If you’re looking to join an industry which offers stable labor demand, fair income opportunities, and room for professional growth, accounting is a pretty safe bet. A recently published market research shows the Canadian accounting services market recorded annual growth of as many as 1.8% in 2012-2017 and the growth tendency is expected to persist all through 2022 and beyond, which means your future as an accountant can be exceptionally bright granted you take studies and work seriously. Still, before you sign up for an accounting course, take a moment to check out these five facts about your future profession and make sure you’ve chosen the right career path.

1. Multiple options on the table

If you decide to become an accountant, you will have quite a few different options on the table. As a rule, accountants are divided into four general types, including management accountants, public accountants, government accountants, and internal auditors. Public accountants include tax advisors, bookkeepers, consultants, auditors, and forensic accountants, while management accountants analyze financial data for companies and provide assistance in drafting reports and budget plans for corporations. Government accountants are financial watchdogs in government agencies or businesses, whereas internal auditors assist executive teams within organizations in running business activities and preventing fraud and other criminal activities.

2. BA is cool, but MA is better

You don’t need a bachelor’s degree to land a job as an accountant, but having one will make the job search much easier. To obtain the standard CPA license, you’ll need to put in 120-150 credit hours, but if you want to pull out all the stops to a well-paid job in the niche which offers room for further salary growth and promotion, it would be a wise move to get a master’s degree, just to stay on the safe side of the interview table. Fortunately, if don’t have enough years on your hands to obtain BA and MA degrees, you can acquire necessary knowledge through online accounting courses and thus slice the time required for the job acquisition or career change. On top of global availability, web-based accounting programs offer flexibility with class scheduling, as well as possibilities for scholarship subsidies and grants.

3. Boundless room for growth

If you want to stop learning and working on your professional skills at the end of your studies, it would be a good idea to opt for a line of work other than accounting. In case you relish the idea of lifelong education and continual professional growth, though, your career in accounting looks promising. After graduation from accounting studies, you’ll probably land an entry-level position such as a staff accountant or junior auditor, but if you work hard and keep learning, you can rise up the career and pay ladder pretty fast. As with most other industries, sky is the limit if you’re willing to get out of your comfort zone and couple hands-on experience with additional courses and certifications in the field.

4. Tech to make work easier

As technology continues to advance with fresh breakthroughs in machine learning and artificial intelligence, an accountant’s job will become easier, but the need for experts won’t drop. Even with advanced accounting software solutions and apps in the mix, governments, companies, and organizations will need a human hand with advisory, consulting, and CFO responsibilities, so you shouldn’t fear you’ll be made redundant as hi-tech gear takes over your place in the accounting department. On the contrary: anticipated SME growth will only further fuel the need for talent and skill in accounting, so you shouldn’t worry about the future because it looks things will stay pretty bright for accountants in decades to come.

5. A safe and bright future

In case you’re unsure whether signing up for accounting studies is a profitable move in the long run, you can let out a sigh of relief now. As economic growth across industries continues to pick up, businesses both large and small will need all the accounting talent they can get, which will in turn lead to further unemployment rate drops for accountants and auditors. On top of that, the shortage of skilled and qualified accountants and auditors which has plagued the market in the past decade or so will take time to ease, so you shouldn’t worry all that much about your future job prospects even if you don’t sign up for accounting studies straight away and instead decide to take a while to process the idea about your long-term career path.

If you like the idea of working with numbers, continually upgrading your professional skills, and being able to land a well-paid job in a niche characterized by steady demand and opportunities for career advancement, the vocation as an accountant will fit you like a glove. Ready to board the winning vocational boat and become a professional accountant? Good luck!

You may also be interested in: MBA vs CFA: The Finance Professional’s Dilemma 

Writer: David Webb

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