Determining the top 10 accounting schools is a difficult task, since everyone has a different idea of what qualifies these various educational institutions as the best in their field. Some institutions are known for ranking schools, though, such as Business Week, US News, World Report and Newsweek. These publications rank the top 10 accounting schools (and top schools for other fields) based on curriculum, graduation rate, academic resources, student activity, faculty resources, average grades, university connections and the financial status of the school.

If you are thinking about attending a college to obtain an accounting degree, it’s a good idea to see which schools rank at the top of this field to help determine where you should apply. Of course, the top 10 accounting schools on any of the leading lists might not fulfill your needs regarding budget, location, scheduling or other factors. Based on the criteria listed above, the top 10 accounting schools according to Business Week are:

1. University of Chicago
2. University of Pennsylvania
3. Northwestern University
4. Harvard University
5. University of Michigan
6. Stanford University
7. MIT
8. UC Berkeley
9. Duke University
10. Columbia University

According to the same list, the other top accounting schools in the nation are Dartmouth, UCLA, Cornell University, NYU, University of Virginia, Carnegie Mellon, UNC, Indiana University, Yale, Texas University, University of Southern California, Georgetown University, Emory University, Purdue, University of Maryland, Notre Dame, Washington University, Rochester, Michigan State and Vanderbilt. The OnLine Education Data Base also put together a list of the top 10 accounting schools online based on acceptance rate, financial aid, graduation rate, years accredited, student-to-faculty ratio, scholarly citations, retention rate and peer citations. These top online schools are:

1. Upper Iowa University
2. LeTourneau University
3. Liberty University
4. Nova Southeastern University
5. California University of Pennsylvania
6. Grand Canyon University
7. Regent University
8. Champlain College
9. Westwood College
10. Tiffin University

Whether you want to study across the country or study online, it’s important to know what the top 10 accounting schools are. This will help narrow down your options and find the school that’s right for you.

The accounting salary range can vary quite a bit throughout the field, but even at the lower end of the pay spectrum, there are great opportunities in this field. Accounting careers have experienced rapid growth in recent years, with jobs ranging from accountants to auditors to CPAs in all types of urban, suburban and rural areas of the country. There is a need for accounting professionals everywhere, and it is a great time to train for a solid career in this important field.

The salary range for accounting careers depends on the area of accounting that the individual in question is employed in, as well as the part of the country where they work and reside. A Certified Professional Accountant in a large metropolitan area like New York City will earn more than an accountant in a smaller city like Fresno, California, for example. Taking all the different salaries into account, the average accountants and auditors earn roughly between $40,000 and $70,000 annually, with the bottom ten percent earning as little as $32,000 and the top ten percent earning as much as $90,000. Salaries often depend on factors such as the cost of living in the area and the relative experience of the particular accounting professional.

The industries that employ accountants and professionals include the United States government, accounting firms, tax preparation services, bookkeepers, payroll service providers, local governments and state governments. The highest median earnings are in the Federal Executive Branch of the government and the United States Postal Service, where salaries of approximately $60,000 are the norm. Jobs in accounting, tax preparation, bookkeeping and payroll services, and management of companies and enterprises have median wages in the mid-$50,000s. Local and state government accounting positions have the lowest median salaries, which are still at below $50,000 (in the mid-$40,000s for state government jobs).

So the accounting salary range does vary, but with the opportunity to move ahead and earn more money in metropolitan areas, there is clearly a good opportunity for a solid career in this industry. The current growth and need for accounting professionals makes this a wise professional choice indeed.

The Uniform Certified Public Accountant Examination, or Uniform CPA Exam, is the most important of all required accountant exams. It is the examination administered to most people who wish to become Certified Public Accountants anywhere in the United States. There are, of course, some other required accountant exams that students will have to take throughout the course of completing an accounting degree. But if you really want to work in the accounting field, the Uniform CPA Exam is the one exam to be most worried about.

The required accountant exams that are currently being used are tough, but they are not nearly as harsh and grueling to take as they used to be. The Uniform CPA was a 19 and a half hour test that was given over a period of three days, up until about 18 years ago when the exam was restructured into a four-section, two-day exam. The old exams sections were Auditing for 3.5 hours, Business Law for 3.5 hours, Accounting Theory for 3.5 hours, and Accounting Practice, which had two parts that each took 4.5 hours. There were only two opportunities to take the exam each year, in November and May, and there were no calculators allowed.

