Accounting is one of the most in-demand professions in the world, but not all accounting jobs are created equal. If you’re looking to start your career in accounting, then it’s important to know which type of position is best suited for your needs.

Accountant entry level jobs near me are a great option if you’re just getting started on your path towards becoming an accountant! These jobs are perfect for recent graduates and people who have been out of school for a while. Entry level positions offer a good introduction into the world of accounting, which means that they’re great for anyone who wants to see what the field has to offer before committing themselves full-time to an accounting career.

If you’re interested in finding an accountant entry level job near me, then check out our list below!

Accountant Entry Level Jobs Near Me

Accounting, also known as accountancy, is the measurement, processing, and communication of financial and non financial information about economic entities^[1][2] such as businesses and corporations. Accounting, which has been called the “language of business”,^[3] measures the results of an organization’s economic activities and conveys this information to a variety of stakeholders, including investors, creditors, management, and regulators.^[4] Practitioners of accounting are known as accountants. The terms “accounting” and “financial reporting” are often used as synonyms.

Accounting can be divided into several fields including financial accounting, management accounting, tax accounting and cost accounting.^[5][6] Financial accounting focuses on the reporting of an organization’s financial information, including the preparation of financial statements, to the external users of the information, such as investors, regulators and suppliers;^[7] and management accounting focuses on the measurement, analysis and reporting of information for internal use by management.^[1][7] The recording of financial transactions, so that summaries of the financials may be presented in financial reports, is known as bookkeeping, of which double-entry bookkeeping is the most common system.^[8] Accounting information systems are designed to support accounting functions and related activities.

Accounting has existed in various forms and levels of sophistication throughout human history. The double-entry accounting system in use today was developed in medieval Europe, particularly in Venice, and is usually attributed to the Italian mathematician and Franciscan friar Luca Pacioli.^[9] Today, accounting is facilitated by accounting organizations such as standard-setters, accounting firms and professional bodies. Financial statements are usually audited by accounting firms,^[10] and are prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP).^[7] GAAP is set by various standard-setting organizations such as the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) in the United States^[1] and the Financial Reporting Council in the United Kingdom. As of 2012, “all major economies” have plans to converge towards or adopt the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).^[11]

Contents

• 1History
• 2Etymology
  • 2.1Terminology
• 3Topics
  • 3.1Financial accounting
  • 3.2Management accounting
  • 3.3Auditing
  • 3.4Information systems
  • 3.5Tax accounting
  • 3.6Forensic accounting
  • 3.7Political campaign accounting
• 4Organizations
  • 4.1Professional bodies
  • 4.2Firms
  • 4.3Standard-setters
• 5Education, training and qualifications
  • 5.1Degrees
  • 5.2Professional qualifications
• 6Research
• 7Scandals
• 8Fraud and error
• 9See also
• 10References
• 11External links

Main article: History of accounting

Portrait of Luca Pacioli, painted by Jacopo de’ Barbari, 1495 (Museo di Capodimonte)

Accounting is thousands of years old and can be traced to ancient civilizations.^[12][13][14] The early development of accounting dates back to ancient Mesopotamia, and is closely related to developments in writing, counting and money;^[12] there is also evidence of early forms of bookkeeping in ancient Iran,^[15][16] and early auditing systems by the ancient Egyptians and Babylonians.^[13] By the time of Emperor Augustus, the Roman government had access to detailed financial information.^[17]

Double-entry bookkeeping was pioneered in the Jewish community of the early-medieval Middle East^[18][19] and was further refined in medieval Europe.^[20] With the development of joint-stock companies, accounting split into financial accounting and management accounting.

The first published work on a double-entry bookkeeping system was the Summa de arithmetica, published in Italy in 1494 by Luca Pacioli (the “Father of Accounting”).^[21][22] Accounting began to transition into an organized profession in the nineteenth century,^[23][24] with local professional bodies in England merging to form the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales in 1880.^[25]

Etymology

Early 19th-century ledger

Both the words accounting and accountancy were in use in Great Britain by the mid-1800s, and are derived from the words accompting and accountantship used in the 18th century.^[26] In Middle English (used roughly between the 12th and the late 15th century) the verb “to account” had the form accounten, which was derived from the Old French word aconter,^[27] which is in turn related to the Vulgar Latin word computare, meaning “to reckon”. The base of computare is putare, which “variously meant to prune, to purify, to correct an account, hence, to count or calculate, as well as to think”.^[27]

