A Career in Accounting

If you want to be an accountant, it's no big surprise that you should have a knack for numbers. As a certified public accountant, or CPA, you'll be charged with reviewing and analyzing the financial information of client companies for auditing, taxpaying, or advisory purposes.But in reality, it's not all calculators and number crunching, particularly because advances in accounting software mean that technology takes care of the basic bookkeeping. The important thing, say both recruiters and employees in the field, is to be an excellent communicator and problem solver, since you'll likely be working in a group with other accountants or managers, and maybe even a company's chief financial officer.And as an accountant or controller for a company or private accounting firm, you could be consulting with your company's executives about financial strategy, or advising businesses or individuals about anything from expansion to retirement.

"What we really need are people who can understand our clients, talk to them, and understand what is happening with their businesses," says Dan Black, the director of campus recruiting for North and South America at public accounting firm Ernst & Young. "You're not put in the corner just to plug away at the calculator. You're going to be interacting with our clients right away."

In order to become a CPA, you do need to earn additional accounting credits beyond your bachelor's degree and pass the four-part CPA exam. The average starting salary for a CPA is about $40,500, and it's around $39,700 for a tax accountant. But with a little more experience, you can earn an average starting salary $67,400 as a financial controller and a starting salary of $84,400 as a tax manager, according to data from PayScale.com.

The beauty of the accounting field is that every company and organization—whether large or small, public or private—needs to keep track of its finances, meaning that someone with diverse interests can use accounting skills to work across many industries. And with the U.S. potentially adopting the International Financial Reporting Rules, graduates with an interest in international affairs could develop an expertise and seek experience abroad.

"A lot of people don't think accounting is a glamorous field—and it's not," says Philip Erickson, a partner at a private accounting firm in Colorado Springs, Colo. "But it's a stable field, and it's not going away."

So while jobs dried up during the economic crisis, hiring in accounting wasn't hit as hard, and cutbacks have created a need for more hiring as the economy recovers, says Amy Thompson, the U.S. campus recruiting leader at Price water house Coopers. She'll be hiring 3,000 people this year, up from 2,600 last year.

And whether it's the new financial regulations pushed through Congress or an infusion of cash for a green energy startup, accountants will always be called upon to help businesses and government agencies solve their financial puzzles. And the versatility of accounting skills means that, if you decide you don't like the field, you've gained valuable experience that's easily transferable to other careers in finance or business.

By MARISA TAYLOR