The required accountant exams for CPAs were restructured in the early 1990s. Test administrators eliminated material that they found to be redundant, mostly in the Accounting Theory and Accounting Practice sections, and also incorporated machine-scorable test questions to better assess the test takers’ CPA skills. Special calculators were also allowed, and four new sections were added – Business Law and Professional Responsibilities, Auditing, Accounting and Reporting, and Financial Accounting and Reporting.

The Uniform CPA Exam was developed by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, or AICPA, which is still responsible for maintaining the examination. These required accountant exams are not administered by the AICPA, though. This is the responsibility of the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy. All fifty states in the union, the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands and the Northern Mariana Islands all require the Uniform CPA Exam of all legitimate certified accountants.

An economic depression can be defined as an economic downturn that generally lasts for several years. Primarily, it is characterized by the growth in unemployment rates along with the falling of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Today if we talk in terms of the occurrence of economic depression in the United States, fortunately the country has not experienced an economic depression since the last one that occurred during the 1930s. It was one of the most serious economic downfalls in the U.S economy that lasted for almost 10 years. In fact, the decline in the GDP growth rates was of such a large scale that the United States has not witnessed since 1930. The key highlights, during the economic depression were unemployment that almost increased to 25% and wages fell by 42%. Besides this, the economic output of United States also chopped from $103 to $55 billion.

If we try to have a deep insight on reasons that caused an economic depression of 1930 then there are several factors. During the 1920s, the country enjoyed a booming economy. In fact, the US was among few nations who were actually producing goods in big amount for which there was little market demand. Unfortunately, this led to a slowdown in agriculture and over production of goods in the factory, which resulted in lose of jobs of millions of people.

The depression was even provoked by deprived monetary policy. Rather pumping money into the economy, the Federal Reserve even permitted the money supply to fall 30%. Though, the “New Deal” was started to end the depression, but government programs alone could not end it. Unemployment remained in the double-digits until 1941. Moreover, many greedy bankers on Wall Street overlooked the warning signs and remained busy in borrowing and investing in stocks for earning more profit. In the end, reality hit the stock market and company valuations finally started to fall. It was during this period when U.S economy witnessed a deep panic selling and the markets went out of control. And, it was just matter of days when the Wall Street officially collapsed.

Today there are many people who still get confused with the usage of terms – “Depression” and “Recession” in terms of economic fall down. Although, both economic recession and depression generally refer to a fall in the economic activity, but more often they have are used interchangeably. Therefore, it is very important to understand that both are very dissimilar, especially if we try to relate in context of their severity.

A decline in the economy for a period of two consecutive quarters can be defined as a recession. Economic depression on other hand is basically considered a more extended slump during which the decline in GDP is almost 10 % or even more high. Therefore, it is very important to note that even a country have more than two successive quarters of recession, it can’t be assumed to have entered into a economic depression phase until the down turn in the GDP in almost all the quarters collectively signs up to at least 10%.
It is important to remember that the economy of every country is fragile. Economy or GDP rate are bound to go through a number of minor fluctuations, but the important point that one need to keep in mind is – whether there is economic recession or depression, one need to prepared to overcome from each fall and learn from mistakes.

No doubt, economic depression is an unavoidable element of any economy. Although it always spell and indicates towards difficult times, but looking on the positive sides such plunges in economy even motivate to formulate new and innovative ideas. Job openings in new sectors are created, as certain businesses unable to prosper in normal periods of economic growth find newer opportunities to grow. The economic depression of 1929 also resulted in the introduction of many new laws and government agencies that work in order to prevent the type of cataclysmic economic pain. Besides this, in present time the Federal Reserve, are even more aware of the significance of monetary policy in regulating the economy. In fact, it was this awareness and learning that helped in preventing a recession of October 2008 turn into severe depression.

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Economics is the science that primarily deals with the making, sharing and utilization of goods and services that a society produces. In fact, the most interesting aspect of economics is that it affects almost every walk of life, be it political, social or financial. Economic growth is very important for any country as it basically relates or acts as the pillar of the country. Now, if there is a decent economic growth, it usually defines that the businesses in the country are earning a good profit. And adding to this, it even shows that the rate of employment is high and the nation is strong on forex reserves. However, the reality of other side of the coin is that the economic growth can’t always remain unaffected. The economy of any country too goes through a cycle of ‘peaks’ and ‘troughs’ that constitutes the ‘Economic Cycle’ and this basically relates to “Economic Recession”.

