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Mush Mushi posted:Good advice Thanks, I'll try to get in contact with recruiters. Can't hurt my chances of landing a good position.
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Aug 28, 2013 14:22
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Muffin Top posted:I realized my state has the rule where you just need 120 credits to sit and take the exam but in order to be granted your licence you need 150 credits. Is that still ok or should I be aiming at fulfilling the rest of those credits instead? Check the requirements for your state, but there's probably a time limit on how long the exam scores are good. I know Florida's rule is you have to have all your license requirements satisfied within like 36 months of passing the exam or you have to retake the whole thing. Does your state have a work experience requirement? If so you're not likely to get that without the credits you need for the license. Considering the time and money involved I'd recommend you educate yourself as much as possible on the requirements for your state.
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Sep 1, 2013 08:53
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Sausage of Power posted:Check the requirements for your state, but there's probably a time limit on how long the exam scores are good. I know Florida's rule is you have to have all your license requirements satisfied within like 36 months of passing the exam or you have to retake the whole thing. NJ has no time limit in that regard and the work experience is 1 year under a CPA. The course requirements are really strange though: http://www.njscpa.org/index/students/cpa-exam/requirements quote:If you completed your education AFTER July 1, 2000: Since I'm still in community college I'm planning on to transferring and commuting to either Rutgers Newark or Montclair State. The BSAcc program for Montclair only has 1 semester of business law (so it doesn't fit the requirements) and they don't offer gov/muni accounting. Rutgers Newark does offer 1 semester of business law but the 2nd semester is an elective coupled with a second semester of corporate finance (which means it still wont be compliant with the requirements as well). They also don't offer gov/muni accounting. Does that mean I'm SOL and will have get my MS anyway? I'm also confused with the first set of courses: Is the state board asking you to just fill in your geneds or are they specifically requesting that you need to take psych (I took sociology last year instead of psych to fill my graduation requirements), geography, fine arts, etc? I'm just asking this because I just want to see if I'm ok with just getting a BS and that's that. The worst case scenario is that I would have to shell out 16-22k extra for an MSAcc. Muffin Top fucked around with this message at 00:09 on Sep 2, 2013 |
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Sep 2, 2013 00:05
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NC has no expiration date for test scores. Passed the test almost 4 years ago and have yet to get my license because 1) none of my bosses, of which I am now on number 5, have been CPA's 2) I need 9 more credit hours and 3) even if I had my license I wouldn't get any benefit from it at my current job. NC requires 150 credit hours with specific classes entailed, as well as 1 year direct supervision under a licensed CPA or 4 years general accounting experience. I'd be hosed if I had to re-take the test because I have used almost none of the material in the last few years.
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Sep 2, 2013 02:25
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Muffin Top posted:NJ has no time limit in that regard and the work experience is 1 year under a CPA. The course requirements are really strange though: I think your best bet would be to make some calls to your state's board or CPA society. I'm assuming you've already gone over the website and haven't found an answer? Also it can't hurt to contact an accounting adviser in the college of business at your university.
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Sep 2, 2013 07:27
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Muffin Top posted:NJ has no time limit in that regard and the work experience is 1 year under a CPA. The course requirements are really strange though: Each state requires certain business classes and certain accounting classes, then on top of that requires 150 credits. I think you need to look into the requirements for your state and figure it out from there - you could very well be fine with the courses you are taking now and just have to take a few more after your degree to be compliant, then do whatever is necessary for your 150. I think to answer your question, your state board just wants you to get the required business and accounting classes - however else you get to 150 doesn't matter. Your question is kind of all over the place in that I don't really know what you have or need, but if you follow the above advice you will be fine.
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Sep 2, 2013 09:58
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Give your state board a call. Like Cyrezar, I'm in North Carolina. We have Phyllis taking care of pretty much everything, so I've called her several times with questions on requirements. It's their job to know this so just harass them till you get a response.
