Module 2 Choosing an Accounting Career

1 Principles of Accoiunting Merchandising Transactions

This course discusses how companies have a choice in inventory cost methods between specific
identification, FIFO, LIFO, and weighted-average. Similarly, one of the greatest benefits of
obtaining an accounting degree is the broad range of career choices available. There are over 40
different types of accounting jobs available in public accounting, private industry, and
governmental accounting.

One of the primary reasons many students go into accounting is successful job placement.
Accounting majors have been better able to find positions than majors in any of the other
business options, with the possible exception of management information systems (MIS). Even
the relative demand for MIS majors has diminished recently, while the demand for accounting
majors remains strong. We are currently experiencing a shortage of accounting majors across
the nation. Another important factor to keep in mind regarding job placement is where you
would like to be three to five years from now. Accounting offers an excellent foundation with
opportunities for advancement, whereby many accounting graduates make double their entry-
level salary in only five years.

Many students pursue an accounting degree because it does not restrict their career
opportunities as much as having a different business degree. For example, with an accounting
degree, a student can apply for positions in management, marketing, and finance, as well as
accounting. In fact, many recruiters in business favor accounting graduates because they
recognize an accounting degree as a more difficult business degree to obtain. However,
management, marketing, and finance students cannot apply for accounting positions because
they lack necessary accounting coursework. In fact, with some additional courses in systems, an
accounting major is well equipped to pursue a career in any business field including information
systems.