7 Hottest Careers in Accounting and Finance
Over the next ten years, the U.S. economy is expected to add an estimated 8.3 million jobs. This amounts to job growth of approximately 0.5% per year, or 5 to 6% over the decade. During that same time frame, careers in accounting and finance are projected to increase by about 7%, driven by a consistent demand for professionals with specialized skills and technical expertise.
Some jobs in this industry will experience explosive growth of 10% or more. For top candidates with the right qualifications, it’s a promising time to be looking for a job despite the current economic uncertainty.
So what are the best finance jobs to apply for right now? We combed through data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics to find the fastest-growing jobs in finance and accounting for the next decade.
Top careers in accounting and finance
1. Financial examiner
Average salary for a financial examiner: $81,000
Growth projection: 21% over the next decade
Education: Bachelor’s degree
Financial examiners ensure businesses comply with all pertinent regulations governing how money is handled. Without these types of requirements, we see crises like the Great Recession, so financial examiners play a key role in keeping our society’s financial transactions on a smooth track.
Financial examiners analyze organizations’ bookkeeping and balance sheets to monitor their financial health. They might work on the company’s side, helping the organization assess and manage risk, or they might work for the public sector ensuring all compliance regulations are being met.
2. Market research analyst
Average salary for a market research analyst: $64,000
Growth projection: 19% over the next decade
Education: Bachelor’s degree or master’s degree depending on the company
Market research analysts monitor and forecast industry trends to help companies successfully bring new products to market. They study what consumers buy, analyze conditions in the market, and calculate the ideal price that will help a product sell to the target audience.
Professionals in this role thrive on data: finding it, organizing it, analyzing it, and most importantly, helping the companies they work for use it to make informed business decisions. It’s important in guiding an organization’s growth in the right direction.
3. Financial manager
Average salary for a finance manager: $70,990
Growth projection: 17% over the next decade
Education: Bachelor’s degree
A financial manager steers the financial ship of an organization. They’re responsible for every aspect of their company’s monetary health; keeping a close watch on key metrics, preparing and analyzing reports, and advising senior leadership on finance-related decisions.
A financial manager analyzes a company’s activities and recommends maximizing profits, reducing costs, and staying competitive in the marketplace. They oversee the staff responsible for financial activities like budgeting, payroll, and taxes. With technology advancing more rapidly than ever before, an effective financial manager in today’s market must also be able to adopt the latest technology for the company’s benefit and anticipate future trends.
To be successful as a financial manager, you must be analytical and assertive, able to draw big-picture conclusions from an amalgamation of data and turn that data into actionable recommendations.
4. Personal financial advisor
Average salary for a financial advisor: $81,190
Growth projection: 15% over the next decade
Education: Master’s degree
Have a knack for budgeting and investing? Are you the go-to person your friends come to for financial advice? Then you might be well suited to become a personal financial advisor, a job that’s expected to grow by 15% over the next ten years.
A personal financial advisor helps individuals and families manage their finances and plan for the future, making recommendations on things like insurance, retirement investments, and taxes. A good financial advisor tailors their advice to their client’s unique situation and adjusts their strategy over time in keeping with shifting goals and life circumstances.
A professional in this role can obtain advanced certifications such as Certified Financial Planner (CFP®). Financial advisors in the U.S. should hold the FINRA series 7 and 65 or 66 licenses, which enable them to sell securities and provide investment advice to clients.
Most financial advisors work for a financial or insurance firm or are self-employed. While they generally work full-time, their hours may be atypical as many clients want to meet in the evenings after work or on weekends.
5. Management analyst
Average salary for a management analyst: $93,000
Growth projection: 11% over the next decade
Education: Master’s degree
A management analyst works in a consulting role to help companies improve their efficiency, solve operational challenges, and control costs. They bring a fresh, unbiased perspective that’s useful in uncovering problems that members of company leadership may be unable to diagnose from within the organization.
A management analyst may either work for a consulting firm or be self-employed, so it’s a great role for self-starters and independent workers. Since analysts typically work on a temporary contract basis, the nature of the job and the people you work with in this role will change frequently.
There are many career paths that dovetail nicely with this job; people with experience in management, accounting, and business analysis are all good candidates to transfer their skills into a role as a management analyst.
In order to excel at this job, flexibility is key. You’ll likely need to travel frequently to meet with clients, work with a variety of individuals across different departments, and may work more than 40 hours a week during busy times. Critical thinking and strong communication skills are also necessary for success.
6. Loan officer
Average salary for a loan officer: $57,420
Growth projection: 4% over the next decade
Education: Bachelor’s degree
Before a bank or credit union gives someone a loan, that person must be vetted and approved. If you’ve ever applied for a mortgage, you understand the process that goes along with this. A loan officer works for the bank, credit union, or other financial institution and oversees this process.
A loan officer is responsible for gathering the information necessary to analyze the eligibility of a loan candidate. Then, they evaluate the information and recommend their company based on their findings. They may work to approve loans for individuals, like a mortgage loan, or companies, like for a business loan.
If you want to work as a loan officer, you should be highly organized and adept at juggling multiple projects at once. For many loan officer jobs, you should be prepared to spend a lot of time traveling between meetings with different applicants, which may also call for non-standard work hours.
To excel as a financial examiner, possessing meticulous attention to detail is key. Your job will require poring over documents to analyze compliance and interpreting the various government guidelines, so strong reading comprehension abilities are also necessary.
7. Accountant
Average salary for an accountant: $56,750
Growth projection: 7% over the next decade
Education: Bachelor’s degree or master’s degree depending on the company
As long as businesses exchange goods and services for money, they’ll need professionals to help them track and manage that money.
Your career options as an accountant are diverse; you can work in-house helping companies balance their budgets. You can work for individuals and help them hold onto as much of their earnings as possible. You can even work for law enforcement and help them use accounting to solve crimes.
