Any tips?

There is an ocean of opportunities on clearing and getting the CPA designation. The course is considered a black belt in accounting and is provided by the world's largest accounting body.

The following are some of the job roles one could have (subject to industry practice and business processes one signs up for):

1) Auditor - An Auditor plays a crucial role in provding an opinion on the financials and the control system of a Company. CPAs are looked out for by the accounting firms (including the Big 4's) who provide audit services to the American based companies (both public and private). Going through the books of accounts, looking out for errors and frauds, collecting corroborative audit evidence, and putting all of these together to provide an integral opinion is a brief on how the auditors work. They are respected by companies and industries.

2) Finance, analysts, and treasurer roles - These roles put people in decision making a shoe, and their responsibility with recording books, making informed decisions, payment approvals, etc. becomes an important part of their job role. These roles are crucial for many mid-size and large scale businesses.

3) Accounts Payable (AP), Accounts Receivable (AR), others - These roles help an individual not only understand the accounting cycles at large but also be a part of them in keeping records, analyzing, preparing ledgers and books of accounts and communication of the same.

4) Business Process Analysts - These BPA roles in the accounting field would require professionals to analyze the processes and accounting cycles already in place to see if they could be optimized for better efficiency and business outcome. Tackling and bringing down various business bottlenecks would be an important role in this case.

5) Cost and management roles - These roles would again put the individuals in decision-making shoes where they work on budgets and standards and other internal business decisions leading to informed decisions and practices in an Industry.

6) Fintech roles - Given that there are a ton of improvements and advancements happening with respect to Artificial Intelligence and Accounting information systems, there is a wide scope of individuals who can work closely with engineers to chart out the processes and systems so they build software and ERPs based on the ideas provided by the accountants. The main role is to understand a business and its accounting processes using which the accountants can derive knowledge and insight helping build the software.

7) Other roles and emerging opportunities - There are more opportunities bubbling up given the speed at which the industries and technologies are moving. Stay tuned for industry-relevant updates in days to come.