The John Molson Accounting Society can answer all of your questions on facebook or by e-mail at elizabeth.talarico@jmas.ca . Being the VP Academic, Elizabeth Talarico has knowledge pertaining to the CPA Certification Program, the CPA Recruitment Cocktail, and much more important information valuable to students.

WHAT IS ACCOUNTING?

Accounting is providing useful financial data about an entity for users of the financial statements to make resources allocation decisions.  Accountants gather data in order to accommodate stakeholders with useful information that is relevant and reliable.  In general, the main users, notably creditors and shareholders, intend on financing an economic entity with the expectation of receiving a return in their investment.  The data gathered by accountants serve to protect the interest of the stakeholders assuming that they have a general understanding of the accounting information provided.  Ultimately, accountants help to make sure that the stakeholders of an business make the right capital allocation decisions.

CAREER OPPORTUNITIES

Accountants have an exciting world of opportunities available to them. As with medicine, law or engineering, a number of paths are open to accountants to enhance their expertise and advance their careers. Accountants in industry are involved in decisions in many of the organizations vital functions. Accountants, or more specifically Chartered Professional Accountants (CPA) in public practice, spend very little time at the office as they visit clients – organization’s of all sizes and from all industries – on a regular basis to meet with management and provide advisory, strategy, or assurance services. Accountants can also be entrepreneurs and leaders of economic development because of their solid business management expertise and strategic vision.

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Potential career options for accounting majors include:

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• Accountant

• Budget Analyst

• Taxation Specialist

• Treasurer

• Auditor

• Credit Officer

• Forensic Accountant

• Securities Manager

• Bookkeeper

• Broker

• Valuator

• Entrepreneur

• Portfolio Administrator

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Other specialties an accountant can focus on are as follows:

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• Forensic Accounting

• Taxation

• Finance

• Information Technology

• Business valuation

• Internal audit

• Insolvency and restructuring

• Assurance