Job Profile: CPA (Certified Public Accountant)

Balance sheets, tax returns, budgets, annual reports, and financial forecasts are a CPA’s bread and butter. Formally referred to as Certified Public Accountants, CPAs are distinguished members of the accounting team who evaluate financial operations and examine financial records closely to ensure that their client organizations keep running efficiently. To protect their clients’ fiscal integrity, many CPAs choose to specialize their skills in internal auditing, forensic accounting, managerial accounting, assurance services, information systems, environmental accounting, or taxation. In today’s increasingly competitive global marketplace, privately held corporations, multi-national companies, and non-profit organizations alike depend on the expertise of CPAs to help business operations stay strong.

Salary

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the 1.16 million accountants employed throughout the United States earn an average annual salary of $72,500, which is equivalent to $34.86 per hour. However, CPAs tend to earn up to 10% more than their non-credentialed counterparts and can expect to receive a mean yearly wage of $88,825.

Beginning Salary

When just starting out their career with one to three years of work experience, CPAs in general accounting positions will earn around $73,975 each year. That being said, there is the potential for CPAs to climb the corporate ladder towards higher-level positions to make over $190,750 annually. In fact, CPAs have a mean $1 million dollar advantage over non-certified accountants in the course of a standard 40-year career.

Key Responsibilities

Certified Public Accountants (CPAs) play an important role in examining and preparing financial statements that assess critical monetary data about an organization. On a typical day, CPAs can be held responsible for examining financial records, ensuring compliance with federal regulations, computing taxes owed, preparing tax returns, inspecting account books or systems for efficiency, devising the best accounting policies, organizing financial documentation, evaluating financial operations, and providing investment advice. In addition to handling all of the company’s complex financials, CPAs often need to explain their findings in face-to-face meetings with managers or executives to offer recommendations on the best practices for reducing costs, enhancing overall revenues, and improving the bottom line for profitability.

Necessary Skills

Whether they are trying to minimize tax liability or identifying fraudulent claims, CPAs are required to possess very strong analytical skills to quickly find any errors in financial records and brainstorm solutions for management. Basic math skills are also a must because CPAs spend a significant amount of their workday poring over facts and figures in analyzing documentation for accuracy. Since CPAs usually juggling multiple projects at once, organizational skills are important to work with a wide range of financial statements without confusion. Last but certainly not least, CPAs need to strengthen their interpersonal skills to carefully listen to their clients, discuss the results of their work, and present recommendations in meetings or written reports.

Degree and Education Requirements

In most states, becoming a CPA will require candidates to complete at least 150 semester hours of college coursework before taking the national certification exam. Most CPAs start their academic journey by earning a bachelor’s degree in business administration or accounting from an accredited institution. Then, CPAs will continue their learning in graduate school to earn a Master of Accountancy (MAcc) degree or an MBA with a concentration in accounting to fulfill the extra 30 semester hours required beyond the baccalaureate degree. In some cases, aspiring CPAs choose to attend a business school with a five-year combined bachelor’s and master’s degree to streamline their education in meeting the 150-hour requirement.

Pros and Cons of this Position

Along with the professional prestige that comes with being licensed as a CPA, accountants benefit from a multitude of diverse career opportunities in both the profit and non-profit sectors for a high level of job stability. For their well-honed analytical abilities and head for numbers, CPAs also receive a lucrative six-figure salary potential with many options for advancement into the highest executive levels of companies. However, working as a CPA comes with its fair share of disadvantages too. As client load increases, CPAs often work beyond the standard 40-hour workweek with long overtime hours, especially during tax season. CPAs also struggle to maintain an appropriate work-life balance due to having to complete at least 20 hours of continuing education each year. Since CPAs are ultimately responsible for presenting accurate financial reports and sign some of the company’s most important forms, the title often leads to higher than average stress levels as well.

Getting Started

After satisfying the 150-hour CPA requirement in post-secondary education, it is time to become certified for practice in your state by taking the four-part Uniform Certified Public Accountant Exam and the Ethics Exam. In Wisconsin, it is also required that CPAs have at least one year of experience in public accounting or its equivalent to take the exam. Candidates may sit for the CPA exam during the first two months of every quarter to complete the Audit and Attestation (AUD), Financial Accounting and Reporting (FAR), Regulation (REG), and Business Environment and Concepts (BEC) sections. Since the average pass rate among first-time test takers is just 50%, it is recommended that you prepare for the exam by completing a CPA review course and taking multiple practice tests online.

Future Outlook

Employment growth for CPAs is closely tied with the health of the nation’s economic markets, so it is likely that the demand for professional accountants to prepare financial records will continue to increase as the economy recovers from the recent recession. In fact, the Bureau of Labor Statistics has reported that employment of accountants is projected to grow at the fast rate of 13% before 2022, thus creating around 166,700 new jobs for CPAs in America alone. It is believed that there will be a promising outlook for the accounting expertise of CPAs due to strict federal regulations, tighter lending standards, the continued globalization of business, and the rising number of corporate scandals. CPAs can expect to find the best job prospects in public accounting firms, government agencies, financial services, insurance carriers, private corporations, and non-profit organizations.

Overall, every accountant that files reports with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is required by federal law to become professional designated as a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) by earning an appropriate education and passing a certification exam. CPAs are prominent players in the business world who are quickly becoming some of the most important decision makers in leading corporations and organizations towards financial health.