<p>My local community college offers an associates degree in accounting. Would this be equivalent with a bachelors as far as salary and employability are concerned? Explain.</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>Associates at a community college = job as an accounting clerk, accounting technician or something similar (I know I have an associates from a community college).</p>
<p>Bachelors = starting as an entry level accountant or something similar. The salary will vary depending on where you got your bachelors from and where you work at.</p>
<p>The work you can do with an AA in accounting is the work that’s being outsourced.</p>
<p>Associates is worthless. Bachelors these days aren’t worth much either.</p>
<p>Are you asking if an associates in accounting would be helpful when combined with a bachelor’s degree that you already posses?</p>
<p>lol. people here crack me up. there’s nothing that can’t be outsourced. higher degrees don’t really guarantee jobs will be around forever.</p>
<p>Probabaly going to OU for bachelors. I’m torn between accounting and something artistic like 3D animation.</p>
<p>Are you asking us if you can do half the work in half the time and still have the same employment opportunities and salary as someone who did double the work? WELL OF COURSE YOU CAN!!! -__________-</p>
<p>If you want to take the CPA exam, an associate degree will not be sufficient. A bachelors may be, depending on which state you live in. Many states now require a 5 year degree to sit for the CPA exam.</p>
<p>IMO, associate degree=glorified bookkeeper. Bachelors/masters=professional accountant/CPA.</p>
<p>With an AA, you could become an EA, doing taxes and bookkeeping for small businesses as self-employed. You’d earn more than a CPA who’s working for someone else.</p>
<p>“With an AA, you could become an EA, doing taxes and bookkeeping for small businesses as self-employed. You’d earn more than a CPA who’s working for someone else.”</p>
<p>Are you kidding? What do you know about EAs and CPAs? You post is ridiculous.</p>
<p>hillbillie, what a fitting name for such a dumb post.</p>
<p>Hillbillie probably lives in a small town where a community college is the pinnacle of education and so people with an AA can actually do that work. In other areas people hire CPA firms to do their bookkeeping.</p>
<p>I said if you’re a self-employed EA you could earn more than a corporate CPA. According to payscale.com, a CPA with 10-19 years of experience would earn about 70K (<a href=“http://blogs.payscale.com/salary_report_kris_cowan/2010/04/cpa-salaries.html[/url]”>http://blogs.payscale.com/salary_report_kris_cowan/2010/04/cpa-salaries.html</a>). Well, if you’re self-employed with a good client base, you could earn about that much or more. Of course, self-employment has its drawbacks. It requires more than what it takes to work for a corporation.</p>
<p>[A</a> Career Alternative: The Enrolled Agent | AccountingWEB.com](<a href=“http://www.accountingweb.com/item/19087]A”>http://www.accountingweb.com/item/19087)</p>
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<p>lol. </p>
<p>Tell that to Big 4 people with more than 2-3 years of work experience. And a bunch of CPA’s in corporate finance. I’m sure they’re making twice that amount.</p>
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<p>Well if you’re employed with good work experience (Big 4/Corporate Finance), you could earn twice that amount. And certainly double that amount after 10-19 years of work experience when you’re probably a Controller/VP of Finance/CFO.</p>
<p>10-19 years as a CPA making 70k? LOL. THIS GUY!!!</p>
<p>If you are young, married, female, with parents who can support you in the case of disaster…it might be a good idea to get an AA to work for a few years before you plan to have kids. Then you might be able to do light tax or bookkeeping work from time to time while spending most of your time involved with family, especially if you have a husband who is doing one of those 70 hour a week jobs. For anyone who is actually planning on having a full 30+ year career, an AA makes no sense.</p>
<p>Salary depends a lot on location, company, position, experience.</p>
<p>I know a college senior (top student from top college) who already has an offer from a Big 4 starting at $56k.</p>
<p>I have 2 relatvies who are accountants with BA and ~10 years experience. They both make much more than $70k.</p>
<p>I agree with other posters that an AA will not have the same opportunities as a BA.</p>
<p>Just get a bachelors (masters, if possible). My uncle has his bachelors and is making serious cash.</p>
<p>Makes me regret not being smarter and choosing to be an accountant.</p>
<p>I was thinking about going for bachelors then working… Eventually getting a MBA, though OU offers a bachelors/masters in accounting in 5 years. Which would be smarter?</p>