Is Accounting the Right Course for You?

You are probably a graduating high school student and you are about to enter one of the most vital parts in your life, college. As of now, you are thinking what path are you going to take? Perhaps, you have already made up your mind and decided that you are going to explore the world of accounting. But wait! Think twice before you end up to changing your course.

Accounting is indeed a cumbersome profession. Diligence is one of the basic requirements in accounting. There is no room for “I give up.” You must be ready for the possible sleepless nights and overtimes because the usual working hours in the office may not be enough for you to finish the work. As an accountant, you will receive tons of papers such as receipts, payment vouchers, and other source documents which are in need to be analyzed. Remember that the basic foundation of accounting is bookkeeping so it is very important for you to properly manage these documents.

Aside from diligence, you must also be organized. After receiving these source documents, you would have to file them properly. There will come a time that your boss will question you where does this particular amount come from. And as accountant, you must know where to locate the source document that your boss is asking for. If you have not filed and organized the documents well, you would end up finding it out of thousands of source documents or fail to present it to your boss. And the management will now decide to fire you because of your irresponsible bookkeeping.

You must also ask yourself if you are good in analysis. Contrary to many people’s belief, accounting requires an excellent analysis rather than skills in complex mathematics. Accountants use some techniques like interpolation, work-back method and the like just to derive the needed amount. In accounting, there are no specific and fixed methods on these. It is up to you and your analysis.

But this does not necessarily mean that accounting does not need mathematics at all. You must also be good in financial mathematics. Financial mathematics involves the computation of simple and compound interest, and annuities like ordinary, deferred and due. Accountants prepare schedule of loan amortizations and such so you must have a strong foundation of knowledge with this kind of mathematics.

Computer skill is also a requisite to become an accountant. In today’s time, some firms are not using journal, ledgers and worksheet anymore. Instead, accountants are now using software called SQL to keep their accounting records. SQL is a little bit confusing so you must know how to operate this software as early as possible. In some situations, accountants are using excel. You must be knowledgeable in creating and entering formulas here.

After considering these, do you still want to be an accountant someday? The decision is still up to you; and always remember that there is no room for giving up in accounting.