The most prominent pathway for anyone studying accounting is to become a professional accountant in the future. However, one must note that this is not the only way to become successful with a qualification in accounting because there are actually a wide variety of career pathways that one can choose from. Furthermore, to become a professional accountant, a degree in accounting is not sufficient as one would need to undergo a professional accountancy course like the ACCA.
First of all, one must dispel the fallacy that an accountant’s job is mundane, dull and monotonous because in today’s fast moving environment, accountants have taken up rolls which are more dynamic and exciting. It takes a person with accounting knowledge and the likes of profit and loss knowledge to actually understand the dynamics of business operations and this is where many are known to have ventured into the areas of consultancy, corporate finance, human resources and such.
One thing for sure, a qualified accountant is a specialist that is needed in every company that runs a business. Therefore, one can rest assure that job opportunities are plenty out there where one can work in almost any industry available. In most cases, one could start in the auditing environment where there are countless opportunities through the big accounting firms like KPMG and Price WaterhouseCoopers. From there, one can then branch out either to become a professional accountant or offer auditing service to businesses in the industry.
A qualified accountant can either be employed independently by the audit companies or in-house where they are involved with handling the everyday figures of the business. For one to be more involved with decision making and capital budgeting, a move into the Management Accounting areas would be most appropriate. On top of that, one could also find a job in taxation in both the public and private sectors respectively.