- Not all accounting jobs are the same, you don't just do taxes. Don't take my word for anything. I don't know.

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Anyways, get my note [INAUDIBLE], have my notes ready. Hey, guys, what's up, it's Brandon [INAUDIBLE], welcome back to my channel. Today I'm going to be talking about the different types of accountants you could possibly be if you were to get a degree in accounting.

There's this misconception that all accounting jobs are the same or all accountants are the same and, you know what, there's some truth to it but not completely. There actually are different types of accountants you can be. I did a little research because I knew a few off the top of my head, but there were a couple that I learned about that I was, like, oh, I actually didn't know about this type of accounting or you could be this type of accountant. So I'm going to share it in this video.

I looked at a couple of things online and I kind of just narrowed it down to the top six different types of accountants that I found that were similar throughout the different articles. These were the most consistent ones. Let's get started.

So the first type of accountant you can be is a Certified Public Accountant, a.k.a. a CPA. Basically with this-- this one's a general one because technically a CPA can be a bunch-- if you are a CPA, you can also be the different types of accountants that I'm going to go through on this list. It's just a title to have after you pass the exam and it opens up a lot of doors for you so you can move up in a company, have access to a bunch of different higher paying jobs in different companies, stuff like that.

A CPA may be hired in an organization to serve as the manager of a group of staff accountants, be the trusted financial advisor to a company, they oversee audits and reviews, they could also help clients plan and meet their financial goals. To be a CPA, you do need to pass the CPA exam, which I've talked about in a previous video where I said I was going to take the CPA exam. I'm still planning on-- but quarantine got in the way, testing was closed, I didn't feel like studying. We're getting back on track eventually.

So you need a bachelor's degree and you need 150 credits in total to be able to take the exam-- can even start taking the exam when you're pursuing taking the 150 credits. With the CPA, like I said before, I feel like it's kind of a more general thing. I like to think of the CPA as a blanket term because a lot of people-- if you're in accounting, you are a CPA and you're not solely just a CPA. You're also something else. I don't know.

For instance, with my boss, if she's a CPA and she oversees a group of people, such as myself and my two other coworkers. She's a senior director. She's not like-- it's not like, oh, she's a CPA. She is, but that's not her job title.

I would definitely recommend becoming a CPA, especially if accounting is something you want to do for a long time. It's just something good to have and it opens up more opportunities.

The second type of accountant you can be is a staff accountant, which I would say I'm a staff accountant. That's not my technical title, it's just accountant 1. But based off the credentials and the type of accounting I do, I'm pretty much a staff accountant. A staff accountant is the most comma job title in the field of accounting there's a variety of work and responsibilities you can have when you are a staff accountant.

You usually report to a CPA. There's usually a lot of dealing with financial data and analyzing that financial data. And you can also create the financial reports. Piggybacking off what I said earlier about the variety of responsibilities and tasks you can have, you can deal with different areas of accounting a lot of the time like accounts payable, accounts receivable, budgeting, payroll, fixed assets. That's something I deal with. And I actually do deal a little bit with accounts payable because I do the AP accruals every month. With being a staff accountant, I feel like it's kind of general and you get a small taste of a bunch of different areas of accounting and how they kind of interact and mingle with one another and connect definitely a very common and good starting role to have being a staff accountant. And to be a staff accountant, you just need your bachelor's degree, so you don't have to do extra testing, you don't have to go get extra credits, you just need your bachelor's degree.

Another type of accountant that you could be as a cost accountant. You help ensure that cost efficiency is met. You can help an organization with their budget and with supply chain profitability. You also can help analyze labor costs, material costs, shipping costs, production costs that may affect a company and you can identify areas that can make the organization more efficient I remember taking quite a few cost accounting classes in college. How many did I take? I took at least three. You had to take two for your bachelors, but then I think I took a third one during my master's.

Cost accounting is all right. I like it. I did good in it. But it can be a little tedious because your analyze I think all these different costs and there's different equations to see if you're meeting like the profitability that you should be. And if you're using your cost efficiently. And to be a cost accountant, you just need your bachelor's degree. But they do recommend that you have strong math and statistics skills.

