|
Democratic Pirate posted:Edit - Score came in, got a 90 Congrats! It's (IMO) the hardest section, so you're well on your way! 
|
#
?
Feb 27, 2014 04:48
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 11, 2024 20:10 |
|
|
ThirdPartyView posted:Congrats! It's (IMO) the hardest section, so you're well on your way! Depends on whether you are more of an audit or tax guy. Reg was brutal to get through for me personally.
|
|
#
?
Feb 27, 2014 05:08
|
|
|
I have a salary / experience questions if anyone can help. The company I work for is in the smaller range $20-$50 million 75-100 employees. I work in the private sector. I am working towards and fully expect to pass my CMA by the end of the year which will put me at 3 years experience with my CMA. I have full cycle close experience (leading the close), sales/use/cat tax reporting/compliance experience, report writing experience (SQL download/Excel reporting/SSRS reporting), cost accounting experience, budget preparation/analysis experience (created a budget template from scratch that has seen it's second year of use), payroll experience (including commission and incentive based payroll calculation), and general ERP software experience (not a name brand). I was very fortunate to start at a company and have the opportunity to learn so much. However I feel that at this point I'm underpaid for everything that I'm bringing to the table. I literally run their month end close. Design, implement, revise, and repair all of their various financial and operational reports. I was the lead contact with our external auditors this year. I do all of their cost accounting mechanics. Redesigned their budget. Verify tax collection and reporting compliance across a few states. Etc. etc. etc. Is this just typical for a 2nd year accountant in the private sector? Am I not bringing as much to the table as I think I am? What is the typical expected salary for a 3rd year accounting employee with my experience in the tri-valley/greater bay area? EDIT: I should point out that I am on track to make $72,000 a year this year, but nothing is firm/finalized. Bugamol fucked around with this message at 00:17 on Feb 28, 2014 |
|
#
?
Feb 27, 2014 23:49
|
|
|
Bugamol posted:I have a salary / experience questions if anyone can help. The company I work for is in the smaller range $20-$50 million 75-100 employees. Preface: I'm not in the field yet, and I live in the middle of flyover country, but here goes: The area I am in has a cost of living just below the national average, and the Fortune 50 company in the area pays their entry-level guys about $57k to start. My 2010 Cost of Living Index suggests that my area costs 96.5% of the national average, and San Francisco costs 164%. This means that entry-level position I have the data for which pays $57k here should pay around $94k there. And that's just to start. First year outta school with maybe an internship. So, even if you knocked off some money because you're not at a Fortune 50, but then added back a little bit because it sounds like you have a crazy amount of responsibility, my numbers say you should expect more. But, again, that's all these are: numbers on a spreadsheet. This almost seems like it can't POSSIBLY be right, but there it is. You will definitely want to have someone from around the area chime in. Now, for a question of my own, if anyone has some experience here: How does not-for-profit accounting pay compared to private sector, as far as entry-level? I assume it is lower, but I wonder about how much.
|
|
#
?
Mar 1, 2014 00:56
|
|
|
I don't think you'd do much better elsewhere unless you find someone to trust you managing other people, which I doubt with only 2 years of experience. Everything you listed sounds good, but half of that could very well mean press 4 buttons every month and knowing how to fill out a form. What is your official title and who is over you?
|
|
#
?
Mar 1, 2014 02:25
|
|
|
Official title is just accountant. I've been told that I'll be promoted to Senior Accountant this year and that's when I'll receive the bump to 72k. I would then be on track to be Accounting Manager 2 years after that. I definitely don't just fill out a form and then post a .csv journal entry. I do our balance sheet rec, intercompany rec, and trends analysis. I then follow up with discrepancies and tell the AP and AR accountants how to fix their errors if they have any. EDIT: I report to the accounting manager and CFO for various job responsibilities. Our account manager is on track to retire in 2-3 years, which I would then theoretically get their job. Bugamol fucked around with this message at 05:40 on Mar 1, 2014 |
|
#
?
