Interesting Careers in Accounting When you picture an accountant the first thing that comes to my mind is an old man sitting in white shirt, bow tie, and suspenders. He leans over his work squinting through his thick-lensed glasses as he types on his printing calculator with a dim desk light overhead filtering through his green visor onto the mass of paper. Chances are this is what you pictured to and I am here to tell you accounting certainly does not have to be that way. Yes, there will always be records, debits, and credits involved but a career in accounting can actually lead you down interesting roads. Here are some of the different off-the-beaten-path jobs that you can take as you pursue an accounting career.
Sports Accountant Running a professional sports team does require great coaching in order to win games but the glue that holds the entire team franchise together is accounting. Your job will be the management of the financials of the organization both internally and abroad. After your analysis you will give advice about players’ salaries, promotions as well as give financial forecasts as the to the value of players for the team. You can plan on a more relaxed environment and tickets to games while at the same time successfully juggling dozens factors to make the company succeed.
Entertainment Accountant Movies, music, TV shows all recruit great talent in order to produce but the deciding factor of whether an entertainment source fails or not is money. You are in charge of running both the day-to-day finances as well as the long-term fiscal plans. Managing the budget for a show is critical as well as making the payments for a concert, or even forecasting the revenues of a movie release. The accountant is one of the first hired onto a venture. You will run backend of Hollywood and have the chance to meet quite a few stars along the way.
International Accountant If traveling the world is your taste becoming an international accountant could be the ticket. Business is becoming increasingly global and firms need individuals to manage and protect their influences
throughout the world. Trade treaties, varying taxes, currency exchanges, import taxes, all need to be taken into account in order to give your company the advantage over its competitors. You will probably end up learning different languages and become familiar with many cultures in order to succeed. This job requires a skilled individual who can manage not only different accounting rules, but entirely different systems.
Forensic Accountant You will still be looking through records but your purposes will go far beyond a tax audit. You are a crime investigator searching for clues that fit together to reveal the truth. Why are forensic accountants needed? Think of Martha Steward, Bernie Madoff, Enron, etc. Your job will be to investigate tax cheaters, inside traders, embezzlers on behalf of law enforcement agencies like the FBI. In College you will actually study to obtain forensic accounting degree. The work of forensic accountant’s is vital and they will often be called upon to testify in trials. In order to succeed in this field you need to be able to identify spots in records where the accounting has been forged. This can be difficult and you will become increasingly skilled with each new challenge that you take on. Now, this isn’t all the possible jobs you could find in accounting, there are many more. To get started on your career path find an accounting program and remember not only are accountants well paid and always in demand but they can actually find interesting and fun jobs as well. Photo Credit: Ken Teegardin, Keith Allison, Arlo Magicman