The word “accountant” is derived from the French word compter, which is also derived from the Italian and Latin word computare. The word was formerly written in English as “accomptant”, but in process of time the word, which was always pronounced by dropping the “p”, became gradually changed both in pronunciation and in orthography to its present form.^[28]

Terminology

Accounting has variously been defined as the keeping or preparation of the financial records of transactions of the firm, the analysis, verification and reporting of such records and “the principles and procedures of accounting”; it also refers to the job of being an accountant.^[29][30][31]

Accountancy refers to the occupation or profession of an accountant,^[32][33][34] particularly in British English.^[29][30]

Topics

Accounting has several subfields or subject areas, including financial accounting, management accounting, auditing, taxation and accounting information systems.^[6]

Financial accounting

Main article: Financial accounting

Financial accounting focuses on the reporting of an organization’s financial information to external users of the information, such as investors, potential investors and creditors. It calculates and records business transactions and prepares financial statements for the external users in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP).^[7] GAAP, in turn, arises from the wide agreement between accounting theory and practice, and change over time to meet the needs of decision-makers.^[1]

Financial accounting produces past-oriented reports—for example financial statements are often published six to ten months after the end of the accounting period—on an annual or quarterly basis, generally about the organization as a whole.^[7]

Management accounting

Main article: Management accounting

Management accounting focuses on the measurement, analysis and reporting of information that can help managers in making decisions to fulfill the goals of an organization. In management accounting, internal measures and reports are based on cost-benefit analysis, and are not required to follow the generally accepted accounting principle (GAAP).^[7] In 2014 CIMA created the Global Management Accounting Principles (GMAPs). The result of research from across 20 countries in five continents, the principles aim to guide best practice in the discipline.^[35]

Management accounting produces past-oriented reports with time spans that vary widely, but it also encompasses future-oriented reports such as budgets. Management accounting reports often include financial and non financial information, and may, for example, focus on specific products and departments.^[7]

Auditing

Main articles: Financial audit and Internal audit

Auditing is the verification of assertions made by others regarding a payoff,^[36] and in the context of accounting it is the “unbiased examination and evaluation of the financial statements of an organization”.^[37] Audit is a professional service that is systematic and conventional.^[38]

An audit of financial statements aims to express or disclaim an independent opinion on the financial statements. The auditor expresses an independent opinion on the fairness with which the financial statements presents the financial position, results of operations, and cash flows of an entity, in accordance with the generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) and “in all material respects”. An auditor is also required to identify circumstances in which the generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) have not been consistently observed.^[39]

Information systems

Main article: Accounting information system

An accounting information system is a part of an organization’s information system used for processing accounting data.^[40] Many corporations use artificial intelligence-based information systems. The banking and finance industry uses AI in fraud detection. The retail industry uses AI for customer services. AI is also used in the cybersecurity industry. It involves computer hardware and software systems using statistics and modeling.^[41]

Many accounting practices have been simplified with the help of accounting computer-based software. An enterprise resource planning (ERP) system is commonly used for a large organisation and it provides a comprehensive, centralized, integrated source of information that companies can use to manage all major business processes, from purchasing to manufacturing to human resources. These systems can be cloud based and available on demand via application or browser, or available as software installed on specific computers or local servers, often referred to as on-premise.

Tax accounting

Main article: Tax accounting

Tax accounting in the United States concentrates on the preparation, analysis and presentation of tax payments and tax returns. The U.S. tax system requires the use of specialised accounting principles for tax purposes which can differ from the generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) for financial reporting.^[42] U.S. tax law covers four basic forms of business ownership: sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation, and limited liability company. Corporate and personal income are taxed at different rates, both varying according to income levels and including varying marginal rates (taxed on each additional dollar of income) and average rates (set as a percentage of overall income).^[42]

Forensic accounting

Main article: Forensic accounting

Forensic accounting is a specialty practice area of accounting that describes engagements that result from actual or anticipated disputes or litigation. “Forensic” means “suitable for use in a court of law”, and it is to that standard and potential outcome that forensic accountants generally have to work.

Political campaign accounting

Main article: Political campaign accounting

Political campaign accounting deals with the development and implementation of financial systems and the accounting of financial transactions in compliance with laws governing political campaign operations. This branch of accounting was first formally introduced in the March 1976 issue of The Journal of Accountancy.^[43]