The Most In-Demand Careers in Accounting

by Samiksha S. Author

The purpose of education is to create well-informed citizens, who can become leaders of tomorrow. However, another aspect of education, which is equally important, is the ability of a degree to help you attract a lucrative way forward in terms of a satisfying job profile, work-life balance, and pay package.

If you are someone, who has a bent towards finance and numbers, in particular, you must consider a career in accounting. Accounting being a vast branch of study, you can choose from among different roles based upon your individual inclination and interest.

However, your professional journey would remain successful only if you lay your initial steps through a reputed educational institution that can be trusted for its educational quality. We, at the Indian School of Business & Finance, regarded as one of the best colleges for accounting & finance in Delhi, stand proud as one such educational institution that has been brightening the academic as well as the professional pathway of thousands of aspiring young minds with industry-relevant knowledge and skills.

Through this write-up today, we, at the Indian School of Business & Finance, one of the top colleges for accounting & finance in Delhi, aim to bring to light the vast pool of job roles that a degree in accounting can help you achieve. With an industry-centric accounting degree in your hands and the necessary skill set by your side, you can choose to step into your favourite role and carve a career that meets your expectations not just in terms of professional growth but also in terms of earning potential.

However, before we move on to the different job roles, let us first try and understand what accounting is and what all it pertains to. Let’s get into it without any further ado.

What is Accounting All About?

If you are considering to kick-start a career in accounting, it is essential that you first acquaint yourself with this branch of finance. So, accounting is basically about maintaining the financial accounts of an organization, irrespective of its nature and scale of business.

As a part of the accounting department, you will be expected to summarize, analyze, and report transactions pertaining to the financial transactions of the business you are responsible to handle accounting for.

The role of an accountant and the accounting department as a whole is crucial for any organization because these numbers help with tracking the income and expenditures, ascertain statutory compliance, and make available quantitative and qualitative financial information to the government and other stakeholders.

The Best of Accounting Careers

· AUDITOR:

After pursuing a degree from the Indian School of Business and Finance, one of the best colleges for accounting & finance courses in Delhi, you can go on to become an auditor. The basic role of an auditor is to ensure that the financial books are duly prepared and regularly examined while complying with all the pre-laid rules and regulations.

This is a complex role, which involves computing taxes and filing timely tax returns. In the role of an auditor, you can choose to pick a specialization in areas like assurance services or risk management, and can also opt for industry-specific expertise, such as auditing services for the education or the healthcare sector.

As an auditor, you get to play a central role in helping the enterprise you are working for reduce costs, uplift revenues, and ultimately drive lucrative bottom lines.

· INFORMATION AND TECHNOLOGY ACCOUNTANT:

You may not be fully aware, but Information and Technology Accountant is a vital accounting position that deals extensively with drawing evidence-based conclusions and forecasting trends.

In this role, the accountant is expected to prepare financial budgets for both monthly and yearly durations. Other actions required to be performed in this role are processing incoming invoices, reconciling billing gaps, and tracking overhead expenditures.

However, out of all the duties expected to be performed by an Information and Technology accountant, the most important requirement is to analyze the present and past financial data so that the upcoming projects can be carried out effectively.

· SENIOR FINANCIAL ANALYST:

If your interest in the field of accounting has led you to reading this article, then just go ahead, enroll yourself in the Indian School of Business & Finance, one of the leading colleges for accounting & finance in Delhi, and go on to live up to your interests by stepping into the role of a senior financial analyst.

In this role, you are expected to examine data and ultimately utilize the findings to make investment-related decisions. To some extent, these analysts are responsible for overseeing the activities of the finance department. Likewise, as a senior financial analyst, you will be responsible for preparing proposals that will be approved by CFOs, to achieve which, understanding and acting upon budgeting targets would be your pivotal goal.

To succeed as a senior financial analyst, you need to possess strong analytical and problem-solving abilities. It would also help you to have strong organizational skills with emphasis and attention to detail. Supervisory and leadership skills are other add-ons to succeed in the role of a senior financial analyst. At the Indian School of Business and Finance, we make sure that our students learn beyond the financial principles mentioned in books with specific focus on the skills and traits mentioned above.

· MANAGERIAL ACCOUNTANT:

For someone looking to make a career in the field of accounting, another viable career alternative worth exploring is that of becoming a managerial accountant. In the role of a managerial accountant, you get to work for government entities, public companies, and private business units.

On an overall level, every managerial accountant is responsible for handling three functions of every business unit namely planning, controlling, and decision-making. Other than that, as a managerial accountant, you are expected to perform the following activities to succeed in this role.

