Explore the career advancement opportunities available with accounting employment. All accounting careers require a combination of work experience and education. The most common accounting career path allows you to move from an entry level to intermediate position within five years, depending on your level of education.

Accountant jobs are always available, regardless of the economy. There are wonderful opportunities to advance your accounting career as high as you would like to go. Complete the three steps below to create your accounting career plan.

1. Explore the career path of accountant positions.

2. Determine if an accounting position is for you.

3. Advancing accounting careers.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Plan for career transition into accounting employment

Investigate the career path to move from an entry level accounting job to a highly paid accounting position. Accounting is one of the few job where you can further your career at any point by simply taking a few well chosen courses. All accounting designations require accounting work experience to obtain the designation.

I recommend: Entry level accounting jobs are widely available, regardless of the economy and provide a stable base to build a career. Explore the career options available by visiting The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants career planning section. Obtain advice to increase your salary in an accounting job from The Institute of Internal Auditors.

Complete career testing for accounting jobs

Explore the skill set and competencies requires for success in accounting. Although there are many accountant positions available, studies have shown that the most successful accountants have high scores on career and personality tests for attention to detail, self discipline and working with numbers. Job satisfaction has an impact on our performance and should not be ignored.

I recommend: Explore your personality to find the best accounting jobs for your personality. The CPA Personality Quiz is a great tool to evaluate how satisfied you will be in an accounting career. The Career Planner provides free access to the Myers-Briggs personality test, which is the standard for all career counseling.

Explore advanced accounting positions

Investigate highly paid accountant job openings and make a list of the educational requirements for these positions. Accountant careers rely heavily on accounting education and designations. Without the required education, your resume will never make it the interview stage.

I recommend: All accounting job placement companies are familiar with the various accounting designations. Improve your career by taking courses to learn new skills. The American InterContinental University offers online accounting degrees to advance your career. Just Colleges provides a list of online school providing accounting certificates, courses and degrees.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Making the most of accounting jobs requires a focused plan, time line and dedication. Every accountant and chief financial officer started off in an entry level accounting job. The only limit to your career is dedication and hard work.

When picking an accountant for your business, choose wisely because you'll be sharing some of the most sensitive and intimate details of your business with this person. You'll be relying on your accountant to help you keep your finances in order, your books balanced and your taxes filed properly and on time. Finding the right financial professional for your business is a task that you should approach seriously and thoughtfully to make sure you find someone you trust and who meets your needs. Hiring a good accountant or CPA can help you:

1. Keep your company's finances running smoothly
2. Meet your tax obligations properly
3. Watch for unusual or improper financial transactions
4. Avoid tax audits
5. Do long-range financial planning for your business

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Get recommendations or locate an accounting pro online

Referrals are an effective way of finding an accountant in your area. Ask business associates, your banker, your financial planner or your lawyer. You might also want to get referrals from accounting associations or online databases.

I recommend: For online searches try Accountants World or CPA Directory.

Decide what services you need

Start your search with a clear picture of what you want your new accountant to do. If all you need is help filing your taxes, you may need no more than a tax preparer. But if you're like most business owners, you'll benefit from an accountant who can prepare financial statements, conduct audits and perform other financial chores.

I recommend: See "Working With Your Accountant" for a discussion of business financial tasks, including those you might want to do yourself and others you would likely want to have an accountant do.

Interview candidates

Once you know what types of services you want, start lining up candidates for interviews. It's a good idea to interview several candidates so you can compare services and costs. Your ideal candidate should not only know accounting but also should have some familiarity with your type of business. You also need to find someone you feel comfortable sharing your finances with.

I recommend: For help in interviewing candidates, see SCORE's list of essential questions you should ask. Inc. Magazine provides additional tips for the interview process.

Get written estimates

You want to hire the best accountant you can, but also stay within your budget. Accounting fees vary widely, depending on the size of the firm, the expertise of the accountant and the level of service. Once you have all your written estimates, evaluate and rate them.

I recommend: Most spreadsheet programs, such as Microsoft Excel, can be used to create a grid for evaluating various aspects of the estimates you receive. Try to rate each candidate in specific areas and then give each one a final score.

Sign an engagement letter

When you've decided on an accountant, you'll most likely enter into an agreement for services called an engagement letter. This document, usually drafted by your accountant or CPA, sets forth what services will be provided and at what cost. Some smaller accounting services still operate on little more than a handshake agreement. An engagement letter is more typical today. Be sure you read and understand the contents of the engagement letter and that you agree to the terms and conditions.

