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Gabriel Grub
Dec 18, 2004

Zarin posted:

Quite possibly the lamest question ever, but are there any Accounting-focused (or even just -related) podcasts that are worth anything?

I have a long (very long) drive coming up, and if I can spend any of it pretending to be even remotely productive that'd be a win.

I'd narrow it down further but that's probably already narrow enough haha

Not joking, "The Accounting Podcast."

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PatMarshall
Apr 6, 2009

Business books on audible are also fun, smartest guys in the room and barbarians at the gate are fun listens. Also bad blood, on theranos.

Annointed
Mar 2, 2013

Getting concerned boss wants to see if I can cut costs. Mate I already do collections if you want me to fo analysis O think I need more money.

Zarin
Nov 11, 2008

I SEE YOU
Quote is not edit.

My correct edit is below this post, and I'm lazy.

Oops.

Zarin
Nov 11, 2008

I SEE YOU

Zarin posted:

Bosses want lots of things.

Sometimes, if you try really hard to act like you didn't hear them and then forget about the request . . . it just goes away~

Magic!

Sometimes this doesn't work, though, sadly. The key to a successful career is learning the difference and picking the correct option more often than not, heh

Annointed
Mar 2, 2013


Yeah I'll hope he forgets that because look, I already do collections and accounts receivables. I don't need to do accounts payable and material analysis on a 22.50 usd on a southern californian budget.

Covok
May 27, 2013

Yet where is that woman now? Tell me, in what heave does she reside? None of them. Because no God bothered to listen or care. If that is what you think it means to be a God, then you and all your teachings are welcome to do as that poor women did. And vanish from these realms forever.

Smif-N-Wessun posted:

How's the job market for you guys currently? And which market are you looking in?

Currently in NYC, there's a hell of a lot of undesirable jobs in industry to be honest.

Lots of below market salary for the role listings, half of them can't even match my salary.

Big red flags during the interview such as understaffing, 4-5 days a week in office required, long hours, etc.

Also I don't know if it's my luck, but it seems almost every other place I interview at seems like a dumpster fire.

My current job isn't the best, but I'm already familiar with it. Why would I leave a dumpster fire for another one?

What's happening is that interest rates went up in 2023. As a result, a lot of companies want to "cut the fat" and accounting is always considered a cost center because it doesn't directly generate money. A lot of accountants keep bouncing for remote gigs or just bounce the industry all together. My boss got so fed up and was old enough to just retire than deal with things any longer. Right now, turnover is wild across the entire industry. People are jumping ship and thus eating up a lot of jobs while the number of jobs are going down because budgets are tightening. Like, for example, they are trying to eliminate my boss' position instead of getting a new one. We will see how long that lasts.

Since accountants tend to just bend over, it makes them easier to overwork, but that hasn't really worked in recent years so there is a lot of deathspirals in industry accounting as people jump ship and don't get replaced. It isn't sustainable. It's an overreaction to the big increase in salaries in 2021-2023 especially now that interest rates went up. It won't last. It doesn't help some people legit think AI will replace accountants. It creates the belief on both sides we are getting replaced which lowers supply and demand. AI is nowhere near to even replace a junior accountant so it won't last.

Just look at Lyft. Their stock went through the floor because of a minor accounting mistake that made it to the presentation that absolutely would normally get caught if they had a proper staff. Give a few more high profile gaffs, which are inevitable, and people will reconsider cutting accounting endlessly. It's like anything else: if they think they can get away with it and make money, they will, until loving around meets finding out.

Annointed
Mar 2, 2013

I asked for dual monitors
They gave me one that isn't compatible with the other monitor.
I ask for the other of the same monitor so I can have dual screens
Weeks later they figured out the monitor is a tv/monitor that does not support dual screens.
I now have to wait again to see if said tv can be returned so I can actually have dual monitors so I can do my god drat job.

It has been 4 months. Why is it taking so long for one simple request to be completed?

Zarin
Nov 11, 2008

I SEE YOU

Annointed posted:

It has been 4 months. Why is it taking so long for one simple request to be completed?

How big is the company? That's almost speedy for a couple places I worked. :v:

On the bright side, it doesn't sound like your boss is completely perplexed by the fact you want two monitors, so you have that going for you haha. The boss I had for my first "professional" role refused to put in for a second monitor for me, so I bought the cheapest 1080p I could find at Best Buy. (I'm not suggesting that you actually do this)

If you're going for dual 1080p, it might almost be faster to find someone giving one away for free on Craigslist/FB Marketplace heh.