All right, the next type of accountant that I came across in my research-- because I'm a researcher-- was investment accountant, which I never heard of before. So this one was new to me.

Investment accountants usually work with an investment brokerage or an asset management firm. They have to analyze how certain investments will impact a client's taxes. Investment accountants need to be knowledgeable about investment opportunities that the organization offers. They need to make sure that the organization is in compliance with state and federal regulations that impact the industry. And they can help the organization improve its financial strategy. You also need to be knowledgeable about stocks, bonds, ETFs, currencies, all that fun stuff. To be an investment accountant you just need a bachelor's degree.

So the fifth type of accountant you can be with an accounting degree is a forensic accountant, which, funny enough, is the type of accountant I initially wanted to be. I had an internship-- it was boring. It was just a small firm. I didn't really get to do too much.

Forensic accountants usually review financial records to ensure accuracy, and efficiency, and make sure there's no errors omissions, or fraud. You can work for a firm, you can be self-employed, and work in the legal

Industry or you can work for the government forensic accountants are definitely in high demand to be expert witnesses in litigation. Usually forensic accountants are skilled at dealing with complex financial issues or large sums of money. Forensic accountant's definitely a bit more investigative than the other types of accounting. I did also take a forensic accounting class during my master's.

That was actually a pretty interesting. It was kind of a lie. I was still in my internship during the time and it was just very different because my internship was very minor, just dealt with divorces, very boring I just had to input data into a certain system so that somebody else could analyze it and see if there's anything strange. But when-- in my class we were like learning about coke-- Miami coke rings. So it was just very different. It made it seem a lot more interesting.

To be a forensic accountant, you just need your bachelors. They recommend that you become a CFE, which is a Certified Fraud Examiner, which is like a CPA. I think you can even move higher if you have your CPA. Like I said earlier, you can be a CPA and be all these different types of accountants that I'm talking about. It will only help you move up as that type of accountant or move up in your role in the organization. So getting your CPA doesn't hurt, it only helps.

All right, so the sixth and final type of accountant that I'm going to talk about today is an auditor, which is another one that I thought I was going to be or I kind of wanted to be at one point. And after seeing friends in auditing, then how many hours they had to work, and all that fun stuff, I was like, I'm good.

Auditors are typically brought in from n outside organization to analyze a different company's financial records without any preconceived bias. They analyze the financial statements, inspect the books, the accounting systems the organization is using. They assess the financial operations to provide recommendations for the company for any improvements that may need to be made. I knew in my company, usually the auditors come in on a quarterly basis or they ask for things on a quarterly basis. So oftentimes they ask for different journal entries. And with the journal entries I often have to pull a file that shows the complete journal entry, the approvals that have to be made to post the journal entry, and the backup for the journal entry.

They also can make selections for fixed assets, which is basically just the asset packages. So for additions it would be an additions report, the invoice, and proof of in-service date, which is often through a receipt transaction summary or it could be an email, whatever it may be. And it's basically just to prove that you're following the practices and SOX controls.

To be an auditor, from what I saw, it said you just needed your bachelors, but I'm pretty sure you also need your CPA, at least if you're planning, again, to move up because I know a lot of people that went to auditing that I took classes with, they were getting their CPA while they were doing it and it's kind of-- at least with their firms it seemed like it was required. I don't know. Moral of the story, just get your CPA if you want to move up.

So those were 6 types of accountants you can be. There's more. Those were just the six main types of accountants that when I looked at different articles they popped up-- they consistently popped up.

So, yeah, this was just a video to introduce different types of accountants you can be and to show that there's not just one type, not all accounting jobs are the same. There is some variety, you don't just got to do taxes. I encourage you, if you're considering being any type of accountant that I listed in this video, do more research. This was just a little introduction, like, oh, they kind of deal with this kind of deal with that. But like-- do more research. Really see if it's for you and if it's something that you would want to pursue.

But, yeah, I hope you found this video at least a little helpful. I hope it open your mind a little, you learned something new. If you learn one thing new, I feel like I did something right. With that being said, thanks, guys, so much for watching. Make sure to like and subscribe if you haven't already. I'll see you guys next week. Bye.

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