I recommend: The Oregon Society of CPAs has a helpful discussion of engagement letters, including what they are and why an account will ask that you sign one.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Take your time: Don't feel rushed into making a decision that you'll regret later. Take a week or two to do a thorough search.
• •  Join a club: One good source of referrals is by networking through a local service organization like a rotary club or a chamber of commerce.
• •  Do it yourself: You can save money by doing some accounting functions yourself or by hiring a basic accountant instead of a Certified Public Accountant, who has a higher level of training. Be sure your bank loans don't require a CPA.
• •  Review your engagement letter: Things change, and so do businesses. Review your engagement letter periodically to see if it needs to be revised to reflect changes in your situation.

Devote a certain amount of time each week to reviewing accounting positions and job openings. Stay current on changes in the industry by joining industry specific groups and associations. These groups are formed to provide services and information to a specific audience.

Track changes in the rate of accounting job openings and placements to get a sense of the trends over time. Review your skills and training and identify any gaps. Review the three items below to ensure you are up to date with accounting job news and trends.

1. Subscribe to accounting employment newsletters.

2. Visit accounting job posting boards.

3. Register with accounting job placement firms.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Read accounting employment newsletters

Stay current with accounting employment trends by subscribing to the newsletters provided by the accounting associations. These newsletters and magazines contain valuable information on trends in accounting jobs, accounting positions and the general direction of the accounting industry. Read the entire magazine to gain the greatest benefit.

I recommend: Accounting jobs are advertised through the accounting associations and they also collect and analysis trends within the industry. Subscribe to the AICPA association newsletter to get up to date information on job trends. Join The IIA associations and subscribe to Insight to learn more on accounting job trends for auditors.

Review accounting job posting boards

Schedule a weekly check of the postings of accountant positions on the job boards, even when you are not currently looking for accountant jobs. This information keeps you in touch with the trends and news within the accounting industry and the impact on current and future jobs.

I recommend: Sign up for the free career newsletter on CPA 2 Biz to stay informed on job trends. Futures in Finance issues a monthly newsletter on accounting jobs to help financial professionals stay current and informed.

Stay in touch with accounting job placement firms

Observe the common path of accountant careers and keep your eyes open for accountant job openings. Register with an accounting job placement firm to gain access to annual reports of job trends, news, skill set requirements and more. Even in entry level accounting jobs, there is room to move and increase your career path over the long term.

I recommend: Accounting job placement firms specialize in being ahead of the job trend and curve. They provide access to a wide range of information on employment trends and the direction of an industry. Visit Robert Half Finance & Accounting to review their list of publications. Explore Careers in Accounting for more information on employment trends.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Accounting positions are the cornerstone to any business, but the types of positions available and their salary ranges vary over time. Stay in touch with current salary and skill sets as part of your career management plan.

Maybe you're great at crunching numbers, but not sure what career path to choose. Your business may need a numbers specialist, but you're not exactly sure what to look for. Accounting is the industry you may want to start with, and there are many different positions within that industry that specialize in different areas.The purpose of this article is to start you off with a better understanding of the various options within accounting, so you can make a more educated decision for your business and your future.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

CPA

CPA stands for Certified Public Accountant. CPAs generally have their own businesses and provide a variety of services to the public, such as general accounting and payroll for other businesses and tax filings for businesses and individuals.

I recommend: Joseph Michaels provides a job description for CPAs.

Auditor

An auditor analyzes accounting reports and statements, whether they're documents or software, to make sure there are no errors in a business' records. If an auditor finds errors, it is his or her job to report it to the hiring company and make recommendations to avoid those errors in the future.

I recommend: Refer to the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics for detailed information on auditors.

Controller

Controllers oversee all aspects of the accounting department for a company. They implement accounting policies, processes and routines, making sure that everything is operating smoothly and correctly. Once all data is compiled in an appropriate manner, controllers are responsible for presenting it to management.

I recommend: Visit Blue Sky Search for more information on a controller career.

Bookkeeper

Bookkeepers perform general accounting tasks for a company, such as documenting received payments (accounts receivable) and paying bills for the company (accounts payable). They balance company checkbooks and keep track of available company finances.

I recommend: Visit CareerPlanner for more information on bookkeeping tasks.

Financial analyst

A financial analyst does exactly that-analyzes expenses, income and the like,and reports trends and fluctuations to management. Financial analysts are also responsible for forecasting expectations for internal accounts.

I recommend: Find a more detailed job description for a financial analyst at Degree Source.

Payroll specialist

Payroll specialists keep track of employees' working hours, vacation time, sick days and overtime. They distribute pay checks after taking out the proper state, federal and local taxes as necessary by law and contributions toward any additional benefits for each employee.

I recommend: Payscale provides income information and a more detailed job description for payroll specialists. Visit iHireAccounting for brief descriptions of other accounting career paths.