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How I Would Become an Accountant in 2026 (if I had to start over again) — Transcript

by Gramajo Consulting · 3,155 words · 439 segments · language en · Watch on YouTube

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0:00Here's how I would become an accountant
0:01if I had to start all over from scratch
0:03in 2025. And I'm going to preface this
0:06by saying that there is no shortcut. And
0:08there's typically two paths that you can
0:10take. One path is going to be lower pay,
0:12but it's going to be a quick and easy
0:13path. And then the second is going to be
0:15a longerterm plan and it's going to give
0:19you the best results in terms of earning
0:21potential in your career. I'm going to
0:22talk about both today. And the first
0:24step that I would think about if I'm
0:26becoming an accountant all over again is
0:28going to be the difference in roles. I'm
0:30going to put the different types of
0:31roles into two buckets. One bucket is
0:34going to be I want to make as much money
0:36in my career as I can. The other bucket
0:39is going to be I want a job as quickly
0:41as I can with the potential of earning
0:43more long-term in my career. So in the
0:46first bucket, if you want to learn earn
0:49the most you can in accounting, it's
0:51going to be the roles like an auditor, a
0:54tax accountant at a public accounting
0:56firm. And then once you do that, there's
0:59going to be roles available to you like
1:01a general ledger accountant, a revenue
1:03accountant, a technical and reporting
1:06accountant, a tax accountant within a
1:08corporate company. And then there's
1:09other roles like business trans or
1:11finance transformation. Um, and then
1:13other subset roles like internal
1:15auditors. And the other bucket, the one
1:17that's more talked about is the bucket
1:19where you can get a job really quickly
1:21with some certification with some brief
1:24courses in accounting. And those are
1:26roles like accounts receivable, AP,
1:30payroll, bookkeeper, and some more broad
1:34general accounting things like coding
1:36expenses or like an enrolled agent.
1:38those jobs you can get to really quickly
1:40and they don't require a full degree in
1:42accounting. And I would start with
1:44figuring out, okay, what do I want to
1:46do? And for me, if I was doing it all
1:48over again, I would continue down the
1:49same path that I took was getting that
1:51degree in accounting, making sure that I
1:54have the requisites to go to a big four
1:56public accounting firm and then
1:59expediting the the amount of money that
2:01I can make in my career. So that's the
2:03path that I would be thinking about. The
2:05second step in the process of figuring
2:06out how I would become an accountant is
2:09what skills do I need to become an
2:11accountant. So whether you're a
2:12bookkeeper, APR or in public accounting
2:16or a general ledger accountant. So if
2:18you look at any role for any type of
2:20position in accounting, it there's a few
2:22things that are going to hold true.
2:23There's going to be some level of basic
2:25accounting that you need. So journal
2:26entries um understanding revenue
2:28recognition for example or just
2:30understanding the process of invoicing
2:34or paying bills from an accounting
2:36perspective things like chart of
2:37accounts and that's going to be basic
2:39knowledge that you'll probably need in
2:40any accounting function. So you will
2:42need some sort of education for that.
2:45The second thing that's going to be on
2:47there is going to be things like Excel.
2:49Excel is probably used by 90% of
2:51accountants out there. And that's one
2:53thing that I will always point out is
2:55something that you need to be not great
2:57at, but good at because it's going to
3:00help you when somebody asks you, hey,
3:02can you come up with a income statement?
3:04Hey, can you do this reconciliation for
3:06me? Hey, can you roll forward this work
3:08paper? It's going to help. The next
3:11thing that's on the list is familiarity
3:13with systems like ERP systems. Now this
3:16is less of a need for a skill that you
3:20need in public accounting but more of a
3:21need if you go into these roles like
3:23ARP. You need familiarity with primarily
3:27the tool that's used by most small
3:29businesses is going to be QuickBooks and
3:31then it's going to be Netswuite and then
3:32it's going to be Oracle. So these are
3:34all enterprise resource planning systems
3:37where basically the all your accounting
3:40is going to be done. So whenever you're
3:42booking it booking a journal entry, it's
3:44going to be uploaded into this system.
