25+ Pros And Cons Of Becoming An Accountant (Explained)

An accountant records business transactions on behalf of an organization reports performance to management and makes financial statements.

He is a person who performs accounting functions such as account analysis, auditing, or financial statement analysis.

A Chartered accountant has to pass an exam conducted by an authority. A Chartered Accountant can Audit financial statements along with other tasks.

Advantages of being an Accountant	Disadvantages of being an Accountant
Stable carrier option	Needs regular study
Enormous growth opportunity	Not glamorous
Great earning potential	Lots of stress
One can start own setup	Work is uneven
Travel opportunities within the carrier	Has competitions
Socialized with all people	Job is demanding
Multitude of options	Bad reputation
Evolved field

Advantages of being an Accountant

Stable carrier option

Accounting as a profession is not a thing that’s going away anytime soon. Every business needs an accountant or an entire accounting team, and even the individuals have reason to hire an accountant from time to time.

The government regulations have made the role of chartered accountant statutory. Most firms have internal accountants.

Enormous growth opportunity

The career opportunities in accounts are projected to grow in the future years. Till people need help with filing taxes and as long as businesses exist, accountants will be required.

Online reports project that employment in the accounting field will grow 10 percent from 2022 to 2032. It is faster than the national average rate for all occupations. Accounting students can choose how far to take their education.

But at a higher level, more respectable and rewarding the role is likely to be. Luckily, even after a person has established the correct role, there is always room for progression in accounting.

After graduation, one can start as an entry-level position with excellent potential for growth. Many graduates begin as staff accountants, junior auditors, or articles.

After one gains work experience and gets established, professional advancement is achievable via on-the-job performance and advanced education or certifications.

Great earning potential

Like other careers, it allows us to provide for ourselves and our families. The average annual salary for an accountant is $72,955. As per data available online the top 10 percent of earners made upwards of $95,000.

Moreover, many full-time accountants receive great benefits such as healthcare, vacation time, retirement plans, and more. As per data available online most accountants work full-time, around or over 40 hours a week.

One can start own setup

Starting our own business is an option in almost every profession. In some professions such as a pilot, it’s highly unlikely that he will ever launch his own airline, but an accountant can establish his own firm routinely.

Dream of being your own boss can be thus achieved well in the profession of accounting.

Socialized with all people

In this profession, it’s possible to come into contact with different fields, businesses, and like-minded professionals.

Whatever our professional goals are, accounting can help them create a network of worthwhile business contacts. It can happen from the moment one begins his accounting degree to when they reach the peak of their profession.

Multitude of options

Being an accountant comes with a multitude of options. The accounting skills are applicable to a wide variety of business-related fields.

Several accountants have grown in their careers to become chief executive officers of successful companies. The accounting degree also equips one for a profession in finance, auditing, taxation, and business.

Evolved field

An accountant is a modern era profession and it comes with several perks. The innovation in technology and software makes the job easier, which allows accountants to focus on the finer aspects of decision-making.

The profession itself is very unique from stereotypical routine bookkeeping that many assume it to be.

Disadvantages of being an Accountant

Needs regular study

If one becomes an accountant, the knowledge curve doesn’t stop once we have earned our degree. To progress in our career, we will need to plan on continuing to study—at least to keep up with changes in the industry and important certifications.

After getting started as an entry-level accountant, one should look at the type of certification we might want to earn. There are many accounting credentials, including the CA (Chartered Accountant), CWA (Cost work Accountant), and CS (Company Secretary).

These credentials take a significant amount of time and effort to obtain, so it’s important to know what you’re getting into ahead of time.

Not glamorous

Being an accountant is not a glamorous career. How many world-famous accountants do we know? Recognition and glitz are now a big thing.

It is one of those questions in which you’ll need to look within yourself and answer honestly about what works for you. Learning more about what accountants do on a routine basis will demonstrate that the work is not appealing.

Lots of stress

These negative aspects have a lot to do with where an accountant works and the specifics of their roles. We can generalize that, the more important our position is, the more money you work with, the more pressure you will get on the job.

That pressure results in negative levels of stress. We can try to honestly assess our attitude toward pressure and heavy workloads. The day-to-day work requires a lot of investigating and math, which can be boring.

Work is uneven

Accounting may be a standard 9-to-5 job sometimes, but during certain times of the year, it has impending deadlines. The most notable deadline is April 15 for tax accountants followed by the 15th day after quarter-end.

For most tax accountants, the heavy lifting starts after the 1^st of January right up to April 15. During the peak season, long days and weekend work become the routine as accountants work to get their clients’ finances in order.

But the positive side is that things slow down significantly after that time period. Thus accounting careers offer some variety in the yearly schedule.

Has competitions

Though it’s true that there’s an ever-increasing need for accountants, the number of employers seeking graduates is higher.

Competition is getting tougher in the industry and higher qualifications like a Master’s degree are more common nowadays. It is tough to secure a decent starting package in the current economic environment.

Job is demanding

It takes many hours, a passion for numbers, patience, and attention to detail in becoming an accountant. The profession has great responsibility still it is prone to human error. It is tedious and demanding, especially during tax season.

Bad reputation

An unfair downside to becoming an accountant is the negative stereotypes many people hold about the occupation.

Some see accountants as antisocial people who only like to solve math problems and analyze numbers. Other people view them as boring and non-creative.