When many people hear of accountants, they think of a person with big glasses pushing tax returns in a cubical. This mental image couldn’t be further than some of the accountants out there today.
While most junior accountants come out of college and go into tax or audit as their first career path, there are actually a lot of accounting niches that an accountant can work in. Let’s take a look at 10 niches accountants can work in.
#1 – Technology
Big money and Silicon Valley come to mind with accountants focused on technology. While many of the accountants working in technology live in San Francisco, there are remote technology accountants all over the U.S.
The big 4 is one of the best places to go if you want to specialize in an accounting area. If that is technology for you then think about heading to the west coast.
#2 – Farming
Many people don’t realize that most farms use accountants. They may use bookkeepers for the day-to-day but during tax season, they turn to their CPAs.
In addition to tax time, auditors also audit some farms and there are account-specific rules that apply to the farming industry like the valuation of animals.
#3 – Wealth and Asset Management
One of the more lucrative accounting fields is wealth and asset management. To get into wealth and asset management accounting, you’ll need to be in a big city like New York, Chicago or San Francisco and work for the big 4.
There are positions both in audit and tax that mainly serve hedge fund and private equity clients.
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#4 – Oil and Gas
If you get into accounting in the middle of the states or down south in Texas then chances are that you will specialize in oil and gas. While oil and gas is another lucrative accounting field, it has its own unique things to learn.
For someone who wants to be in oil and gas but doesn’t want to get their hands dirty then oil and gas accounting is a great supporting role to the industry.
#5 – Small Business
Does seeing a bunch of different businesses interest you? If it does then small business accounting could be a niche that you’ll want to explore more. Most smaller CPA and regional CPA firms work with small businesses.
Small businesses need a wide variety of accounting services including tax, audit, financial planning, bookkeeping and valuations. By starting out in small business accounting you can even figure out which niche you may want to specialize in further.
#6 – Healthcare
Whether you realize it or not, all of those hospitals and medical centers you see have accountants keeping them running. Healthcare accounting is a beast of its own with patient billing and medical equipment inventory.
Among all the moving parts, accountants are there to ensure the health centers are profit centers. A whole career can be spent in healthcare accounting if that is a niche that interests you.
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#7 – Automotive
Tesla and Ford are two names that you are probably familiar with that represent automotive accounting but there are quite a few automotive brands in the U.S.
With an auto brand’s global presence, you’ll likely be able to do a bit of travel as an accountant at an auto brand. Even if you aren’t an accountant at headquarters, there are often controller jobs spread around the U.S. at various plants. That segways is into manufacturing.
#8 – Manufacturing
Relative speaking if you go into manufacturing accounting, it is all similar to cost accounting. You can go into clothing manufacturing or cabinet manufacturing and it is all relatively similar.
While accounting jobs in manufacturing are abundant, they don’t pay the highest. Manufacturing comes with a lot of fixed costs and usually profit margins on the lower end. This means wages aren’t the highest for accountants in the manufacturing space.
#9 – Hospitality
Another niche that doesn’t have the highest pay for accountants is hospitality. The trade-off of pay though is generally compensated by travel, hotel stays or working in a nice location.
Accountants in hospitality focus on hotel, food and beverage or services-based industries. Being an accountant for a large hotel chain has its perks.
#10 – Internal Audit
You might think internal audit is full from the outside but it’s better than you think. If you like to travel then internal audit is one of the best niches to get into. Most internal audit has a bit of travel which of course includes flights, hotels and a meal allowance.
All that travel can get old quickly though so ask up front how much travel is expected of you.
Final Thoughts for Deciding on a Niche as an Accountant
Many people hear the word accountant and just think of audit or tax. They aren’t aware of all the niches accountants can get into. Picking a niche should be the start of every accountant’s career.
Sticking with a niche will help you progress over peers. Choose something interesting.
