Industry Feature - Accounting | CFN (CareerForum.Net)

Accounting Industry

Qualifications and Qualities

A specific degree and/or qualifications may not be required when finding employment at an accounting firm, but having learned the basics of accounting is a prerequisite. In the United States common majors are accounting, finance, and MBAs. In Japan, there are many employees with academic background in commerce, economics, business administration, and law.

Precise and quick processing

For audits, a group led by a manager or senior manager tends to work out of the client firm’s office. As a result, a lot of time may be consumed commuting (traveling), and there are more interactions with the client’s accountants. At the same time, supervisors demand precise evaluation abilities and rapid task processing abilities out of their team.

Interpersonal skills

It is important to communicate well with clients, and an essential for encouraging repeat business from clients as well as having coworkers and superiors want to work with you and recruit you to projects.

Analytical thinking

Since there is a need to look at settlements and other figures and make objective decisions, analytical thinking is necessary. This is an essential skill in seeking the root causes of matters and proposing resolutions in the accounting industry.

Bilingual

Being bilingual is constantly advantageous when seeking employment and once employed. The Big 4 (world’s largest 4 accounting firms) United States offices have departments focused on Japanese companies. These departments’ clients are Japanese companies that have expanded to the United States. Japanese-English bilingual employees at Unites States offices of the Big 4 frequently work in these departments.

CPA (Certified Public Accountant)

A position is held by those who have earned the CPA license with qualifications specializing in corporate auditing and accounting. Each state has standards for the CPA and exams may differ. In the audit department, CPA license may be a requirement to become a manager.

History

Some say that accounting services have existed for over 1,000 years, but majority believe that it was established as a specialized industry as it is today in England in the late 1800s. Several decades after the industrial revolution, accounting fraud rose as a result of the development and expansion in scale of industries, increase of corporate organizations, and growth in investment caused by the industrial revolution. As a result, accounting gained significance to increase the financial soundness of corporate management, while the necessity to prove the correctness of financial information from a fair and neutral standpoint grew stronger. The Great Depression of 1929 can be seen as another cause that strengthened the need for auditing.

The accounting industry, which was developed in the late 19th century, became complicated as a result of accounting fraud and the legislation and law reforms to prevent it. As a result, specialists with expert knowledge of regulations rose to prominence. European countries at the time set up institutions related to these qualified specialists, which led to the creation of the qualified position called registered accountant. This qualification no longer exists, but qualified positions, such as accountant, certified tax accountant, and especially CPA, became standard in this industry. These institutions were also set up in Japan 10-20 years after the changes in Europe and the United States.

The demand for accounting services continued to grow through the mid-1900s as a result of endless cases of creative accounting and continuous law reforms. During this time, further specialization came to be required due to the formulation and reformation of commercial law, CPA law, Securities and Exchange law, financial reporting standards, financial statement regulations, audit standards, and various other related laws in advanced nations. Each time a major issue with accounting fraud came to light, related laws and standards were tightened. As a result, accounting departments of general business firms could no longer keep up with the changes. Also, the fact that it became a legal obligation for listed companies to receive a third-party (external) audit was a major contributing factor for the growth and stabilization of the audit firm industry.

Did you know? Big 4

There are 4 major companies in this industry called the Big 4, which are Deloitte, Ernst & Young (EY), KPMG, and PricewaterhouseCoopers(PwC), and they provide services in nearly all fields in the accounting industry. A majority of listed companies and private firms (unlisted companies) can be called a client of the Big 4.

Work experience at an accounting firm

Since major accounting firms are systemically mandated to receive various forms of training, employees are required to study new accounting standards, tax systems, and specialized audit methods for a specified amount of time almost every year. As a result, those that have spent several years at an accounting firm are seen by general business firms as immediate assets that have thoroughly and continuously studied this material and acquired specialist knowledge and skills.