3:46Um, so it's important to understand not
3:48necessarily all the uh engineering
3:51behind the system, but just the
3:53different modules within a system within
3:55a system. So there's probably an
3:57invoicing module in the ERP. There's
3:59probably an AP module in ERP. There's
4:01probably a there might be a Rev Wreck
4:04module in the ERP. So just becoming
4:06familiar with that. There's some great
4:08courses. Um, if you do want to get
4:09better at Excel, there's some great
4:11courses. I did link one in the
4:12description. It's by Wall Street Oasis
4:14and it gets you through what you would
4:16practically need in your day-to-day job
4:17as an accountant. So, now that we talked
4:20about the skills that you might need and
4:21then you figured out, okay, I want to go
4:23for this type of role. Now, whether
4:25you're going into public accounting or
4:26you're going into one of these ARA
4:28roles, you're going to have to figure
4:29out how do you get somebody to hire you.
4:31Now, your best bet in any of these roles
4:34is demonstrating that you have the
4:36requisite skills. So all these rows are
4:37going to ask for this uh Excel like
4:40we've talked about maybe some ERP
4:42knowledge. If you have that then okay
4:44now the second step within that is how
4:46do you differentiate yourself? So if you
4:48are a ARP clerk or going into public
4:52accounting the thing that rings true is
4:54that you have to have some
4:55differentiator and the way to tell that
4:57story is on your resume. So on your
4:59resume, whether it's in a previous job
5:01or you have a leadership position at a
5:03club in your campus or you volunteer a
5:06bunch and you're very proud of that,
5:09you're going to have to tell that story
5:10on your resume. It's going to
5:11differentiate you between the other
5:13hundreds of people who are applying for
5:15those roles, whether you are in public
5:17accounting or whether you are AR or P or
5:20an AP clerk. So some of those things
5:21that you should come up with is outcomes
5:25of what you've done. So if you worked
5:27somewhere and you know I'll use my
5:30example. So for me I always point out
5:32that I got promoted at the movie theater
5:34that I was working at because I was
5:37doing initiatives like installing a new
5:38employee of the month program and it
5:40increased satisfaction of employees by
5:425%. Now it doesn't matter that 5% is a
5:45small number. It doesn't matter what
5:47what the program looked like, but but it
5:49does matter that I took initiative and
5:52then I was able to come up with some
5:54data to say this worked or it did not
5:57work. And that should be across your
6:00resume. It should be, you know, bullet
6:01points highlighting all the things that
6:03you've done and then the outcomes of
6:05those things that you've done. And that
6:07will help you showcase that you're a
6:10quick learner, that you take initiative,
6:12because a lot of these entry- level
6:13roles, a lot of people are going to come
6:15in with these certifications or with the
6:17GPA that they need to get the big four.
6:19They're all going to come in with an
6:20accounting degree. So the way that you
6:22really get the job is to differentiate
6:24yourself with those extracurriculars,
6:26with those things that you've done in
6:27your past job, showcasing that you're
6:30not only are you smart and you're
6:32willing to learn, but also willing to
6:35create better outcomes at the places
6:38you've worked. So we talked about the
6:39things that should go on your resume and
6:41then the next step in this would be to
6:43update your resume to make sure that
6:45it's ready to go to apply or to go meet
6:47recruiters. and update your LinkedIn,
6:50update your resume for the latest and
6:51greatest information. It could be
6:53something that you did in school. It
6:55could be a project that you did in
6:56school. It could be something again like
6:58I mentioned some something you did at
6:59work at a previous job that you held
7:01whether it was an accounting job or not.
7:03That's something that's going to go a
7:04long way on your resume. I would get
7:06involved in clubs if you are not already
7:08involved. I would get involved in some
7:10volunteer activity if you're not already
7:12involved. And if not, and you don't want
7:15to get involved anywhere, I would try to
7:17get the best GPA possible if you're
7:20getting that accounting degree and going
7:21to public accounting. Now, on the AR and
7:23AP side, if I was going to get that
7:25role, I would be focused on making sure
7:28that I have all the certifications
7:30ready, whether it's QuickBooks
7:31certification, whether it's a, you know,
7:33maybe they have Netswuite and maybe it's
7:35a Netswuite certification. So, I would
7:36go out and seek those certifications
7:38just to bolster the fact that you know
7:39that system so well that that you can
7:42come in and make a difference. And if
7:44you don't have an accounting background,
7:45there's also some great courses like
7:46course careers um that I will link in
7:48the in the description as well that if
7:50you don't have any accounting
7:51background, if you don't have any
7:53projects under your belt or any work
7:55experience, you can go and take that
7:57course and get that flavor of what
8:00accounting looks like in the real world.
