What to Do with Accounting Degree

There are lot of things you can do with an accounting degree, with multiple career paths in public accounting and private industry. You could even start your own business or break into finance.
In this video, I focus on jobs you can get right out of college with an accounting degree.
If you go into public accounting, you can work in audit, tax, or consulting. If you work for a smaller public accounting firm, you might end up doing a mix of these activities.
If you go into private industry, you'll do the accounting for a single firm (as opposed to public accounting, where you'll have multiple clients) like Apple or Walmart (or for a nonprofit or government agency). Within private industry there are several paths: you could start as a staff accountant, a cost accountant, or an internal auditor.
You could also start your own accounting firm, or use your accounting degree to get a job in finance. An accounting degree would be helpful for getting a job in investment banking or for becoming a financial analyst, a credit analyst, or a budget analyst.
You could also work in accounts receivable or accounts payable or become an accounting clerk, but those jobs don't typically require an accounting degree (you'd likely be overqualified).
If you want to get into forensic accounting, you might consider starting out as an internal auditor.
0:00 Introduction
0:16 Public Accounting Jobs
1:56 Private Industry Jobs
3:31 Finance Jobs
4:00 Honorable mentions
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Пікірлер: 40

  • @Tyler-qh9jm
    @Tyler-qh9jm9 ай бұрын

    You always have the relevant information I seek as as a near Hon. BCom-Acct. graduate. Thanks for giving us the answers that we don't ask enough in class.

  • @Edspira

    @Edspira

    9 ай бұрын

    You are so welcome. I wish you the best on the job market!

  • @user-gu1hh1rc7g
    @user-gu1hh1rc7g9 ай бұрын

    I hope you read my comment. I just wanted to say that you helped me a lot through college and helped do better on my accounting exams. You’re simply better than all of the accounting professors I had in college. I appreciate you!

  • @Edspira

    @Edspira

    9 ай бұрын

    Thank you for the kind words, it means a lot. I'm grateful to have been part of your educational journey. Congratulations on graduating from college, and I hope you have a successful and fulfilling life and career!

  • @naveedali1406
    @naveedali1406Ай бұрын

    My man used "an accounting degree" and "wonderful and fulfilling career" in the same sentence.

  • @mw70352

    @mw70352

    14 күн бұрын

    I thought the degree offers versatile careers, could you elaborate?

  • @naveedali1406

    @naveedali1406

    13 күн бұрын

    @@mw70352 Caution: I'm saying all of this as I'm actually doing a degree in accounting* I'm doing ACCA. This is from the perspective of a person who wanted to be a mechanical engineer and build rockets, but got into accounting bcz they gave up on life. Btw this field is filled with such ppl. I often say, accounting is where dreams go to die. An accounting degree does offer a lot of career options such as audit, financial advisory, tax etc, you can do a lot with it you can become a financial accountant, management accountant, tax accountant, internal/ external auditor, you can go into financial planning, you can work in due diligence in M&A, heck sometimes even investment banking jobs, all sorts of things, I hope you get the idea. Cons The problem is none of them are actually any good, 1- They don't pay well at all for the most part. This is the biggest issue, what an accountant does requires focus and a lot of time, but it just cannot justify a good pay bcz, I hate to say it, it's relatively* easy and it just costs money, accounting is not going to earn a business money. 2- working 2-3 years in public accounting is really important, but it just sucks, no wlb, really long hours, really toxic environment etc. 3- The jobs are boring as F and really uncool, there's nothing quantitative about it at all, have you ever heard "tHeRe'S mAtH iN aCcOuNtInG" it's a complete lie, there's absolutely no maths in accounting, they purposefully make sure to not put anything that requires you to use your brain. 4- to do well in this field just a bachelor's will not cut it, you'll need a "professional qualification" too, if you're in the US, good luck doing CPA buddy, it's not hard it's just the requirements are so awful, you need a freaking masters degree to be eligible. 6- This is something I've noticed, anything that's worthwhile doing in finance, you need REAL education for it, I mean STEM degree, like CS, SE, Data science, statistics, maths, AI, ML etc or the best you can do is computational finance, financial maths or financial engineering. You can go into risk management, options valuation, algorithmic trading etc basically you can become a Quant, it's a really fancy job in finance that's really quantitative and fulfilling(can vary from person to person), and it pays really, really well. Like we are talking 100k-180k on entry level. Obviously the bar is quite high for these jobs. You might find it interesting, that out of all the companies, financial companies pay the highest salary to ppl working in tech. I think this should give you an idea. There are a few pros (if we can dare to call them that) 1- It's easy, yea I said it, accounting is easy, 2- There's a massive shortage of accountants in the US, what that means is 🌈Jobs 🌈🥵, you can get a job. It's not like tech, where ppl are struggling a bit it seems. 3- It's a steady job, it won't pay much but it has job security. 4- I don't know if this happens in other fields, but early on in your career you can jump around a lil bit, like you have 3 years of experience in audit you can get a job in consulting or financial planning etc. I admit I paint a very bleak picture, but it's not all bad. There's a bit of progression in the field itself, like they're using data analytics in Audit in the US. It's a very, very new thing. If you're interested in this career you can ask me whatever you want, if you want to ask me about anything I wrote here, you can ask me about it, believe me I would love to help. If you're a highschool student who's considering which field I should go into, I think it depends on a few things, your interests and how much money you want to make. As I've said earlier I wanted to become a mechanical engineer, if you're like this, then don't go into a non-quantitative field, you should go into engineering or tech. I wish you good luck, I hope you do well.

