Pre-requisite

Certain requirements have to be met before applying for a graduate program. An Undergraduate Degree in Accounting is usually not the only requirement but if you have studied a degree outside the business field then you must fulfill the pre-requisites.

Coursework of Graduate Accounting Degree

The core courses taught are:

• Financial Decision Making
• Applied Statistics for Business Decisions
• Financial Accounting
• Corporate Financial Reporting
• Financial Statement Analysis
• Auditing and Assurance
• Federal Taxation
• Contemporary Issues in Accounting
• Accounting and Audition Aspects of Computer-based Information Systems
• Business Taxation

Career Opportunities

Accountant graduates can serve in corporate settings or they can even go the self-employed route. The average annual income accountants earned in 2013 was $59,000. The BLS predicts a 16% growth in this field by 2020.

The popular jobs that can be pursued with a graduate accounting degree include:

• Vice-president corporate accounting or auditing department
• Senior audit accountant
• Senior tax accountant
• Management accountant
• Bookkeeping Clerks
• Tax Examiners/ Collectors
• Controller
• Auditing Clerks

Hone your analytical and problem solving skills and gain the skills that prepare for a financially rewarding career by enrolling in a graduate accounting degree today!

Educational Requirements

Tax collectors and examiners must have a Bachelor’s Degree in Accountancy or a business subject to apply for a Graduate Program in Taxation. Practical as well as procedural knowledge tools necessary for research.

The courses taught during this program are:

• Individual Federal Income Taxation
• Corporate and Shareholder Taxation
• Partnerships, Partners and S|Corporations Taxation
• Taxation of Fiduciary Income
• State and Local Taxation
• International Taxation

Career Options

Small businesses, individuals and non|profit corporations usually require services of tax collectors. To perform the duties of a tax collector or tax attorney, knowledge of U.S Federal and state taxes is required. The BLS predicts a 7% growth of these professionals by 2020.

Some of the positions that can be pursued with a Master of Accountancy in Taxation are:

Taxation is a competitive yet financially lucrative field which requires specialized knowledge and a graduate degree for climbing up the corporate ladder. If you are interested in this field, get your Masters of Accountancy in Taxation degree today.

Vital Steps to Know the Industry

If you choose to pursue a career as a hedge fund manager, it is important to start with the basics of developing an awareness of the field from your educational years. Self-discipline, networking, researching the industry and subscribing to free hedge fund newsletters all delegate that knowledge. Identifying and introducing yourself to a potential hedge fund mentor is also a good choice to initiate into the field.

The Right Internship and Qualifications

Applying for an internship is the first step of entering the field, and a great method for making connections. Working on-site and paying attention to your co-workers is a great way of marginalizing your own career prospective. Once you have established a niche to further develop your skills, following are the qualifications you can hone to represent your proficiency to potential employers:

• Quantitative experience and abilities – How much money can you personally bring in to the firm or have made for the last firm you worked for?
• Education – Ivy league, MBA, quant-focused PhD
• Signs of being loyal, passionate and humble
• PR expertise, asset gathering ability or an information advantage
• CFA, CAIA or Chartered Hedge Fund Associate (CHA) designations
• High-quality names from your last few hedge fund jobs or large wire house experience
• A stomach for a high commission/bonus compensation structure

Career Prospective

In order to find unadvertised job openings, visit companies and firms from online Chamber of Commerce listings, industry directories or associations. This can be done by networking through the Hedge Fund Group (HFG), Hedge Fund Association (HFA), HedgeWorld Service Provider Directory or your local CFA society.

Informational interviews can also be a great way to land positions offering training, experience and pay, and will be more relevant for you than a generic advertising. If you approach a small or fast-growing firm and show some previous experience, commitment and confidence in working for them, a position can often be molded around your skill set.

Hedge Fund Job Applications

It is extremely challenging to enter the hedge fund field without prior experience, what with professionals already using experience as an asset to delve into the industry. Moreover, most companies refuse to recruit individuals without a minimal three years of experience working directly within the hedge fund industry. Therefore, it is important to have your research done, follow the above mentioned steps of doing an internship and earning your CFA, CAIA or CHA designation to enhance your job prospective.

Educational Requirements

A bachelor’s degree in any field can qualify a person to begin a career as an underwriter, but employers prefer individuals who have taken courses in business, law and accounting, preferably with work related experience. It would also give you a heads up to have some insurance related experience, perhaps even in the form of an internship.

