Selecting the best career can at times be a daunting and difficult task. One must select the best career, as it will determine one’s residence location, lifestyle, friends and other factors that influence the quality of life. A career in accounting is one of the most cutting edges and high-tech professionals in the job market. Accounting is making its advances in various spheres ranging from block chain technology to cloud computing to big data analytics. Accountants must ensure that the individuals, organizations, governments and corporations’ monies are being used properly. A career in accounting will remain indispensable as long as there is money.
Starting an accounting career is one of the smartest choices as it has a demand for qualified accounting professionals. However, once an individual decided to pick a major in accounting, one must ensure that he/she picks the right field, as it is more diverse. The skills opportunities and that one will acquire can be used in different areas. The accounting career field that I will select from the diverse field is Forensic Accounting. Currently, forensic accountants are one of the fastest-growing fields within law enforcement. The duty of forensic accountants is to determine and point out any form of anomalies in the business and tax records that can influence major civil and criminal cases (Huber, 2012). Forensic accountants are classified as being Certified Public Accountants who will employ forensic accounting to find financial crimes such as embezzlement, corruption or fraud. (Huber, 2012) The forensic accountants work in various areas such as large corporations, assist the United States Secret service, Federal Bureau of Investigation or work in federal and state law enforcement offices. Similarly, as a forensic accountant, one can start a consulting business or work on behalf of public accounting companies.
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For one to qualify as a forensic accountant, one must have a minimum of a bachelor’s degree in business or accountant. However, there are certain organization that will require an individual to have various certifications or a public accounting master’s degree. The typical course for a forensic accountant that one must undertake include insurance and risk, cyber forensics, analyzing financial statements, internal auditing, effective accounting reporting, business valuation, managerial accounting, introduction to accounting and business foundations. Similarly, one must undertake additional advanced coursework in criminal and fraud investigation mostly related to financial record keeping (Criminal Justice Degree Schools, n.d). There is a variety of certifications available for forensic accountants. However, the most widely known ones are American Institute of Certified Public Accountant (ACIPA) and Association of Certified Fraud Examiner (ACFE). The training of a forensic accountant will spend with the employer. In case the Federal Bureau of Investigations hires one, an individual must undertake 6 weeks of training (Federal Bureau of Investigations, 2012).
However, there are other additional skills that an individual must possess a forensic accountant. One must have advanced and efficient oral and writing communication skills as one might be required to offer testimonies or write reports during civil and criminal proceedings. A forensic accountant must have in-depth knowledge on various issues such as white-collar crimes, insurance claims, embezzlement and credit card fraud.
Over the years, the USA has increased stringent state and federal regulations related to accounting. This s following an increased accounting fraud that has seen investors losing billions of dollars and collapse of companies such as Enron and WorldCom. Through these regulations, forensic accounting jobs are bound to strongly grow. However, the Bureau of Labor Statistics has not provided any statistics related to forensic accounting. However, the Bureau of Labor Statistics cites that between 2016 and 2026, there will be a 10% employment growth in forensic, auditors and public accountant related jobs (Bureau of Labor Statistics, n.d). Forensic accounting is one of the most lucrative accounting careers as one is bound to earn a salary ranging from $69,000 to $102,000 (Top Accounting Degrees, 2019). This is $30,000-$40,000 higher than other accounting jobs such as auditors, cost accountants, public accountants and accounting managers (Top Accounting Degrees, 2019).
The major challenges involved in pursuing any accounting related field is the advancement of new technologies and the capability of the accountants to become accustomed to the rapid pace of the transformation. The continued advancement of technology is bound to affect the lives of people and even how businesses carry out their operations. The evolution of the “ Fourth Industrial Revolution: driven by artificial intelligence, data automation and block chain is bound to change employment practices, client demands and business management and these effects are bound to affect accountants (Hood, 2018). Technology has the potential to change bookkeeping, audit and tax preparations by commoditizing these core services. The adoption of artificial intelligence by small firms will affect their abilities to audit customers’ as they have little resources and thus will not have an ability to offer their services effectively. A large number of modern-day corporations are using technology to improve their services, and this is evident from the current hiring trends. This is thus pushing aside the importance and relevance of accounting as it is not seen as being very lucrative as compared to some decades ago.
According to a report released by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners in 2012, the world loses about 5% of its revenue to fraud and this translates to over $3 trillion annually (Accounting.com, 2019). The detection of fraud is not an easy undertaking, as the perpetrators of fraud are well educated and intelligent which allows them to cover their tracks. It is thus the duty of the forensic accountant to ensure that they uncover and bring to light evidence that will be used in bringing the perpetrators to justice. Therefore, unlike other accounting fields, the potential for growth in forensic accounting is high as one can move up from a simple entry-level analyst to a manager, supervisor and senior consultant within a span of a few years.
An accounting career is one that will forever remain relevant as long there is money. There are various accounting fields, and I will specialize in forensic accounting. This involves pointing out any form of anomalies in the business and tax records that can influence major civil and criminal cases. A forensic accountant must have a minimum of a bachelor’s degree in business or accountant. The most widely renowned forensic accountant certifications are the American Institute of Certified Public Accountant (ACIPA) and Association of Certified Fraud Examiner (ACFE). However, increased technological advancement is the biggest challenge and threat to the attire accounting profession.
References
Accounting.com. (2019). An overview of forensic accounting . Retrieved on 13 October 2019, from https://www.accounting.com/careers/forensic-accounting/
Bureau of Labor Statistics. (n.d). Occupational Outlook Handbook, Accountants and Auditors . Retrieved on 13 October 2019, from https://www.bls.gov/ooh/business-and-financial/accountants-and-auditors.htm
Criminal Justice Degree Schools. (n.d). Forensic accountant: Career guide . Retrieved on 13 October 2019, from https://www.criminaljusticedegreeschools.com/criminal-justice-careers/forensic-accountant/
FBI. (2012, March 9). FBI forensic accountants: Follow the money . Retrieved on 13 October 2019, from https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/fbi-forensic-accountants
Hood, D. (2018, October 1). The profession’s biggest challenges. Accounting Today . Retrieved on 13 October 2019, from https://www.accountingtoday.com/news/the-accounting-professions-biggest-challenges
Huber, W. (2012). Is forensic accounting in the United States becoming a profession? Journal of Forensic & Investigative Accounting , 4 (1).
Top Accounting Degrees. (2019). Top five Accounting Jobs . Retrieved on 13 October 2019, from https://www.topaccountingdegrees.org/top-5-accounting-jobs/