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Sep 2, 2013 14:20
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So on campus interviews start in about a month for the audit firms at my school and sign ups are over the next 2 weeks. Graduating with my Masters this coming spring from a school that sees heavy recruitment from Deloitte/E&Y/PwC/Grant Thornton. I think I've got the list of cities I want to end up in pretty close to set for each company but I'm not sure how to get good information about what industries each office is heavily involved with. I want to be able to say something more meaningful than "I have family in that city and I hear it's a fun town" when asked why I want to work there. You know, something like "I'm really interested in the biotech industry that the San Diego office works with". Is there any good resource for finding that info on individual offices? I'm mostly looking at Chicago/San Diego/Denver/Seattle if that helps at all.
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Sep 6, 2013 21:41
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nvm
abagofcheetos fucked around with this message at 22:08 on Sep 6, 2013 |
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Sep 6, 2013 22:04
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Good Citizen posted:So on campus interviews start in about a month for the audit firms at my school and sign ups are over the next 2 weeks. Graduating with my Masters this coming spring from a school that sees heavy recruitment from Deloitte/E&Y/PwC/Grant Thornton. I think I've got the list of cities I want to end up in pretty close to set for each company but I'm not sure how to get good information about what industries each office is heavily involved with. I want to be able to say something more meaningful than "I have family in that city and I hear it's a fun town" when asked why I want to work there. You know, something like "I'm really interested in the biotech industry that the San Diego office works with". We have a good mix of clients/industries at Deloitte in Chicago audit (all the industries on the deloitte website, minus telecom and oil and gas), but you'll most likely get pigeon-holed into one industry once you start and work on clients in that industry. As far as San Diego I hear of most energy clients and some financial services. I don't know about the other two but I know there is a small Boeing team in Seattle. For personal research you could look up the 10-K's or DEF14A's of companies and see who they are audited by since that is public information.
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Sep 7, 2013 02:55
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San Diego is biomed/biotech, some tech, some defense, and a little financial services.
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Sep 7, 2013 03:40
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You guys ready to be done with 9/15 busy season? I didn't work too much (55 hours) this past week, but I have several returns to finish this week where the client hasn't sent stuff in yet. And recruiting as well. Overall I'm enjoying my experience... sometimes the hours suck, but it makes my life outside of work more enriching. I wanna use up all my time on "me" stuff.
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Sep 9, 2013 03:36
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So after "taking a break" and working for a few years I've been back in school full-time to finish my degree. I'm hoping to get some advice on my current plan and had some other questions. After this semester I'll have 70 credits and will be transferring to a state university in the spring. So if all goes as planned I should be graduating spring of 2015, allowing me to do an internship that summer (if I can get one). After I graduate I'll be continuing with a master's in accounting program in the fall that is one year and will get me to 150 credits by spring of 2016. At what point would I start looking for jobs in public accounting? Right after I finish my masters, or should I spend that summer studying for the exam, take it, and then try to get a job? I'm just not really sure what the process is. As for some random questions: -I am in Maryland but do not want to end up living/working here. Would it be easier/better for me to transfer to a school in an area where I want to live and try to intern there? Or is it likely that if I can land a job with a big 4/national firm that I could easily transfer to a city that I actually like? -What are the GPA ranges for big 4/national firms? My GPA is pretty bad right now, 2.9 overall but it's improved a ton because I'm taking school seriously for the first time. Over the last 30 credits my GPA was 3.8 and hopefully I can finish school with something in the range of 3.3-3.6. -Will my office job be of any value on job applications? I've been a data analyst at the corporate office of a rather large company for 4 years now (technically I've been working for the company since I was 17 in some way or another.) It's not accounting-related but that's literally all I've been doing with my life since I first left school.
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Sep 9, 2013 15:25
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Try your best to get an internship in public accounting, and look for jobs before you take the CPA. You have some leeway there, but afaik being eligible to take the exam and having a master's is enough to get hired (as long as you actually take it when you start working.) If you get a good internship and turn that into a full time offer with the same/similar firm you could ask to start working in August/September which gives you a few months off to relax/study for the CPA/what have you. What are your grades in accounting classes? A sub 3.0 GPA isn't ideal, but if you can get it up to 3.3 and show you've been acing your accounting classes then it doesn't look as bad. I know most Big 4 firms at my school weigh the intermediate accounting class grade pretty heavily.
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Sep 9, 2013 22:40
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I don't know about the university you're going to, but so far both that I went to never took transfer classes into your GPA.
