Accountants are specialists in a field that many other people shy away from. They are often hired or subcontracted to do the dollars and cents part of a business that many people do not want to attempt or are afraid to attempt. To be a good accountant, you must enjoy working with numbers, like challenges, be detail-oriented and enjoy solving problems. Accounting requires not only good accounting skills, but also organization, time management, patience and more.

Accountant

Accounting is a profession that has many different sides and faces. Often people in this field are referred to as simply accountants, when in reality they are accounting clerks, payroll specialists, bookkeepers, Chief Financial Officers, Comptrollers, Certified Public Accountants or something completely different. If you work in the accounting field there is much room for specialization and advancement, as you can see from the list of “accountants” above.

If you are looking into becoming an accountant or to advance in the accounting field, do some research into what each type of accountant actually does. There are so many different tasks and degree of complexity for each different job to take into consideration. Next, you need to look at the type of training required for each position. It may take little formal training or it may take a lot, the research will help you find out and from that you can decide if you still want to do it. Certain types of accountant fields require standardized tests, membership to a professional group and more, while many require relatively little beyond on-the-job training.

Accountants do everything is regards to money and finances, including recording transactions, paying bills, invoicing, payroll, taxes and more. Every business needs an accountant and many people need one too. If you don’t personally have an accountant, then you do certain accounting tasks yourself like taxes and accounts payable. Accountants are needed practically everywhere: the corporate world, small businesses, by other professionals, sole proprietorships, churches, government, hospitals and institutions.

Your accounting job does not need to be simply recording information, making things work after the fact and doing taxes. Accountants are needed to analyze the financial portion of business decisions before they are made. They are also needed to help with business plans before businesses open. Accountants should be involved in helping you crunch the numbers before you make any financially risky decision.

Be proud of being an accountant and let everyone know about it. You should take pride in the fact that you are a part of a profession that is vital to so many people. You can also have fun with the whole idea and have a clever line printed on a tee like:

• Accountants appreciate a good figure
• Accounts do it without losing their balance
• Accountants are top dollar!
• Accountants work their assets off!
• An accountant is a well-balanced person!
• I’m an accountant . . . not a magician!
• Old accountants never die, they just lose their balance.

Get yourself an Accountant T-shirt today and show that your profession is number 1.