Do I Have to be an Accountant if I Have a Bachelor’s in Accounting?

While a bach­e­lor’s in account­ing will cer­tain­ly qual­i­fy you to become an accoun­tant if you have passed the Cer­ti­fied Pub­lic Accoun­tant (CPA) Exam, there are a num­ber of oth­er career options avail­able for grad­u­ates with a sol­id under­stand­ing of finances, math, and sta­tis­tics. Some of the oth­er career options can poten­tial­ly earn grad­u­ates with a bach­e­lor’s in account­ing a much high­er salary than a posi­tion as an accoun­tant. Accoun­tants make an aver­age annu­al salary of $69,350, but some oth­er posi­tions that require a sim­i­lar skill set can earn six-fig­ure salaries. If you would like to take the first step towards obtain­ing one of the fol­low­ing posi­tions, be sure to check out our list of bach­e­lor’s in account­ing pro­grams with afford­able tuition rates. Some oth­er careers for grad­u­ates with a bach­e­lors in account­ing to con­sid­er are:

• Bud­get Ana­lyst: Bud­get ana­lysts assist cor­po­ra­tions, busi­ness­es, and oth­er insti­tu­tions with bud­get reports and help over­see effi­cient invest­ment and spend­ing. They make an aver­age annu­al salary of $75,240, and there are cur­rent­ly 58,400 employed posi­tions in the Unit­ed States, with that num­ber expect­ed to increase by 7% over the next decade.
• Man­age­ment Ana­lyst: Man­age­ment Ana­lysts over­look work­place pro­duc­tiv­i­ty and design strate­gies to increase employ­ee effi­cien­cy and well-being. They make an aver­age annu­al salary of $82,450, and there are cur­rent­ly 806,400 employed posi­tions in the Unit­ed States, with that num­ber expect­ed to increase by 14% over the next decade.
• Finan­cial Ana­lyst: Finan­cial Ana­lysts pro­vide advice and devise invest­ment strate­gies for busi­ness­es and indi­vid­u­als, con­duct­ing risk/reward analy­sis to ensure safe invest­ment prac­tices. They make an aver­age annu­al salary of $84,300, and there are cur­rent­ly 296,100 employed posi­tions in the Unit­ed States with that num­ber expect­ed to increase by 11% over the next decade.
• Per­son­al Finan­cial Advi­sor: Per­son­al Finan­cial Advi­sors pro­vide pri­vate clients with advice for major finan­cial deci­sions, includ­ing mort­gage pay­ment, col­lege sav­ings, and invest­ment. They make an aver­age annu­al salary of $90,640, and there are cur­rent­ly 271,900 employed posi­tions in the Unit­ed States, with that num­ber expect­ed to increase by 15% over the next decade.
• Top Exec­u­tive: Top Exec­u­tives per­form a num­ber of dif­fer­ent ser­vices for busi­ness­es and cor­po­ra­tions, includ­ing devis­ing strate­gies to help insti­tu­tions reach their finan­cial goals. They make an aver­age annu­al salary of $104,700, and there are cur­rent­ly 2,572,000 employed posi­tions in the Unit­ed States, with that num­ber expect­ed to increase by 8% over the next decade.
• Finan­cial Man­ag­er: Finan­cial Man­agers over­see the bud­get, invest­ments, and expen­di­tures of busi­ness­es, cor­po­ra­tions, and oth­er insti­tu­tions, to ensure that their finan­cial sit­u­a­tion is sus­tain­able and has the poten­tial for growth. They make an aver­age annu­al salary of $125,080, and there are cur­rent­ly 580,400 employed posi­tions in the Unit­ed States, with that num­ber expect­ed to increase by 19% over the next decade.

If you have strong math, sta­tis­tics, and orga­ni­za­tion­al skills, and can pic­ture your­self in any of these posi­tions, a good first step towards achiev­ing your goal is to attain a bach­e­lor’s in account­ing. For a list of schools that offer com­pet­i­tive tuition rates with­out sac­ri­fic­ing edu­ca­tion­al qual­i­ty, check out our rank­ing of cheap bach­e­lors in account­ing degree pro­grams. If any of the schools on the list could be the right fit for you, be sure to fol­low the links to their school web­site to request more information.

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