Yes, we all know accountants are the real winners out of Sarbanes-Oxley. The changes in the law have been an El Dorado for beancounters, something I have written about here, here and here.

But it's not just the extra demand and work that's earning them big bucks.

Sarbanes-Oxley has reshaped accounting and opened new career paths. They've gone from being fact checkers and number crunchers to guardians and protectors of the public's trust. And that creates a lot more different jobs which provides accountants with more opportunities to remake themselves. For a better fee, of course.



The job areas booming since Sarbanes-Oxley are listed here in this news report.

Hot jobs include chief compliance officer, chief risk officer, vice president of risk & control, senior auditor, internal auditor, information technology auditor, PCAOB auditor and inspections specialist.

More details on how Sarbanes-Oxley is creating promotion opportunities for beancounters is found in this report from the Wall Street Journal's CareerJournal.com.

And if accountants think the money is rolling in now, just wait until 2008.

That's when small companies will have to report on whether their financial controls promote accurate numbers and prevent fraud. SOX will kick in for smaller companies, and the bucks will kick in for accountants.