In today’s fast-paced world and workplace, few careers offer as many advantages and rewards as a career in Accounting. If you have a flair for numbers or an interest in the financial workings of businesses and organizations, you should consider enrolling in the Accountant Assistant Program at Santa Rosa Junior College.

The Accountant Assistant Certificate Program at SRJC prepares students to work in the accounting profession or continue their studies in accounting. To prepare students for accounting careers, instruction at SRJC is designed around lectures, case studies, group projects, and current business practices. Courses offered include Financial Accounting, Managerial Accounting, Cost Accounting, Intermediate Accounting, Computerized Accounting, Tax Accounting, and many other business courses. Many courses are also transferable to four-year universities and colleges. Financial and Managerial Accounting fulfill the lower-division accounting transfer requirement for a Business Administration major at most universities.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, future jobs in the field of Accounting look very bright, with a 16 percent increase in job openings anticipated in the next several years. It is projected that the Accounting field will have “among the largest numbers of new jobs arise” and that job prospects will be very good “as a large number of bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks are expected to retire or transfer to other occupations.” This increase in new Accounting opportunities has also been created by the financial complexities of businesses, as well as new regulations, such as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which imposed new financial reporting requirements for public companies. The act was passed in 2002 in response to massive accounting failures related to the scandals at Enron, Tyco, and WorldCom. Careers in Accounting include tax accounting, governmental or nonprofit accounting, cost accounting, and management accounting, among many others. Accountant Assistants are responsible for recording and analyzing the financial information of the organizations and businesses where they are employed, as well as working on budgeting, performance evaluations, cost management, tax preparation, and asset management.

For convenience, classes are taught in the day, evening, weekends, and online by instructors with practical business experience and expertise. Class discussions and assignments revolve around current accounting practices and procedures. Students will also learn the broad based flexibility they need to start an accounting career:

• Accounting procedures for service, merchandising and manufacturing companies.
• The basics of Cost, Tax, Financial, Management Accounting.
• Preparation and analysis of the Income Statement, Statement of Owner’s Equity, Balance Sheet and Statement of Cash Flows.
• Through collaborative projects, case studies, homework assignments, and oral and written presentations, students in the Accountant Assistant Program learn the skills that are greatly valued in the workplace
• Analytical skills
• Computer skills
• Decision making skills
• Time management skills
• Communication skills
• Time management skills

Once they complete the Accounting Assistant Program, students will be equipped for a variety of employment opportunities to assist Financial Accountants, Full-Charge Bookkeepers, Cost Analysts, Budget Analysts, Management, and Tax Accountants.

For more information about Santa Rosa Junior College’s outstanding Accounting Assistant Program, please contact us:
Business Administration Department
Maggini Hall, First Floor
Santa Rosa Campus
(707) 527-4435