Today an economic recession can generally be referred as a downfall of commercial activities over an extended period of time. Though, this duration is basically connected with a radical crash in the Gross Domestic Product, it can also be considered as a phase that basically emphasize on budgets and essential capacity-utilization alteration. During this phase, strict business-contractions take a toll on a country’s financial system, over a constant period of time. Apart from all these, this period is exemplified by the presence of macroeconomic deviations and a severe fall in the business profits and personal income. Moreover, other than Gross Domestic Product growth, elements like the current national unemployment rates, consumer self-belief and their level of spending are also measured while deciding whether the financial system is going through a recession or not.

What makes an economic recession a serious issue for any country is that during a recession, the government generally implements macroeconomic policies like raising the supply of money and in return decreasing the taxation. However, in the US economy, the Federal Government resorts to lessening the Federal Funds rate to revitalize the slow growth of economy. During the reviving the economy, basically the interest rates are decreased by the supervisory body to pull business and aid people to borrow money at a reduced level. However, the best part of a recession is it even provides numerous opportunities to view the competence of government machinery and further review its expansionary macroeconomic policies.

Along with its drawbacks, an economic recession also offers a number of benefits. No doubt, in adversity there is always an opportunity and perhaps the same rule applies with an economic recession. The period actually enables the evaluation of the efficacy of a community crisis management and budget plans. Besides this, for individual or unit, like a family or society, this period even provide an opportunity to re-work on the previously designed survival strategies and create new ones in order to test the onset of economic disorder. Adding to this, it is a time, when entrepreneurs are able to sift the innovative from the fair-weather employees. New investors benefit from buying low and selling high. And, the same approach relates to the ground of real estate. Perhaps, you must not surprise to see that homeowners taking gain of the marketplace and job loss situation, and getting property renovated.

Thus, on a broad positive note and more on psychological aptitude, this is a period when downturn fuels to turn as volunteer and leads to emotional healing. In fact, one cannot deny that an economic recession makes an individual and the government machinery of a nation wiser. Consequently, it results to the employment of management strategies and necessary decision-making in good times.

Search our expansive list of Accounting Schools and Programs and start your career in Accounting today!

Accounting is a great subject with an exciting range of careers which involves numbers and management. If you have an analytical bent of mind and like to play with numbers, you should opt for a career in accounting. They are wide ranges of careers, starting from accountants to tax advisors to FBI agents to Crime Scene Investigators.

In today’s economy, accounting is in high demand.  Different companies require trained professionals to resolve complicated financial procedures. A career in accounting is dynamic and fast paced as the tax and finance laws keep on changing with the economy and legal changes of the government.

These days, many students are opting for accounting courses and therefore join accounting schools. There are many accounting colleges which offer several courses in accounting. You should join one of these accounting schools if you are keen on pursuing any of the courses. However, attending the right school is also important and a vital decision.

There are exhaustive lists of accounting schools which offer different kind of accounting courses on campus or online. This include accounting bachelor degrees, accounting salary information, accounting associate degrees, accounting MBA degrees, accounting certificates, accounting doctorate degrees etc. So, if you are looking forward to making a career in accounting and enroll in accounting school, these are some important prerequisites that you need to familiar with:

• A Uniform CPA Examination is compulsory exam that you need to appear to get admission into an accounting college. The computerized test is offered quarterly at testing centers across the country. A CPA certification can actually help you to apply your practical knowledge from your training to your daily job.
• As a student, if you want to do graduation with a major in accounting then you should be able to employ critical-thinking. You should use clear and concise communication to convey relevant financial and non-financial information and have analytical and problem-solving skills to resolve complex business and accounting issues.
• To get admission into an accounting school, you need to have the minimum education qualifications with required grades or percentage. The eligibility criteria differ in case of bachelors and masters degree. You should get all your documents ready before admission to avoid last minute annoyance.
• The academic session of every accounting school is very important criteria to be kept in mind since the academic sessions of every accounting school varies throughout the year.It starts and ends at a particular time of the year. Therefore, you should be clear about the dates on which the academic year starts and the forms are to be submitted.

Accounting even offers very attractive salaries. As per the recent salary survey done by the National Association of Colleges and Employers, it has been found that those with bachelor degrees from accounting schools received an average starting offer of $43,269 in 2005, while candidates with master degrees from accounting schools were given offers around $46,251.

Over the past few years the requirement for accountants in the United States has increased significantly. Every corporation is looking for accountants to analyze financial services and re-evaluate risk and compliance. Thus, it won’t be mistaken to state that accountants are key performers that definitely play a very important role in performing internal audits in almost every type of business.