Keeping a record of numbers
Offering a helping hand to manage company investments
Risk management
Budgeting
Planning
Strategizing
Decision-making

· FORENSIC ACCOUNTANT:

Once you complete your education from the Indian School of Business & Finance, one of the best colleges for accounting & finance in Delhi, you can go on to pursue a career as a forensic accountant. In this role, you get to work with diverse organizations such as the forensic accounting division of public accounting firms, consulting firms that specialize in risk consulting, and also in forensic accounting services by lawyers, law enforcement agencies, financial institutions, and other government organizations in general.

In this line, you are expected to carry out accounting tasks while keeping in mind the requirements of the court of law. This is a somewhat challenging role as compared to the job profile of a general accountant as this position involves collecting evidence related to a financial crime, interviewing third-party witnesses, and ultimately testifying as an expert witness.

· CONTROLLER:

The financial health of any organization determines whether the said firm will survive and thrive. Hence, it becomes mandatory to keep a close check on every firm’s financial health by taking support from professionals, who in the world of finance are known as controllers.

As a controller, you will be required to perform accounting activities such as managing and analyzing financial statements, maintaining the payroll, analyzing the budgets, and taking care of tax compliance issues. You will be expected to oversee the daily accounting operation of the organization you are working for. Every organization pays close attention to the say of the controller as far as making strategic financial decisions is concerned. If this is something, you would like to do while putting your accounting knowledge to test, we, at the Indian School of Business & Finance, one of the best colleges for accounting & finance in Delhi, can vouch for the fact that the role of a controller would be an apt one for you!

· ADVISORY ACCOUNTANT:

In the role of an Advisory Accountant, you will have to offer expert financial recommendations to the enterprise you are working for. Additionally, you will be expected to offer strategic advice to help the business in question achieve its financial and operational goals.

In order to succeed in this role, it is important for you to closely study the working of the organization and ultimately draw relevant conclusions. The experienced perspective that businesses generally look for is something that an advisory accountant can bring to the table. Most importantly, an advisory accountant helps in the early detection of financial and accounting issues, which if gone unnoticed can lead the business to suffer heavy losses.

Such a study is conducted by taking into consideration multiple accounting parameters so that crucial elements are not left out and timely decisions are made to save the business from experiencing a collapse in the future. Advisory accountants are key in helping businesses in saving the day.

· CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER (CFO):

After completing your accounting education from the Indian School of Business and Finance, one of the best colleges for accounting & finance in Delhi, you will get the opportunity to work in different roles in the accounting department of various organizations. In the initial years, you may have to work at the root level and gather the necessary knowledge and skills. But as you gain experience and expertise in the domain, you will be able to climb up the ladder and reach the position of a CFO.

A CFO is the highest-level position in the finance segment, which means you become responsible for multiple finance-based decisions. In this role, you are expected to forecast the financial standing of the organization you are working for while laying emphasis on the financial and operational data. Another important task that is expected to be performed by the Chief Financial Officer is studying the reports provided by the finance and accounting teams. After studying these reports, the CFO is expected to advise the CEO and the board on strategic decision-making. To a great extent, the financial future of an organization depends upon the accounting expertise and skills of its chief financial officer.

Accounting – A Highly Lucrative & An Equally Satisfying Career

For each one of us, the ultimate goal is to pursue a career that is not just satisfying workwise, but at the same time, is also capable of ensuring that we enjoy sturdy returns in terms of the pay package and other related perks.

Accounting is one such domain, which, if captures your interest, can help you earn some really good pay packages. However, what you need to rise high and shine bright professionally is a rightful mix of an accounting degree, an undying will to work hard, and the passion to learn and upskill yourself.

If you want to sit down and research the field of accounting, you will come to understand that over 1.8 million chartered Accountants alone are spread across 190 countries. Now that is a huge number in itself, which should certainly do its bit in convincing you that accounting as a field of finance has always been around and will continue to be so in the future as well. With the demand for accountants rising at a rapid rate across different sectors and industries, there will never be a dearth of career opportunities for you as long as you have a degree from one of the best colleges for accounting & finance in Delhi.

There was a time when accounting was restricted only to entry-level positions. However, with the world of finance and accounting being redefined, accounting roles have opened up at management and leadership roles as well. So, to all those who are still procrastinating pursuing a degree in accounting, let us, at the Indian School of Business & Finance, ranked among the best colleges for accounting & finance in Delhi, assure you that accounting is one of the evergreen professional fields with a huge scope for growth and learning. Take the plunge and we are certain you won’t regret it!