In any business, accountants play an important role. They analyze vital business information and provide fair business judgment.

Getting an accounting degree may be ideal for you if this is the career path you’d like to pursue. This could even be an affordable and convenient option for you because you can now enroll in this degree program online with no need to attend classes on campus. However, you can always choose to pursue this program in a campus setting if you live near the Illinois campuses.

Rasmussen College offers an Associate of Applied Science in Accounting program which can be completed entirely online depending on your schedule. For those who are currently employed but are committed to earn an associate degree, you can continue working and pursuing your studies at the same time as the institution offers flexible scheduling.

With an associate degree in accounting, you can initially start a career as a staff of an accounting firm or as an assistant to a certified public accountant (CPA). You have varied choices in terms of the type of organization you want to work for. Eventually, you can decide to pursue a bachelor’s degree if you aim to move up to a higher position in the company you’re working for or if you want to find a new job with a higher position and better pay.

In the U.S., the employment outlook for accountants is foreseen to go up to more than 225,000 moving through 2016. With a degree in accounting, you can work in the areas of bookkeeping, auditing and accounting. And you can expect to receive higher salary moving forward if you commit to pursue advanced studies later on.