Accounting is one of those professions that tends to remain important even as technology changes how businesses operate. Every organization needs people who understand financial records, reporting, taxes, controls, budgets, and the numbers behind business decisions.
But becoming an accountant can mean different things depending on your goals. Someone interested in entering the field may begin by developing bookkeeping and accounting fundamentals. Another person may pursue a bachelor's degree and eventually become a Certified Public Accountant (CPA). An experienced finance professional may add accounting analytics or taxation skills to move into a specialized role.
The good news is that accounting offers multiple career paths. The challenge is understanding which education and training make sense for the role you ultimately want.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), accountants and auditors held approximately 1.58 million jobs in 2024. Employment is projected to grow 5% from 2024 to 2034, with approximately 124,200 openings expected each year on average. The median annual wage was $81,680 in May 2024.
For people considering accounting as a career, that combination of demand, earning potential, and professional specialization makes it worth understanding the path before investing in education.
What Does an Accountant Do?
Accountants do much more than enter numbers into spreadsheets.
Depending on their role, accountants may prepare financial statements, analyze financial information, examine records, assist with tax preparation, evaluate internal controls, support audits, advise management, or help organizations comply with financial regulations.
Some accountants work in public accounting firms serving multiple clients. Others work directly for corporations, nonprofit organizations, government agencies, financial institutions, or small businesses.
The BLS notes that accountants and auditors prepare and examine financial records and may work in areas such as accounting services, finance and insurance, government, and corporate management.
Technology is also changing the profession.
Cloud accounting platforms, automation, artificial intelligence, and data analytics are increasingly handling routine processes. Rather than eliminating the need for accounting expertise, these technologies are shifting more attention toward analysis, interpretation, controls, advisory work, and decision-making. The BLS specifically notes that automation is expected to make accountants' analytical and advisory responsibilities more prominent.
Accounting vs. Bookkeeping
One of the first distinctions to understand is the difference between bookkeeping and accounting.
Bookkeepers generally focus on recording and organizing financial transactions. Their responsibilities may include maintaining ledgers, reconciling accounts, processing payroll, and supporting financial reporting.
Accountants generally work at a broader analytical and reporting level. They may interpret financial information, prepare reports, evaluate financial performance, support audits, address tax matters, and advise organizations.
The distinction matters because bookkeeping can be an entry point into the accounting field, but becoming an accountant typically requires more education.
The BLS reports that bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks had a median annual wage of $49,210 in May 2024. Employment for those roles is projected to decline 6% from 2024 to 2034 as automation reduces some routine tasks. At the same time, about 170,000 openings per year are projected, largely because workers will continue leaving the occupation or moving into other roles.
This creates an interesting career progression: learning bookkeeping can provide practical exposure to accounting, while continued education can help a professional move toward more analytical and higher-level accounting responsibilities.
Step 1: Decide Which Accounting Career You Want
Before choosing a course, certificate, or degree, determine what type of accounting career interests you.
Common paths include:
Public accounting: Working with clients on auditing, tax, accounting, and advisory services.
Corporate accounting: Working inside a company on financial reporting, budgeting, controls, or analysis.
Management accounting: Helping business leaders understand costs, performance, budgets, and financial decisions.
Tax accounting: Focusing on tax preparation, planning, compliance, and research.
Internal auditing: Evaluating controls, risk, financial processes, and organizational operations.
Forensic accounting: Examining financial records for potential fraud, disputes, or other irregularities.
Government accounting: Managing and examining financial information within government organizations.
The right education path depends heavily on which of these directions you want to pursue.
Step 2: Build a Foundation in Accounting
If you are completely new to accounting, starting with the fundamentals can make sense before committing to a larger educational program.
Important concepts include:
- Financial statements
- The accounting cycle
- Debits and credits
- General ledgers
- Accounts payable and receivable
- Bank reconciliation
- Payroll
- Inventory
- Financial reporting
- Basic financial analysis
- Accounting software
- Excel or spreadsheet analysis
An online professional certificate can be a practical way to explore these fundamentals.
Build Your Accounting Skills Online
For someone starting without prior accounting experience, the Intuit Academy Bookkeeping Professional Certificate on Coursera is one option worth considering.