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Sep 9, 2013 22:46
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Harry posted:I don't know about the university you're going to, but so far both that I went to never took transfer classes into your GPA. Yeah, when I first transferred into the community college the courses just show up as transferred in without any effect on my GPA. But when looking for internships/employments won't they ask for transcripts from each school? Democratic Pirate posted:Try your best to get an internship in public accounting, and look for jobs before you take the CPA. You have some leeway there, but afaik being eligible to take the exam and having a master's is enough to get hired (as long as you actually take it when you start working.) If you get a good internship and turn that into a full time offer with the same/similar firm you could ask to start working in August/September which gives you a few months off to relax/study for the CPA/what have you. Thanks for the info - so it looks like trying to find an internship between graduating and starting my master's program will work out. As for the GPA, it's actually much higher just looking at accounting courses. My accounting-only GPA is 3.8 but only out of like 18 credits. It was loving around and not taking poo poo seriously in all my gen ed courses that brought my overall GPA down so much. After this semester I should have a 3.1 and then I still have another 50 credits or so to hopefully bring it up even more.
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Sep 9, 2013 22:56
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I'm looking for a junior position at a CPA firm right now and feeling a bit lost. I'm familiar with a few regional firms I'm going to send resumes to, but it feels like maybe I'm going about it the wrong way. I'm worried this recruiting season is going to get away from me fast if I don't come up with a strategy immediately. I'm a career changer, with a degree not remotely related to accounting. I'm now eligible to sit the exams and my grades in accounting subjects are excellent. I have a year and a half experience on staff at a small company. Being that my degree was years ago, and I have been taking my accounting courses piecemeal through community colleges, I have not had the opportunity to meet any firms at career fairs or recruiting events. Unfortunately at least one firm I am interested in, Grant Thornton, seems to exclusively accept resumes through these kinds of events. It has been recommended to me to get a list of all the firms in my county (1400!) from Dunn & Bradstreet and blast my resume. That would cost about $500 and sounds like a very inefficient use of time and funds. I'd really appreciate any advice or direction.
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Sep 12, 2013 06:46
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You could apply for tax internships at local firms now. e: is it me or is Quickbooks 2014's major selling point is that the sidebar is now blue instead of gray?
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Sep 12, 2013 19:08
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I would like to say that I recently started a job as a consultant, and for that I have to go through some accountancy training. I have spent all day trying to figure out the difference between the day books and control accounts and suspense accounts and where to put discounts allowed, and it has been a loving nightmare.
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Sep 12, 2013 19:32
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Mandalay posted:e: is it me or is Quickbooks 2014's major selling point is that the sidebar is now blue instead of gray? Isn't that pretty much the selling point for any new edition of QuickBooks? My company still uses the 2010 edition and from what I've seen, the last three years haven't really changed anything of significance.
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Sep 12, 2013 20:25
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Mandalay posted:You could apply for tax internships at local firms now. I don't think that gets me where I'm trying to go, and I'm interested in accounting and assurance more than tax.
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Sep 12, 2013 20:52
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Lemmi Caution posted:I'm looking for a junior position at a CPA firm right now and feeling a bit lost. I'm familiar with a few regional firms I'm going to send resumes to, but it feels like maybe I'm going about it the wrong way. I'm worried this recruiting season is going to get away from me fast if I don't come up with a strategy immediately. Do not resume blast. As someone currently going through CPA firm recruiting I can tell you all of those firms require not just resumes but also transcripts, personalized cover letters, and a separate application through whatever web service they use. Your resume would go straight into the trash at any firm you'd want to work for. I realize you graduated a long time ago for your original degree but can you talk to their career services people? A lot of schools allow you to use their career services well past graduation. And definitely get on it ASAP. Our on campus interviews are less than a month away and the cutoff for sign ups is within the next week.