Mar 1, 2014 05:27
|
|
|
Bloody Queef posted:Worthless as in both most mind-numbing job in the world AND the feeling of what you're doing literally has no worth. None of my audit friends have found any material differences in the financial statements of the companies we audit. I have, however, found several in tax provision review. I do agree with your first sentence wholeheartedly, but I will say in my five years in public I found plenty of material misstatements. That being said, those discoveries didn't make me feel like I accomplished anything special (if anything, I felt like I created more work for everyone involved, or was unjustly annoyed if my staff found a misstatement) and I ended up leaving public anyway to pursue a career in law enforcement. A year later, I am still convinced I made the right decision.
|
|
#
?
Mar 1, 2014 05:37
|
|
|
For those of you doing the Becker program, what is your process? Watch each lecture once, take notes, and then drill multiple choice/simulation? Do you keep going with old MC questions while working on the new ones for each lecture? How often do you go through the book? I'm doing two lectures a week right now for FAR, which is scheduled for April 21st. So far my biggest hurdle is the simulations, which is probably not good... I need to spend more time on income statement/balance sheet presentation than theory at this point.
|
|
#
?
Mar 4, 2014 07:07
|
|
|
Sanity Check, please: I'm a recent Accounting grad (May 2013) with a 3.72 accounting GPA. Midwest. Non-traditional student with a lot of customer service and manufacturing work experience, but I'm not over 30. Yet. I've been applying around, and have landed 4 phone interviews for entry-level industry positions so far. Yay me. Unfortunately, three of these interviews asked me about salary. I took the advice of the negotiation thread and got them to tell me the range for the positions, which has been around $32k-$36k.  One of these was a fluffed-up payables/receivables position, so I don't really count that one. But one was a full-on Accounting position, and another was a Revenue Analyst position (which is pretty close to accounting, kinda).I'm already making more than that. My company hires fresh Accounting grads in at $57k, so I've been using that as my number for the "my research indicates that the ballpark market rate for Accounting grads is $57". Am I way out of line here?
|
|
#
?
Mar 7, 2014 00:14
|
|
|
57k is way on the high end for fresh accounting grads. Unless you mean graduate degrees. Even then that's pretty high.
|
|
#
?
Mar 7, 2014 01:19
|
|
|
Harry posted:57k is way on the high end for fresh accounting grads. Unless you mean graduate degrees. Even then that's pretty high. Undergraduate. It's what my Fortune 50 company pays for fresh undergrads. I'm aware that it's a Fortune 50, so I quote it with the expectation that I would be talked down and accept something in the $50k-$52k range. Is $32k-$36k kinda low, or is that pretty average? Edit: I was counseled away from an internship while completing my degree because "my work experience will show that I'm very employable" (manufacturing and customer service). I'm wondering if I should hate that guy right about now. Zarin fucked around with this message at 01:34 on Mar 7, 2014 |
|
#
?
Mar 7, 2014 01:30
|
|
|
Moneyball posted:For those of you doing the Becker program, what is your process? Watch each lecture once, take notes, and then drill multiple choice/simulation? Do you keep going with old MC questions while working on the new ones for each lecture? How often do you go through the book? I mostly concentrated on the MC questions for FAR and only consulted the book when I was completely stumped; now that I'm onto tests with more theory and tax laws I'm going back over the book more often to get the theory in my head. Overall, I generally try to get the MC questions to 100%, do the simulations, do all the MC to 100% a second time, then go back over them all for review at the end after taking the first final review test and before taking the second one. On the last big run through it's okay to skip questions if they're all repetitive with similar numbers and you're rushed for time. The main problem I've had with MC is memorizing the answers after the second run through. You have a longer timespan to work sections than I did, so you could probably throw in some progress tests as well. They're just randomized questions from the selected test sections, but they're a good way to get used to switching around between question topics instead of only focusing at one topic of one section at a time.
|
|
#
?
