"One Degree, 360 degrees of opportunity"

In addition to the information below, many on-line sites have detailed information about accounting careers.

Consider A Career In Accounting

If you are thinking of a career in business, take a look at accounting. Why accounting? It's simple. Accountants are at the center of business operations of all kinds. 

• They work with businesses to develop business and information systems strategies.

• They help investors by analyzing mergers and acquisitions.

• They enable government to develop new measures of economic efficiency.

• They assist boards of directors by implementing corporate controls.

• They work with all types of organizations to measure and communicate financial results.

Some accountants go into public accounting and become partners in accounting firms. Others, go into corporations as internal auditors, managerial accountants, tax planners, and information systems consultants. 

Accounting offers competitive starting salaries and long-term growth potential. It's a degree that lets you do just about anything you want in the business world. A background in accounting will serve you well no matter where your career takes you! 

What Is The Recent Placement of Accounting Majors?

The accounting department at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Business has been designated a "Primary Recruiting School" by the world's largest public accounting firms (often referred to as the "Big Four"). "Primary Recruiting School" means that firms hire from our school before hiring elsewhere and hire in larger numbers than at other schools. In addition to being hired by the "Big Four,"  students find excellent opportunities with leading corporations like 3M, General Mills, S.C. Johnson and Family, as well as with other renowned public accounting firms such as  BDO, Grant Thorton, McGladrey, Suby Von Haden, Virchow Krause, Wipfli, and with government agencies. 

Our students are successful by any measure. A very high percentage of our students have reached partnership in the nation's largest public accounting firms or are chief financial officers of major corporations. During the past decade, our school has been second among all schools in the country in percentage of students passing the CPA Exam. Wisconsin students recently have won gold and silver medals as first and second place finishers in the nation. Nearly 100% of our students are placed directly out of our program through the school's  Business Career Center.

How Has Accounting Changed?

"Is accounting like the bookkeeping I took in high school?" Not on your life! Today's accountants deal with complex areas such as measuring a company's liability for benefits to be paid to employees after retirement, working with plant operations to improve the productivity of American business, installing information systems, measuring and communicating risks that organizations are facing, and developing means to measure the financial success of organizations around the world. 

Today's accountant must have strong business, interpersonal, and computer skills. One of the large firms describes the future audit as follows: 

"In the future audit process, the majority of time will be spent on developing business intelligence and working with clients to analyze their processes, business issues -- and understanding the opportunities and risks they face." 

Tomorrow's accountant will use information technology to communicate and share data on a global "anytime, any place" basis. The skills that have been identified for recruiting students include: strong intellectual ability; problem identification/solving skills; strong interpersonal skills including communication, listening, leadership as well as being outgoing and socially active; strong writing skills; a national and global perspective; the ability to manage time well; to be self-disciplined; and to have a strong work ethic. Undoubtedly these are skills that future business leaders must have. It is a challenge to develop all these skills, but if you are the kind of individual with these skills, you will have unprecedented opportunities in the accounting and information systems areas.