Accounting as a job?

Question

I am interested in accounting school and getting my CPA. First is it a good choice of career? Second what is the average time it takes to get your CPA and what is a renowned college for accounting? Third how is the workload in college and what is the class actually like? What is a starting salary for a person who has their CPA? Fouth I plan to obtain my CPA then head to Law School, would that be a ridiculous amount of work and time? Is there any schools that are known for accounting and law?

Answer 1

Accouting varies greatly, a view point after much scolding from accountants:

a) Willing to perform duties which are repetitive in so far as they relate to the same company over a number of years, such as preparing annual reports;

work may entail: account reconciliations; data entry of posting sums from ledgers to form reports; making sure customers pay up or do not jump their credit limit; ensuring suppliers, employees are paid; getting that bank loan for the company; making sure reports are prepared in a manner that complies with bodies setting down compliance rules; the recent International Financial Reporting Standards just got bigger; ensuring the right amounts are in the accounts; submitting tax returns;

There are other accounts related professions for a CPA, considered:
a) checking other companies' books - Auditor
b) checking companies' books for MNCs - Internal auditor
c) valuation of products for the company, what is better to make to sell - Costing accountant
d) monitoring suitable customers to lend or extend money - Credit control
e) valuation of companies for others or for the company which intends to buy other companies - Equity analysist (junior position) or fund managers (senior position) where the work pressure can be incredible
f) assessing tax - inland revenue
g) planing efficient allocation of money to tax - tax planner

This is all excluding jobs in law, where personally, its more demanding and therefore should be your first choice.

The minimum duration you can get your academic portion of CPA would be 2 years whereas law requires 3 to 5 years, depending on the depth and specialisation.

The professional portion of a full CPA requires a number of years of work experience, 2 being the minimum that I have seen so far.

Law, depending where you are taking it, may include various bar exams adn experience that could add up from 1 to several years.

The other two comments above here are also sound reasoning to take into consideration.

Answer 2

You need a four year degree in order to become a CPA then after that you have to work for a year before you can go up for the exam. Most colleges have a good accounting curriculum. So you can go almost anywhere. Accounting is a good choice if you are going into corporate law. i.e. tax attorney. But it is going to be a lot of work so make sure you are really committed to it first before you expend the energy and the time.

Answer 3

You should do some research on it. Start with the colleges/univeristies in your area and they may be able to refer you to other schools. You could start with the assoicates(2 yr degree) in Accounting, then go for the bachelors(4 yr degree) and then work upward toward your goal. The payback will be much greater and the time you spent will be well worth it.