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From:
To:
Date:
Memo:

Parisa Abdoly
Jenn Klenck
12/1/15
Term Project paper
One-Day May I Be an Accountant
Being an accountant was one of my favorite jobs since I was a little girl. When

anyone asked me about some dream jobs, accounting was one of them. Now that I am
grown up, I find that I seriously love this career. I love playing with numbers. Unlike
remembering names, I am able to remember numbers after seeing them. Now that I take
two courses of accounting here in the Salt Lake City Community College, my motivation
through this path has even improved. As a result, I will follow this path with a high desire
and motivation.
Job Description
Accounting is the dimension, processing, and announcement of financial
information about monetary individuals (Wikipedia). Studying accounting and becoming
certified professionally can lead to a financially secure job. According to Robert Halfs
2012 salary guide, the upper opinions in demand that rely on accounting skills are
controller, financial analysts, tax accountants, auditors and cost accountants (Nobles,
Masttison, Masummura, 2014). Accounting specialist can be freelancer or work for a
particular company. Either way they have to follow responsibilities:

Supervise all account payables and account receivables and update these accounts

appropriately.
Analyze accounting records monthly and update them as required.
Perform reports of payrolls monthly.
Manage all petty cash and prepare cash flow reports for the company.
Calculate taxes at the end of each year.

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On the most basic level, accountants and CPAs keep and inspect financial accounts for
companies, government groups and individual clients. Some are self-employed while
others work for large firms with offices across the nation (How to become an
accountant: Career in accounting).
General Career Path
According to Accounting Edu.org in 2011, Utah (with 65.9 percent) experienced
the highest passing rate for the Certified Public Accounts Exam among other applicants.
To become a CPA in Utah, candidates should have years of particular education in path.
Beside this, it requires taking and successfully passing together the Uniform CPA Exam
and the Utah CPA Commandment and Law Exam (Accounting Edu.org).
General Education Experience
There are five steps to get a CPA degree in Utah:

Get your education

Take the uniform CPA Exam
Gain the necessary experience
Get your Utah CPA license
Maintain your Utah CPA license through continuing professionals
education

To earn a CPA degree, we applicants should have a bachelors degree with a full
150 semester hours credit courses in business, accounting, and ethics. It is important that
applicants ask from Utah Board of Accountancy whether they would accept their college
credits. Then, we should take a CPA exam and a specific Utah CPA license. Finally, we
are able to receive our required CPA degree for work in Utah. (Accounting Edu.org)
Average Salary

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I find different reports about accountants salaries during my research. The two
below are the ones that were more appropriate for this paper. In 2010, the average yearly
salary of accountants was $ 61,690 according to the website of the Bureau of Labor
Statistics. The identical evaluation reported that the lowest 10 percent received less than $
38,940 whereas the top 10 percent made more that & 106,880. (Accounting Degree
Review)
Also, according to 2015 Robert Half Salary Guide, in Salt Lake City for 2014,
accountants earned between $69,438 and $88,628. The salaries for employers who have
their own professional accounting are even more, between $72,215 and $112,615.
Career Outlook
Between 2012 and 2022, the Utah Department of Workforce Services anticipates a
rise of 28% in the number of accounting jobs in this state. Also according to accounting
degree review, between 2010 and 2020 the accounting career will increase 16 percent. All
these show the constant need for knowledgeable accountants in the future.
According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, about 10,000 accountants are
currently working in the state of Utah, and demand for these professionals is expected to
increase nationwide by 16% from 2010 to 2020. This could push the average salary of
Utah accountants even higher; currently, accountants here make an average between
$64,370 and $66,440 per year. (Masters in Accounting)
Bio of Someone In the Profession
For this bio part of my assignment, I interviewed Carol Smith one of my coworkers. She has had her CPA for more than twenty years. She got her motivation for this
career at the age of 6 years. Every day, she was watching her uncle doing his accounting

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job. She asked many questions about every equation that her uncle was applying. Her
favorite books in those days were anything related to the accounting. After she finished
her high school, at the age of 25 she got her bachelor degree in design and art from
University of Utah based on her parents recommendation. However, since she did not
have any interest in this path, she was not successful. Thus, at the age of 30, she went
back to the school and earned her CPA from the University of Utah.
Now, she has quite well paid accounting job at a Non-Profit organization for more
than 20 years. She had lots of experiences and recommendations to say related to her
career. She quoted a phrase from the Principle of Accounting textbook that
identification, recording, and communications are very important activities of the
accounting process (Weydant, Kimmell, Kieso, 2007). She mentioned this job is not
very easy, because you are responsible for correct calculating, managing the companies
inflows and outflow, and review their financial reports continually. She mentioned that no
matter where you work (self employed or working for a company), you should be detail
oriented and organized.
At the end she mentioned for anyone who wants to work as an accountant, to
work hard to earn a CPA degree rather than a short term accounting certificate or any
associates. Her reason was that with this growing demand for accounting, if you have a
CPA it would be more position to apply and get a well-paid job.

Pros and Cons

There are lots of pros and cons related to this career. The first three are pros and the
rest are cons:

Almost every business or corporation needs an accountant

You are secure to having a potential well paid job
There are different career areas such as financial, management, auditing and

taxes.
The American Institute of Certified Public require certified in this field
This field may seem boring and uninteresting jobs for some.
This career requires a long days work, about around 80 hours a week, especially
during the tax season.

Your Fit With This Career

Throughout researching this assignment, I was testing my personal feeling and
desire for this field. Since I am organized, detail ordinated, love to solve accounting
problems, and finally I love playing with numbers, I find that I fit for this field. The
only concern that I have is that I get tired sitting behind the computer for a long time
and doing the task. However since I love and I have more passion for this career, I
will be successful and satisfy with this decision.

Sources
Accounting Schools in Utah - How to Become a CPA in UT. (n.d.).
Retrieved
December 1, 2015, from
http://www.mastersinaccounting.info/utah/

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Ericksen, K. (2014, July 8). 9 Must-Know Pros & Cons of an Accounting
Career.
Retrieved December 1, 2015, from
http://www.rasmussen.edu/degrees/business/blog/must-knowpros-consaccounting-career/
How to Become an Accountant | Accounting Careers. (n.d.). Retrieved
December 1,
2015, from http://www.learnhowtobecome.org/accountant/
Maphis, S. (2014, July 1). 5 Steps to Becoming a CPA in Utah. Retrieved
December 1,
2015, from http://www.accountingedu.org/utah-cpa.html
Nobles, T., Masttison, B., & Matsumura, E. (2014). Accounting and the
Business
Environment. In Horngren's Accounting (10th ed., p. 7).
(n.d.). Retrieved December 1, 2015, from
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accounting
Weygandt, J., Kimmel, P., & Kieso, D. (2007). Accounting in Action. In
Principles Of
Financial Accounting (10th ed., p. 5).