How Do You Become a Managerial Accountant?

You want to know how to become a managerial accountant? Well, you have come to the right place. Managerial accounting is a field that rewards intellectual curiosity, problem-solving skills and dedication. If you possess these qualities or attributes, you would be well served to read on.

What Is Accounting?

Accounting, broadly speaking, is the process of monitoring an entity’s cash inflows and outflows. As a practical matter, accountants spend their days poring over large reams of financial data. If you have any reluctance related to dealing with numbers or large data sets of any type, accounting may not be the profession for you.

What Is Managerial Accounting?

Managerial accounting, along with financial accounting, is one of the two primary branches of accounting, according to Investopedia. Managerial accountants work within and on behalf of a specific organization or entity to advise the entity’s managers. Managers then use the managerial accountants’ advice to make decisions for the entity. The terms “managerial accounting” and “cost accounting” are generally used interchangeably.

Accounting Education

In order to become a managerial accountant, you will need to complete at least a bachelor’s degree in accounting from an accredited college or university. Completing While you are doing so, you may want to supplement your accounting coursework with classes in economics, finance, and business management. Additionally, after you have completed your undergraduate accounting degree, you may want to pursue a master of science degree in accounting to increase your facility with the accounting concepts you learned as an undergraduate.

Areas of Study

Accounting will be your undergraduate major, meaning you will have a steady diet of accounting classes to keep you busy. These most often include, at a minimum, financial accounting, managerial accounting, individual federal income taxation, corporate taxation, accounting periods and methods and state and local taxation, among others. You will also likely be required to complete a handful of non-accounting business courses, such as corporate finance, organizational theory, business management, microeconomics, macroeconomics and business statistics. Beyond these courses, you will have the latitude to choose additional classes you think would be beneficial for you as a managerial accountant, or even those whose subjects simply pique your interest.

Future Job Outlook

You can work almost anywhere if you become a managerial accountant. No, really. You can. Virtually every organization, whether it is a private firm, a governmental entity, a non-profit entity or nearly any other type of entity you can imagine, needs a managerial accountant. In fact, most of them need several managerial accountants to ensure that they are achieving their organizational goals and to prevent them from running afoul of the financial regulations governing them.

Related Resource: International Accountant

Conclusion

Organizations are always on the hunt for hardworking, talented managerial accountants to assist them in achieving their goals. If you enjoy solving complex problems in a growing industry that offers immense job security, you owe it to yourself to consider whether you want to become a managerial accountant