Accountants often wonder what the best path is when they choose to pursue higher education. An MBA or marketing degree is so common that it has little value in the marketplace. Here are 4 reasons accountants should consider pursuing a career in public administration. We’ll discuss the benefits of each of these career paths that open up to you if you have the right education.
It is often said that the only things guaranteed in life are death and taxes, though death taxes vary from administration to administration. One of the certainties of public administration is that they need tax collectors. If you are already an accountant and complete an online public administration degree, you are ideally suited to work as a tax collector, tax administrator, or administration of any governmental entity that collects payments from the public. This type of job is available anywhere and pays well in every circumstance. And if you do a good job, you’re very likely to succeed if you run for public office.
One of the more transparent departments in any jurisdiction is the budget office. How much is the city or county spending this year relative to its budget? How much money needs to be set aside to cover all legally required work for next year? How much does it cost to expand a service or build a new structure? This work is done by the budget office. If you’ve completed an online masters in public administration in addition to an accounting degree, you’ll be given preference for these positions and could even end up an advisor to the City Council or mayor.
You could also work in asset management tracking the number of plots of land, vehicles and other assets the city owns and dispense with them as decided by others.
Public office is open to anyone who is qualified by virtue of residency, citizenship, age and lack of disqualifiers like a felony conviction. However, those with a degree in accounting and public administration are essentially training for many of the duties of public office. If you choose to move into politics you’re uniquely qualified to say yes, you do understand the cost to the taxpayer for these projects.
One way someone with an accounting degree and public administration education can contribute to society is working in the arena of public-private partnerships. If you have this combination of expertise, you can create the budgets and business plans for groups seeking grants or generate the reports they need to submit to the government to show what they are doing. Or you could work on the civic administration side of contract management, supervising expenditures to the groups and reviewing their proposals.
You’re prepared to advise the civic government on how it can or should spend its money. You’re uniquely qualified to run for public office, especially after you have spent time in civic administration. Or you could work for a non-profit organization working with the local government to deliver services or shape public policy. Or you could work for government in any position engaged in revenue collection.