Career prospects
Accounting in general can offer one of the best career paths available to young Australians, in terms of long-term employment prospects, financial reward, satisfaction and challenge, overseas recognition of qualifications and opportunities to work abroad.
The Bachelor of Accounting in particular is one of Australia's most highly-regarded business degrees. The accredited accounting qualifications, plus a year of specialised work training and studies in related business disciplines, make our graduates highly employable in a large number of sectors. Graduates with a strong focus on accounting take on a wide range of roles within the industry, because the skills and knowledge acquired during their education are highly versatile.
Some common accounting roles:
- Financial accounting - providing detailed information in the form of formal reports to people outside of a business, such as investors, creditors and the Government;
- Management accounting - providing detailed information to management on how the business is performing;
- Auditing - the independent examination of a business's financial statements, upon which external decision-makers such as investors, creditors and the Government rely;
- Tax accounting - to ensure compliance with the tax laws while minimising taxes paid by business;
- Corporate restructuring - working with newly acquired, merged or reconstructed businesses
- Insolvency - managing the affairs of businesses in financial trouble, as appointed by the business's creditors or a court;
- Budgeting and planning - setting detailed plans for achieving a business’ goals; and
- Cost accounting - analysing the specific costs of a business in order to achieve greater profitability.
Other roles in business open to accounting graduates:
- Finance - business investment and financing decision-making
- Management consulting - providing advice and planning services on how to better run businesses;
- Information system design - developing systems (usually computerised) to handle an organisation's information needs;
- Banking - including aspects such as managing risk, foreign exchange, economics and regulation;
- Insurance - including aspects such as managing risk, pricing of insurance products and statutory controls;
- Government - financial management of public sector organisations at all levels;
- Stockbroking and funds management;
- Financial planning and superannuation.
Our graduate employment rate for the Bachelor of Accounting is exceptionally high. Business managers consistently rate accounting as the most important business subject to learn. Graduates with an accounting qualification are better able to understand the workings of business and able to make the better decisions. Increasingly, accountants are themselves becoming the decision-makers.
