<p>My university puts a huge focus on getting 150 credits, cpa, and working in public accounting.</p>
<p>I, on the other hand, want to be done with school with my 128 credits, and work in a setting where I do not need to travel often, and do not work 80 hours a week.</p>
<p>Does the accounting degree provide options to work in other non-public accounting jobs, (finance, and other accounting jobs maybe?) that still can start me off at 40K?</p>
<p>A CPA is not the end-be-all. You can get a good job without a CPA, but with a CPA more doors will open up for you.</p>
<p>A non-CPA accountant should definitely be able to clear 40k starting if you have a high GPA</p>
<p>A CPA is definitely useful and worth it if you can spare the extra time and money it takes to earn. My dad is where he is in his career because of that certification.</p>
<p>As far as job prospects go without a CPA, it’s entirely possible to get a job without that certification, but pay will be lower and opportunities for advancement will be less available. Make sure to use your connections through your school to get job interviews in the year before you graduate. I know at my school, interviews for jobs that start in June were held in October of this year. Accounting firms like to hire early!</p>
<p>It is possible. However your salary will probably be at least 10k less. Plus it will be much more difficult to get a job in the private sector without the public experience. Unless you want to be a “bookkeeper” which would probably mean a salary around 30k most jobs prefer public experience. Have you considered working for a smaller firm? They will work a lot less than the big four and you still get the public experience that so many firms in the private sector are looking for. Plus very few firms require master’s degrees or CPAs. Graduate in four years save money and time by not doing the masters or CPA work for a small firm and only work 70 hours instead of a 100 then after two years leave. In short if you really want to be an accountant I would strongly encourage getting public accounting experience it will pay off in so many ways for many years to come.</p>
<p>No, definitely not required.</p>
<p>Though going the public route and getting your CPA can be a fast track into upper-level accounting or financial management, it’s not the only way. My belief is that if you are smart enough to go the CPA route and work just as hard as you would anyways, you’ll end up in the same place.</p>
<p>As for specific ways you can go with an accounting degree but no CPA, there are many. Look at any Fortune 500 corporation’s recruiting site and you’ll find plenty. Off the top of my head and local to me, I know that Travelers, GE, and United Technologies have financial leadership development programs that love accounting majors and can be just as beneficial to your career, if not more, than public and a CPA (especially GE–all their top management went through the FMP instead of CPA). Tons of other positions are out there for accounting analysts straight out of college or with a year or two of experience that typically start form $45k to 50k (Liberty Mutual is one I know of for sure).</p>