Thus, Accountant very important role in the successful running of a company. However, accounting is a vast field, as there are different types of accounting careers available to choose from for the different aspiring students who want to become the accountant. Some of different field of accounting are:

• Certified Public Accountant
• Forensic Accountant
• General Accountant
• Comptroller
• Chief Financial Officer
• Internal Auditors
• Government Accountant

Each of these fields has different set of pecuniary responsibilities to carry out. The type of accounting career you choose, decides the educational requirements to become the accountant. However basic education is same; you should have a Bachelor’s degree with accounting as your main subject, along with subjects like economics and finance.

Unfortunately, students who have chosen accounting as their career after graduation are not earning very good, as compared to the one who enter this field after completion of masters in a particular field. Advance training in accounting helps you to earn a lot, as according to a survey conducted in US, an average accountant salary is around $92,000 per annum. Nowadays, even online accounting programs have become very popular, as people can do their studies while sitting in their office or in home.

The best job opportunities will be for accountants and auditors who have a college degree, any type of certification, but primarily for those with a CPA.

Job growth is expected over the next decade (ending in 2016) due to tighter regulations.

Increased globalization will also result in higher demand for accounting professionals and services connected to international trade, rules, mergers and acquisitions.

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 was passed by Congress as a result of a number of high profile, large corporate scandals – it was designed to greatly reduce accounting fraud at the corporate level. This legislation makes it requirement for public companies to maintain well-functioning internal controls to ensure the accuracy and reliability of their financials. It also holds the company’s chief executive personally responsible for falsely reporting financial information.

These mandated changes should lead to higher scrutiny of corporate finances and accounting procedures and should create opportunities for accountants and auditors, especially CPAs, to more thoroughly audit financial records.