What’s the cost of living where you live?
States like Mississippi, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Missouri are known for having a low cost of living. Residents in these states get away with spending under $1 000 each month on living expenses. But if you live somewhere like Oregon, California, or New York, you’ll need closer to $4,000 a month to get by.
If you’re tired of not having enough money, then it’s time to do something about it. By starting a career as an accountant, you can finally pave the way to financial freedom.
How much do tax accounts make? Read on to find out.
Common Accountant Salary Projections
As with any career, the more experience you have, the better your salary perspectives. How much do tax accounts make in their first year? Typical salary expectations for a tax accountant with 1-4 years of experience will be anywhere from $40,000 to $65,000.
These numbers can change depending on where you live and the type of accounting industry you’re getting into. Individuals with less than a year of experience could still land a job starting in the $50,000 range.
However, getting a higher-paying job with less than a year of experience will be more challenging. Whereas senior tax accountants can enjoy making nearly 6 figures, and that’s just on average.
If you specialize in a specific area of tax accounting, you could easily surpass the 6-figure salary point. How will they determine your pay?
Managers are going to establish an accountant starting salary using a variety of factors. Skills, expertise, and the complexity of their job duties will all come into play.
Tax Accountant Job Responsibilities
What exactly will you be doing as a tax accountant? The primary responsibilities you’ll have will be preparing federal and state income taxes. You’ll also help companies and individuals with things like filing sales taxes, licenses, property taxes, and more.
Accountants are well versed in preparing different employment forms such as 1099 forms, and they can easily update management on projected tax numbers. Other responsibilities include identifying tax breaks and incentives for corporations and individuals.
Sites like https://www.taxfyle.com/freelance-cpa-jobs are great for getting an idea of what clients need. You’ll be able to see the different freelance job postings and corresponding payments.
Skills Tax Accountants Need
Money shouldn’t be your only motivating factor to become an accountant. Instead, you should consider accounting if you’re already somebody who likes working with numbers. You need to be good at problem-solving, even when the problems involve complex mathematics.
As an accountant, you’ll be learning all sorts of transferable skills. Technical, communication, critical thinking, and customer service-based skills can easily be applied to other industries.
Since you’ll be in a challenging environment that requires necessary thinking skills, you’ll constantly improve your interpersonal communication. Instead of bombarding clients with a ton of legal jargon, you’ll be able to break things down in a digestible manner.
Steps To Earning an Accountant Salary
You’ll be happy to know there are a few different routes you can take to become a tax accountant. If you want to go the traditional way, you can complete a bachelor’s degree program in accounting.
Make sure that you attend an accredited university so that you’ll have the best employment opportunities. Another option is to go beyond your bachelor’s degree to increase your earning potential.
By getting your master’s degree, you’ll be able to establish yourself as a serious professional. You’ll find it’s easier to specialize in specific areas of accounting when you have a more advanced degree.
However, don’t worry if you don’t want to complete a graduate program. After completing an undergraduate program, you can fill out an application to become a certified public accountant. You’ll be able to get official accreditation, which is sure to open up your job pool.
Finally, if you don’t want to go to school, you can take the CPA examination. You’ll have to meet specific requirements before you can take the CPA exam, and they vary state by state.
How Much Do Tax Accounts Make in Each Industry?
How much do tax accounts make depending on their industry? Some of the best industries for accountants to get into include securities and commodity contracts, federal government work, pipeline transportation, and publishing industries.
As far as the lowest-paying industries, you’ll want to steer clear of gasoline stations and general merchandise stores. Hospitals are also notorious for providing low salaries for accountants.
The longer you stay in any one given industry, the easier it’ll be for you to increase your salary. The more experience you have handling the unique challenges of each industry, the more business owners will be willing to pay for your services. It’s that simple!
Another high-paying industry you should consider is the computer side of things. Big-name software companies and even smaller startups are always looking for accounting services. If you can start with the startup from day one, you could look into owning shares of the company.
As the company gross in value, you’ll be able to earn more than a wage. You’ll be making a portion of the business’s profits. However, startups do come with a risk.
If the startup doesn’t take off, you could wind up with a low-paying job that eventually disappears. For more job security, go with well-established corporations who are willing to pay you what you’re worth.
Start Making More Money
Now you know the answer to the question, “how much do tax accountants make?”.
If you have what it takes to become a tax accountant, then it’s a career path worth exploring.
You can quickly start making $50,000 a year, and with experience making six figures is a reasonable goal. Since different industries pay different salaries, you’ll want to start thinking about where you’d like to establish yourself.
Start researching the different industries today, and see what piques your interest. Are you interested in providing accounting services for a nonprofit company?
Are you trying to make the most money by providing services to a well-paying computer-based firm? Getting the answers to these questions will help pave the path for a bright future as a tax accountant. For more ways to enjoy your life, read another one of our articles.
