|
accountemps.com?
|
#
?
Sep 27, 2011 18:14
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 10, 2024 18:06 |
|
|
Moneyball posted:accountemps.com? e: derp derp derp same company. Arnold of Soissons fucked around with this message at 00:23 on Sep 28, 2011 |
|
#
?
Sep 28, 2011 00:18
|
|
|
Anyone write the 2011 UFE? General thoughts? From Eastern Canada the majority of people I have spoken to have found it difficult, wondering what others around the country maybe think? I can barely remember the questions now but remember struggling on day 3 sim 3 because they brought out beers and wine to celebrate and I couldn't take my eyes off of them...
|
|
#
?
Sep 28, 2011 00:27
|
|
|
any good rage filled accounting posts about how much it sucks so I can send it to a few accounting buddies who already hate the classes a bit?
|
|
#
?
Sep 30, 2011 01:53
|
|
|
We took over a property about 2 weeks ago and I have been asking the previous management company for their ending trial balance, and ytd income statement. I finally got them today (as if they had to do any real amount of work on them), and the trial balance was off by 2 million dollars and showed there was never any RE at any point. 10 minute later, I get a call from the owner saying he needs some current financial statements for a refinance he's been working on. Who the gently caress switches management companies during a god drat refinance? Also, a district manager wanted to reclass a whole years worth of water heater purchases to unit upgrades. Like, what the hell?
|
|
#
?
Oct 1, 2011 00:40
|
|
|
Harry posted:We took over a property about 2 weeks ago and I have been asking the previous management company for their ending trial balance, and ytd income statement. I finally got them today (as if they had to do any real amount of work on them), and the trial balance was off by 2 million dollars and showed there was never any RE at any point. 10 minute later, I get a call from the owner saying he needs some current financial statements for a refinance he's been working on. Who the gently caress switches management companies during a god drat refinance? This sounds like a pretty interesting situation. I agree it is strange to switch management companies in the middle of a refinance, and that fact plus the TB being off by so much would make me a bit suspicious. Whatever bank or company he is working with in this refinancing deal will also probably be a bit suspicious, and whether he switched or not I can't imagine any situation where they wouldn't want audited financials before moving forward. In terms of that reclass, what's the deal with that? Is he trying to move it from fixed asset additions to capital improvements, or from fixed asset additions to repairs and maintenance?
|
|
#
?
Oct 1, 2011 04:00
|
|
|
hellboundburrito posted:This sounds like a pretty interesting situation. I agree it is strange to switch management companies in the middle of a refinance, and that fact plus the TB being off by so much would make me a bit suspicious. Whatever bank or company he is working with in this refinancing deal will also probably be a bit suspicious, and whether he switched or not I can't imagine any situation where they wouldn't want audited financials before moving forward. This is mainly dealing with expenses. Due to the way this company setup (and most apartment management companies are this way), you have someone on site that collects the bills. Being property managers and not accountants, they're like "durr let's put this ceiling fan under expense code 45623 (water heaters)" when there's a nice expense code 45324 for ceiling fans. So at the month end close, the district/regional managers go through and are like "this needs to be moved here" and you plug in the JE. Unfortunately, district managers are not accountants also, so they come up with some pretty stupid poo poo as well. This example I gave, she probably just wasn't paying attention at all to what she highlighted. For the financials and the refinance, the TB is probably off because someone from the old management company just wasn't paying attention as well. In the property management business, a lot of the staff accountants don't really have a degree in accounting. Instead, they just worked their ways up from leasing agent and have proven themselves not to be a thief or crazy (there's more to it of course, that was just partially a joke). I also think they switched accounting software midway in April. But yeah, there's some pretty shady owners that ask for some peculiar things. While I'm talking about this, never ever pay your rent/security deposit with a money order. Harry fucked around with this message at 04:19 on Oct 1, 2011 |
|
#
?
Oct 1, 2011 04:17
|
|
|
I just worked my way up from leasing agent. Well actually, management changed and they said, "okay you learn how to do this accounting software and we'll pay you more. Go." So I was in over my head for a bit. For a while I was just posting poo poo to whatever seemed close like Harry said. Industry accountants are often people that were just told to use this software etc.... figure it out and go which isn't always the best, but saves on employment and if you have someone with a decent head on their shoulders they will eventually figure it out as long as you give them feedback. But you're gonna have some lovely statements for a while.
|
|
#
?
Oct 1, 2011 18:52
|
|
|
shizen posted:any good rage filled accounting posts about how much it sucks so I can send it to a few accounting buddies who already hate the classes a bit? I don't feel like my accounting classes were anything like my day to day work as a CPA. That said just get them to read any big4 testimonials as a start.
|
|
#
?
