What Can I Do With an Associate's in Accounting?

When you are looking to figure out what you want to do with the rest of your life, you are likely going to find more questions than answers. When you are looking at getting an associate’s degree in accounting, you are likely going to wonder whether the effort is really worth it. When looking for something like an associate’s degree in this field, the question is always going to be whether you are really going to be able to find a job that not only pays but pays well enough to put in the work to get the degree in the first place. Luckily there are indeed some pretty good paying professions you can get with this kind of education.

Accounting Assistant

This will allow you to work for a specific accountant, or in a firm with many of them. While you won’t be doing the taxes of the rich and famous, you will be able to get in on the ground floor and really see what the profession is all about. You will be able to help out with figuring out the kinds of things accountants do while also doing other office to jobs and dealing with the materials you will be able to do for your boss. The specific jobs you will be doing in this kind of work are really up to the people you work for. That’s actually a positive, because you’ll be able to discuss what your duties include.

Auditing/Bookkeeping Clerk

There are quite a few different places where you will be able to get a job auditing accounts or working as a bookkeeping clerk. Both of these jobs will put you in charge of managing financial records and you can work for either big or small companies either in the private or public sector. You will be putting together reports as well as checking the accuracy of information that has already been reported. You might be in charge of making sure that a company report that has financial information is indeed accurate and you may be called to try and see if someone is cheating on their numbers.

Management Trainee

Yes, you can absolutely be shooting for a management position with an Associate degree in this field. While some people will claim you need a four year degree to really move up in the ranks of the bigger companies, you can get your foot in the door with this degree. Once you have the foot in the door, anything is possible. You know how to keep track of the books and what to look for when others are doing it. That’s more important than you realize.

Payroll Clerk

This role is one that you’ve likely heard of but might not have realized what it called for. Basically, you will need to oversee a company’s payroll and make sure everyone is getting paid what they are owed. This can also be a job where you are going to need to pay attention to the money going out and coming in and helping to make sure that the money the company is paying out is covered by the firm’s accounts.

The bottom line is that there are all kinds of jobs that you can do if you have this kind of a degree. The world can really open up to someone who goes after this kind of education. It also doesn’t close the door on you furthering your education, but it certainly isn’t a prerequisite in order to have a lucrative career for many years to come.