FollowIs a strong math background for accounting majors a must? This is a very common question that is asked by prospective students who plan on enrolling in a 4-year accounting degree program. Accountancy is a growing field where demand is high and professionals will enjoy stability, but you need to be the right fit to work for corporations or public agencies. While many assume that accountants and professionals that become CPA’s need to be experts in math, that is not necessarily the case. If you are concerned about your competencies in math and you would like to know if you can still succeed in accounting, read on and learn what type of background is a must.
What Math Functions Do You Need to Know When You Work In Accounting?
When you are studying accounting, you will be required to take specific math courses to graduate from the program. While this is very concerning to students who remember struggling with high school math classes, you will be happy to hear that you do not need to be a math genius to become a number-crunching accountant. One of the great thing about the advances in the field of accounting is that computer programs will do the hard math for you when you are crunching numbers. You do, however, need to have a general idea of how to solve specific business related math problems, and this is why business calculus is often an Accounting major required course.
Business calculus, and in some events other higher-level math classes, may be required to earn your degree, but to succeed in the field you do not need to memorize all of the skills that you learn. Rather than knowing a large span of different math topics, you can succeed by knowing basic math functions. Typically, an accountant must be very skilled in addition, subtraction, division and multiplication. If you know these functions, you should be able to solve the basic equations you come across. In accounting, it is about applying math and not being an expert in math.
What Skills Do Prospective Accountants Need?
Now that you have gained reassurance that you do not need to be a math genius to become an accountant, you may be wondering what skills and qualities you will need to possess. There are a variety of personal qualities that an accountant needs to possess so that they can stay calm and build their reputation. Not only do you need to be organized professional who has integrity, you also need to be a creative worker who can overcome obstacles. The best accountants are business-minded and detail oriented so that they can spot out errors.
The need for educated accountants is on the rise, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that employment in the field will grow by 16% within the next decade. If you have the drive it takes to graduate with a degree, and you can build upon your math skills, you may have what it takes to succeed. While you do need to be competent in basic functions of math, you do not need to be an expert or have a strong math background for accounting.