Oct 3, 2011 00:46
|
|
|
shizen posted:any good rage filled accounting posts about how much it sucks so I can send it to a few accounting buddies who already hate the classes a bit? Head over to the "TPS Reports/Office Rage" thread in PYF. It basically contains everything I hate about my job. My job is fun, it's the life of an office drone that makes it terrible. In short: when I wrote software to perform our data entry automatically it was scrapped and explained to me that "we don't wanna put anyone out of a job." I guess the 40hrs a week thing is hardwired into humans or something and we can never ever get away from it for fear of heresy.
|
|
#
?
Oct 3, 2011 20:11
|
|
|
19 o'clock posted:In short: when I wrote software to perform our data entry automatically it was scrapped and explained to me that "we don't wanna put anyone out of a job." I guess the 40hrs a week thing is hardwired into humans or something and we can never ever get away from it for fear of heresy. Uh, so what? If the management didn't want to fire someone or significantly reduce their hours what's the matter?
|
|
#
?
Oct 3, 2011 23:31
|
|
|
Harry posted:Uh, so what? If the management didn't want to fire someone or significantly reduce their hours what's the matter? I think they were referring more to the reduction in hours to me and some of my staff. I'm a fan of getting paid the same even if you get the job done quicker, but there is a big 40-hours-a-week thing going on that I have yet to knock over. This is more of a complaint against all office jobs in general.
|
|
#
?
Oct 5, 2011 04:12
|
|
|
I'm going to be attending my state society's Career Night this coming Thursday. So far, I've passed 2 out of 4 of the CPA exams. Do you think I'd get any callbacks? Does anyone have any tips or comments for me about attending this career night? I was just going to be as social as possible.
|
|
#
?
Oct 5, 2011 08:06
|
|
|
I'm not sure if this qualifies as a question for the accounting career thread, but here goes: I have an Associate's of Applied Science in Accounting and a Bachelor's in English, and for about two years I've been looking for a job pertaining to either (the outcome, as it turns out, is grim at best). Recently I found an ad about becoming a tax preparer with Jackson Hewitt, and they charge $60 for the classes (they hire based on performance in the classes). I really want to find something full-time because I have loads of student loans to start paying back as soon as I find work, but being a tax preparer is seasonal only. Is there any way that this could lead to full-time work, or is it just seasonal? And has anyone done this and if so, what's it like?
|
|
#
?
Oct 10, 2011 18:36
|
|
|
CVagts posted:Recently I found an ad about becoming a tax preparer with Jackson Hewitt Please don't become a Jackson Hewitt tax preparer if you can avoid it. At the risk of offending anyone in this thread who work for that organization: every Jackson Hewitt preparer I've met has been an incompetent dolt who was interested in making money over doing their job correctly. It's like a running theme in the company to take ridiculous tax positions in pursuit of boosting profit. The fact that you have any accounting background puts you way above and beyond that type of sweatshop tax work. I apologize if my opinions are off. It is my sole experience that tells me this about the fools at my local Jackson Hewitt office.
|
|
#
?
Oct 12, 2011 16:14
|
|
|
quote:Please don't become a Jackson Hewitt tax preparer if you can avoid it. At the risk of offending anyone in this thread who work for that organization: every Jackson Hewitt preparer I've met has been an incompetent dolt who was interested in making money over doing their job correctly. It's like a running theme in the company to take ridiculous tax positions in pursuit of boosting profit. The fact that you have any accounting background puts you way above and beyond that type of sweatshop tax work. Only thing I can add to this is that HR Block is just as bad. Working at Jackson Hewitt won't lead to a full time position, nor would you want it to.
|
|
#
?
Oct 12, 2011 16:24
|
|
|
rentilius posted:I'm going to be attending my state society's Career Night this coming Thursday. So far, I've passed 2 out of 4 of the CPA exams. Do you think I'd get any callbacks? Does anyone have any tips or comments for me about attending this career night? I was just going to be as social as possible. Probably not, firms are hiring out of college or after you've passed the cpa exam.
|
|
#
?
Oct 12, 2011 18:59
|
|
|
Admiral101 posted:Only thing I can add to this is that HR Block is just as bad. I wanted to mention H&R Block as well, but didn't have any first hand experience. I believe that H&R Block got into some trouble with the AICPA a few times now for touting some voluminous sum of CPAs in their employ. Because it wasn't...what's the word? True? I guess they had to change a lot of what they were falsely advertising.
|
|
#
?
