<p>What exactly do accountatns do on a day-to-day basis?</p>
<p>I'm not sure what the typical day in the life of all accountants would be like...I'm pretty sure if varies greatly from one industry to the other and from one field to the other. For example, tax accountants are definately not doing the same things on a daily basis as cost accountants, etc.</p>
<p>To help you out a little, here is a link from aicpa.org of some breif descriptions about daily job functions from CPA's:</p>
<p>It depends...</p>
<p>Most accounting majors go into public accounting--usually either doing audit or tax. An auditor's day generally starts at 8:30 at the client's office (you won't see your own office too much). You'll spend a lot of your time interacting with the client--asking for the papers you need, clarification on certain items, etc. (a lot of people don't realize that accounting requires a lot of "people skills"). The rest of your time will be spent going through their accounting records, confirming balances, filling your audit papers, etc.. Days are usually long--most offices require 50 hour weeks year round and you can work up to 80 hours during the busy season. Tax people spend most of their time in the office (with occasional trips to filling out the clients) consulting with them on the phone and working on tax returns. Advisory people spend more of their time traveling from client to client to work on various projects. </p>
<p>Mind you, this description fits the larger public accounting firms--smaller firms can be very different.</p>
<p>Private accounting is very different. You're role depends on how high up you are, but you eseentially work in the same place and your job is to handle the internal controls, prepare financial statements, budgeting and performance analysis.</p>
<p>That link doesnt work anymore, do you have another link?</p>
<p>311Griff, do u still have the link</p>