One of the best ways to stay competitive in the workforce is by specializing in your industry. By concentrating your knowledge, you become an expert in a specific area or task and add significant value to your resume.
What are the benefits of specializing?
- Let’s you focus on a segment of accounting that you’re most interested or gifted in
- Helps narrow down your job search in the vast accounting industry
- Makes you more valuable to employers over individuals who have just general knowledge
- Decreases the number of people who can compete with you
- Leads to higher roles and higher job security
- A gateway to earning certifications that also increase your employability
Advancing your education is a perfect way to explore and dive deeper into a specialization of your choice. Earning a Master of Accounting (MACC) degree with a specialization opens the door to a vast number of benefits for yourself and your company.
Top three areas of specialization
1. Tax
Tax accounting is a huge field. You can work as an in-house accountant for a company or as a part of an accounting firm working with multiple clients. This specialization will teach you the fundamentals of tax returns for corporations, nonprofits, and individuals to file with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) or state revenue departments every year.
There is also a big emphasis on learning and interpreting tax laws, as well as the ethics in tax preparations and filing. You'll discuss advanced issues in corporate or personal tax services and regulations.
FIU's MACC program will also discuss international taxation covering topics that include federal income tax provisions on a foreign persons' U.S. income and a U.S. persons' income from overseas.
Possible roles you can take on include:
- Certified Public Accountant (CPA)
- Tax Law Advisor
- Tax Manager
- International Tax Manager
- Tax Accountant
- Tax Analyst
2. Assurance
Assurance and auditing are other significant segments in accounting that review and investigate accounting work. You will focus on fighting fraud and catching irregularities that make companies appear more profitable than they are. You'll learn industry regulations, financial data and procedures, legal and ethical accounting principles, and laws.
Those in assurance also provide the information needed when organizations get investigated, including providing expert witness testimony in court cases.
Possible roles you can take on include:
- Financial Auditor
- Internal Auditor
- External Auditor
- Assurance Manager
- Internal Audit Director
- Audit Manager
- Forensic Accountant
3. Analytics
Those who specialize in analytics will focus on a business's financial analysis and decision-making. You will learn how to create decision models, accurately report data in a timely manner and forecast.
They play a vital role in presenting complex financial data to management, stakeholders, shareholders, government and consumers in a comprehensive and easily understood manner that shows how a business is performing. This data will aid in all decision-making processes, including achieving business objectives, expanding business and assessing risks.
Possible roles you can take on include:
- Financial Analyst
- Financial Accounting Manager
- Management Accounting Manager
- Controller
- Chief Financial Officer (CFO)
How to pursue a specialization in accounting
Earning your Master of Accounting (MACC) degree is the quickest and most credible way to specialize in a specific accounting segment. If you’re interested in pursuing a graduate degree in accounting, we invite you to attend an information session.
