Studying in the United States has been a popular choice in recent years. As an indispensable major now, the accounting major still has a lot of room for development. So whether the accounting major in American universities is good or not, I have sorted out some Let’s take a look at the information.
Accounting is a very employable major in the United States, and there are no restrictions on undergraduate non-business majors. Therefore, there have always been a large number of Chinese students applying for accounting majors in the United States. The school controls the admission rate of international students relatively strictly. Coupled with the poor economic situation in the United States in the past two years, competition for similar popular majors has become increasingly fierce for more and more Chinese applicants.
In the United States, Master of Accountancy (MAcc for short) is generally located in business schools. MBA students and accounting majors can elect each other's professional courses. In the United States, the MAcc course is usually 24 months, and some schools are 12 months (usually the study time is only 9 months). So in such a short period of time, it's usually just learning and practice.
American accounting professional classification
1. Information system, also called IT audit
It is a popular direction recently. The main job is to evaluate the Effectiveness & Efficiency of the company's Accounting IT program, ERP system, etc. It is also a popular direction for applications at present. The four major technology risk service departments were only established in the past few years. The Big Four's IT audit mainly audits the customer's application system and tests whether the IT system is working properly (whether the data is accurately selected, whether the data is accurately transmitted, whether the automatic calculation of the system is normal, whether the program is reasonable, etc.). Generally speaking, IT AUDIT is always carried out earlier than the year-end audit, because the audit report team must obtain the IT AUDITOR's summary report when planning: whether the customer's IT system is EFFECTIVE. When recruiting, the Big Four tend to look for Students with IT background, such as MIS and CS majors.
2. Auditing is generally divided into internal audit & external audit
After the promulgation of the SOX Act, the proportion of internal audit within enterprises and firms has seriously expanded. In 2003-2004, the U.S. job market was severely lacking in internal auditors. This is also one of the reasons why the employment situation of accounting majors has increased in recent years. Internal auditors mainly audit the internal controls of enterprises. In the planning stage of the audit, the firm needs to evaluate the company's risks, one of which is control risk. It must ensure that the financial statement data is authentic and that there are no major misstatements. Enterprises need to have a reasonable and effective internal control system. If the company's internal controls are effective, then the control risk is low, which means the risk of data errors is relatively small. In a firm, the internal auditor's main job is to audit the client's internal controls. After the promulgation of the SOX Act, the United States required audit firms not only to conduct financial audits of the financial statements of listed companies, but also to audit the internal controls of listed companies. Within the company, most companies have established their own internal audit departments to ensure that internal controls meet requirements.
3.tax. Taxation
Among accounting, tax is the branch with the biggest difference between the two countries. The basic theories and frameworks of financial accounting and auditing are almost similar. In addition to the accounting treatment of some accounts, the treatment of some transactions is different. But I personally think it is difficult to find similarities in tax (of course, I have never made a tax, so I am not sure). Accounting tax is generally divided into several branches: individual tax, corporate income tax, partnership, c corp, S Corp tax, sales tax, property tax tax) etc. Personally, I think the U.S. tax system is much more complicated than the domestic system. The internal tax department of the enterprise is generally responsible for the accounting, reconciliation, and preparation of tax returns such as corporate income tax, sales tax, and other taxes. (Tax refund form) Of course, some international companies have more tax personnel to handle various international tax services. The firm's tax is mainly divided into two parts. One part is to review the company's tax to ensure that tax-related accounts are correct on the company's account books.
The other part is to help companies (consulting, advisory service) calculate taxes, prepare tax refund forms, tax analysis, reasonable tax avoidance, etc.
Accounting professional employment in the United States
Being an accountant in the United States does not require an accounting certificate, but there is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) system. Accounting is a highly professional profession, and the accounting systems between China and the United States are very different. It is not easy to find a job back home. However, it is very easy for American students majoring in accounting to find jobs. This industry, like the pharmaceutical industry, is basically not affected by economic downturns. In the United States, taxation is the highlight of accounting work and the main focus of international students. Large American companies and accounting firms have always been short of tax accountants. The U.S. tax laws are complex and cumbersome, and filling out income tax returns and tax refund forms for taxpayers is also an important income for accountants. If you want to have more room to choose a workplace in the future, it may be more suitable to focus on auditing, because most companies need internal auditors. Accounting graduate students trained in business schools can also work as consultants in consulting companies, accounting firms or some large companies. Large accounting firms all provide business consulting services.
If you graduate with an accounting major and return to China, you may be able to teach or do research at a university. In the United States, graduates with a master's degree in accounting focus on practical operations. After returning to China, they can work in American or multinational companies with English language skills and the qualities cultivated in business schools. There is a lot of room for career advancement.