Pros and Cons of being an accountant
Pros:
- Accounting is easy...
- Once get the accounting designations, and if you have good communication and management skills, there is much room to go up the career ladder and enter the management...
- The more experience you get, the more valuable you are. The knowledget of accounting will not be out-of-date as quickly as computer, EE. So it is a good job for women, in my opinion.
- The pay for accountants is not bad at all. I know so many CAs who make around 80K to 100K a year. Even in the government, within the FI (Financial) group, after about 5 years working in this group, you should be able to make over 60K. A FI-level 02 makes around $55K to $72K, a FI-level 03 makes around $70K to $87K.
- There are many job openings now in accounting. The Federal Government is recruiting 140 FORD students this fall. The accounting firms are expanding... Though the start salary at Big 4 accounting firms in Ottawa is not high, about $38k to $40K for new graduates, after you get your CA, you can for sure get a much higher paid job, especially if you leave the accounting firms to join the industry.
Cons:
- Unfortunately if you can only stay as a bookkeeper or entry-level accountant, you may only be able to make around $25k to $35k for many years...
- Working at accounting firms is tough, especially for women, a lot of overtime, a lot of travel... If you already have kids or plan to have kids, maybe you do not want to go work at an accounting firm.
- You need to make sure that you can pass the exams for the accounting designations - but hey we Chinese are good at exams, right?
- Honestly, I doubt a first-generation immigrant can easily make it to the Manager or Senior Manager level at accounting firms, especially at Big 4 firms. There are a lot of politics going around in the office. But is it not the same situation for whatever job we choose? Even at IT, how many of new or old immigrants can make it to the management level?
- Language/Communication skills: accounting, especially senior level accountants/financial analysts/or accounting managers, need a lot of communication within the firm and with clients. Excellent communication skill is definitely a must.
Hope this is helpful!