USA 2 year accounting degree
- Thread starter jfishback
- Start date
It depends on what you define as a decent job. An AA is not really meaningful in the upper accounting circles but it might help get your foot in the door for some bookkeeping jobs. With that said you might fair better getting freelance bookkeeping work. Freelance bookkeepers with knowledge and skills are often in demand in small business communities. But then you do not need an AA to do that.
An AA is going to give you enough knowledge to cover 80% of the needs of most small businesses. Try to focus your studies on cloud based accounting applications whenever you can. Most of the main accounting software programs also have accountant and student programs with lots of free training and certification. So that means independent study. If you want to make a corporate go at it you can try to focus on accounts payable, payroll and HR, or SAP software.
Let me put it this way.
I completed my AA in business and accounting more years ago than I can remember.
I completed my BS with a major in law and public policy, minor human resource management. Graduated top 5% of class.
I completed my MBA major acct, minor financing. Graduated top 10% of class.
I worked full time throughout my studies except the grad program. My work was restaurant and real estate management. During my grad program I worked as a waiter/bartender and limited to 30 hours per week; took student loans to make up the lower income.
About twenty-five years ago, I passed all 4 parts of CPA exam in one sitting. At the time only 6% of the nation did that. I have maintained my CPA since.
When I entered public accounting, before computers were everyday objects, I was not anywhere near prepared. My first two years in public accounting were another graduate program.
I started my firm almost two decades ago focusing on small businesses. For the first decade to supplement income, and also because it is much more spiritually rewarding, I was an adjunct faculty at the local college teaching Acc101and Acc102.
I found out and observed time and again that academics does nothing to train people for real world accounting, especially small business. Many times I have said what they teach in school has nothing to do with small businesses. They teach public corporate accounting.
I have seen many people academically trained, but they could not devise a journal entry to save their life. I have also seen many good bookkeepers that had no academic training.
If you want a decent job, make one. Train yourself on some accounting software study an industry or two and then get small business clients in that industry. Contractors are always needing bookkeepers, but you need to know sales and payroll tax filings (many states haves inexpensive classes taught through their department of taxation or revenue or whatever they call it).
It also might help to align yourself with other freelance bookkeepers. They often have more work than they can handle and can help you with greater understanding.
Along the way if you want to advance in the industry, as I understand it, all 50 states now require 150 hours of education (undergrad plus one year), among other things, to sit for the CPA exam.
I completed my AA in business and accounting more years ago than I can remember.
I completed my BS with a major in law and public policy, minor human resource management. Graduated top 5% of class.
I completed my MBA major acct, minor financing. Graduated top 10% of class.
I worked full time throughout my studies except the grad program. My work was restaurant and real estate management. During my grad program I worked as a waiter/bartender and limited to 30 hours per week; took student loans to make up the lower income.
About twenty-five years ago, I passed all 4 parts of CPA exam in one sitting. At the time only 6% of the nation did that. I have maintained my CPA since.
When I entered public accounting, before computers were everyday objects, I was not anywhere near prepared. My first two years in public accounting were another graduate program.
I started my firm almost two decades ago focusing on small businesses. For the first decade to supplement income, and also because it is much more spiritually rewarding, I was an adjunct faculty at the local college teaching Acc101and Acc102.
I found out and observed time and again that academics does nothing to train people for real world accounting, especially small business. Many times I have said what they teach in school has nothing to do with small businesses. They teach public corporate accounting.
I have seen many people academically trained, but they could not devise a journal entry to save their life. I have also seen many good bookkeepers that had no academic training.
If you want a decent job, make one. Train yourself on some accounting software study an industry or two and then get small business clients in that industry. Contractors are always needing bookkeepers, but you need to know sales and payroll tax filings (many states haves inexpensive classes taught through their department of taxation or revenue or whatever they call it).
It also might help to align yourself with other freelance bookkeepers. They often have more work than they can handle and can help you with greater understanding.
Along the way if you want to advance in the industry, as I understand it, all 50 states now require 150 hours of education (undergrad plus one year), among other things, to sit for the CPA exam.
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