Accounting

• Accounting is broken down into two sections.

  • 1) Public accountant, which means working as a CPA or for a CPA firm (CPA)

  • 2) Private, which means working for a company as their “in-house” accountant or in their accounting department such as a bookkeeper, controller, CFO.

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• If working as a public accountant, you need to pass the CPA exams. The rules that govern who can sit for the CPA exams vary by each state. Generally though, you need a bachelor's degree in accounting (120 credits) plus 30 credits, for a total of 150 credits. Once schooling is finished, you can sit for the CPA exams.

  • There are a total of 4 exams. They all need to be passed within 18 months from the time you take the first one until the last.

  • You also need 1 year of working for an accountant before you can get your CPA.

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• To work as an accountant in the private sector, there is no degree or accreditation needed. You do need to know the rules of accounting and various programs that are used in this field, such as QuickBooks, Peachtree, MS Money, Excel ect.

  • There are various courses available to teach the basics of account such as COPE.

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