So i go to suffolk university and i am currently majoring in accounting and minoring in finance. Before the major and minor it says Bs/ba and this makes me a little confused. So isnt accounting a business degree? Why is it bach of science (thats what a few people told me what the ‘s’ meant). Also after my bachelor whats next? What am i allowed to branch to? Ive come to the stage where i know accounting is broad i can narrow, but how many paths are there exactly? Ive seen taxation and MBA of accounting. Can someone explain how this works? So taxation isnt a masters? Also if i WANT to take the cpa and become a cpa. which path should i follow? Does being a cpa mean working at one of the big 4 or something totally different?
A few comments:
- You need to learn a lot about the accounting profession. I’d suggest you talk to a professor in your school as well as the career placement office to get an overview.
- A Bachelor of Science degree is just a designation – it does not mean you are a science major.
- Accountants can move into many areas. Most start off as auditors, accountants for a private corporation, or tax accountants ( can be at a public or private firm).
- You need 150 credits to become a CPA. This usually involves getting a Masters Degree. Some master’s programs specialize in tax if that is what you want, others are more general.
- Some accountants get Big 4 jobs – those jobs are highly sought after because they provide excellent experience and training and people with a number of years of Big 4 experience are sought after by companies. However, you can also find employment in smaller accounting firms (including multinational firms, national firms, local firms) as well as private companies (which can be in many sizes and many industries.
About comment 3 and 4. Im aware accounting is a broad term and needs to be narrowed down. So i am essentially trying to narrow down in terms of choosing a higher education for a “specialization”. Do you know if a general masters is better than a concentration or vice versa?
CPA is a thing i heard of probably within the past few years and what it entails is still pretty vague to me. What are the added benefits of being a CPA? Is this an actual “job” in the market or like a title people acquire for numerous jobs?
Most accounting masters programs I know of have something like an financial track which would be for people targeting audit and corporate accounting jobs and a tax track for people targeting public or private accounting tax department jobs. Some programs may have one track and you can take electives in your preferred area. You need to research programs at Suffolk or any other school you are considering for your masters degree.
A CPA is a huge professional credential. To become a CPA you generally need a BS degree, 150 credit hours (many get a masters to fulfill this), 1 or 2 years of work experience (depending on the state and your education level), and passing a very rigorous 4 part exam.
Once again, I would stress that you should talk to someone at your school be it an accounting professor you like, the head of the accounting department, someone at career services etc. to get a better understanding of your intended profession. A blog like this can be helpful (and I am a CPA as is my husband and my son) , but it should not be the only avenue you take to research a career.
I’m sure your school has a student accounting society, you should join that to learn about the profession.
Lots of info on your school website as well.