Oct 12, 2011 19:26
|
|
|
19 o'clock posted:Please don't become a Jackson Hewitt tax preparer if you can avoid it. At the risk of offending anyone in this thread who work for that organization: every Jackson Hewitt preparer I've met has been an incompetent dolt who was interested in making money over doing their job correctly. It's like a running theme in the company to take ridiculous tax positions in pursuit of boosting profit. The fact that you have any accounting background puts you way above and beyond that type of sweatshop tax work. I appreciate the advice. The fact that being a tax preparer wouldn't lead to a full-time position and seemed to be pretty shoddy pay led me not to do it (on top of the $60 class fee, you have to get a PTIN license, which costs an additional $60 and they MIGHT reimburse you for it).
|
|
#
?
Oct 14, 2011 23:48
|
|
|
CVagts posted:I appreciate the advice. The fact that being a tax preparer wouldn't lead to a full-time position and seemed to be pretty shoddy pay led me not to do it (on top of the $60 class fee, you have to get a PTIN license, which costs an additional $60 and they MIGHT reimburse you for it). Yeah, I try and dodge jobs that want you to pay them money. Real accounting firms shell out thousands per employee to regularly license CPA's, I'm skeptical of any firm that only "might" reimburse for a measly $60.
|
|
#
?
Oct 17, 2011 20:16
|
|
|
19 o'clock posted:Please don't become a Jackson Hewitt tax preparer if you can avoid it. At the risk of offending anyone in this thread who work for that organization: every Jackson Hewitt preparer I've met has been an incompetent dolt who was interested in making money over doing their job correctly. It's like a running theme in the company to take ridiculous tax positions in pursuit of boosting profit. The fact that you have any accounting background puts you way above and beyond that type of sweatshop tax work. As someone who worked for Jackson Hewitt for two seasons, you're 95% correct. I met so many people I wouldn't trust to operate a pair of scissors, much less file income tax returns. The only exception is that I the preparer class I took was taught by a retired Air Force Colonel who didn't tolerate any nonsense and knew his stuff, which is why I took the course with him (he went on to get his EA). The money grubbing by employees might be because at least in the offices I worked at, you were barely paid above minimum wage and made your money through a 1-5% bonus on the preparation fees you collected. I saw so much tax fraud with the Earned Income Tax Credit/Child Tax Credit I couldn't believe it. One woman who found out that the SS#s she had bought to be her "nieces" were already used responded by asking where the local IRS office was so she could report the person who sold her the numbers. My boss (guy who taught me in the class) managed to keep a straight face long enough to tell her where it was.
|
|
#
?
Oct 18, 2011 13:43
|
|
|
Anyone here studied for and passed the CPA exam while not working? I don't have much experience in the field out of school and it's been terribly difficult even landing an interview. Basically, I have two questions: 1) Has anyone here actually gotten an accounting job straight out of school with no experience? Who long did it take you? 2) Would passing the CPA exam help at all in finding a job if I still have no experience by the time I'm done? Of course I will be looking, but it's hard to get my hopes up. Also, what can I say in an interview if it comes to that? I'm guessing that saying "yeah... I was studying for the exam blah blah" is not going to impress anyone By the way, I am literally kicking myself everyday because I missed the deadline for VITA at my school my last year there. Fortunately I think I can still do it there if I pass the exam, so I will definitely try that at least
|
|
#
?
Oct 20, 2011 16:23
|
|
|
Absentlife posted:Anyone here studied for and passed the CPA exam while not working? I don't have much experience in the field out of school and it's been terribly difficult even landing an interview. Passing the exam is a big deal to many potential employers. Get it done as soon as possible. You should consider yourself lucky that you don't have to work full-time while studying.
|
|
#
?
Oct 20, 2011 23:11
|
|
|
Absentlife posted:Anyone here studied for and passed the CPA exam while not working? I don't have much experience in the field out of school and it's been terribly difficult even landing an interview. I took/passed the exam while working, but I can add some of my own insight to your questions. If you don't have a job right out of school, the next best thing you can do is study and pass the exam. When you pass and start interviewing, it will look a lot better in the eyes of potential employers if you spent your time after college studying and passing the exam as opposed to working an unrelated job or sitting on your rear end. Most people that get hired at public accounting firms (particularly the big ones) are campus recruits who have no experience or their experience is limited to an internship which is more or less just an extended interview process. I don't think many people would fault you for getting the exam done in the meantime. Put it this way - you'll be a lot more attractive to prospective employers if the exam is done, because they won't have to give you time off to study and they won't have to pay for your exams or give you a bonus for passing it (if that particular firm offers such incentives). I recommend you keep looking for a job or even an internship as a graduate (this is more common than you'd think) and in the meantime, study. Studying is a full time job in itself so it won't be a waste of time for you to do it.
|
|
#
?