Because of that previous experience, when I took this current role I had "dual 4k monitors" bullet-pointed as a condition of employment in my offer letter next to my salary, signing bonus, benefits, and other official stuff.

Smif-N-Wessun
Jan 18, 2009

P.U.S.H.

Covok posted:

What's happening is that interest rates went up in 2023. As a result, a lot of companies want to "cut the fat" and accounting is always considered a cost center because it doesn't directly generate money. A lot of accountants keep bouncing for remote gigs or just bounce the industry all together. My boss got so fed up and was old enough to just retire than deal with things any longer. Right now, turnover is wild across the entire industry. People are jumping ship and thus eating up a lot of jobs while the number of jobs are going down because budgets are tightening. Like, for example, they are trying to eliminate my boss' position instead of getting a new one. We will see how long that lasts.

Since accountants tend to just bend over, it makes them easier to overwork, but that hasn't really worked in recent years so there is a lot of deathspirals in industry accounting as people jump ship and don't get replaced. It isn't sustainable. It's an overreaction to the big increase in salaries in 2021-2023 especially now that interest rates went up. It won't last. It doesn't help some people legit think AI will replace accountants. It creates the belief on both sides we are getting replaced which lowers supply and demand. AI is nowhere near to even replace a junior accountant so it won't last.

Just look at Lyft. Their stock went through the floor because of a minor accounting mistake that made it to the presentation that absolutely would normally get caught if they had a proper staff. Give a few more high profile gaffs, which are inevitable, and people will reconsider cutting accounting endlessly. It's like anything else: if they think they can get away with it and make money, they will, until loving around meets finding out.

I agree with you on every point you've made. I've experienced the death spiral myself in more than 1 organization.

One of the companies I worked for just collapsed during covid, another company's department collapsed after I left, and then the current job now is the most unstable situation I've ever been in. But none of the places I'm interviewing seem to have stable environments at all. When I was in person for some of the interviews, you can tell a lot from seeing the look on the staffs' faces. Everyone has this dead look that's unusual for even accounting departments.

Even in my job now, its a revolving door in not just accounting, but all of the departments. We hire staff and they only last 3-4 months each time because the job can get demanding and obnoxious.

All of this confirms what you're reflecting on. My question is, how do we get through this if we have a long career left ahead of us? :(

Zarin
Nov 11, 2008

I SEE YOU

Smif-N-Wessun posted:

My question is, how do we get through this if we have a long career left ahead of us? :(

To quote the prophet Charlie Berens: "Keep 'er movin' "

That is to say, you're not at a company forever. When looking elsewhere, don't apply for the role that you're currently in; you've already had that experience. Apply for the role that would be a promotion if your company was sane (they're not) and wanted to develop you (they don't).

I'm not gonna say it's not stressful, but it seems to work.

Annointed
Mar 2, 2013

It just seems like there isn't a single company out there that wants me to actually stay there long enough to retire.

Zarin
Nov 11, 2008

I SEE YOU

Annointed posted:

It just seems like there isn't a single company out there that wants me to actually stay there long enough to retire.

On the contrary: there are lots of them!

Almost all of them, in fact!

The real question is if they're willing to PAY you in a manner that reflects that.

Of course they're not; that sounds expensive

Tony quidprano
Jan 19, 2014



Companies are gonna say a lot of things about how they value your loyalty or development or whatever. actually getting them to follow through on that is a whole other task.

I get emails almost monthly about how much my company values my development. Because I don't live in Ontario or Quebec our company's CPA coordinator straight up told me I'm not her responsibility and best of luck with doing the CPA on my own lol

Nea
Feb 28, 2014

Funny Little Guy Aficionado.
i managed to land a good job in tax prep and while i'm sure it's going to be a nightmare in a few weeks as stuff continues to pile further and further up...

I'm mostly anxious because like, my boss respects my time. And gives me good feedback. And makes sure to note when i've improved on something. And I like my coworkers. And overall this is the first job i've had where i don't feel exploited in my entire life. i'm being paid 25/hr, which isn't the best, but is 9 bucks an hour more than i've ever been paid for a job before.

Tax season is over in april! I have to roll the dice again and i don't think i'm going to get this lucky again! I do'nt want to go back to job searching, i found one good one and i feel like i'm going to be miserable at the next one.

Mush Mushi
Sep 9, 2007
Do you know for sure that it’s a seasonal role? Do they do any bookkeeping or other work year round or only a tax shop? Unless you’ve been gunning for the CPA and a specific type of role for the past 4 years, just learn as much as you can and get a good reference out of it if nothing else. For what it’s worth I started out in international tax and I do have some regrets about not getting a wide variety of generalist experience early in my career.

