The Values of Accounting

The Values of Accounting

When it comes to choosing a major in college, it is important that you pick a major that you will enjoy working in for the some part of your life. How does one make that decision? There are several different factors that play a role in choosing a major; or there was for me at least. When I looked into business for my intended major the first thing that came to my mind was not if I was going to enjoy working in some kind of business environment because I already new I would like that. Instead I looked at other aspects or values that a business degree offers. More importantly, I looked at what concentration I wanted in business.

I chose the accounting side of business for several reasons. One reason is because I like to work with numbers. I enjoy setting up budgets and different types of financial statements and seeing of everything works together with that aspect of business. One of the values of being an accounting major is that the demand for accountants is high and it probably will not change. According to the website of the Princeton Review the accounting profession is to be growing very quickly and because of all the different types of accounting needed to fulfill the needs of various businesses, the need for an accountant will always be there (Basics). Another plus to obtaining an accounting degree from most other business degrees is according to the AICPA, an accounting degree is a degree that offers all ranges of possibilities in the business society. As well stated in a publication by the AICPA, "Accounting opens doors in every kind of business coast to coast." Accounting deals with the aspects of preparing financial statements and budgets for companies as well as other career path opportunities, but because of the complexity with working with numbers, accounting is said to be the basic language of the business world and that is what makes it a successful field (Why Major in Accounting).

Accounting is not like what several people think. With an accounting degree you do not just sit behind a desk and crunch numbers. There is a variety of options to choose from in the accounting field in which you exercise your skills. This is another value that comes with a accounting major. One hesitance that I had about the accounting degree was I thought there would not be any variety to what I did for a living. I thought it would be the same boring repetitiveness of work. However there are different areas of accounting and places of employment in which you can pursue. A Career-in-Accounting website pointed out some of the areas in which accounting is performed and the different types of employment environments accountants work in. In accounting you can become a Certified Public Accountant (CPA), a Certified Management Accountant (CMA), a Certified Internal Auditor (CIA), or even a Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE)

(Accounting: Job Options). You can also find variety in the places that you work as an accountant. As an accountant you could work for public firms, public or private corporations, in government, or be a self employer. The corporations you work for can also either be for or not for profit, in which deals with different kinds of accounting rules. In the public firms you can work in tax, auditing, and consulting (Careers). Some corporations, such as HCA, a leading heath provider, have their own internal auditors in which you travel while performing audits. In auditing you interact with people and not just work with numbers. After knowing about this value of accounting helps taking away from the idea of accounting being just some boring desk job.

Another value of the accounting or business degree is the amount of money in which I could potentially make. This also helped me choose the type of major I would pursue. In the accounting field, you have the potential to make a lot of money. Making money is important to me because some day I would like to be able to have my wife stay at home with the kids if she chooses, live comfortably, and still be able to be a liberal giver.

The amount of money that you make is all dependent on what qualifications you have and what size of company you work for. Some figures that can be found on the AICPA website for new accountants was taken from the Robert Half 2006 Salary Guide. These numbers showed that accountants with one to three years experience would make between $35,500.00 up to $50,250.00. These numbers are also not considering if the accountant hold a masters degree and or their CPA. If one of these other qualifications are obtained the annual salary is to be ten percent