Mar 7, 2014 01:47
|
|
|
Zarin posted:Edit: I was counseled away from an internship while completing my degree because "my work experience will show that I'm very employable" (manufacturing and customer service). I'm wondering if I should hate that guy right about now. Almost surely. I haven't looked too much at the market for industry coming out of undergrad but the people going into public this year coming out of grad school are making in the 50s their first year. Bigger cities are offering in the high 50s while smaller markets are on the lower end or maybe even high 40s. The 30s for anyone with a degree going directly to industry seems really low to me but that might be a function of the area you're living in as much as it is industry salary trends.
|
|
#
?
Mar 7, 2014 03:43
|
|
|
Good Citizen posted:Almost surely. Well, like I said, the big player in the area drops $57k min on their fresh accounting undergrads. I heard that a larger city up north (Minneapolis) has an average of $50k starting (according to the recruiter I talked to up there) It just seems weird to me because I make $41k in an hourly position that any yahoo can get right outta high school; taking a pay cut to move into a professional field just doesn't feel right. Fake edit: I assume "almost surely" is in response to "I wonder if I should hit that guy now"?
|
|
#
?
Mar 7, 2014 03:51
|
|
|
$30,000 is definitely in the low end. I would say mid 40's is pretty standard for an accounting undergrad with no previous work experience, and high 50's is definitely outside the norm. Are you sure they're hiring people fresh out of undergrad for that much?
|
|
#
?
Mar 7, 2014 04:05
|
|
|
Left the office before 8, who's jealous?
|
|
#
?
Mar 7, 2014 05:12
|
|
|
Harry posted:$30,000 is definitely in the low end. I would say mid 40's is pretty standard for an accounting undergrad with no previous work experience, and high 50's is definitely outside the norm. Are you sure they're hiring people fresh out of undergrad for that much? Absolutely sure this is an undergrad salary. I went through the on-campus interview, and then the final all-day interview marathon with them back in October 2012. Too bad I had my interview on a layoff week, when the bottom was falling out of our market. While HR would only give me the "You were not selected, good luck in your job search" message, another contact of mine did some digging and informed me that one mark of four was *just* below acceptance into the pool, and noted that had there been more jobs available, that I would have been extended an offer. Granted, they normally like to see an internship or two, but I think my work experience with the company helped. Since then, I've done a lot of awesome stuff that looks great on my resume, so that should count for something, right? Edit: I currently make low 40's, and figure that low 50's is what I am truly expecting, so tossing out a high 50's number would be in line with that negotiation strategy. Edit 2: High 50's is truly the absolute lower bound for entry-level undergrad accounting at my company, and we are proud that we only pay market rate, so I don't think it's a totally batshit insane number to start with. Zarin fucked around with this message at 05:39 on Mar 7, 2014 |
|
#
?
Mar 7, 2014 05:13
|
|
|
My company pays HS educated clerks 37k and starts BS/BA non-CPA candidates at upper 40's (haven't seen a posting for one of these yet, I think it's 47k), and few-year experienced BS/BA non-CPA candidates at 57k. All of these vary with experience and competence and negotiation skill. Non-public accounting, fortune 1000 company in PDX. The company also makes it very clear it believes these are market rates for the area, which I believe based on my classmates pay and CL/glassdoor. Except for when past classmates are at the bar, then all first years make 90-95k. Ha.
|
|
#
?
Mar 7, 2014 05:28
|
|
|
SiGmA_X posted:My company pays HS educated clerks 37k and starts BS/BA non-CPA candidates at upper 40's (haven't seen a posting for one of these yet, I think it's 47k), and few-year experienced BS/BA non-CPA candidates at 57k. All of these vary with experience and competence and negotiation skill. Non-public accounting, fortune 1000 company in PDX. For what it's worth, I guess, I am a CPA candidate because I spent too much drat time at school (though I will probably need to scoop a two-hour ethics course online). Zarin fucked around with this message at 05:43 on Mar 7, 2014 |
|
#
?
Mar 7, 2014 05:38
|
|
|
How did you CPA candidates who went straight into industry find positions where you could get the necessary work hours? Did you specifically ask companies you applied to if their accounting managers were active CPAs? Is there a resource for industry CPA candidates?
|
|
#
?
