Accountant is a professional who maintains the accounts of various kinds of small or medium scale business be it maintaining balance sheets, ledgers or any other data relating to book keeping. Though this is not considered as one of the glamorous profession even after attaining so much importance but its presence and indispensability cannot be ignored now-a-days. Like every other profession this is also providing a lot of opportunities to earn handsome money to the younger generation throughout the world specially developing countries like India.

With the shifting of interest of the present day youth from government jobs towards self employment/entrepreneurship the scope of the supporting but essential services has also been increased and one such important service is accountancy and provider of this service is generally known as Accountant.

To become an Accountant, no such formal education is compulsory even then one has to be really dedicated and hardworking. The job of an Accountant demands intensive knowledge of the various aspects of maintaining accounts in every aspect of the trade. For this one should have the capacity to work hard with commitment and honesty. The job requires a lot of hard work, alertness of mind and adaptability to follow difficult time schedule as some time accountant has to work for long hours continuously to accomplish the task in hand.

To discharge his duties efficiently and effectively he requires special training of related work like maintaining journals, ledgers, cash book etc. along with the basic theoretical knowledge of the subject related with his work. In the present scenario of paper less offices basic knowledge of computer application in accounts will be handy for an accountant to get rid of some repeated tasks.

Accountant Eligibility

Although anyone who have basic knowledge of basic account can become an accountant .But to have full hold on the area of work and to get some kind of acknowledgement of one’s work one should have minimum amount of formal education of the field he is working in. Thus desirable qualification for becoming a successful accountant is as follows

1. Educational Qualification

• Pass in Senior Secondary Examination (10+2) or equivalent recognized examination with accounts, economics and mathematics as preferred subjects.
• Graduation in the commerce stream is the most preferred qualification for the Accountants desirous to join Government sector as Accountants or Section or Accounts Officers.
• Basic working knowledge of computers is required. Knowledge of some Accounts packages like Tally, etc adds to the efficiency of the prospective Accounts.

How to become an Accountant?

There are basically three ways to enter this field of accountancy as an accountant and they are:-

• Self Employment
• Joining private sector as an accountant
• Joining Government Sector as an account

1. Self Employment

This is the area which is gaining much ground now a day. Young people in present scenario want to be independent and remain an authority in themselves. Those who bear such thoughts can work independently by taking assignments from small enterprises for maintaining their accounts on daily or weekly basis. With little efficiency and experience they can handle a number of assignments of same or different organizations and can earn handsomely on an average. But those who are desirous to be self employed should have a personality with multiple virtues as these young ones have to find and do the work themselves by exploring the market by their own.

Earning of self employed accountants

There is no upper or lower limit of income to these professionals. It depends upon one’s capabilities how much he can earn. More the efforts put by an individual more the wealth generated by him in this field. On an average one can earn anything between Rs.20,000 to Rs.25,000 per month working independently.

2. Joining private sector as an accountant

Graduate accountants are also sort after by many large scale and multinational companies for their routine accounts maintenance .Those who wants to enjoy the certainty of income every month and are less inclined towards the self-employment and independence of work theory can avail the opportunities provided by these companies. They can join these positions either by interviews or clearing the written test taken by these from time to time.

Salary of a private sector employed accountants

Although varying from company to company but on  an average an accountant one can get about Rs.10,000 to Rs.12,000 as starting salary along with other remunerations and  can get as much Rs.20,000 to Rs.25,000 with experience and knowledge. However there is no upper limit for hard working and revenue generating employees in today’s culture of multinational companies. Today employers work on the principle of hire and fire, one who produces results is employed on any terms and those who are not result oriented dispense with immediately.

3. Joining Government sector as an Accountant

Various State and Central Government department also require accounts professionals from time to time. For this they keep on recruiting commerce graduates from time to time through employment notice published by them in the various mass media resources. Government recruitment is generally done by a selection processes consisting of written exams followed by interviews. One can look for TargetStudy.com “Alerts” to get the dates and details of such exams held from time to time.

Accountant Job Description

Accountant job description include preparing journal entries, maintaining balance sheet schedules, edgers and account and bank reconciliations. Accountant's job profile also includes assisting with monthly closings and account analysis and supporting the senior accountant in carrying out the responsibilities of the accounting department.

Accountant Career Prospects

Ladder of hierarchy for an accountant in the Government Sector is:-

• Junior Accountant
• Accountant
• Senior Accountant
• Section Officer (One has to pass S.A.S exam)
• Assistant Accounts Officer
• Accounts Officer
• Senior Accounts Officer

Accountant Salary

In Government sector an account gets anywhere near Rs. 15,000 to Rs. 18,000 per month but to compensate for lower monetary gains government provides with various other emoluments like free housing, medical expenses and above all job security. And the advantage that attracts most towards is that one gets the Authority of being in the government position.