Discovering Accounting: My Career Path to Financial Success - Research Paper

Introduction

In the past few years, a lot of factors in the world have expanded significantly. One of the aspects that has grown is the number of careers. Many careers have been discovered where people can venture into and improve their lives. One of the careers that has interested me recently is accounting. Accounting refers to the work or the process of keeping financial records about various entities such as companies and institutions. There are various reasons that have made me feel that accounting is my ideal career.

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According to Guthrie & Parker (2016), one of these reasons is there has been a high demand recently. The presence of a high demand means that immediately after finishing my studies, I will easily get employment in various institutions and companies (Guthrie & Parker, 2016).

The second reason is the passion that I have in maintain financial records. Ever since I started to handle money on my hand, I have always had the strong desire to keep records to make sure that I do not misuse it in any way (Guthrie & Parker, 2016). This habit has made me feel the urge to being an accountant where I can practice financial management even at the corporate level.

The third reason is that one gets to work in a different environment. Working in various areas is an essential apart in career development since it will help develop the skills that are important as I continue with my career. The next reason why accounting is my ideal career is the salary is competitive. In this case, it is easier to get a good income as well as a good living while working as an accountant.

Several factors sparked the interest in me to pursue accounting. The main factor is the desire to ensure that finances were managed easily (Guthrie & Parker, 2016). By the time I was developing the interest, there were various companies as well as institutions whereby funds were being mismanaged (Guthrie & Parker, 2016). This problem sparked the desire in me to pursue accounting to help some organizations and institutions to manage their funds wisely (Guthrie & Parker, 2016).

The other issue that resulted in interest in accounting is that many people do not have an idea of how they can manage their finances (Anantharaman, 2012). Many people do not know how to organize their finance. Therefore, I felt that it would be a good idea to pursue accounting and learn how to manage funds so that I could, in turn, instill the knowledge to other people (Guthrie & Parker, 2016).

Definitely, I am passionate about being an accountant because I am aware that in the long run, I will benefit from the skills that I have learned (Guthrie & Parker, 2016). The fascinating issue about being an accountant is that the demand will ways be high. Many companies and organizations are present, and others continue to be developed (Canning & O'Dwyer, 2016). These entities will require accountants to help in managing financial as well as crucial records effectively.

The second fascinating issue about accounting is that there will always be an opportunity to explore. The field of accounting is relatively large, and it cannot be understood within a short time (Canning & O'Dwyer, 2016). Therefore, there will always be a chance to explore new areas that may be vital to the career.

One of the major contributions that I would like to do in the field of accounting is to carry out various research (Canning & O'Dwyer, 2016). The purpose of conducting this research is to discover some of the problems in accounting and how they can be solved.

History of Accounting

The history of accounting goes way back to a thousand years ago, and it can be associated with ancient civilization(Canning & O'Dwyer, 2016). The development of accounting traces back to ancient Mesopotamia, 7 000 years ago, where it has been closely related in counting, writing, money, as well as the auditing systems(Canning & O'Dwyer, 2016). The main reason why accounting was established is to keep the records. Moreover, accounting was invented to ensure that people could manage to plan their money effectively (Canning & O'Dwyer, 2016). In this case, the development of accounting as a profession was to fulfill the need whereby people wanted to make sure that their finances, as well as other records, were recorded properly.

It is evident that accounting has great longevity because it is the major field that deals with managing financial records. Most of the careers that come up which deal with finances have to base most of their information from accounting. This factor shows that accounting provides a basis for other careers to be present. Therefore, there is no chance that there could be a new career that could replace accounting.

Career Choice and Personalities

It is clear that our career choice main reflects our personality. One of my personality traits that makes my career choice to be a good fit is trustworthiness. Being trustworthy is one of the main trains that an accountant should have. When dealing with records, especially the ones which focus on money, many people may change the records to conceal certain aspect that may have been done irregularly. Therefore, being an accountant is a good career choice since I will be able to conduct my duties in the right manner. The second personality that I have is an emphasis on accuracy. Accuracy is a vital element when it comes to accounting. Thus, accounting is a good career choice in the sense that I will be able to exercise a high level of accuracy when keeping financial records.

The third personality trait is good at planning. Accounting requires individuals who are good at planning so that they can be able to conduct activities in the required time(Canning & O'Dwyer, 2016). Therefore, being a good planner makes accounting a perfect career choice for me. Another personality that I possess is a good organization. As a person who is organized, accounting is a perfect career since it requires a high level of organization(Canning & O'Dwyer, 2016). The high level of organization will help me to organize the financial records appropriately without confusion.