Mar 7, 2014 08:00
|
|
|
Talk to the hiring managers. I was brought in with the goal that I would be familiarized with the companies systems, graduate, and be internally hired for CPA qualifying positions, either internal audit or tax.
|
|
#
?
Mar 7, 2014 16:32
|
|
|
Zarin posted:Absolutely sure this is an undergrad salary. Your company must have some designated specialty track, so they want to lure fresh graduates away from public accounting with a high salary. That's all I can think of to justify $57,000 for entry level undergrads.
|
|
#
?
Mar 8, 2014 16:01
|
|
|
My public accounting starting is low 50's and it gets up to ~57 for my friends heading to NYC to offset cost of living changes. Granted I'll have a masters, CPA and bachelors, but I am under the impression that all big 4 first years get about the same.
|
|
#
?
Mar 8, 2014 16:31
|
|
|
Democratic Pirate posted:My public accounting starting is low 50's and it gets up to ~57 for my friends heading to NYC to offset cost of living changes. Granted I'll have a masters, CPA and bachelors, but I am under the impression that all big 4 first years get about the same. All the numbers that have been thrown my way for the big 4 are about mid 50's in New Jersey so it seems reasonable to me.
|
|
#
?
Mar 8, 2014 16:47
|
|
|
Democratic Pirate posted:My public accounting starting is low 50's and it gets up to ~57 for my friends heading to NYC to offset cost of living changes. Granted I'll have a masters, CPA and bachelors, but I am under the impression that all big 4 first years get about the same. Yes, and that's in a high cost of living area for someone with an undergrad and a masters who is CPA eligible. We're talking about a fresh undergrad going into industry in the midwest that most likely doesn't have the credits for CPA (I know the poster does, but on average they wouldn't).
|
|
#
?
Mar 8, 2014 18:12
|
|
|
Democratic Pirate posted:My public accounting starting is low 50's and it gets up to ~57 for my friends heading to NYC to offset cost of living changes. Granted I'll have a masters, CPA and bachelors, but I am under the impression that all big 4 first years get about the same. I started in B4 audit a year and a half ago now, and everyone started at 55K in Chicago. All other firms and other lines of service started higher than us  . After a year, everyone I knew that got rated at expectation bumped up to 59K.
|
|
#
?
Mar 8, 2014 18:33
|
|
|
I have a BS in accounting and I've been out of school for about 7 years. I've been working a back office support accounting role (my title is Capital Markets Accountant) providing accounting support to the FX traders in a financial institution. I make a decent living and work slightly less than 40 hours a week. It's been a nice job but I'm pretty sick of it and looking to move into tax accounting which I find much more interesting. Thing is I have no idea how to transition over. Right now my plan is to take the Enrolled Agent Exams and start looking for entry level tax jobs as I get further with the exams. My goal is to work for myself and other tax prep firms, but Id like to get away from being in an office 9-5. I have no idea if this is a reasonable plan, so I'm looking for any sort of input from people in taxes about better ways to reach my goals.
|
|
#
?
Mar 11, 2014 15:57
|
|
|
fuseshock posted:I started in B4 audit a year and a half ago now, and everyone started at 55K in Chicago. All other firms and other lines of service started higher than us Thanks to everyone who posted some entry-level salary information! It makes me feel a bit better to think that I can hope for a raise from my current position ($41k) by moving into entry-level accounting.  This post in particular is very helpful; I'm just a few hours from there, so that puts things into perspective a bit.
|
|
#
?
Mar 11, 2014 18:12
|
|
|
n4 posted:I have a BS in accounting and I've been out of school for about 7 years. I've been working a back office support accounting role (my title is Capital Markets Accountant) providing accounting support to the FX traders in a financial institution. I make a decent living and work slightly less than 40 hours a week. Running my own tax practice I'm not in the office 9-5, it's 7:00 am to 8:30 pm every day. You sure you want to get into this field?
|
|
#
?
