Those considering a career in accounting and those that have
completed their college coursework will want to have an idea what awaits them
when they finally start that first job in accounting. Accounting is a worthwhile, stable and
generally well-paid vocation, but starting out can be difficult and
stressful.
There are many distinct fields of accounting that one can
wind up in for a first position. Public
Accounting, or acting as an outside auditor, is one of the better known, but
virtually every organization larger than a few employees needs an
accountant. Companies, hospitals, and
governments all need financial statements put together by accountants for
auditors to audit.
Although each type of job, and every company, is somewhat
different, as someone starting your first job, there are a number of things you
can expect no matter where you happen to fall.
Jobs for a Beginning
Accountant
Since you are starting out at the bottom, it is very likely
you are going to be assigned the most menial task that the office has,
something no one else wants to do.
You’ll find that four years of intense study at the university is more
of less useless in your first few months.
No one will give you anything to do that requires advanced accounting
knowledge.
Depending on how technically advanced your office is, the
first few jobs will consist of working with an already created database,
collating financial documents, or filing away all the reports that have been
waiting for your arrival. A novice isn’t
going to be trusted with presenting to the board of directors or reviewing the
CFO’s work.
The most likely job a beginning accounting will get is to
prepare the bank reconciliation. In a
large company, this is usually tedious work and will likely be several months
behind. Preparing account
reconciliations is pretty safe work to hand to a novice, as is preparing
journal entries. Expect to have to do
several revisions, as accountants are very particular people by nature.
Hours of Work
A beginning accountant is expected to be at work the same
hours the senior staff do, even if they haven’t been trusted with much work to
do. Expect to be there late into the
evening and some weekends, especially if it tax or budget time. It is most important to look busy when any of
the big bosses are around.
Moving up the
Accounting Ladder
Eventually, newer accountants are given more meaningful
tasks under close supervision. How long
depends on the size of the company and whether any vacancies appear above. The novice can look forward to years of
doing financial program analyses, monthly closes and dealing with bankers,
auditors and department heads, if they can get through the first few months and
years.