Oct 21, 2011 03:07
|
|
|
hellboundburrito posted:Put it this way - you'll be a lot more attractive to prospective employers if the exam is done, because they won't have to give you time off to study and they won't have to pay for your exams or give you a bonus for passing it (if that particular firm offers such incentives). I'm pretty sure most firms give bonuses if you have it pass already. It's really worth it for them, since they know they'll have a CPA in a year.
|
|
#
?
Oct 21, 2011 03:47
|
|
|
Harry posted:I'm pretty sure most firms give bonuses if you have it pass already. It's really worth it for them, since they know they'll have a CPA in a year. This may be true, but I can't say for sure. At my firm, it sounds like if you are hired outside of the normal recruiting process (i.e. campus recruiting) you will just get a slightly higher starting salary than you would otherwise. Either way, it's still worth it.
|
|
#
?
Oct 22, 2011 07:09
|
|
|
hellboundburrito posted:I took/passed the exam while working, but I can add some of my own insight to your questions. If you don't have a job right out of school, the next best thing you can do is study and pass the exam. When you pass and start interviewing, it will look a lot better in the eyes of potential employers if you spent your time after college studying and passing the exam as opposed to working an unrelated job or sitting on your rear end. Most people that get hired at public accounting firms (particularly the big ones) are campus recruits who have no experience or their experience is limited to an internship which is more or less just an extended interview process. I don't think many people would fault you for getting the exam done in the meantime. Put it this way - you'll be a lot more attractive to prospective employers if the exam is done, because they won't have to give you time off to study and they won't have to pay for your exams or give you a bonus for passing it (if that particular firm offers such incentives). Awesome, thanks. Reason I was asking is because a few people told me that supposedly passing the exam doesn't mean poo poo if you don't have experience behind it (a few rather pessimistic people). Good to know that it counts for something by itself at least. Yeah, I'm pretty lucky that my mom is willing to tolerate me for a few more months. I know myself enough that working full time and studying for the exam is going to turn me into a anxiety ridden mess. Some people can cope with it somehow, I can't
|
|
#
?
Oct 22, 2011 14:32
|
|
|
As someone who is going to school in Southern California, is there any method to get the attention of a New York CPA firm? On-campus recruiting isn't exactly an option. Should I try peppering their websites with my resume and cover letter?
|
|
#
?
Oct 31, 2011 07:22
|
|
|
I'm in California, graduated in June with a degree in finance, and have been working part time for a local small business, basically just doing their bookkeeping in QuickBooks. I've been kicking myself for not just majoring in accounting when I had the chance, but now I plan on getting the extra accounting units I'm missing at the local community college and taking the CPA exam as soon as possible. What's the most worthwhile way I can get work experience or build connections in the meanwhile? Reztes fucked around with this message at 02:21 on Nov 1, 2011 |
|
#
?
Nov 1, 2011 02:17
|
|
|
Tiax Rules All posted:As someone who is going to school in Southern California, is there any method to get the attention of a New York CPA firm? On-campus recruiting isn't exactly an option. Should I try peppering their websites with my resume and cover letter? You can try submitting your resume through their websites, but if any of the Big 4 recruit at your school locally you can talk to them about getting an interview for one of their NY offices. I know plenty of people who went to school across the country and in other states that got jobs in my office that way. And speaking of Quickbooks, I'm in the midst of my first experience with it right now. As someone who normally audits companies with more complex accounting systems, it is making my life harder than I would have expected given its limited capabilities. That being said, maybe the person who uses it just isn't very good with it and is blaming it on the software...
|
|
#
?
Nov 1, 2011 02:37
|
|
|
Reztes posted:I'm in California, graduated in June with a degree in finance, and have been working part time for a local small business, basically just doing their bookkeeping in QuickBooks. I've been kicking myself for not just majoring in accounting when I had the chance, but now I plan on getting the extra accounting units I'm missing at the local community college and taking the CPA exam as soon as possible. Since you will be at a community college, I don't know if they will have an accounting club. If they do, join it and network your balls off. Did you get a bachelor degree? Because if you did, you can take the CPA exam now. You probably wouldn't be able to get licensed until you complete additional classes, but you can certainly sit for the exam. If you want to PM me, I could email you the PDF files that I have pertaining to both the exam and the licensing processes in the state of California since I live here, too. You also might want to check if the school from which you graduated holds a "Meet the Firms" kind of deal. I've known plenty of people who got interviews this way.
|
|
#
?
