Public Accountant Overview

There are certain skills that many Public Accountants have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed Analytical skills, Communication skills and Detail oriented.

When it comes to the most important skills required to be a Public Accountant, we found that a lot of resumes listed 29.4% of Public Accountants included Income Tax Returns, while 22.3% of resumes included Financial Statements, and 13.5% of resumes included Audit Procedures. Hard skills like these are helpful to have when it comes to performing essential job responsibilities.

If you're interested in becoming a Public Accountant, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 55.7% of Public Accountants have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 23.8% of Public Accountants have master's degrees. Even though most Public Accountants have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.

Choosing the right major is always an important step when researching how to become a Public Accountant. When we researched the most common majors for a Public Accountant, we found that they most commonly earn Accounting degrees or Business degrees. Other degrees that we often see on Public Accountant resumes include Finance degrees or Economics degrees.

You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become a Public Accountant. In fact, many Public Accountant jobs require experience in a role such as Accountant. Meanwhile, many Public Accountants also have previous career experience in roles such as Staff Accountant or Controller.