Career Planning for Accounting Graduates: 6 Cool Job Options to Try

The future is bright for those who plan to, or who’re currently pursuing an accounting degree. AsiaOne reports that ‘accountants were among the highest paid workers (in Singapore) in 2017.’ The article highlights findings that the profession is expected to see rapid growth with a projected 15% increase in accountancy professionals by 2020.

According to Christopher Wong, FCPA, head of assurance at EY in Singapore, ‘Demand for accountants continues to be strong in Singapore, as our economy is on a rapid transformation in many sectors, with businesses being e-enabled, scaled up and disrupted.’ Wong elaborates further, ‘our neighbouring countries in ASEAN [the Association of Southeast Asian Nations] are among the fastest growing in the world, which helps drive up demand for accountants’ (source: INTHEBLACK ).

This optimistic outlook for the accountancy job market applies to most of the region, as found by a recent survey by Hudson. The survey of 4122 employers in October 2017 found that, ‘90% of those employers in Singapore, 75% in mainland China, and 42% in Hong Kong planned on increasing headcount of accountants in the first half of 2018 (source: INTHEBLACK ).

With such bright prospects, accounting graduates, both young and old, should look at these projections to explore the wide-range of opportunities in their field.

Take these six cool and interesting job options for accountants and add them to your career planning considerations:

1. Tax Accountant

• An expert on taxation matters, you’ll have the option of working with individuals or business organisations.
• Your responsibilities will include helping your client or employer fulfill their tax obligations, maintaining their financial records and handling audits of their books.

2. Forensic Accountant

• You’ll combine your accounting, auditing, and investigative skills to study and analyse the figures to uncover any financial irregularities, fraudulent activity, or commercial negligence. Your findings should be suitable for use in court in accordance with legislative processes.
• You’ll have the option of working with specialised accounting firms, government agencies, and corporate companies looking to prevent financial scandals.

3. External Auditor

• As an independent auditor, you’ll be engaged to provide an unbiased and objective report of a company’s financial situation.
• Your services are typically commissioned by investors, government agencies and general public companies.

4. Financial Accountant

• Your job entails recording and reporting business transactions besides producing financial statements such as balance sheets, income statements and cash flow statements.
• Financial Accountants have the choice of working for corporate organisations or with CPA (Certified Public Accounting) firms as consultants.

5. Information Technology Auditors

• Essentially an internal auditor, your principal responsibilities will consist of reviewing management controls for your organisation’s computer systems to ensure the credibility and reliability of the financial data.
• An increasingly critical role in most corporate organisations, IT Auditors are widely sought after by investment banks, insurance companies, government agencies and consulting firms.

6. Government Accountants

• Your chief responsibilities will entail reviewing and maintaining government agencies’ financial records, as well as auditing individuals and private businesses as and when the need arises.
• Besides working for government agencies, you also have the option of working with government-linked companies and corporations.

Whichever route you decide to embark upon following your graduation, rest assured that you’re off to a good start. The beauty of it is, you can always switch specialisations later on, if you feel the need for a change. Take these suggestions as part of your job search and career planning arsenal, and may the odds be ever in your favour!

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