Training

For one to become an accountant, it is not an easy path as there is thorough training that has to be done. The training of becoming an accountant can be divided into various stages. One of the stages of becoming an accountant that is considered in most areas is a bachelor's degree (Canning & O'Dwyer, 2016).

Attaining a bachelor's degree requires a person to go through college for four academic years. In this case, it is required to attain a bachelor's degree in accounting, business, or any other related field. Specifically, some of the courses that a person should consider doing to become an accountant include Business and Commerce, Financial Management, and Business Administration.

It is not easy to get a job in an accountant immediately after a person has graduated from highs school. The main reason for this issue is because students graduating from highs school are not perceived to have the skills needed to be an accountant. The main subjects that students learn in high school is business studies, which does not provide much detail on being an accountant, and this issue makes it important for one to get a college degree.

A college degree is important in the sense that more knowledge will be gained that will be used to improve the skills needed in accounting. As much as it is required for a person to gain a bachelor's degree in accounting, business, or a related field, it is required to attain certain certifications. Therefore, the main certification that is required for a person to be considered an accountant is the Certain Public Accountants (CPA), where a person has to complete all the required sections.

Recommendation

There many people that I would recommend them to take action and pursue accounting. An example of a person that I would recommend to purse this job are those who are still in high school. Students who are still in high school are still thinking of the ways that they can improve their lives. At this stage, most of them are thinking of the careers that they will pursue as they move to a higher level of education. I would recommend these students to pursue accounting since the demand is growing means that there would be opportunities (Byrne, Willis, & Burke, 2012).

The other people that I would recommend to pursue accounting are the manager of various institutions and companies. The managers are expected to have a vast understanding of their financials to makes sure that all the operations are carried out effectively. Pursuing accounting will enable the managers to manage their finances properly.

One of the advice that I would give to the individuals who should pursue is they need to be hard working. Accounting is not an easy career to pursue since there it involves a lot of complex areas that learners have to give all their attention (Richins, Stapleton & Stratopoulos, 2017).

These areas require the leaners to be focused and hardworking so that they can succeed. The other advice that these individuals should take is to be patient. Accounting takes a certain period to be accomplished. Therefore, it is essential to be patient to be able to focus and excel in this career field.

Conclusion

Concluding, it is evident that accounting is one of the careers that is currently being pursued by many people. For a person to become an accountant, he or she should have an interest in it because it requires commitment. Also, accounting has not been discovered recently, but it has been in existence for thousands of years. As early as 7 000 years ago, accounting had been developed, and it was being used to manage records as well as finances. For one to effectively become an accounting, it is important to have certain personality traits. These traits will guide a person to ensure that they conduct themselves properly in the profession. Moreover, it is required that a person should go through thorough training to be able to gain the skills needed to be effective in this career. A bachelor's degree is seen as the minimum requirement for a person to be considered to work in the position of an accountant. Apart from a bachelor's degree, it is important to get a certification, such as Certified Public Accountants.

References

Anantharaman, D. (2012). Comparing self-regulation and statutory regulation: Evidence fromthe accounting profession. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 37(2), 55-77.https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0361368211001164

Byrne, M., Willis, P., & Burke, J. (2012). Influences on school leavers' career decisions-Implications for the accounting profession. The International Journal of ManagementEducation, 10(2), 101-111.https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1472811712000213

Canning, M., & O'Dwyer, B. (2016). Institutional work and regulatory change in the accountingprofession. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 54, 1-21.https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0361368216300642

Guthrie, J., & Parker, L. D. (2016). Whither the accounting profession, accountants andaccounting researchers? Commentary and projections. Accounting, Auditing &Accountability Journal.https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/AAAJ1020152263/full/html?casa_token=9QL2X_UcJz8AAAAA:7GPducbuYU0R8c0XZ2Hgh2BkLhdAqibjX79gGMr6UELup2l63bH0GGLppGY41AnOBSix2r2nz1riRKRrQj_Js5iovZ5jboxzSrJlwUu86b8dz00RY

Richins, G., Stapleton, A., Stratopoulos, T. C., & Wong, C. (2017). Big Data analytics:Opportunity or threat for the accounting profession?. Journal of InformationSystems, 31(3), 63-79. https://www.aaajournals.org/doi/abs/10.2308/isys-51805