Accounting

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Accounting!  What a horrible paper-pushing kind of a job!  Nobody in the world wants to be a stinking accountant!  This picture may give you the heebie-jeebies even thinking about that many papers floating around.  I know for me, this picture is what came to my mind when I first started thinking about accounting and what is involved in that kind of a job.  Luckily, a lot of accounting work is done electronically now and the mess of all the paperwork has been eliminated.


Accounting, as a career, has changed a lot over the years.  Accounting is used in a typical business to provide information to managers within organizations to provide them with the basis to make informed business decisions that will allow them to be better equipped in their management and control functions.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Management_accounting

Accounting Careers

  1. Enrolled Agent
  2. Bookkeeper
  3. Accounting Clerk
  4. Accounting Director
  5. Controller
  6. Chief Financial Officer (CFO)

Each of these different job titles can be obtained in each of these fields; public accounting, management accounting, governmental accounting, and internal auditing, each with its own financial management specialties.

http://www.career-opportunities.net/articles/view/different_types_of_accounting

Accounting Mentor: Kevin Pickett, Former CFO Circus Circus Las Vegas


What are your projections for this type of work?  Is it stable, growing, declining?
The industry seems to be growing and it should stay strong for a while.  Right now, there are a lot of job opportunities for people with 3-7 years experience in the field and the industry will probably continue to grow.
What are the key trends or issues?  Key challenges?
There are always improvements being made in accounting.  There is a higher demand for things to be done quickly in all fields of work, and accounting is no exception.  The biggest challenge in this industry is keeping up with the changes in technology.  If you don't keep on top of things, you will quickly get left behind.
What are typical salaries for this type of job, entry level to experienced? Opportunities for growth?
Probably the average starting salary for a student just coming out of college with little or no working experience is around $40,000 per year, but could be as high as $45,000 to $50,000 if the person has specialties.  With a few years experience, one can expect about $50,000 to $80,000 per year.  Depending on what you decide to do with this career, you can make $100,000 or more per year working for a large corporation or by going into business for yourself.

When and how did you get involved in this work?
In high school, he took an aptitude test that told him that he would do well as an accountant.  However, while on his mission in Texas, he met a lot of people who were very successful as Engineers and he became interested in seeking a career in engineering.  As he began taking engineering classes, he decided that it was not for him and he went for accounting instead. Wanted to go for an MBA as well, but started a family and left school as soon as he got his degree in accounting.
What was your training and background?
He graduated during a recession, so jobs were hard to come by.  He first went to work for the gaming control board in Las Vegas.  After a while, he took and passed his CPA exam and moved into public accounting.  Later he go a job with Circus Circus and he worked his way up the ladder to eventually become the CFO of the company.
How important are certain credentials for entry or success?
Now-a-days things are a bit different than they were 30 years ago.  It is almost a necessity now to graduate with a Masters before going into the working world.  Once the degree is earned, he suggests going to work for a public accounting firm to begin gaining experience.

What is a typical day like for you?
He last worked as the CFO or controller and at this point in his career, he was working mostly in a managerial position.  He did not work much with the nitty gritty stuff.  A typical day consisted of looking over reports, reviewing, approving, and signing things off, and doing forecasting for the next year.  
What do you like most about your work?
He likes doing the nitty gritty stuff and getting into details and getting results for himself.  Streamlining and using the technology.
What do you like least?
He said that it gets really busy at times with everyone reporting to him.  It seemed at times that he was babysitting rather than working in charge of a bunch of adults.  He would rather be able to mind his own business and get things done rather than solve other people's problems.
What talents or skills do you think are most crucial to success in this work?
At the beginning, good communication and technical skills are the most important thing.  Becoming proficient with Excel and Access is of utmost importance.  As time goes on, management and people skills are things that are going to help you make money.
What attitudes or values are important?
A can-do attitude is a must.  Accounting involves a lot of teamwork.  Having a good work ethic will get you far in this field.
How do you advance or get promoted in this type of work?
In order to grow and climb the ladder, you have to work on management skills.  This is the only way to get higher pay and prestige.

What would you recommend I do if I were to go into this type of work?
The degree to go after would be an MBA with an emphasis in accounting.  Get some kind of certification, not necessarily a CPA, but some kind of a specialty certificate.  If going into business for yourself, go for a CPA right away and learn how to do everything first.  Get experience in a variety of different companies and work that lattice rather than just the ladder.
Knowing what you do now, would you approach this career in the same way? What would you do differently?
He told me that if he were to do things overt again, he would have taken positions in different companies over the years to get a feel for the different kinds of companies that are out there so that he would have a a variety of skills to make himself more valuable.  He worked for the same company for 23 years and as a result of that, he does not really have an experience doing anything but working in the gaming industry.  If he has taken jobs over the years in different companies for the same amount of pay as he was already making, they he would be more employable now.

Key Accounting Terms

  • Balance Sheet - an itemized statement that lists the total assets and the total liabilities of a given business to portray its net worth at a given moment of time. The amounts shown on a balance sheet are generally the historic cost of items and not their current values.
  • Income Statement - Also known as a profit and loss statement.  Shows your business revenue and expenses for a specific period of time. The difference between the total revenue and the total expense is your business net income. A key element of this statement, and one that distinguishes it from a balance sheet, is that the amounts shown on the statement represent transactions over a period of time while the items represented on the balance sheet show information as of a specific date (or point in time).
  • Statement of Cash Flow - measures the flow of money in and out of a business. One of four financial statements found in the annual report, it categorizes a companys cash receipts and disbursements for a given fiscal year by three major activities: operations, investments and financing.  
  • Assets - Economic resources.
  • Liabilities - Something that is a hindrance or puts an individual or group at a disadvantage, or something that someone is responsible for, or something that increases the chance of something occurring.
  • Owners Equity - Also known as Shareholders Equity.  Total assets minus total liabilities. It is the same as equity, net worth, and stockholder's equity.
  • Net Income -  The difference between a businesses total revenue and its total expenses. This caption and amount is usually found at the bottom of a companys Profit and Loss statement. Same as Net Profit.
  • Revenue - The inflows of assets from selling goods and providing services to customers; including the reduction of liabilities from selling goods and providing services to customers.

http://www.ventureline.com/search_glossary.php?livesearch_input=&Search=Search