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Sep 12, 2013 21:07
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Lemmi Caution posted:I'm looking for a junior position at a CPA firm right now and feeling a bit lost. I'm familiar with a few regional firms I'm going to send resumes to, but it feels like maybe I'm going about it the wrong way. I'm worried this recruiting season is going to get away from me fast if I don't come up with a strategy immediately. Don't be afraid to go the industry route if things don't work out with a CPA firm. Larger companies will most likely be able to help you with your CPA, while smaller companies may not be able to offer it. I went straight into industry and have no regrets. I've mentioned it before in this thread, and maybe I'm the exception and not the example, but I work much less hours (35-45 hour work week salary  ) than my CPA firm counterparts while only making slightly less (if not less at all) money. (Around 10-20%). I will probably have some additional struggles looking for a job in the 5-7 year phase due to a lot of companies looking for CPA and/or "Big 4" experience, but the company I'm working for is helping me get both my CMA and MBA. Just a thought.
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Sep 12, 2013 22:54
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I went that route and have been doing some light interviewing, and one problem you'll run into is that people will think you're a subhuman moron if you didn't work for a big 4. Asking questions like how do you book an expense or what happens to Net Income at the end of the year.
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Sep 12, 2013 23:05
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Harry posted:I went that route and have been doing some light interviewing, and one problem you'll run into is that people will think you're a subhuman moron if you didn't work for a big 4. Asking questions like how do you book an expense or what happens to Net Income at the end of the year. I've done some interviewing as well(I'm hitting year 2 at the moment), and have yet to run into this problem yet (them thinking I'm a subhuman moron). To my understanding there are always going to be some screening questions that they ask to make sure you didn't just slide by. I have had several places basically just ask what I do month to month and I talk about the various entries I'm responsible for, and they don't get into details. Other times I talk about the entries that I'm responsible for and they ask for the details (what's the debit what's the credit). I don't have a perspective outside of industry side interview though, so maybe you're right and they only ask that to individuals who are industry side.
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Sep 13, 2013 00:23
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I'm not averse to working in industry, but I really would like to get public accounting experience. I plan to work internationally in the long term, and I believe experience in audit will be an asset. I may end up in industry eventually, but I want to keep as many doors open as possible, and at this point doing a standard entry level position at a CPA firm doing client engagements seems to be the experience I want. I'm gonna keep plowing ahead. At the beginning of last year I was in this thread asking the very basic questions and I've already reached this point. I'm just worried I'll end up treading water for a year if I miss the boat this time. If anyone has any recommendations for the Orange County, CA area I will definitely follow up on them.
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Sep 13, 2013 05:28
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So, it looks like I'm a Fed Gov Grad Accountant with the Aussie Tax Office now. The salary is higher than what the big 4 offers (in this state), the superannuation contribution is higher, the perks are more competitive, and from what I gather the hours aren't nearly as horrible as the big 4. I think I got in due to some pretty good testing results as well as a great reference from a manager within the ATO. They're not lying when they say it really is who you know. To put it into perspective, they had between 6000-8000 applicants, cut it down to 800-900 for interviews, and hired 240 from that lot. God drat. E: The position starts in Feb.
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Sep 13, 2013 05:57
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I also went the industry route as my state allows industry work under licensed CPAs for the work experience requirement. I just need to pass the exam and complete my last couple requirements and I'll have my license. For me the industry route paid better and I learned much more, although the hours still sucked. I've dealt with several folks coming highly recommended out of big public accounting firms that barely know basic poo poo like their debits and credits. As far as client engagements goes, the biggest thing with this in my experience is that it's a great networking opportunity for when you eventually want to get out of public accounting. Often the contacts you make through clients will land you a much better position than gets put on a job posting. My old company hired several people through contacts with the firm that audited them without ever putting up a job posting. Simple stuff like proving you can converse and think like a normal person and not a robot can impress some industry folks. As with most things it all depends on what you'd like to do for your career. If you have to have public accounting to get your CPA, than suck it up and do your time in a firm. It is amazing to me how many people I run into with a Masters of Accounting that don't have their CPA. It's an investment that really pays dividends.
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Sep 13, 2013 06:28
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Well after six months of searching, I haven't landed an accounting job. I've decided to step up my game (it takes me a while), which includes actually taking advantage of this thread and others as opposed to wasting my time in the Let's Play or PYF forums. Looking for a position in the Chicago area, either public or industry.
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Sep 18, 2013 03:08
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What level of firms are you looking at (Big 4, regional, local)? How are you getting in touch with recruiters, and how strong is your pitch? The fact that you have your CPA done should mean you're an instant interview in most places. I just did recruiting for my firm and anyone who passed sections of the CPA was strongly considered.