8:02Then in my step five of becoming an
8:04accountant in 2025, I would go out to
8:06recruiting events. So this is going to
8:09be true for both types of roles. More so
8:12for the public accounting route, there's
8:14going to be meet the firm events. So I
8:16would go out, look at your accounting
8:17society first. So if you are at a
8:19college, look at the accounting society
8:21at your campus. See what events are
8:24coming up. Whether it's a, you know,
8:26mock interview, whether it's a speed
8:29dating um event, whether it's somebody
8:32presenting from one of the big four
8:34firms, go to those events after the
8:37presentation, after the, you know, mock
8:39interviews, go and meet the person
8:41that's conducting the mock interview or
8:43conducting the presentation. Go and meet
8:45them, shake their hand, get their info
8:47so that you can follow up quickly with a
8:49resume. Uh so for example for me the way
8:53that I got my job at Deote somebody came
8:55and gave a presentation at my school
8:56after the presentation was done I went
8:58and you know it was an alumni so he
9:00talked about the baseball team and how
9:02they were doing I got his information
9:04the next day I followed up saying thank
9:06you for coming out do the presentation
9:08here's my resume he forwarded that to
9:11the recruiter ended up getting an
9:13interview and then the rest is history
9:15you know ended up getting the offer on
9:16the AR and AAP side there are some
9:18recruiters so there are recruiting
9:20agencies um like Robert Half. There are
9:23other recruiting agencies maybe locally
9:25to your state that you can reach out to
9:27um and then put your resume together in
9:29a way that might get their eyes on it so
9:32that it makes it easier in your job
9:34search. There's also ways for you to
9:36just apply online. Um I would look at
9:39job boards like Zip Recruiter. U I would
9:42look at LinkedIn. I would look at Glass
9:43Door. Those are typically where you
9:45would find, you know, some of these
9:46bookkeeping jobs. So now your resume is
9:48all updated. you're ready to take that
9:50interview. You've landed it.
9:52Congratulations. And the way that I
9:54would approach this is one, do some mock
9:57interviews with the people that you know
9:58that you trust. So that could be your
10:00friends. It could be maybe the head of
10:01accounting at your college or just other
10:04people that you know in the accounting
10:06space. They could give you mock
10:07interviews so that you can prep for
10:08this. It's always great to prep. So
10:10these interviews are going to come in.
10:12Typically what you find is you're going
10:13to have a call with the recruiter and
10:15then you talk to the recruiter. Then
10:17they'll move you on to the second round.
10:19Then you'll talk to a hiring manager.
10:20Then the hiring manager will figure out,
10:22okay, is this person a good fit? Are
10:24they not? Then they will invite you on
10:26site for an interview um with a panel.
10:29So this is going to be, you know, three
10:31to four interviews with three to four
10:32different people. Especially at big
10:34four, this is going to be super
10:35important because each person is there
10:37to interview you with different things
10:40in mind. So culture fit, whether you're
10:42technical, whether you, you know, um are
10:44a good teammate. So, I would say, you
10:46know, these mock interviews that you can
10:47do are really important in order for you
10:49to get prepared for that. And then once
10:51you're done with that, they typically
10:52invite you to dinner. There's going to
10:54be, you know, a handful of people who
10:55are interviewing the same day as you,
10:57then they're going to invite you to a
10:58happy hour afterwards, and then you're
11:00going to go and meet more and more
11:01people. The more people that you can go
11:03and meet and make a good impression on,
11:06um, whether it's just saying hi, talking
11:08about what they do at work, what clients
11:09they're on, what what do they like about
11:11working at that firm, the better.
