What Careers are Available to those who Major in Accounting with a Specialization in Payroll and Bookkeeping?

When you have a knack for numbers, it makes sense to pursue a career in finance. A degree in accounting will put you on the fast track towards that career. If you have a major in payroll you will responsible for paying people and keeping a business in budget so that they continue to employ people. As a bookkeeping major, you will be responsible for keeping your company’s finances in order. Now that sounds like a good career, but what kind of jobs are out there for this?

Payroll Clerk

In any business, payroll is often the highest expense. It is also a matter that directly affects employees and their lives. The responsibility of the payroll clerk is to ensure that every employee is paid adequately and correctly. Payroll clerks also review trends in the economy to ensure that the company is not overpaying their employees and relay this to the human resources department.

Accounting Clerk

The accounting clerk is often responsible for a specific area of a company’s finances. This may involve monitoring the money coming in through various accounts that a company keeps. They will review accounts that are either to be paid or received and post transactions towards balancing those accounts. Accounting clerks are primarily responsible for reporting errors and must justify the collection or sending or monetary credits within those accounts.

Bookkeeper

A corporate bookkeeper monitors, reports, and balances all the company’s finances. They will report to the officiating executives any discrepancies in spending or earning. It is part of the bookkeeper’s job to find solutions to maintain a balance in the accounting books and justify any expenditures or income. Bookkeepers also carry the title of accountant and finance controller.

Auditor

As an auditor, the clerk merely gathers financial information and reports any discrepancies to the accounting clerks. This is done as a quality assurance measure to ensure that there is no leakage or hemorrhage of money that is being circulated. It is the job of the auditor to run various reports and collect relative data for a comparison and contrast of daily monetary activities.

Certified Public Accountant

Public Accountants are often finance workers who are involved in all the aspects of financial accounting matters. A Certified Public Accountant, or CPA, is certified by American Institute of CPAs (AICPA). This national institution provides standard of practice for accountants and provides a national certification proving an accountant to be of these strict standards. Most CPAs are involved in private practice, allowing them to supply accounting services to companies of all sizes as well as personal and household accounting measures.All accounting professions work in an office environment and a nominal amount of computer skills are required. As a accounting professional, you will be required to understand databases, reports, and other necessary forms of communication that require a “paper trail” to justify your findings. Strong mathematical and analytical skills are recommended and often a necessity. With a degree in accounting and a major in bookkeeping or payroll, these are the jobs in which most companies are seeking qualified employees.