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Overview Accounting is the study of how businesses track their assets over time. They are the “mechanics of the business world” (Accounting group, February 6, 2003). Accountants are able to involve themselves in a variety of different areas. In order to be successful “mechanics”, prospective accountants and accounting students need to understand exactly how a business functions, explaining why so many of the world’s successful business people began their careers in the business world as accountants. The more experienced the accountant, the greater understanding they will have gained in order to create a solid business firm. Accounting is a growth industry. Accountant spots are quickly filling in today’s business world. “One of the 20 hot job tracks of the future” (U.S. News & World Report). The accounting field has also seen many technological changes over the last five to ten years according to the careers-in-accounting website. The technological advances have allowed accountants to become integral parts of corporations now solving problems and devising strategies for the futures of companies around the globe. Companies today seek the antisocial calculator puncher who never leaves his/her cubicle from 9 to 5. The new tasks and requirements of today’s accountants make them a greater commodity than the number crunchers of yesteryear in any corporation. “Accountants are evolving from bean counters into providers of high-profit management advice” (Dr. Russ Kershaw, February 13, 2003). These same advancements have not only changed the role of accountants, but clearly made careers in accounting a much more exciting and intriguing endeavor. There are four different areas in which most accountants can be categorized: public, government, corporate, and self-employed. In these separate areas accountants have the opportunity to continue their careers as auditors, financial management or tax accountants. Public accountants may provide accounting services to many firms for a fee.