The program is explicitly designed for beginners and does not require a degree or prior experience. Coursera describes it as a four-course series covering bookkeeping fundamentals, the accounting cycle, financial statements, reconciliation, payroll, and financial statement analysis. It also introduces learners to QuickBooks Online through hands-on practice.
The program is particularly relevant for someone who wants to test whether accounting or bookkeeping is a good career fit before pursuing a larger academic commitment.
Learn More About the Intuit Academy Bookkeeping Professional Certificate →
An important distinction: this type of professional certificate should not be confused with a bachelor's degree or CPA license. It can help build foundational skills, but becoming a licensed CPA involves additional education, examination, experience, and state-specific requirements.
Step 3: Understand the Education Requirements
For traditional accountant and auditor positions, a bachelor's degree is generally the standard starting point.
The BLS identifies a bachelor's degree in accounting or a related field as the typical entry-level education for accountants and auditors. Certification, such as becoming a licensed CPA, may improve job prospects.
A bachelor's degree may cover subjects such as:
- Financial accounting
- Managerial accounting
- Auditing
- Taxation
- Business law
- Economics
- Finance
- Statistics
- Information systems
- Business analytics
However, there isn't one universal education path for every accounting professional.
Someone interested in bookkeeping may begin with targeted professional training. Someone pursuing public accounting or the CPA credential will generally need substantially more formal education.
Step 4: Consider an Accounting Certificate
An accounting certificate can occupy an interesting middle ground between individual courses and a full degree.
For example, the University of Illinois offers an Accounting Foundations Graduate Certificate through Coursera. The program is designed for beginning learners and covers financial and managerial accounting. It is a for-credit graduate program and requires a bachelor's degree. The certificate can also stack toward Illinois's online Master of Science in Accountancy, MBA, or Master of Science in Management programs.
This is a very different proposition from an entry-level bookkeeping certificate.
For someone who already has a bachelor's degree and wants a more formal accounting education, a graduate certificate may provide a structured path without immediately committing to an entire master's program.
Explore the University of Illinois Accounting Foundations Graduate Certificate →
Step 5: Develop the Skills Employers Value
Accounting is increasingly a combination of financial knowledge, technology, analytical ability, and communication.
Financial Skills
You should understand how financial statements work and how transactions flow through an organization's accounting system.
Analytical Skills
Modern accountants increasingly interpret financial information rather than simply record it.
You may need to identify trends, investigate unusual transactions, evaluate financial performance, and explain what the numbers mean to decision-makers.
Technology Skills
Accounting professionals increasingly work with cloud accounting systems, spreadsheets, enterprise software, automation, and analytics tools.
Excel remains particularly useful, but professionals may also encounter platforms such as QuickBooks, ERP systems, business intelligence tools, and specialized accounting applications.
Communication Skills
Accountants frequently need to explain financial information to people who aren't accountants.
Being able to communicate financial findings clearly can become a significant career advantage.
Attention to Detail
Accuracy remains fundamental.
Even as software automates more routine processes, accountants must understand whether information is complete, reasonable, properly classified, and consistent with applicable rules and policies.
Step 6: Decide Whether to Pursue the CPA
The CPA remains one of the most important professional credentials in accounting.
However, becoming a CPA is not simply a matter of completing an online course.
Requirements are established by individual state boards of accountancy. The AICPA explains that CPA licensure generally involves education, examination, and experience, with ethics requirements also applying in some jurisdictions. The traditional pathway can involve 150 college credit hours, passing the CPA Exam, and obtaining required experience, although states are increasingly adopting alternative pathways.
That means anyone planning to become a CPA should check the requirements in the state where they intend to seek licensure rather than assuming that one education pathway applies nationwide.
A More Advanced CPA-Focused Option
For someone already holding a bachelor's degree and specifically pursuing the CPA pathway, the University of Illinois CPA Pathways Graduate Certificate is another program available through Coursera.
The program focuses on financial accounting, taxation, and accounting data analytics and is designed to help students prepare for the Uniform CPA Examination. Coursera states that the program can also provide credits applicable toward Illinois's online Master of Science in Accountancy, MBA, or Master of Science in Management programs.
This is a much more advanced option than the Intuit Academy certificate and should be viewed accordingly.
Explore the University of Illinois CPA Pathways Graduate Certificate →
Step 7: Build Experience
Education gets you started, but accounting is a profession where practical experience matters.