Try not to sweat it too much. The vast majority of people I’ve worked with in tax were nothing but supportive. Of course, there will be exceptions but they are just that. It’s the on call nature of client work and / or a loss of interest in the subject that generally weeds people out.

Smif-N-Wessun
Jan 18, 2009

P.U.S.H.

Zarin posted:

To quote the prophet Charlie Berens: "Keep 'er movin' "

That is to say, you're not at a company forever. When looking elsewhere, don't apply for the role that you're currently in; you've already had that experience. Apply for the role that would be a promotion if your company was sane (they're not) and wanted to develop you (they don't).

I'm not gonna say it's not stressful, but it seems to work.

So people apply out for promotions often right and its one of the main reasons that people leave?

Such as to staff to senior, senior to manager, senior manager to director, etc?

I'm about to do that myself, but how do you sell it during the interview? I could see some people being hard asses about it, but I suppose I just answered my own question. You sell yourself by being logical and stating facts that show you already have the experience, and if someone is a dickhead I assume you wouldn't want to work for them anyways.

Nea
Feb 28, 2014

Funny Little Guy Aficionado.

Mush Mushi posted:

Do you know for sure that it’s a seasonal role? Do they do any bookkeeping or other work year round or only a tax shop? Unless you’ve been gunning for the CPA and a specific type of role for the past 4 years, just learn as much as you can and get a good reference out of it if nothing else. For what it’s worth I started out in international tax and I do have some regrets about not getting a wide variety of generalist experience early in my career.

Try not to sweat it too much. The vast majority of people I’ve worked with in tax were nothing but supportive. Of course, there will be exceptions but they are just that. It’s the on call nature of client work and / or a loss of interest in the subject that generally weeds people out.

Yeah. it's a small, local firm with 9 or so employees that primarily does individual tax, with only a few people working on estates/trusts/corps/ect. There's some bookkeeping, but it's all done by the current bookkeeper and they're not looking to take on more at this time. I'm extremely not gunning for the CPA and i'm hoping that good reference will work out, yeah.

unless there's a ridiculous amount of extensions this year it's probably part time starting in may.

Though, for what it's worth I told my boss 'hey, i'm going to need to start looking for jobs soon, but i'll be here at least through the 15th' and he asked me if i'd be interested in staying on a while longer, which i think is a pretty good sign.

Ranger Vick
Dec 30, 2005

Smif-N-Wessun posted:

So people apply out for promotions often right and its one of the main reasons that people leave?

Such as to staff to senior, senior to manager, senior manager to director, etc?

I'm about to do that myself, but how do you sell it during the interview? I could see some people being hard asses about it, but I suppose I just answered my own question. You sell yourself by being logical and stating facts that show you already have the experience, and if someone is a dickhead I assume you wouldn't want to work for them anyways.

I’m in Internal Audit so ymmv, but in my job switch getting from senior auditor to manager I emphasized the activities I had done as a senior that were management stuff they were looking for (leading projects, evaluating staff, reviewing work, doing the annual risk assessment and internal QA review, etc.). Even if you haven’t had the title, there’s probably stuff you’ve done that comes pretty close.

With that said, I ended up finalist a lot being beat out by people who had the manager title before. Frustrating but it worked eventually.

Kilbas
Feb 1, 2011

Just started a new job as an Accounting Manager and the person who was supposed to train me quit on my third day with less than 30 minutes of ‘training’ under my belt just days before deadlines. Took a look at her old work and it’s so poor it’s indistinguishable from sabotage. Extremely tempted to cut my losses and quit, this seems like about the biggest red flag possible.

mojo1701a
Oct 9, 2008

Oh, yeah. Loud and clear. Emphasis on LOUD!
~ David Lee Roth

I'm doing a lot more management stuff at this new office, which means I was the one making sure all of our various T-slips (employment, investment income, etc.) were filed by yesterday's deadline.

Even on the deadline, I had to email my boss "Hey, this company we do payroll for has employees with no address or SIN on their slip. We kinda need those to file". It's one thing if the client is late with info that has missing information, but if we're the ones doing payroll, we need to actually make sure that we have proper payroll information because it makes us look bad.

He's too used to keeping high-level stuff to himself and not really putting in effort to make sure that the other staff members know their roles and responsibilities. I'm working on files that were done last year that are half-finished with financial statements that don't look right in terms of presentation, and he's asking me not to spend too much time on this stuff.

