Every year business schools receive rankings from various organizations and publications. These rankings are determined by a variety of factors and can be very useful when choosing a business school or MBA Program. Here are the top schools for Accounting.
Accountancy auditing is just another lucrative career in the field of accounting. Businesses depend deeply on auditing and it is an essential key to the success of any business. Auditors are responsible for examining, analyzing, and verifying business finances.
Accounting auditors are in high demand according to the BLC (The Bureau of Labor Claims). Therefore, the auditing career field will continue to be in high demand for many years to come. People who are interested in working as an accountancy auditor should consider starting out with a company before going to the government.
What is an auditor?
Auditors are also considered accountants. The difference is that they mainly work with examining and corroborating financial statements. Auditors make sure that the numbers always adds up and examines statements closely. However, auditors are human and errors can occur. Finding out where inaccuracies or errors exist is the main job of the auditor. Avoiding future errors will also fall in the lap of the accountancy auditor.
You are quite wrong if you think that an auditor's only job is to examine simple financial statements. Looking over company bills and ensuring debit and credit accuracy is also a task for an auditor. To avoid financial problems auditors quickly correct financial problems.
There are government auditors and nongovernment auditors; the difference between them is that government auditors mainly concentrate on the tax side of things. If a business or an individual files a tax return and it looks suspicious, it is then the job of the government auditor to carry out an audit. A perfect example of this is - a business or individual files a tax return and claims massive amounts of deductions or expenses. This will raise all types of red flags.
When these flags go up the (IRS) Internal Revenue Service leap into action to check the accuracy of the deductions and expenses compared to the tax code criteria. If things do not add up the suspected business or individual could face stiff penalties and fines. Many tax auditors are feared and hated. They make sure that people are doing what they are supposed to do, and not cheating the government.
An accountancy career is technology driven. Years ago auditing was done manually on paper, but now auditing is done primarily on computers. Present-day auditors should know how to work with computers and complicated accounting software or programs. This will allow you to stay competitive and always up to date with the many changes in the industry.
If you want to become a company auditor someday, you have to graduate with a bachelor's accounting degree. Most states do not require it but getting certification might be a good idea. More job opportunities are open to those who earned a Master's degree as well as some certification.
When choosing a career, salary is very important. Auditors earn a yearly salary of about fifty-four thousand dollars a year. While more experienced auditors, earn eight-thousand dollars a year. On the other hand, inexperienced auditors can earn about thirty-five thousand dollars a year. As you can see, there is money to be made as an accountancy auditor.
As an accountancy auditor, your income will increase in the end, but at the beginning, salaries are reasonable. Choosing a career in accountancy auditing will be a good move if you have a deep love for accounting. Auditors have been given bad reputations over the years, but if you have a passion for it go for it. The money is great and the rewards are worth it.
Accounting and finance schools are in the business of preparing leaders in financial accounting, from office administrators to professors at business colleges. Those with advanced skills in finance and accounting will have exceptional employment opportunities with major businesses, government agencies, schools, banks, tax services, and more. You can learn to be an accountant in two to four years from some of the best schools for accounting and finance.
Accounting is an exciting and growing field, with many specialties expecting growth over 20% in the coming decade. There are so many options—you can be a staff accountant (the cornerstone of any company), or pursue fraud investigations as an auditor. Knowing all of the accounting degree basics, and what you want to do with your accounting degree, will help you with course selection.
Let’s start with your interests. What types of things excite you? What types of jobs or careers appeal to you? Don’t feel restricted by the expectations of others—let your hopes and dreams soar when considering these ideas.
Now, let’s look at your abilities. What are your strengths? What are your weaknesses? What kind of skills do you have? Look at the courses you took in high school. What were your best subjects? Is there a pattern there? What kinds of extracurricular activities did you participate in while in high school? What kinds of things did you learn from part-time or summer jobs?
Master of Accountancy (MAcc, MAc, or MAcy), alternatively Master of Professional Accountancy (MPAcy or MPA) or Master of Science in Accountancy (MSAcy), is a graduate professional degree designed to prepare students for public accounting and to provide them with the 150 credit hours required by most states before taking the Certified Public Accountant (CPA) exam. Some graduates entering corporate accounting or consulting may pursue the Certified Management Accountant (CMA), Certified Internal Auditor (CIA) or other certifications by passing a series of exams administered by professional organizations.
This speciality program usually runs one year in length and contains from ten to twelve three semester credit courses (30 to 36 semester hours total). The program may consist of all graduate accounting courses or a combination of graduate accounting courses, graduate tax courses and other graduate business electives. Notable Universities with highly ranked Masters programs in Accounting include University of Illinois, Brigham Young University,University of Texas, and the University of Kentucky.
The Master of Accountancy (MSA) program is designed to not only prepares students for the US CPA examination but to provides a strong knowledge of accounting principles and business applications.
The economy sucks and the job market is weakening. The government just decided to pass nearly $1 trillion in corporate bailouts. But I'm not the least bit worried. A
graduate student in a Masters of Accounting Program, I've done my research and know what is in store. After crunching the numbers, the job odds are in my favor.
One year graduate programs have nearly a 95 percent job placement rate. I'm sure in some schools it is closer to 100
percent. In an economy with such uncertainty, this program is prospering. The program's job
placement rate is one of the highest in the nation.
The demand for accountants is growing, regardless of the current economic state.
Kitchen summarizes that whether the job market is strong or weak, taxes and audits aren't
going away.
"Pair that with the fact that many accountants are at the point of retirement and you have the
perfect work opportunity," he said.
In 2002, with the collapse of Enron and the Arthur Andersen Public Accounting Firm, it was
an unfavorable period for the accounting sector. Surprisingly, the long-term effect turned out
to be positive for accountants.
"Even though the company went under and a public accounting firm went under, it actually
increased the need for accountants," Lisa Ottinger, the director of a Masters of
Accounting Program said, referring to the Arthur Andersen Public Accounting Firm. "Also,
there was so much publicity about it that students became interested in the profession. It's
kind of an interesting turn out."
Ottinger said this required companies to enforce a lot of regulations to try and prevent
something like Enron from happening again. Because of the fallout, the Sarbannes and
Oxley Act was passed by Congress in 2002. This federal law imposed stricter regulations on
public businesses.
"That act changed the accounting and auditing regulatory environment," Heintz said. "It
ramped up the requirements. That act has caused an explosion in the demand for
accountants- beyond what we had before."
Ottinger said KU's Masters program, a 30-hour curriculum (five years to receive both a
bachelors and masters) has grown 50 percent from last year. In addition, the student is able
to sit for the CPA exam. The three tracks offered are audit, tax and information systems.
"I enjoy everything about accounting," Kitchens, the masters student, said. "I enjoy
crunching numbers. I enjoy the work that goes into it."
Kitchens would like to work for one of the big four accounting firms: KMPG,
PricewaterhouseCoopers, Ernst & Young, or Deloitte. He'd like to start out in Kansas City
and eventually move to Seattle.
Kitchens is keeping his options open.
Mize, Houser and Company, a tax services and accounting firm in Lawrence, has seen the
necessity for accountants.
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