Look for opportunities such as:
- Accounting internships
- Bookkeeping positions
- Accounts payable or receivable roles
- Accounting assistant positions
- Staff accountant roles
- Tax preparation experience
- Audit internships
- Finance department positions
Even an entry-level position can expose you to real financial systems, month-end processes, reconciliations, reporting deadlines, and organizational controls.
Experience also helps you determine which part of accounting you actually enjoy.
How Much Do Accountants Make?
Accounting can offer solid earning potential, although compensation varies considerably by experience, location, specialization, industry, employer, and credentials.
The BLS reported a median annual wage of $81,680 for accountants and auditors in May 2024. The highest-paid 10% earned more than $141,420. Within major employing industries, median wages were $87,980 in finance and insurance and $86,010 in management of companies and enterprises.
The profession also has a relatively large employment base. The BLS projects approximately 124,200 accountant and auditor openings annually on average from 2024 through 2034.
These figures shouldn't be interpreted as a guarantee of salary or employment. They do, however, demonstrate that accounting remains a substantial professional occupation with demand across multiple industries.
Is Accounting Still a Good Career in the Age of AI?
This is one of the most important questions for anyone entering the field.
AI and automation are already changing accounting work. Routine data entry, reconciliation, transaction processing, and other repetitive tasks can increasingly be automated.
That does not necessarily make accounting less valuable.
Instead, it changes where human expertise is most important.
Accountants can increasingly spend their time on:
- Financial analysis
- Risk assessment
- Internal controls
- Strategic planning
- Tax strategy
- Auditing
- Business advisory
- Data interpretation
- Communication with executives and clients
The BLS similarly expects technological changes to automate some routine accounting activities while making analytical and advisory duties more prominent.
For someone entering the profession, this suggests that learning accounting fundamentals should be accompanied by technology, analytics, and communication skills.
A Practical Accounting Career Path
There isn't a single route into accounting, but a simplified path might look like this:
Explore the field
Learn accounting and bookkeeping fundamentals.
↓
Build practical skills
Develop financial statement, spreadsheet, accounting software, and analytical skills.
↓
Get entry-level experience
Consider bookkeeping, accounting assistant, accounts payable/receivable, or internship opportunities.
↓
Earn a bachelor's degree if pursuing traditional accountant roles
Accounting or a related business field is the typical educational foundation.
↓
Choose a specialization
Tax, audit, corporate accounting, management accounting, forensic accounting, or another area.
↓
Consider professional certification
CPA or another credential depending on your career goals.
↓
Continue developing technology and analytical skills
AI, data analytics, automation, and cloud accounting are increasingly relevant.
Which Accounting Education Path Is Right for You?
The best option depends on where you're starting.
| Your Situation | Potential Starting Point |
|---|---|
| No accounting experience | Introductory accounting or bookkeeping course |
| Want to explore the field | Beginner professional certificate |
| Want bookkeeping skills | Intuit Academy Bookkeeping Professional Certificate |
| Already have a bachelor's degree | Graduate accounting certificate |
| Want to pursue CPA licensure | CPA-focused education that meets your state's requirements |
| Existing accounting professional | Advanced accounting, analytics, tax, or technology training |
The important point is not to choose a program simply because it carries the word "certificate."
Look at the education level, prerequisites, curriculum, academic credit, career objective, and whether the credential actually fits the role you want.
Start With the Career You Want
Accounting remains a broad profession with opportunities across public accounting, corporations, government, financial services, nonprofits, and specialized advisory roles.
For someone just beginning, the smartest first step may not be immediately enrolling in the most expensive program available. Start by understanding the work, building foundational skills, and determining which part of accounting interests you.
For someone already holding a bachelor's degree, a graduate certificate may provide a more advanced route. And for someone specifically targeting CPA licensure, the education and experience requirements need to be planned around the rules of the state where they intend to become licensed.
The larger opportunity is that accounting is changing rather than disappearing. As automation handles more routine work, professionals who combine accounting knowledge with analytics, technology, communication, and business judgment can position themselves for a broader role.
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About the Business Training Media Editorial Team
This article was researched and written by the Business Training Media Editorial Team. We publish expert content covering business strategy, leadership, workplace skills, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, compliance, career development, online learning, professional certifications, business software, and organizational excellence. Our goal is to provide practical, research-backed insights that help professionals, business leaders, and organizations make informed decisions.