Finance

Accountant (General)

What Does a Professional in this Career Do?

An Accountant organizes and maintains financial records and prepares financial statements for companies and organizations. Works as a public accountant (prepares financial documents where public disclosure is required by law, such as business balance sheets and tax returns), management accountant (prepares financial information for internal use by a company) or government accountant (maintains records for government agencies).

Job Outlook

There were 4121 Accountant (General) job postings in North Carolina in the past year and 172761 in the United States.

In combination with other careers in the Accountant industry, which includes the Accountant (General) career, the following graph shows the number of people employed for each year since 2015:

Salary

Many new Accountant (General) jobs have salaries estimated to be in the following ranges, based on the requirements and responsibilities listed in job postings from the past year.

Education and Experience

Posted Accountant (General) jobs typically require the following level of education. The numbers below are based on job postings in the United States from the past year. Not all job postings list education requirements.

Posted Accountant (General) jobs typically require the following number of years of experience. The numbers below are based on job postings in the United States from the past year. Not all job postings list experience requirements.

Skills

Below are listings of the most common general and specialized skills Accountant (General) positions expect applicants to have as well as the most common skills that distinguish individuals from their peers. The percentage of job postings that specifically mention each skill is also listed.

Salary Boosting Skills

A professional who wishes to excel in this career path may consider developing the following highly valued skills. The percentage of job postings that specifically mention each skill is listed.

• Public Accounting (15.44%)
• Month-End Closing (41.4%)
• Corporate Accounting (10%)
• Standard Accounting Practices (9.47%)
• Depreciation (9.9%)
• Balance Sheet (34.22%)
• Financial Auditing (4.71%)
• Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (60.2%)
• Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) Compliance (5.59%)
• Tax Consulting (1.9%)
• Technical Accounting (7.27%)

Alternative Job Titles

Sometimes employers post jobs with Accountant (General) skills but a different job title. Some common alternative job titles include:

• Accountant
• Staff Accountant
• Accounting Associate
• Accounting Intern
• Tax Accountant
• Accountant/Bookkeeper
• Corporate Accountant
• Financial Accountant
• General Ledger Accountant
• Grant Accountant

Similar Occupations

If you are interested in exploring occupations with similar skills, you may want to research the following job titles. Note that we only list occupations that have at least one corresponding NC State Online and Distance Education program.

• Accounting Manager
• Accounting Analyst
• Accounting Supervisor
• Controller (General)
• Financial Reporting Manager
• Financial Reporting Accountant

Common Employers

Here are the employers that have posted the most Accountant (General) jobs in the past year along with how many they have posted.

NC State Programs Relevant to this Career

If you are interested in preparing for a career in this field, the following NC State Online and Distance Education programs offer a great place to start!

• Accounting Master's Degrees