Most underwriters initiate into their careers as trainees or assistant underwriters, where they learn the required skills on the job. During their training period, trainees aid in collecting and evaluating information on clients, although they are moderated and supervised by senior underwriters within the firm. There are also some large insurance companies that are known to offer comprehensive training programs for rookie trainees, and these programs include the study and gradual assignment of more complex tasks potential employees will be expected to handle when on the job.

Essential Expertise and Specialization

Strong computer skills are essential to a career in underwriting. During an underwriter’s work period, computer training tends to continue because the programs that professionals within this field use are often updated.
Most underwriters specialize in one type of insurance.

The main types of insurance include:

• General insurance: covers household, pet, motor, travel;
• Life insurance/assurance: covers illness, injury, death;
• Commercial insurance: covers companies;
• Re-insurance: part of the risk is placed with another insurer.

Job Demands

For an insurance underwriter, the daily tasks vary according to the type of insurance offered by the company but may include:

• Studying various insurance proposals;
• Gathering and assessing background information;
• Calculating possible risk and deciding how much individuals or organizations should pay for insurance (the premium);
• Deciding whether the risk should be shared with a re-insurer;
• Computing results for appropriate premiums using actuarial information, other statistics and own judgment;
• Visiting brokers or potential customers and preparing quotes;
• Liaising with specialists, such as surveyors or doctors, for risk assessment;
• Gathering information and various types of reports (e.g. Medical records) from specialists;
• Negotiating terms with policyholders or their brokers;
• Ensuring that premiums are competitive;
• Specifying conditions to be imposed on different types of policies, for example, asking that a property owner install a security alarm;
• Negotiating with brokers and drawing up contracts;

For insurance underwriters, most potential employers seek out candidates that have acquired a college degree, or a professional designation along with some work experience, and a great way to combine both is by getting an Online Bachelor’s Degree .

Duties as an Investment Banker

The world of investment banking is a power hungry competitive world, a platform to learn the ins and outs of corporate finance and pick up analytical skills that will remain useful throughout your business career. However, investment banking has very steep learning curves, which is why you will most likely start off as a rookie and have to work your way up.

The initial duties will include poring over financial statements, developing spreadsheets, observing the Bloomberg screen, and being under constant pressure of buyer seller phone calls.

Traders mutually work with the institutional sales group, whose members traverse from airport to airport trying to sell big institutions a piece of the new stock offering they have recently launched. There are also analytically minded research analysts, who read, write, live, and breathe whichever industry they follow.

Individual Requirements

Requirements include the research ability of a skilled investigator, focused attention and physical endurance to deal with long hours. Highly intuitive analytical skills are also imperative in order to analyze market trends and oncoming industry changes.

You must be at ease with numbers, have a tolerance for risk, and not mind putting your personal life on hold for the sake of your job. If you carry forth this level of ambition and determination, then investment banking is the job for you.

If you want to pursue your career as an investment banker, it would be advisable to get a related internship after completing your undergraduate degree . An internship paves the way for future career opportunities and important connections within the industry. College recruiters are usually sent from prestigious bulge-bracket firms, and not the smaller, specialized niche firms or boutiques. It’s important to discern the type of bank for which you are best suited, so conduct your own independent research. Big firms tend to have more turnover than smaller niche firms, which may better nurture their investment in training you. Also, even if your degree isn’t in business, remember that banks are increasingly encouraging applications from candidates with specialized resumes in order to better appeal to a growing client base. Which is why a strong GPA, personal research into firms and getting an internship or two helps to dive into the industry.

Forensic accountants mostly work with businesses, non-profit organizations including government and law enforcement agencies, estates, individuals and other required services.

What Forensic Accounting Entails…

Forensic accountants contribute to, and help with risk management and risk reduction through a customized design of accounting and auditing systems and procedures. Acting as a function of due diligence and investment analysis, they will advise upon on a wide variety of financial transactions, such as:

• Contemplated mergers and acquisitions
• Venture capital investments
• The purchase of corporate bonds, commercial paper and stocks
• Bankruptcy proceedings

The criminal activity mentioned above, when uncovered, may include fraud, embezzlement, money laundering, and concealment of debt, concealment of assets or other fraudulent activities, or even financial crimes. Forensic accountants may be called upon to testify in court as expert witnesses in criminal and civil litigation and appear in pretrial depositions.

CPA and CFE Certification

Forensic accountants are also often Certified Public Accountants and Certified Fraud Examiners (CFE). A Certified Fraud Examiner is a specialist with extensive training in the prevention and deterrence of fraud and is required to pass a 500-question examination for certification that covers topics such as:

• Fraud examination
• Investigation techniques
• Financial transactions
• Criminology
• Ethics
• Legal elements of fraud

Requirements for certification also include high moral character and strict professional and academic standards.