Mar 11, 2014 19:29
|
|
|
n4 posted:I have a BS in accounting and I've been out of school for about 7 years. I've been working a back office support accounting role (my title is Capital Markets Accountant) providing accounting support to the FX traders in a financial institution. I make a decent living and work slightly less than 40 hours a week. Don't waste your time with the EA unless you can't pass the CPA and you need a cert in order to get promoted/hired. If you go into a big public firm entry level is 50 hours a week during non busy times and 70+ during busy season. Busy season is generally 2/1-4/15 and 8/1-10/15. I can't imagine intentionally doing that to myself unless I was in my early twenties. I even occasionally regret my decision.
|
|
#
?
Mar 11, 2014 20:40
|
|
|
Bloody Queef posted:Don't waste your time with the EA unless you can't pass the CPA and you need a cert in order to get promoted/hired. My motivation is getting the EA is that I don't think I'm willing to put in the work of studying to pass the CPA, at least for the time being. My impression is that the EA is less work, and will help me begin a career in taxes. If a CPA is necessary to advance my career at a later point I'll consider that. What about jobs outside of large public firms? I have no problem working long hours over a busy season though, I expect it. I am looking for flexibility outside of the busy seasons though. AbbiTheDog posted:Running my own tax practice I'm not in the office 9-5, it's 7:00 am to 8:30 pm every day. You sure you want to get into this field? I'm guessing that's not year round, but if it were my own practice, I'd be happy with longer hours. But since you have your own practice, do you need to work those hours? I assume you're not just scraping by and that you make good money with your own practice, but hypothetically couldn't you take on less clients and work less hours? Assume for this hypothetical you would be ok with making less money of course.
|
|
#
?
Mar 11, 2014 23:42
|
|
|
n4 posted:I'm guessing that's not year round, but if it were my own practice, I'd be happy with longer hours. But since you have your own practice, do you need to work those hours? I assume you're not just scraping by and that you make good money with your own practice, but hypothetically couldn't you take on less clients and work less hours? Assume for this hypothetical you would be ok with making less money of course. It's my own practice, and financially I do fine. It's stressful though - you don't realize how much the partner "buffers" the client crap until you become the partner. During the summer it's pretty casual, we close at 4:00 and all day on fridays. But the OP was mentioning he didn't want to be tied to a desk, and as a tax CPA, you don't wander into the field much.
|
|
#
?
Mar 12, 2014 00:24
|
|
|
I'm a tax intern right now for a mid-size company and yeah, all we do is chill at our desks all day. The partners see some sunlight but are mostly in the office too.
|
|
#
?
Mar 12, 2014 11:03
|
|
|
Just got my results for CMA part 1 - passed with the minimum possible score. Taking part two in a little over two months and then I'm done with exams and school forever.
|
|
#
?
Mar 13, 2014 00:44
|
|
|
js86 posted:Just got my results for CMA part 1 - passed with the minimum possible score. Taking part two in a little over two months and then I'm done with exams and school forever.
|
|
#
?
Mar 13, 2014 01:17
|
|
|
js86 posted:Just got my results for CMA part 1 - passed with the minimum possible score. Taking part two in a little over two months and then I'm done with exams and school forever. Congrats man! Are your Gleim materials transferable? I need to get started on studying nights/weekends on this. fake edit: it really took this long to get your results from a Jan test date?
|
|
#
?
Mar 13, 2014 01:36
|
|
|
Mandalay posted:Congrats man! Are your Gleim materials transferable? I need to get started on studying nights/weekends on this. I can send you the recordings, but the book I use is text only, so I don't think it would do you any good. It takes them 6 weeks after the month you take the exam for them to get the score back to you, so if you take it at the end of the month, they're quicker to get it back.
|
|
#
?
Mar 13, 2014 01:41
|
|
|
js86 posted:I can send you the recordings, but the book I use is text only, so I don't think it would do you any good. Erm, you don't want to sell your book? Fair enough. My email is Mandalay fucked around with this message at 03:08 on Mar 13, 2014 |
|
#
?
Mar 13, 2014 02:39
|
|
|
Slapping a partner is probably bad form, right? Asking for a friend.
|
|
#
?
Mar 13, 2014 04:20
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 11, 2024 20:10 |
|
|
No, it's pretty common.
|
|
#
?
Mar 13, 2014 05:09
|
|