11:13Because after everything is said and
11:15done, they go into a room and they say,
11:17"Okay, who, you know, do we like this
11:19person? Yes or no." So the more people
11:21that can vouch for you, the better. Now,
11:22if you're on the AR and AP AP track,
11:25there's going to be a similar style of
11:27interview. You're going to have a
11:28recruiting screen. You're going to have
11:29a hiring manager call, and then you
11:30might have a panel, but you might also
11:32just get hired after that second
11:34interview because it could be a mom-and-
11:36pop shop who's looking for a bookkeeper,
11:38which is what I typically find for these
11:39roles where you don't really need a full
11:41accounting background for. And it's
11:43again it's super important to have that
11:46practice again do mock interviews and
11:48then um they should give you an offer if
11:51everything on your resume and everything
11:52that you said all the experience that
11:53you have is good and then the last thing
11:55here is getting that offer and then
11:57hopefully you know that makes me
11:58successful if I was to start being an
12:00accountant in 2025. Now, the big
12:03difference again is going to be if you
12:05go the route of public accounting and
12:07jumping into corporate accounting
12:08afterwards, you're going to have more
12:11potential for your career earnings.
12:14Right now, in my previous role, I was
12:16making about $300,000 a year, and I'm in
12:18year 11 of my career. I have seen people
12:21who go into AR AP, they do have a really
12:24good start at around, you know, 50, 60,
12:27maybe $70,000 a year. The people in
12:29those roles typically will find that it
12:32takes a very long time to keep moving up
12:35to different promotions and keep moving
12:38up into different roles because you're
12:40very siloed in this AR AP niche and
12:45those roles are very tactical. Hey, I'm
12:47going to go bill this person. I'm going
12:48to go uh pay this invoice. So, they
12:51don't require you to know a ton of
12:53technical accounting. On the corporate
12:55side, you do need to know a lot of
12:56technical accounting. So, it's a skill
12:58that allows you to earn that higher
13:00amount of money. I've seen people
13:02transition. So, I've seen one person in
13:04my career transition from an AR role
13:07into a revenue accounting role because
13:09they were working at that company for
13:10five to six years and previously had,
13:13you know, five to six years. So, almost
13:1510 years of experience to finally get a
13:17staff revenue role. It's not impossible
13:19to take that route, but it's going to be
13:21a long it's going to be the long game.
13:23you're playing the long game and it's
13:25and it's going to be require you to
13:27continue to work on those skills. It's
13:29going to require you to continue to look
13:31for certification that you can get. It's
13:32going to require you to be on top of all
13:34the newest technology that's out there,
13:35all the new AI, all the new uh you know
13:38SQL that you can learn. Like do that
13:40because it's going to elevate you as an
13:42accountant. it's going to make you have
13:45the ability to automate certain
13:46processes and then that out those
13:48outcomes you doing something quicker um
13:51you alleviating somebody else's time and
13:53not being a bottleneck is going to get
13:55you a long way to getting a promotion or
13:58moving up quickly in that that space of
14:02ARP payroll and and other roles like
14:05that on the public accounting side you
14:07know I would say two to three years you
14:09spend there go to corporate accounting
14:10and you're making six figures and then
14:12once you're in corporate accounting,
14:14their promotions. They may not be as
14:16quick as big four, but they do come,
14:18especially if you're at a high growth
14:19company, they will come almost every
14:21couple years. And if not, there's always
14:23a bit uh especially if you have public
14:25accounting background, there's always a
14:26need at other places who will give you a
14:29title bump, who will give you a little
14:31bit more salary. So, job hopping is also
14:33something that's available to you. Now
14:35that I've outlined two career paths in
14:36accounting that you can take in 2025,
14:39leave a comment below which one you're
14:41taking. Make sure to hit that subscribe
14:42button for more accounting advice. If
14:44you do want more personal advice, I do
14:47offer coaching and I will link that in
14:48the description as well. It's hard to do
14:50it on your own. It's easier to do it
14:52with somebody else. So, I'm happy to
14:53help if you're on these one of these
14:55tracks. Um, I appreciate the love.
14:57Appreciate you making this far. Look out
14:58for the next one. Love y'all. Peace.

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