On the fence about becoming a CPA? Before dismissing the CPA career path, keep in mind that it’s a great time to become a CPA for a myriad of reasons including increased salary, job security and flexibility. A CPA career path is both diverse and allows for a variety of experiences with exciting career options such as:
1. Forensic Accountant/FBI Agent If the idea of solving mysteries or being involved with legal investigations sounds appealing to you, then becoming a Forensic Accountant might be the right path. Forensic accountants testify in court cases, solve business crimes like corporate fraud or write reports for legal teams to report in court. Forensic accountants work in challenging and exciting environments to solve complex cases.
2. Corporate Entertainment Accountant Does living in LA or Hollywood and working in the movie industry sound exciting to you? As a corporate Entertainment Accountant, you can work for a production company or studio to oversee production costs of movies, television shows or manage entertainment budgets.
3. Sports Accountant If you live and breathe sports, then working in the sports industry might be for you. Sports Accountants can work for sports teams, organizations, sports broadcasting companies or sports manufacturers. Additionally, this area allows you to work with monthly budgets for a sports teams, handle expenses for a high-profile sports celebrities or oversee the payroll for an entire sports team. If you love sports, but want to be a little lower profile, then you might consider working for a sports equipment manufacturing company.
4. Environmental Accountant – Is Earth Day one of your favorite holidays? Do you spend your free time thinking of how to make our world a better place to live? Consider a career as an Environmental Accountant. In this position you would typically work for a larger corporation and spend your time finding new ways to save the company money through environmentally friendly changes within their business model.
5. IT Auditor – If youre a high-tech geek or really love all-things technical, working as an IT auditor might be a perfect career choice for you. Daily tasks might include working with computer networks to make sure data is secure and numbers generated for your reports are accurate.
6. Accounting Consultant – Many CPAs like the idea of working as consultants from their home office and creating their own schedules. Consultants perform a wide range of duties that are tailored to an individual or business client.
7. International Accountant – If you love to travel, then becoming an International Accountant is the career choice for you! As the global economy expands, this field is expanding accordingly. You would be required to know accounting standards for different countries, which includes International Financial Reporting Standards or IFRS.
8. Accounting Professor – If you enjoy teaching accounting, auditing and taxation, then becoming an Accounting Professor would be a great fit for you while allowing you to remain in an academic setting. At present, the demand for professors is at an all-time high.
When you start thinking about furthering your career by earning your CPA license, always keep in mind not only the prestige, respect and financial gain you will receive, but also all of the diverse career paths from which you can choose. Its an exciting time to be a CPA!