I used to be a broker for a mortgage company (the guy responsible for when you close with say Bank of America, but your first payment comes from Citimortgage b/c your mortgage was sold...that was what i did). Now I am a Financial "consultant" for a supply chain company mainly responsible for responding to RFP's/etc.
I have worked in the banking world and deal with accountants all day long. The classes you need aren't necessarily easy but are very boring even for a numbers person and can be very confusing. I went to school for investment banking and with 3-4 more classes can get another BS in accounting. Typical starting salary depending on the area is upper 30's low 40's but with a little bit of time under your belt you will be back to where you are now. once you get to the senior level you should be easily 75K+ (sr accountant, not manager etc).
Work load wise expect to live in excel or another form of accounting software. Mostly dealing with general ledger entries, month/year end close, and auditing. The larger companies will typically give one G/L account to a team to manage because of the overall size of the accounts smaller one will have you doing everything for one or both sides (AP or AR).
All the major news sites say accounting/finance people are in demand but myself and others have been testing the waters and having very little success, so take those sources with a grain of salt.
hope this helps somewhat, BTW don't expect a company car in this industry
