Do I need a degree for accounting? (license, credit score, 2015)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I don't have a problem buying books and self teaching Accounting. I had high scores in math tests back in high school and college.
I'm thinking about getting a job in accounting, but I never went to college, and currently don't have money for college at this time. Plus, my credit is about 598 for a medical bill that I don't have money to pay off. I'm working on improving my credit in the meantime.
Do accounting firms check credit scores? Do I need a degree for accounting? Is accounting a competitive field?
My cousin is an accountant without ANY degrees, let alone an accounting degree and he does well. He owns his own accounting business and balances books for restaurants, stores and individuals and such. He actually hires people with college degrees even though he doesn't have one himself.
My cousin is an accountant without ANY degrees, let alone an accounting degree and he does well. He owns his own accounting business and balances books for restaurants, stores and individuals and such. He actually hires people with college degrees even though he doesn't have one himself.
I'm not sure how he got started but he does well.
But how long has he been in business? Things that people were able to do even ten or twelve years ago may not fly today.
Depends on the type of job. A degree is very helpful but not required to do bookkeeping. What will hurt you far more is lack of experience. Most firms will hire someone with an accounting degree or a lot of experience, but would not hire someone with no degree and no experience. You might have some luck with a small bookkeeping business, where they might be willing to teach you on the job. My other suggestion would be H&R Block type places for training in how to do tax returns; maybe some of them will train you for free if you work for them after the training. This would be for next year; probably too late for 2015 tax season. You might also be able to get hired on as a tax season admin for an accounting firm and if you do a good job they might let you work on accounting projects.
Accounting, especially at the level where it pays decently, is difficult to self-teach from a book. You really need to learn it either in a corporate accounting department or working with clients in a accounting/bookkeeping business.
Overall accounting is not a profession I would recommend to someone if they have no interest in getting an accounting degree. Lack of a degree will definitely hurt your ability to advance to anything much beyond low level positions with low level salaries and a lot of companies won't even consider hiring you without a degree.
My cousin is an accountant without ANY degrees, let alone an accounting degree and he does well. He owns his own accounting business and balances books for restaurants, stores and individuals and such. He actually hires people with college degrees even though he doesn't have one himself.
I'm not sure how he got started but he does well.
In reality this is a bookkeeping business, not an accounting business. You can operate a bookkeeping business with no degree/no license pretty easily and do bookkeeping and payroll for people if you have experience. Sadly, in many states you can prepare and sign tax returns for people as well; I bet most people don't realize that most states don't require tax preparers to be licensed.
You can't operate as a public accounting business or a CPA business without a degree because you need a degree to get a PA or CPA license. Basically not having a licensed business limits the types of services you can offer and the size of clients you can attract.
In reality this is a bookkeeping business, not an accounting business. You can operate a bookkeeping business with no degree/no license pretty easily and do bookkeeping and payroll for people if you have experience. Sadly, in many states you can prepare and sign tax returns for people as well; I bet most people don't realize that most states don't require tax preparers to be licensed.
You can't operate as a public accounting business or a CPA business without a degree because you need a degree to get a PA or CPA license. Basically not having a licensed business limits the types of services you can offer and the size of clients you can attract.
Exactly. It variesbhy state but many states require masters degree for the CPA.
In reality this is a bookkeeping business, not an accounting business. You can operate a bookkeeping business with no degree/no license pretty easily and do bookkeeping and payroll for people if you have experience. Sadly, in many states you can prepare and sign tax returns for people as well; I bet most people don't realize that most states don't require tax preparers to be licensed.
You can't operate as a public accounting business or a CPA business without a degree because you need a degree to get a PA or CPA license. Basically not having a licensed business limits the types of services you can offer and the size of clients you can attract.
Yes, I think you're right.
But either way, he does well. Better than me.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