Nov 1, 2011 04:36
|
|
|
hellboundburrito posted:And speaking of Quickbooks, I'm in the midst of my first experience with it right now. As someone who normally audits companies with more complex accounting systems, it is making my life harder than I would have expected given its limited capabilities. That being said, maybe the person who uses it just isn't very good with it and is blaming it on the software...
|
|
#
?
Nov 1, 2011 05:08
|
|
|
Walk Away posted:Since you will be at a community college, I don't know if they will have an accounting club. If they do, join it and network your balls off. Did you get a bachelor degree? Because if you did, you can take the CPA exam now. You probably wouldn't be able to get licensed until you complete additional classes, but you can certainly sit for the exam. If you want to PM me, I could email you the PDF files that I have pertaining to both the exam and the licensing processes in the state of California since I live here, too. I do have my bachelor's, but the CPA applicant information from the state board of accountancy says I need to have the required 24 units of accounting completed before I can apply for the exam. Definitely planning on joining a relevant club if it exists. I was also able to join the CA Society of CPAs for free as a candidate, so I plan to network through that much as possible too.
|
|
#
?
Nov 2, 2011 05:39
|
|
|
Harry posted:It's not the most robust system ever, but the person probably doesn't know what they're doing. Fair enough. There are just certain things I expect to be simple for my staff, such as bank reconciliation testing - yet it appears to be a huge deal to find out what actual checks make up the outstanding check listing. This is the first time this particular client has ever been audited (although they are part of a larger group that my firm has audited for years) so I can appreciate their lack of preparation and understanding, but the fact that it takes our contact 3 hours to provide a real outstanding check listing (since her Quickbooks reports just aggregate amounts) is ridiculous.
|
|
#
?
Nov 2, 2011 06:15
|
|
|
Reztes posted:I do have my bachelor's, but the CPA applicant information from the state board of accountancy says I need to have the required 24 units of accounting completed before I can apply for the exam. Very true. I wish you the best of luck. When you're ready, be sure to check out the CPA Exam thread that we have going. Everyone over there has a lot of experience with the exams and are great for help and motivation.
|
|
#
?
Nov 2, 2011 15:47
|
|
|
At the end of this semester, I will have 40 credits remaining in a BS in accounting. I'm going to try to get a summer internship somewhere, and hope to get a job by January 2013. I'm not in a particularly glamorous school, but I should get some alright opportunities. Getting my CPA is a given, but I want to be as marketable as possible. I've heard that a MS in Accounting isn't rewarding enough to chase. My possibilities are: 1. Put off getting an advanced degree until I get accepted by a good MBA program like Bentley 2. Try to get into a specific, not nearly as competitive joint MBA/JD program from Fitchburg State and Massachusetts School of Law 3. Go in a different direction and pursue a MS in computer science, in an effort to be a bit more diverse, and seeing as a ton of time is spent in front of a keyboard anyway
|
|
#
?
Nov 2, 2011 16:50
|
|
|
Reztes posted:I'm in California, graduated in June with a degree in finance, and have been working part time for a local small business, basically just doing their bookkeeping in QuickBooks. I've been kicking myself for not just majoring in accounting when I had the chance, but now I plan on getting the extra accounting units I'm missing at the local community college and taking the CPA exam as soon as possible. Hah, that's cool. I'm about to finish up my 24 units here in Orange County this semester. Try networking with your community college professors--at least two have been full-time working accountants as well.
|
|
#
?
Nov 3, 2011 00:43
|
|
|
Mandalay posted:Hah, that's cool. I'm about to finish up my 24 units here in Orange County this semester. Try networking with your community college professors--at least two have been full-time working accountants as well. Oh, wow, what school? I'm in OC as well.
|
|
#
?
Nov 3, 2011 03:44
|
|
|
Another OC community college accounting goon. IVC here.
|
|
#
?
Nov 8, 2011 13:26
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 10, 2024 18:06 |
|
|
unterdude posted:Another OC community college accounting goon. IVC here. I just took Individual (206) & Corporate (207) Tax this summer. Huie is a good prof, really liked her. But as I told Reztes in a PM, I'm bouncing between colleges because they don't seem to always offer what I want to take when I want it. So I've got a few units here, a few units there...an AA doesn't really matter to me since I've got a bachelor's from Berkeley. Just need those 24 units!
|
|
#
?
Nov 8, 2011 18:16
|
|