Career Information - Accounting
If you want your business to stay afloat, you must account for all expenditures and income. You must keep stock of your inventory, resources, overhead, and personnel. That's why accounting is such an important part of commerce. It is imperative that everything remains balanced and "accounted" for. Otherwise, you might find yourself coming up short every week.
What is accounting?
In its simplest form, accounting is essential financial bookkeeping. On one side of a balance sheet, you have expenses (out going monies). On the other side of the sheet you have all sales and profits (incoming monies). However, these days, accounting is so much more than simple bookkeeping. The range and type of expenses and income has become more sophisticated in recent years. Plus there are numerous tax regulations, loopholes, deductibles, and variables that any good accountant must take into consideration. A deep understanding of all of these areas can save you much more than traditional bookkeeping ever could.
CPA certification is extremely useful
As you can imagine, knowing all of the applicable State and federal regulations is sometimes too much for the average businessperson to handle. That's why most accountants attend school first and then register to become a certified public accountant (CPA). While licensing in this field is not necessary if you want to handle taxes and bookkeeping, a CPA certification will signal to potential employers that you possess an adequate understanding of tax law and accounting. And because most people take their money very seriously, you stand a much better chance of securing and maintaining clients if you can demonstrate a high degree of accounting knowledge.
The future of accounting
Taxes are as certain as death. This news might depress most, but for accountants, it means plenty of work in the years to come. With your CPA in hand, you can expect to make a median, yearly salary of $47,000.
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