Women are the key builders of a society. They have proven their grit and determination in all fields of life and shown the world that their inborn passion, knowledge, and wisdom can create the best of leaders. Whether engineering, aerodynamics, medicine, healthcare, genetics, finance, or business, women continue to lead from the front in all professions and all spheres of life. Accountancy and financial management have great potential for women, and there are numerous career paths women can take in this field. This article discusses five interesting careers for women in accounting.
Importance of Accounting and Finance
Accountants are called the magicians of numbers. Not only can they deal with day-to-day bookkeeping and monitor cash flows, but people associated with accounting also have a great potential to become leaders, financial advisors, finance specialists, auditors, and strategists. They help a business grow by closely observing a company’s financial position, ensuring regulatory compliance, and devising policies to increase revenues, improve cash inflows, build a strong reputation within the financial community and get more funds. Only a person with an accounting background can give professional advice on strategic planning and ensure the effective implementation of such strategies.
Accounting jobs offer perpetual career growth, substantial lucrative benefits, and leadership positions for aspiring women. For that, you can do leadership development programs to increase your skills and capability. There are numerous opportunities for women if they want to choose accounting and finance as their career paths.
To begin with, there are many certifications, long-term, and short-term courses, and graduate degrees. Master of Accountancy (MACC) is one of the best options for women aspiring for a career in accounting. Some institutions also offer MACC online programs for students who want to schedule their classes without disturbing their work routine.
Online MACC programs offer great flexibility in continuing your education without commuting to morning or evening on-site classes. The curriculum is structured to build strong accountancy skills and foster innovative thinking with 100% online coursework.
Accounting Scholarships for Women
While the total cost of completing a degree in accountancy depends entirely on an institution, nearly all universities and colleges offer scholarships, particularly for women. Women can seek financial aid, scholarships, and learning resources from various sources, including The American Institute of CPAs, Educational Foundation for Women in Accounting, Women in Public Finance (WPF), Accounting & Financial Women’s Alliance (AFWA), etc. These scholarships and financial aid can help women manage their educational and living expenses during the course program.
Benefits of Careers in Accounting for Women
Accountancy offers a wide range of career paths for women. There are numerous benefits of choosing a career in accountancy for women. Let’s discuss some of them:
Work-Life Balance
Accountants and other professionals in this field don’t necessarily need a physical presence in a brick-and-mortar setup. Many career opportunities in accountancy offer work-from-home or hybrid jobs. Such jobs provide a high level of flexibility and help women maintain a work-life balance. The new organizational culture focuses on providing maximum freedom to employees so they can break free from work pressure and perform their best at work. With work from home and a hybrid culture, women can take care of their families while being highly productive at work.
Freelance Services
Freelancing and outsourcing have become new norms for many professionals and organizations. Women can provide freelance services for financial advice, bookkeeping, audit, financial forecasting, and project feasibility study.
Diverse Roles
Accountancy in itself is a general category for countless roles related to finance. With an accountancy degree, women can take up diverse roles in firms or work in various organizations. For example, a large-sized business or organization requires basic accountants for bookkeeping. They also hire financial experts or advisors with some background experience in accounting and finance to create financial forecasts and analyze project feasibility. You may also work in compliance areas where you must maintain strict adherence to rules.
Lucrative Benefits
Accounting is a specialized high-profile career, and this is why the salaries are also over the average bar. For those who have experience, knowledge, and capabilities, the salaries are as high as $250,000. While entry-level jobs like bookkeepers and accountants are not highly-paid, they also don’t require a special certification.
Accounting Careers for Women
Women are in the driving seat in most high-profile accounting jobs. Here are five interesting careers for women in accounting:
1. Tax Accountant
Tax handling, filing, and other complexities involved in business taxation look like a nightmare to many, but they are a piece of cake for a tax accountant. Women with a master’s degree in accounting with a major in taxation are best suited for a stellar career in tax accounting. Tax accountants are in charge of tax planning and decision-making. At the end of a fiscal year, they comprehend tax reporting requirements and create compliant tax reports for firms. Tax returns for people, corporations, and other sophisticated services are included in the tax reports. Tax accountants deal with a wide range of customers since tax returns are required for individuals and corporations.
2. Cost Accounting Manager
Cost accountants and cost accounting managers are key in estimating production costs, reducing overhead expenses, and preparing cost of goods reports. These reports help businesses determine the cost of production and estimate retail and wholesale prices. Without a good cost accounting manager, businesses have a higher chance of underpricing or overpricing their product which has a huge long-term impact on productivity, profitability, and growth. This is why cost accounting managers are highly-paid employees and considered for leadership roles in manufacturing and distribution firms.
3. Chief Financial Officer
A chief financial officer is among the highest accounting positions. They are all-in-all in a firm regarding authority and responsibilities related to financial matters. CFO is a high-profile job and requires years of experience in accounting with personal characteristics, strong educational background, and professional expertise. Large organizations and government bodies mostly offer this leadership role. Due to its importance, the chief financial officer job is undoubtedly the highest paid job in an accounting career.
4. Internal Auditors
An internal auditor is a high-paid job that involves studying and evaluating an organization’s operational efficiency and regulations compliance. Most government, public, private, and nonprofit organizations hire internal auditors to analyze financial transactions and detect and investigate fraudulent transactions that may hamper an organization’s reputation during external audits. An internal auditor is a self-directed and self-sufficient job, and an auditor gets the autonomy to provide audit objections and recommendations to business owners or boards of directors.
5. Payroll Accountants
Payroll accountants are important in every company, especially big organizations and corporations. Payroll accountants ensure that the company complies with payroll requirements and reporting. Payroll accountants serve as a liaison between employees, businesses, and the government. They guarantee the accuracy of employee paychecks and tax records.
Final Thoughts
Accounting is a brilliant career option for women since it immediately ties you to the core of any firm and places you in a powerful position. If you are great at numbers and aspirant for success in your life, accounting is your best career path.