  • @naveedali1406

    @naveedali1406

    13 күн бұрын

    @@mw70352 Btw I'm not the first guy in my family and friends to go into accounting, I can see a very visible disappointment and regret in ALL the ppl around me who went into accounting and finance. They know, as I do, I could've done better, way better. On the other hand all the ppl around me that went into tech, they're making the big buck and they're really happy. PS: I live in Pakistan* a third world ransack 💩 hole, that I was unfortunate enough to be born and raised in, the biggest goal of everyone here is to leave, so it's relatively harder to move with an accounting background compared to engineering and tech. I thought you might find it interesting.

  • @naveedali1406

    @naveedali1406

    11 күн бұрын

    @@mw70352 Dude I'm trying to reply to you but for some reason the comment isn't posting I guess, can you see this reply?

  • @naveedali1406

    @naveedali1406

    11 күн бұрын

    @@mw70352 Caution: I'm saying all of this as I'm actually doing a degree in accounting* I'm doing ACCA. This is from the perspective of a person who wanted to become a mechanical engineer and build rockets, but got into accounting bcz they gave up on life. Btw this field is filled with such ppl. I often say, accounting is where dreams go to 😵. And this is all just my opinion, so take it with a massive pinch of salt. An accounting degree does offer a lot of career options such as audit, financial advisory, tax etc, you can do a lot with it you can become a financial, management/cost, tax accountant etc, internal/ external auditor, you can go into financial planning, you can work in due diligence in M&A, heck sometimes even investment banking jobs, all sorts of things, I hope you get the idea. Cons The problem is none of the jobs are actually any good, 1- They don't pay really well at all for the most part. This is the biggest issue, what an accountant does requires focus and a lot of time, but it just cannot justify a good pay bcz, I hate to say it, it's relatively* easy and it just costs money, accounting is not going to earn a business money. Accounting pays less than marketing and even HR jobs. 2- working 2-3 years in public accounting is really important, but it just sucks, no wlb and really long hours, really toxic work environment, they pay considerably less than the industry etc. But doing 3 yrs in the big4 are worth the cost. 3- The jobs are boring as F and really uncool, there's nothing quantitative about it at all, have you ever heard "tHeRe'S mAtH iN aCcOuNtInG" it's a complete lie, there's absolutely no maths in accounting, they purposefully make sure to not put anything that requires you to use your brain. I can talk about this more if you want me to. 4- to do well in this field just a bachelor's will not cut it, you'll need a "professional qualification" too, if you're in the US, good luck doing CPA buddy, it's not hard it's just the requirements are so awful, you need a freaking masters degree to be eligible 🤦‍♂️. 6- This is something I've noticed, anything that's worthwhile doing in finance or generally in life, you need REAL education for it, I mean a STEM degree, like CS, SE, Data science, statistics, maths, AI, ML etc or the best thing you can do is computational finance, financial maths or financial engineering. You can go into risk management, options valuation, algorithmic trading etc basically you can become a Quant, it's a really fancy job in finance that's really quantitative and fulfilling (this can vary from person to person), and it pays really, really well. Like we are talking 100k or more on entry level. Obviously the bar is quite high for these jobs. You might find it interesting, that out of all the companies, financial companies pay the highest salary to ppl working in tech. I think this should give you an idea. There are a few pros 1- It's easy, yea I said it, accounting is easy, so you should be able to score a good CGPA. 2- There's a massive shortage of accountants in the US, what that means is 🌈Jobs 🌈🥵, you can get a job. 3- It's a steady job, it won't pay much but it has job security. 4- I don't know if this happens in other fields, but early on in your career you can jump around a lil bit, like if you have 3 years of experience in audit you can get a job in consulting or financial planning etc. I admit I paint a very bleak picture, but it's not all bad. There's a bit of progression in the industry itself too, like they're using data analytics in Audit in the US. It's a very new thing, but I'm hopeful it'll grow. If you're interested in this career or you want to ask me about anything I wrote here, you can ask me whatever you want, believe me I would love to help. If you're a highschool student who's considering which field I should go into, I think it depends on a few things, your interests and how much money you want to make. As I've said earlier I wanted to become a mechanical engineer, if you're like this, then don't go into a non-quantitative field, you should go into engineering or tech. I wish you good luck, I hope you do well.