An Accounting Degree is not the final word in accounting profession. It is the beginning of your profession. But, you need to market your qualifications and capabilities as competition among the accountants is very high. You need to project yourself as a qualified professional or else ready to forget the whole thing.

One important thing you need to understand is that possessing a high-level rank is not enough. You need to demonstrate your achievements, dedication and proficiency. Do not be in a hurry to do this also as there exist countless professionals, managers and even executives who do not possess a degree and these same job seekers successfully ascend the career ladder just the same. So, what is their secret? It is as much the same as you, but their bottom-line contributions and hard work had become a stand-in for that coveted diploma.

Always keep in mind that, as you pursue that next opportunity, there are a myriad of ways to win an employers interest as well as interviews, starting with the approach presented on your resume.

While preparing your resume, you should be very careful as the updated and well written resume can go very much in favor you. First and foremost, you need quantify your contributions and your Accounting skills. Extracting accomplishment information of significance can be a challenge, but consider the payoff! Your resume must shout out this type of information in order to prove the consistency of your performance.

Another important requirement is that, you need to add professional training as proof of ongoing development. Many well-established Accounting professionals have attended hours of seminars, training sessions, and other educational opportunities in order to sharpen their core expertise. Also, be sure to keep a complete list as fodder for an educational section on the resume—and as evidence of your passion for lifelong learning.

Showcasing your ability to meet and overcome the challenges in your previous roles can also work in your favor. Your interviewer may be interested to find the answers for various queries like what shape was your current employer in upon your arrival? Were you the sole source of measures that increased efficiency? Did you manage a major, multi million-dollar account or enhance the company’s reputation with its vendors?

After adding the context in which these achievements were completed, you can paint an entirely new picture of your strengths. Don’t forget that these types of leadership examples can add punch to your resume and demonstrate repeatable skills.

If possible get the valuable opinion of resume experts. Even after the effective completion of resume, you need not think that you can rest as it is again your responsibility to know whether the firm you wish to join can help you in the long term. Actually, you should not be concerned about the size of the firm. If the firm has a sustained and stable progress, you better know that it would become a huge concern in the future and you can really grow with it!

Thus, establishing a link between your expertise and consistent performance is the fastest way to gain attention during your Accounting job search. Consider that for every employer who wants candidates to possess a degree, there are possibly two others that will look at your “on-the-job education” as equivalent and possibly stronger credentials.

Get the most out of your Accounting Degree.

Over the last few years the graduate certificate program in accounting has gained enormous popularity in United States. In fact, in recent times the program has pulled the attentions of many students who actually hold a bachelor’s degree in another discipline, but looking forward to making a career as accountants. A graduate certificate program in accounting is generally described as a 12-month program that offers student groundwork to learn the common procedures usually followed in accounting.

Adding to this, the best part of the graduate certificate accounting program is it even offer a specialized course in tax accounting and various applications that are primarily used these days to study and plan fiscal statements and accounting documents. The program helps students gain more knowledge of receivables and payables, liabilities, inventory valuation, equity, assets and capital stock.

Apart from all this, the graduate program can also help students boost or increase their career opportunities. In fact, if a student completes a graduate certificate program in accounting, he or she is liable to appear for the CPA (Certified Management Accountant) examination.

The program can help a student broaden their career paths and attain administrative designations in accounting operations and financial services. Moreover, once a student completes the certificate program, he or she may also enter the master of accountancy (MAc) program and have the degree in just few additional classes.

These days, many universities and collages are providing graduate certificate programs in accounting and helping students improve their accounting knowledge. Though, the spotlight of a program varies depending upon the collage to collage. As a result, it is up to the student to decide the university or college that can meet his or her requirements. Nevertheless, as a student if you are applying for a graduate certificate program in accounting, it is important to note that you must have a cumulative undergraduate GPA of 2.5. Adding to this, at times many universities and collages may even ask you to provide the work experience if any in finance or accounting.

If we look at the present scenario, the ratio of students enrolling in graduate programs in accounting has increased dramatically in the last few years. Today the average job growth in the accounting field has made this graduate program very popular among many students.

Accounting is a great career that offers many benefits. Today it is high in the popularity and preference chart among students and counted as one of the few fields that offer many job options and some great opportunities to work. One of the key advantages that you can gain from accounting is the experience and skills you learn while working in the accounting field. The field helps you learn how businesses operate in an ever evolving field and this learning not just aids you in the field of accounting, but even helps you understand and learn how to organize or run your own business effectively. Even if you sooner or later leave a career in accounting by chance and enter any other field, your experiences from accounting can still mean a lot and can surely be more beneficial.

