An accountant can work for firms that do accounting and auditing work for various external clients; these are known as public accounting firms (not to be confused with public service—that is, government or civil service). Or they can work in-house, overseeing the books and financial records as part of the staff for an individual public corporation or a smaller, private company. They can also prepare tax returns for individuals and businesses or work for the government.
Accountants must be skilled at working with figures. The career is often stigmatized as being boring and is a haven for math wonks and number crunchers, but many accounting duties require strong people skills and diplomacy. Public accountants spend the majority of their workweeks at various third-party client offices. These professionals must be capable of assimilating into diverse corporate cultures.
You can get an accounting job with a bachelor’s degree or even less, but the “Big Four” accounting firms (Deloitte, Ernst & Young, KPMG, and PricewaterhouseCoopers) want one. In addition, they want either certified public accountants (CPAs) or candidates who are eligible to sit for the CPA exam.
Many states or jurisdictions now require 150 semester hours of education to obtain the CPA license—even to sit for the exam. Colleges and universities in these states/jurisdictions determine the curriculum for pre-licensure education of CPAs; it typically features a good balance of accounting, business, and general education.3
Many colleges and universities offer bachelor’s and master’s degree programs in accounting. To obtain 150 semester hours of education, students do not necessarily have to get a master’s degree. They can meet the requirement at the undergraduate level or get a bachelor’s degree and take some courses at the graduate level. Some colleges offer streamlined Master of Accountancy programs that allow you to bypass a bachelor’s degree and receive the necessary credits for CPA eligibility in a minimum of four years.3