The CFE credential is conferred by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners. The certification is recognized worldwide, and employers look for it when forensic accounting is needed in this area.

Both the forensic accountant and the CFE must have a comprehensive understanding of business information and all aspects of financial reporting, including:

• The balance sheet showing a business’s assets, liabilities and net equity at the time of the report
• The income statement, which reports the profit or loss of a company over the reporting period
• The statement of retained earnings, which reports dividends paid and other items credited to or charged against earnings. This data may also be included in the balance sheet
• The statement of cash flows showing the cash coming into the company (inflow) and going out of the company (outflow)

Employment Prospective

Following are the areas in which a forensic accountant may pursue his career:

• Law enforcement
• State and local government (including government agencies such as the Internal Revenue Service, the Department of Defense, the Government Accountability Office, the FBI and the CIA)
• Small and mid-size businesses
• Major corporations
• The nonprofit sector
• Banking, brokerage, insurance and other financial-services industries
• Private practice

In a nutshell, becoming a Forensic Accountantis like observing and tracking paper trails, based on individuals charged with white collar crimes involving questionable financial data.

As a financial accountant, you may choose to work in public accounting (doing jobs for multiple business clients) or private accounting (performing accounting work only for your employer). You can also choose to specialize in governmental accounting, not-for-profit accounting, forensic accounting (which relates to legal proceedings or testimony), or other specific fields.

No matter what your professional goals are, certain coursework and certifications — as well as a handful of crucial skills and traits — can help ensure your success.

Undergraduate Courses

For a Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting, you will require about 120 credit hours total. In addition to general educational requirements, you must take core business classes such as Financial Accounting, Managerial Accounting, Business Law, Principles of Management, Economics, Finance, and Marketing. Most people also prefer to take more specific accounting courses, such as Intermediate Accounting, Federal Income Tax, Accounting Information Systems, and Auditing.

Graduate Courses

In order to earn a Master’s Degree in Business Administration (MBA),you will need to take an average of 30 credit hours of graduate-level courses. If you plan to sit for the Certified Public Accountant (CPA) exam, be sure to map your MBA courses to meet the requirements to be able to sit for the exam.

The CPA Exam

The CPA is the professional license for accountants. In order to become a CPA, you must first complete a certain number of accounting and business-related courses in college. Then you must take and pass the Uniform Certified Public Accountant exam, which is written and scored by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA).

Other Licenses in Financial Accounting

In addition to pursuing your CPA license, you may decide to add more initials after your name by pursuing a designation such as Forensic CPA, Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE), or Certified Management Accountant (CMA).

Essential Skills and Personality Traits

Successful financial accountants bring great communication skills (both oral and written) to the job, as well as decent computer skills. Most of the top financial accountants vouch for the fact that people skills are an imperative tool to grasp and master.

The best financial accountants have a desire to work independently, even when they’re part of a team, therefore a love for research, detail, and logic; and the willingness to listen and learn about a variety of industries should be part of the ambition package.

The Purpose

A financial analyst’s main role is to research macroeconomic and microeconomic conditions along with company fundamentals to make business, sector and industry recommendations. They also often recommend a course of action, such as to buy or sell a company’s stock based upon its overall current and predicted strength. An analyst must be aware of current developments in the field in which he or she specializes as well as in preparing financial models to predict future economic conditions for any number of variables. The financial analyst is like a weather forecast to its company, predicting which steps to take or not based on research and analysis.

Undergraduate Prospective of Financial Analysts

If you are still an undergraduate student who is considering a career as a financial analyst, it is best to take courses in business, economics, accounting and math. Other majors that are looked upon favorably include computer sciences, biology, physics and even engineering. Many of the junior analysts hired by firms have these backgrounds, while MBA graduates are often hired as senior analysts fresh out of business school. So the possibilities are bright in terms getting a job right out of college.

Types of Analyst Positions

A financial analyst must develop his specialization, as most do, depending on the type of institution he or she works for. Analysts are mostly hired by banks, investment firms, insurance companies and investment banks. Three major categories of analysts sprout from these specialties: those that work for sell side investment firms, those that work for buy side investment firms and those that work for investment banks.

Job Expectations

A few things to keep in mind:

• Vigilance regarding the gathering of macro economy information.
• Information about specific companies and the microeconomics of their balance sheets.
• Keep on top of the game by reading The Wall Street Journal, The Financial Times and The Economist.
• Having the opportunity to travel to get a first-hand impression of company operations at ground level.
• Attend conferences related to their specializations.