It is one of the few fields that offer stimulating and challenging work, which is constantly evolving day by day. As an accountant, you could be primarily involved in various roles, depending on your actual title and for whom you. Some of the duties that you may require to perform can include:

Budget Analysis- As an accountant, you may you require developing and directing various fiscal plans for the private or government entities.
Management Accounting- At times, you may require to get yourself involved in management accounting, and so your responsibilities may include making an effective decision regarding business analysis and capital budgeting.
Corporate Tax Strategies- As an accountant, at times you may even require preparing the corporate or personal tax strategies.

In addition to these, the other major key feature of a career in accounting is the great salary. In fact, during your initial years of accounting you can easily earn almost fifty-five thousand dollars a year, and once you gain or cross ten years of your career in accounting, your salary may even reach up to six figures.

From being able to work in a professional setting either for a large corporation or the government agencies, the profession also provides some key features that you can never find in other professional careers. As an accountant and being employed by any public accounting firms you may travel frequently to perform audits at client’s places of business. Today along with many other advantages of accounting, it is not that amazing to see many people and students are planning to get into an accounting field. Thus, if you are too among those who are looking forward to making a career in this field then a minimum requirement that you must have at least a two-year degree in accounting or finance. Attaining a two-year degree in accounting can help you get into the most basic entry-level positions. Though, the federal government generally asks for a four-year degree along with twenty-four credit hours of accounting for entry-level positions.

Many other positions in accounting call for a graduate degree in accounting or a degree in business administration with an accounting prominence. However, if your ultimate goal is to be a comptroller, which is generally considered as the managerial yet key positions in the finance department of every business firm, in that situation you may require pursuing a master’s or doctoral degree. Nevertheless, the key point to note is that while you enroll yourself in any accounting school always tries to take the benefit of any opportunities for accounting internships that you are offered. Besides providing you with valuable job experience, these internships can help you in deciding the type of accounting that can be most fascinating to you.

Always remember, starting a new career in accounting is the start of a great adventure. All it takes is a little preparation but a good amount of study that in turn ensures you have a successful accounting career.

Accounting is just one of the many professions where training and education have a great role to play. In fact, the selections of an accounting college or school you make for your training actually have a great effect on the rest of your accounting career. It is the choice that determines the education that you will obtain and most probably your outlook in the accounting field. However, selecting the best schools for an accounting degree has never been an easy task, unless you know what to look for. So perform a good research before you take up an accounting course and get into any accounting school. Here are few essential factors that you must check and re-check again and again, unless you are confirmed and get your doubts solved:

• Examine the curriculum of an accounting school. This step is very vital because it helps you know whether the curriculum that a school follows is really efficient or not. Knowing just the fundamentals of accounting is not effective in the long career of accounting. So always ensure you choose a school only after having a detailed look on the program curriculum.
• Today there are different types of degrees available in the field of accounting. Therefore, while making a final decision you must also check whether the type of an accounting degree you want to be really is really provided by the school or not.
• School accreditation is yet another significant element that you need to examine very properly. The accounting school which has accreditation is very important because generally these schools are highly recognized and may help you in getting a job.
• Accounting is never an easy subject, and so you must also check the education and experience of teachers who will provide you the training. The education of teachers is very i
• mportant in this field and their role should not be underestimated.
• Always examine the tuition cost of an accounting school. This small examination may help you know whether you are actually capable of paying a tuition fee or not. Today there are many schools that charge a big tuition cost. Therefore, you must remember that the tuition cost you are to pay must not be costly in comparison to the tuition of the kind in regular universities.
• These days there are many upcoming accounting schools that are also offering the financial aid packages. So the next best thing that you can examine is -does the chosen school also provide any sort of financial aid.
• An accounting program is incomplete, unless you have the proper internship program. Consequently, the best thing that you must check is whether the accounting college provides a good internship program or not.
• The reputation of a good accounting school is known through its placement statistics. Thus, make sure you also examine the placement statistics of the school since the first students’ batch passed out from the school. Generally, a good accounting school always ensures good placement statistics in order to enroll more students.

Making the decision to attend accounting school is just half of the journey you covered but there are many other important elements that you must do to prepare yourself for the accounting school experience. These above mentioned checklists provide you with a quick run-through of almost every essential element that you must give a proper attention to. Good luck in your endeavors!