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Sep 18, 2013 05:21
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Audax posted:What level of firms are you looking at (Big 4, regional, local)? How are you getting in touch with recruiters, and how strong is your pitch? The fact that you have your CPA done should mean you're an instant interview in most places. I just did recruiting for my firm and anyone who passed sections of the CPA was strongly considered. I'm open to any size firm. I've contacted a bunch of recruiters at the start of my search, but though I met with them nothing materialized further. I've had interviews, but as I said, no luck in getting an offer. If you have suggestions on resources I can use to get interviews, I'd be really appreciative.
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Sep 18, 2013 05:38
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http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3547149&pagenumber=5 Go post in there [you may have - I didn't check] and see if any problems pop up with your pitch. CPA is good, but if you go with Big 4 I can see them being hesitant about your age. You've been out of college since 05, which means you'd be a first year associate working under Seniors and Managers younger than you which has some potential for awkwardness.
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Sep 18, 2013 06:04
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SirPhoebos posted:I'm open to any size firm. I've contacted a bunch of recruiters at the start of my search, but though I met with them nothing materialized further. I've had interviews, but as I said, no luck in getting an offer. Do you actually have an accounting degree? Or did you just pass the required classes for the CPA and take the exam? Sorry didn't see this clearly from your posts.
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Sep 19, 2013 23:58
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Sausage of Power posted:Do you actually have an accounting degree? Or did you just pass the required classes for the CPA and take the exam? I don't have an accounting degree. I decided to pursue accounting after graduating with a political science degree and having no clue what to do with my life. So I took a bunch of night classes in order to sit for the CPA exams.
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Sep 20, 2013 00:57
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Has any of the recruiters given you a reason for why they weren't selecting you? In my experience most CPA firms don't want to even talk to candidates unless they have their accounting degree and a good GPA. How many more classes do you need for your degree?
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Sep 20, 2013 03:36
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Sausage of Power posted:Has any of the recruiters given you a reason for why they weren't selecting you? It sounds like SirPhoebos is doing what I'm doing, which is taking the equivalent of an accounting major a la carte at community colleges in order to qualify for the CPA exams. There will be no second degree. From what I've heard, it's emphasizing the CPA exam eligibility that is important for both those with and without accounting degrees.
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Sep 20, 2013 04:00
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Lemmi Caution posted:It sounds like SirPhoebos is doing what I'm doing, which is taking the equivalent of an accounting major a la carte at community colleges in order to qualify for the CPA exams. There will be no second degree. From what I've heard, it's emphasizing the CPA exam eligibility that is important for both those with and without accounting degrees. Bingo. I passed the CPA exams. All I'm missing is the actual license, which requires work experience. I've started asking interviewers why I was passed over the last few times I was turned down. The primary answer I've been getting is the lack of work experience. EDIT: Specifically, I took the classes to sit for the CPA exams at Northwestern School of Continuing Studies. Due to some university politics between the Undergraduate and Business schools, there was no Bachelors of Accounting degree I could have obtained. EDIT2: One option that I'm considering is expanding my job search to out-of-state. I got my CPA certification in Illinois. Could I, say, get my CPA license from Illinois working at a CPA firm in Indiana or Wisconsin? How would this exactly work? SirPhoebos fucked around with this message at 20:12 on Sep 22, 2013 |
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Sep 22, 2013 19:40
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SirPhoebos posted:
You have to get licensed in those states, but that's not hard to do. You can have the ILBOE send your scores to Indiana and/or Wisconsin and fill out the application for licensure in those states. Until that happens, if you do mention that you are a CPA, you have to note that you're licensed in Illinois only.
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Sep 22, 2013 20:43
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Is anything stopping you from being licensed as a CPA in Colorado, which IIRC requires no work experience?
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Sep 23, 2013 01:33
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Work experience alone cannot be it. Accounting firms every year hire thousands of 21-22 year old idiots with zero accounting experience/work experience period, and often not even the CPA exam passed. The firms expect that you are going to get that required with experience with them. Have you had any interview coaching, or similar? If you are getting interviews and not going any further, something is up.
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Sep 23, 2013 03:13
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