In conclusion, the best way into the financial world is to be on top of your game. It is imperative to have current knowledge of the market trends you will be part of, and at the same time it is important to have a source of ambition and even a sense of innovation when it comes to analyzing financial trends. One good way of doing this is by talking to successful financial analysts, or following their journals on their respective websites, in order to get a personal account of how things function in financial analyst’s world.

In this article, you will briefly learn about accounting procedures required to run a business, which you can learn by means of an accounting degree.

Accounting and Bookkeeping – Essential Concepts For a Business:

Accounting is a whole system, the fun part of the business which includes activities like:

• Data tracking, including information of clients
• Recording the history of transactions
• Report making
• Managing important financial details of your company
• Payroll and wages
• Tax status

Whereas, bookkeeping is the boring and tedious part–it involves the systematic recording of:

• The sums
• Dates
• Sources of all revenue generated
• Sources of all expenses

Important Accounting Procedures

An individual who is planning to set up his own business, and is interested in earning a Degree in Accounting, should keep in mind few important accounting procedures:

• Overview of financial systems: It is important to get an overview of the company’s financial systems and requirements, even if you can assign the daily tasks associated with the application.
• Evaluation of strengths and weakness: The accountant needs to be able to access the system to evaluate its strength and weaknesses.
• Knowledge of Accounting Software: Accountants need to find and use accounting software that aid record keeping. Receipts, invoices and purchase orders are required to document transactions.
• Filing System: Keep a record and ensure the safe storage of customers’ personal information.
• Systematic Recording: Make certain that all transactions are recorded methodically and constancy, according to the established standards and regulations.
• SOPs: Establish standard procedures of the company to act in a controlled manner. It’s a measure to ensure that Generally Accepted Auditing Standards (GaAs) are introduced and implemented.
• Objective Analysis: Conduct regular assessments and objective analysis to gain access to the organization and identify areas that can be further improved.
• Unique Accounting System: The key to success of the accounting setup is your accounting system and input. You need to set up a system that is unique and molded to your company’s needs.

Businesses have their ups and downs; sometimes they earn lots of profit but loss follows it. However, a formal education prepares you for all the crucial procedures which are required to create an outstanding business. So, get enrolled in a college or an online college, and get a Bachelor’s or Master’s Degree in Accounting to ace the art of business!

What makes this different from the traditional finance system is that Islamic system is Riba-free (without interest), it prohibits lending at interest, and borrowers and lenders maintain high moral standards. Let’s read how this system is different from the conventional western banking system which charges interests.

• Shared Profit/Risk System
  Interest is forbidden, however, profit is not forbidden. Islamic bankers combine money and enterprise to construct a profit/risk-sharing system based on equity finance, which is the investment of stocks and sales, rather than traditional accrued interest-debt system.

  It takes effort for people who are trained in the finance of western design to imagine a banking system which is not based on interest. Nonetheless, as the world begins to rebuild its financial institutions, without interest, Islamic finance offers a challenge to the established norms.

• Solution For Recession Hit Economy
  Islamic finance seems like a rescue plan for the recession hit economy. It has much to offer in terms of generating ideas for overcoming the current recession. It has been predicted that the volume of the global economy led by the Islamic financial system will soon reach a significant four percent. Those who are intending to get their Degree in Islamic Finance should remember that this system is not only for Muslims. It offers products and services which everyone can make use of, regardless of religion. Not many people know that it has been several years now, that conventional western banks have been offering Sharia-complaint related products, such as mortgages.
• Interest Free Joint Ventures
  Despite the fact that Sharia-compliant banking has many different practices, it is perhaps best known for the way it forbids charging interest (“riba”). The Islamic bank makes arrangement for the client and the bank to share some of the risks and profits, known as “Musharakah” also known as joint ventures.

  What primarily distinguishes Islamic banking and finance from the conventional systems is how the system incorporates Islamic moral judgment in its decision. It seems not only to satisfy the quest for profit, but in fairness, ratings of the arrangement and how it will affect all stakeholders it is completely different, because the bank engages in a relationship with its customers based on collaboration.

Get Your Degree in Islamic Finance

Due to the increase in the demand for Islamic Finance globally, universities have started enrolling and preparing students for proper education in Islamic Finance, offering degree programs like Bachelor’s of Science in Islamic Finance, Bachelor’s of Business Administration in Islamic Finance, Bachelor’s of Islamic Banking and Finance. Students are earning their Islamic Finance Degrees and are beginning to become a part of this flourishing banking system.