I got my bonus a week ago, and after the chat with him I'm convinced that he thinks I'm going to be sticking around long-term.

Annointed
Mar 2, 2013

Bad news
Got Maxxed out storage space for company data
Second time in a month with people car crashing into me, now have two instances of whiplash and spinal cord damage
Schedule Software now limits to only data ranges of once a week

Good news
Dual monitor setup finally done
Got birthday bonus
Getting x rays for my back today

Democratic Pirate
Feb 17, 2010

Annointed posted:

Bad news
Got Maxxed out storage space for company data
Second time in a month with people car crashing into me, now have two instances of whiplash and spinal cord damage

Getting x rays for my back today

drat you must be super aggressive with the late payment notices :haw:




/s that sucks, sorry to hear that.

Annointed
Mar 2, 2013

Democratic Pirate posted:

drat you must be super aggressive with the late payment notices :haw:




/s that sucks, sorry to hear that.

Thanks for condolences. Just trying to take things as low energy as possible to avoid aggravating injuries.

abelwingnut
Dec 23, 2002


goal: to see if i need an accountant. if so, how to find the best one.

context: i am not an accountant. i am not a business owner. i do not have a stock portfolio outside of how my 403(b) is invested. my wife and i do not have a kid. i am not a homeowner.

i do not believe i am a complicated taxpayer in the grand scheme of things.

moreover, i've used an accountant since 2016 and it seems to have worked out well. however, in the summer of 2022 i moved to a new state and got a second job. in december 2022, i got married. in april 2023, my wife quit her job and decided to start working again only a month ago.

so things have changed, and i just want to reevaluate.
 
two questions:

a) should i be looking for an accountant in my new state? for context, my two, full-time, remote jobs are in nyc and ca, but i live in az. my current accountant is in nyc. they charge $600 to handle my taxes each year. i like them and they have all of my records, but am willing to move if this relationship no longer makes financial sense for me.

b) should i file separately or should we file jointly? i've seen differing advice here. in all, i make ~$274k/yr, whereas she was making $90k/yr before she left in april 2023. now, she's basically just doing a side-gig at $35/hr.

any help is greatly appreciated! thanks in advance!

Democratic Pirate
Feb 17, 2010

Got to use a fun line at work yesterday.

“Heyyyy aren’t you a CPA? Do you like taxes? My friend is looking for business filing help.”

“I am happy to look at your friend’s situation. Will it be right? Probably not. Will they get money back? Doubtful. Have I looked at a tax return since taking REG a decade ago? Nope.”

Good Citizen
Aug 12, 2008

trump trump trump trump trump trump trump trump trump trump

Democratic Pirate posted:

Got to use a fun line at work yesterday.

“Heyyyy aren’t you a CPA? Do you like taxes? My friend is looking for business filing help.”

“I am happy to look at your friend’s situation. Will it be right? Probably not. Will they get money back? Doubtful. Have I looked at a tax return since taking REG a decade ago? Nope.”

Anytime some asks about my job these days I’m just like I’m an accountant, and no, I don’t even do my own taxes

Hellblazer187
Oct 12, 2003

abelwingnut posted:

a) should i be looking for an accountant in my new state? for context, my two, full-time, remote jobs are in nyc and ca, but i live in az. my current accountant is in nyc. they charge $600 to handle my taxes each year. i like them and they have all of my records, but am willing to move if this relationship no longer makes financial sense for me.

b) should i file separately or should we file jointly? i've seen differing advice here. in all, i make ~$274k/yr, whereas she was making $90k/yr before she left in april 2023. now, she's basically just doing a side-gig at $35/hr.


You might not need an accountant at all, but if you continue to have one I'd probably keep the NY accountant. NY state taxes are marginally more complicated than most other states, so I'd guess the NY guy could figure out your AZ resident return more easily than an AZ guy could figure out an NY non-res return. Also you've got a certain percent chance to just get a guy who doesn't know anything, or spends time on forums instead of answering client emails, or whatever, if you switch.

Your accountant should be able to quickly and easily do a report showing you the difference between MFJ and MFS as it applies to your situation. MFJ makes more sense most of the time but general advice doesn't always give the best results for specific situations. I would guess that MFJ would still make most sense for you but it's easy to check the actual numbers.

mojo1701a
Oct 9, 2008

Oh, yeah. Loud and clear. Emphasis on LOUD!
~ David Lee Roth

We had one staff member leave about a month ago, and now we're losing a second right at the beginning of tax season due to a family emergency.

Thankfully this office processes way less tax returns than my old one, and it also has the added benefit of having me in the office so I think we'll be OK. Still, it'll probably be the first tax season in a long time where I've had to put in actual overtime in a long while.

