WHAT IS THE BEST WAY TO GO TO WORK FOR A NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION IN THE ACCOUNTING FIELD?

Question

I HAVE A BS DEGREE IN BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION AND I AM STARTING MY CERTIFICATE ACCOUNTING PROGRAM THIS FALL. MY GOAL IS TO WORK FOR NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS AS AN ACCOUNTANT. CAN YOU TELL ME WHAT IS THE BEST WAY TO GO TO WORK FOR THOSE TYPE FOR ORGANIZATION AND IS IT VERY HARD TO GET AN ENTRY LEVEL ACCOUNTING POSITIONS IN THAT FIELD? THANK YOU!

Answer 1

Most businesses, whether regular one or non-profit have to have an outside audit at least once a year and some require them every 3 months,  It depends on how they set it up.  My non-profit is in need of an accountant to do our audits.  So check with the Owner/President for these organizations and ask questions or send out invitation cards stating your goal and see what your feed back might be.  You might be surprised.

Answer 2

One way to start is by never writing anything in all capital letters, as this means you are shouting.

Nonprofit organizations advertise in the same places that for-profit businesses do for accountants. Look in your local newspaper's classified ads, and your local edition of CraigsList, for instance. All sorts of nonprofit organizations hire accountants, from huge nonprofit organizations to mid-size organizations (say, a nonprofit, fully professional theater).

It's a good idea to do some volunteering with nonprofit organizations, so that you become familiar with how they operate and so you can do some networking that might lead to a job.

If you have a business weekly newspaper, see if they have done a list of the largest nonprofit organizations in your city; your local library can help you access this. Sign up for newsletters of a large nonprofit organization (or more) in your area that is doing the kind of work in which you are interested, so you become familiar with the "big players" in your city.