Accounting internships allow students to work for companies in their field to gain work experience or satisfy requirements for a college course or program. Learn how to find and land internships.
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Accounting internships allow you to work for companies in your field to gain experience or satisfy course or program requirements. For example, many accounting programs require an internship at an approved organization.
Internships help you gain valuable experience to transition into the workforce. Some programs also require you to complete assignments during the internship, reinforcing these newly learned skills.
You can include internships on your resume, which can help prove to employers that you have hands-on experience in the field. While some internships offer wages in return for work, many positions may be unpaid. Although unpaid internships do not offer financial compensation, they can still provide exposure to the field.
According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), more than 81% of college graduates believe that their internship experiences helped improve their career directions slightly or significantly, and many of these internships led directly to career opportunities. As an example, NACE conducted a study at Endicott College to determine the professional success of students who completed internships. In 2015, 53% of Endicott College graduates who carried out an internship earned positions at a former internship site within a year of graduation. Additionally, 90% of those graduates reported that they found a career in their field.
The main goal of an accounting internship — which many college accounting programs require — is to encourage you to apply the skills and knowledge learned in the classroom to realistic situations professional accountants face.
Duties in accounting internships commonly include profit analysis, handling accounts payable and working with payroll departments, preparing tax reports, organizing files for audits, researching new methods for pricing, and managing an organization's budget. You may work on tax or auditing projects during your internship. In tax-focused internships, you must develop and maintain a working knowledge of tax law.
Online students can often find accounting internships at an approved location close to their home. You can do your accounting internship at small businesses, where you may work on bookkeeping, bill payments, or invoicing.
You can also opt to work for certified tax professionals, assisting with tax documents and helping prepare tax reports. Finding an internship at mid-size accounting firms may involve work on order processing, warehouse and inventory management, advanced reporting, and workflows. Pursuing internships at large accounting firms could mean using complex software systems.
The length of an accounting internship can vary depending on your position and the requirements of your program. For example, the accounting program at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas requires students to complete a 150-hour accounting internship. Students must submit a paper prior to their internship outlining their expectations and a paper afterwards reflecting on what they learned.
The University of Wisconsin – Platteville's accounting program requires students to complete 240 hours of work during their accounting internship, working at least 20 hours each week. You can expect to spend a significant amount of time meeting internship requirements.
There are two types of internships: paid and unpaid. Paid accounting internships tend to be more competitive than unpaid positions.
Programs that include accounting internships often grant credits toward degree completion. These programs allow you to allocate different credit amounts for an internship, and some programs even let you choose from a range of credits.
For example, Bellevue University offers internships worth 1-3 credits, depending on how much time you want to commit to an internship. Many programs require you to submit papers describing your internship, detailing the various lessons learned on the job.
Completing an accounting internship often gives you a variety of skills to help find a successful accounting career. You may learn how to construct budgets and forecast spending, prepare vouchers and tax reports, conduct profit analysis, and work with payroll offices.
Prior to applying for an internship position, learn the fundamentals of accounting by taking introductory classes. You can connect the lessons and theories learned in the classroom to practical situations faced by working accountants. Internships also help you gain confidence in your abilities, leading to a smoother transition between the academic setting of a college program and the professional setting found in accounting offices.
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