Annointed
Mar 2, 2013

Forced to leave work
Now in hospital
Can't seem to walk or stand.
Paranoid about losing my job.

Hellblazer187
Oct 12, 2003

Annointed posted:

Forced to leave work
Now in hospital
Can't seem to walk or stand.
Paranoid about losing my job.

Spine is more important than job. I am sorry you're going through this. Focus on your health. You can get new jobs but not new spines.

Epi Lepi
Oct 29, 2009

You can hear the voice
Telling you to Love
It's the voice of MK Ultra
And you're doing what it wants

mojo1701a posted:

We had one staff member leave about a month ago, and now we're losing a second right at the beginning of tax season due to a family emergency.

Thankfully this office processes way less tax returns than my old one, and it also has the added benefit of having me in the office so I think we'll be OK. Still, it'll probably be the first tax season in a long time where I've had to put in actual overtime in a long while.

Must be nice to consider this the beginning of tax season, I've been booked non stop since the last week of January.

mojo1701a
Oct 9, 2008

Oh, yeah. Loud and clear. Emphasis on LOUD!
~ David Lee Roth

Epi Lepi posted:

Must be nice to consider this the beginning of tax season, I've been booked non stop since the last week of January.

We just finished our income slips season (deadline was February 29 to file T4/T5/etc.) and our T1 income tax return filing deadline is April 30. And even then we have a lot of self-employed clients who don't have to file until June 15 (though they will still owe interest on amounts unpaid).

Even if we wanted to start filing, CRA doesn't really start accepting efile submissions until mid-late February.

Annointed
Mar 2, 2013

Neurologist said I am currently an enigma. No eta for how long i need work leave.

Ungratek
Aug 2, 2005


mojo1701a posted:

We just finished our income slips season (deadline was February 29 to file T4/T5/etc.) and our T1 income tax return filing deadline is April 30. And even then we have a lot of self-employed clients who don't have to file until June 15 (though they will still owe interest on amounts unpaid).

Even if we wanted to start filing, CRA doesn't really start accepting efile submissions until mid-late February.

Canada doesn’t seem like a real country sometimes.

Smif-N-Wessun
Jan 18, 2009

P.U.S.H.
What do you guys use to look for jobs nowadays? Specifically accounting? I'm in NYC for context.

I try to look at Linkedin and Indeed, but the vast majority of job listings are pretty trash to be honest.

Of course aside from using a network the old fashioned way. Anything else?

I need to leave my toxic job, but looking around has been discouraging to say the least.


Also, is there any resource out there for being able to listen to interviews as examples so I can get my head back in the game, its something I struggle with and I think that will help.

Smif-N-Wessun fucked around with this message at 21:12 on Mar 12, 2024

Zarin
Nov 11, 2008

I SEE YOU

Smif-N-Wessun posted:

What do you guys use to look for jobs nowadays? Specifically accounting? I'm in NYC for context.

I try to look at Linkedin and Indeed, but the vast majority of job listings are pretty trash to be honest.

Of course aside from using a network the old fashioned way. Anything else?

I need to leave my toxic job, but looking around has been discouraging to say the least.


Also, is there any resource out there for being able to listen to interviews as examples so I can get my head back in the game, its something I struggle with and I think that will help.

My last two (accounting, albeit industry) roles I got were through LinkedIn; the caveat there is that they came to me (via recruiters in my inbox).

I didn't do anything specific to make this happen, at least as far as I can tell. All I've really done is just spend some time upfront making the page look decent, get a few endorsements (a long time ago), and randomly open the app every now and then to connect with anyone I remotely might know.

I really think the connections are key; if you wanna boost it fast, search for Accounting Recruiter NYC (or something similar) and connect with all the 2nd Degree connections that present themselves until you hit the rate limiter.

Do that a couple times and you'll probably be a 1st and 2nd Level connection to like a billion recruiters, and your inbox will groan underneath the strain of 95% dogwater / 5% interesting opportunities.

Not sure if this is the BEST way to go about it, but for the cost of one or two "shotgun your resume into the void" sessions, it's probably worth it to see if something you're interested in comes to you.

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Annointed
Mar 2, 2013

Made it home after a week of hospital.

Hopefully a third car won't come my way.

Is there a way to leverage stuff like my accident into my career?

EDIT: Is there a way to ask my bosses to pay for a quikbook subscription on my laptop so I can work remotely while I recover?

Annointed fucked around with this message at 00:27 on Mar 20, 2024

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