  • @djgulston
    @djgulston12 күн бұрын

    Wow! That was pretty straightforward! Thanks for sharing your expertise on the field, sir! 👍

  • @uribroomes6243
    @uribroomes62435 ай бұрын

    Thanks for the info

  • @iamwhatieat9639
    @iamwhatieat96399 ай бұрын

    Thank you for this video. I currently am thinking about what to do with my degree because I only have a year and a half of accounting experience as an intern but am currently working at a job that’s not related to accounting. However, my job does have tuition reimbursement so I’m working on going back to school to get the MAcc and praying I get an accounting job by improving my grades in graduate school.

  • @Edspira

    @Edspira

    9 ай бұрын

    I hope you are able to find a great job once you complete your master's degree in accounting!

  • @ariah5093
    @ariah50939 ай бұрын

    Love your videos! They’re the best! I work at the Ark Encounter in college and I love my job SO MUCH! haha I’m graduating soon and am nervous I wont love my job as much!!! We will see what God will do with my life.

  • @Edspira

    @Edspira

    9 ай бұрын

    I had never heard of the Ark Encounter so I googled it just now and all I can say is wow! I can see where that would be an interesting job when you're in college. Make sure to go to any career fairs at your school and apply to as many firms as you can! Also, it helps to get on a first-name basis with the people in the career center as they can forward you opportunities they hear about from firms. Good luck, and don't give up!

  • @ChristOurKing

    @ChristOurKing

    9 ай бұрын

    Sounds like such a cool place to work at!! I heard Ken Ham is the kind of person who is very straightforward 😅

  • @pfaloa
    @pfaloa9 ай бұрын

    I started in transaction services with my degree. best choice for me

  • @nobodychat
    @nobodychat9 ай бұрын

    Started off as an Auditor for the feds now I'm an Accountant. It has served me well!!!

  • @deez8867

    @deez8867

    9 ай бұрын

    hey not to peak into your private life and not to be rude but what income do you get per month or whatever info you can give me I'm looking to get a job myself.

  • @matthaios9143
    @matthaios91434 ай бұрын

    CPA here who went from Public Accounting (Tax) > Investment Banking > Corporate Development (M&A

  • @antoniobarbosapereira3941
    @antoniobarbosapereira39419 ай бұрын

    Hi Edspira ! Tkanks for my fantastic vídeo ! Your videos is very important for account from us and Al the world! Tks

  • @Edspira

    @Edspira

    9 ай бұрын

    Glad it was helpful!

  • @kokolam7680
    @kokolam76809 ай бұрын

    Can you do careers for an Economics degree, please? I am struggling to choose between studying accounting or economics

  • @Edspira

    @Edspira

    9 ай бұрын

    Reach out to me on LinkedIn with more info and I'll share my thoughts

  • @franklinrichfield
    @franklinrichfield9 ай бұрын

    Hi Edspira. I have an accounting bachelor’s degree and a master’s in business analytics. Currently, I am a data engineer, but I would like to get back into a more accounting-based role. I would also like to use my knowledge of data and statistics. Are there any jobs you recommend that fulfill these goals?

  • @python4889

    @python4889

    9 ай бұрын

    Cost accountant. Greetings from Argentina, from an accountant.

  • @Edspira

    @Edspira

    9 ай бұрын

    One option is to apply for consulting (or specifically tech consulting or tech risk advisory) positions at Big 4 firms. Another route is to apply to positions as a financial analyst, or an analyst role in the banking industry. Depends on whether you're more into tech/consulting (huge demand for this right now) or financial analysis/markets (in which case an analyst position would be better)

  • @bordershader
    @bordershader9 ай бұрын

    That's interesting. In the UK, working in practice is more poorly paid than working in industry. I'm on £5k more and I'm pretty junior.

  • @tenatra
    @tenatra9 ай бұрын

    And unless you know somebody, you can still end up in a dead end job earning barely above McDonald's wages even with a CPA and a dozen years of experience... ah yes, government work. Wish...I would have chosen a different degree.

  • @dudemeister421

    @dudemeister421

    9 ай бұрын

    where I live food delivery drivers with no education working 40 hours a week make more than accountants working double that time. The profession has become an absolute joke in the last 20 years.

  • @carvalhocarv8835

    @carvalhocarv8835

    2 күн бұрын

    Move to a different state man.

  • @aymanrifzan4089
    @aymanrifzan40895 ай бұрын

    I'm a part qualified ACCA and I don't have a degree. So my question is, do I need to have a degree inorder to get a well paying job or should i just focus on completing my qualification?

  • @asiimwe777

    @asiimwe777

    3 ай бұрын

    You can get the Oxford Brookes degree with ACCA. You will be fine with just ACCA.

  • @dudemeister421
    @dudemeister4219 ай бұрын

    do you like working 70 hours a week while earning a little bit more than minimum wage and spending the rest of the time keeping up with the endless ifrs/Gaap adjustments? if yes then accounting is for you, but if you wish to live a decent life and have work life balance it is defiantly not for you. If I go back I would for sure not go with accounting. Accountants and auditors are criminally underpaid for the hours they put in, not to mention that you have to keep studying for the rest of your life making your free hours also work hours. If any of you college kids about to study accounting, DO NOT DO IT unless you enjoy being a corporate wage slave working the normal hours of two jobs and receiving the salary of one job, you have been warned.