most prestigious and top
level positions in terms of hierarchy in an accounting carrier. A chief financial officer is

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not only responsible for the all the accounting particulars of the organization but also is
answerable to the management due to the negative variances that have been derived from
the actual and the real budgets. He provides the required advices to the Board of
Directors of the company along with the Chief Executive Officer of the organization. The
major functions of the Chief financial officer revolve around establishment of the
financial objectives of the corporate entity, evaluation of the prepared budgets and the
development of the business strategies. This particular position requires an educational
requirement of master’s degree in accounting (Pratama, 2017).
Conclusion
The conclusion that can be derived from the preceding paragraphs is that a career in
accountancy has much potential and the individual pursuing such a career has opted for a smart
decision. Moreover, the wide range of accounting positions make this career a popular choice.

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References and Bibliography
Dalcı, İ., & Özyapıcı, H. (2018). Cultural values and students’ intentions of choosing accounting
career. Journal of Financial Reporting and Accounting, (just-accepted), 00-00.
El-Mousawi, H. Y., & Charbaji, A. (2016). Becoming a CPA—How to Attract University
Students to the Accounting Profession Using Theory of Planned Behavior?.
Lam, M., Azriel, J., & Swanger, S. L. (2017). A PILOT STUDY EXAMINING THE ROLE OF
ENTREPRENEURIAL INTENT AND NEED FOR ACHIEVEMENT IN
ACCOUNTING STUDENTS'CAREER ASPIRATIONS. In United States Association
for Small Business and Entrepreneurship. Conference Proceedings (p. 849). United
States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship.
Lam, M., Azriel, J., & Swanger, S. L. (2017). The Role of Entrepreneurial Intent and Need for
Achievement in Accounting Students. Career Aspirations. Journal of Higher Education
Theory and Practice, 17(5), 70-82.
Ng, Y. H., Lai, S. P., Su, Z. P., Yap, J. Y., Teoh, H. Q., & Lee, H. (2017). Factors influencing
accounting students’ career paths. Journal of Management Development, 36(3), 319-329.
Pratama, A. (2017). Why Do Accounting Students Choose a Career in Accountancy? An
Exploratory Study in Bandung City, West Java, Indonesia. Review of Integrative Business
and Economics Research, 6(2), 393.

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Samsuri, A. S. B., Arifin, T. R. B. T., & Hussin, S. B. (2016). Perception of Undergraduate
Accounting Students towards Professional Accounting Career. International Journal of
Academic Research in Accounting, Finance and Management Sciences, 6(3), 78-88.
Warren, C. S., & Jones, J. (2018). Corporate financial accounting. Cengage Learning.