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I dropped down to an hourly part-time gig this year. Busy season ain't so bad if you're only working 30 hours a week, as it turns out.
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Feb 28, 2016 20:24
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So I recently started going to school with the end goal of becoming an accountant (I could easily see myself doing this work forever), and what exactly does having a Masters over a BA in Accounting get you, other than commanding a higher salary?
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Mar 15, 2016 06:18
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C-Bag posted:So I recently started going to school with the end goal of becoming an accountant (I could easily see myself doing this work forever), and what exactly does having a Masters over a BA in Accounting get you, other than commanding a higher salary? In the US, at least, every state requires 150 semester hours of education before one can sit the CPA exam, but a typical BA only requires 120. It's not a requirement that the additional hours come from a master's anywhere that I know of (but there may be specific course requirements in your state), but a master's in accounting is the most accounting-focused way of getting there. See for example http://www.aicpa.org/BECOMEACPA/LICENSURE/REQUIREMENTS/Pages/default.aspx or https://www.thiswaytocpa.com/education/articles/choosing-well/closing-gap-how-meet-150-hour-requirement/, but especially see your state board of accountancy's website.
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Mar 15, 2016 10:58
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C-Bag posted:So I recently started going to school with the end goal of becoming an accountant (I could easily see myself doing this work forever), and what exactly does having a Masters over a BA in Accounting get you, other than commanding a higher salary? Depending on what you do in accounting, the masters won't necessarily give you a higher salary. I started at a big 4 with a BA at the same time as people with a masters from my school, and we started at the same salary. Private could be very different than public, though.
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Mar 15, 2016 14:19
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I don't think a masters helps you at all in public accounting, but if you get hired by a government you will make more money. It probably helps getting a job in industry though. I took classes I wanted to to get over 150 hours and did not get an additional degree so now I can tell you all about Latvia but don't ask me about pension accounting.
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Mar 15, 2016 14:23
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On the topic of extra hours, does anybody know how you're supposed to show that you got your extra 30 credits? When I applied for the cpa exams I didn't have my 150. I've since passed the exams and got the extra credits I need but I can't find anywhere that says what to do next with the credits and I can't get any responses from my state's boards on it.
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Mar 15, 2016 14:51
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SarutosZero posted:On the topic of extra hours, does anybody know how you're supposed to show that you got your extra 30 credits? When I applied for the cpa exams I didn't have my 150. I've since passed the exams and got the extra credits I need but I can't find anywhere that says what to do next with the credits and I can't get any responses from my state's boards on it. Don't you just send your transcripts in for them to evaluate? They do it to determine your initial eligibility (9 credits in accounting, 3 in taxation or however that goes) so I would imagine it's the same for the additional 30 credits.
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Mar 15, 2016 17:23
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Moneyball posted:Don't you just send your transcripts in for them to evaluate? They do it to determine your initial eligibility (9 credits in accounting, 3 in taxation or however that goes) so I would imagine it's the same for the additional 30 credits. I guess I could just try that. Its just last time I sent them in I sent them in as part of my application to sit for the exams so I assumed I'd need to send some kind of notification again. It's only like 10 bucks to get my transcripts sent so might as well try it that way.
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Mar 15, 2016 18:16
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Have you applied for your license? Presumably that's when you show them your full transcript.
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Mar 15, 2016 21:29
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That's weird that your state's board of accountancy is nonresponsive. Try to call instead of emailing or vice versa?
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Mar 15, 2016 21:33
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Any guys in here work in internal audit in the states? I'm based in the UK but a couple of companies I've worked for or considered in the past tend to have American based internal audit so I was going to ask what it's like. Or is everyone here normal accountancy jobs like finance and external audit?
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Jun 7, 2016 15:17
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Would any Canadian goons be able to weigh in on what it's like going through the process of getting a designation (guess it's CPA now)? I graduated with an Bcomm in accounting in 2013 and heard some real horror stories about the whole process which, coupled with piss poor marks from half assing my way through university and not being particularly thrilled about stuff like tax accounting led me to try something else. It's now three years later and I'm not particularly happy with what I'm doing now and looking for some different options. Being three years wiser I'm of the opinion that people's horror stories were a bit overblown and I'd probably have a better grasp on the material and learning it doing accounting poo poo as a day to day job.
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Jun 9, 2016 20:51
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can Managerial and Intermediate I be taken together, or is this a terrible idea? also same question for Managerial + Cost. I have a unrelated degree and I'm working on prerequisite coursework for a MSA/MAcc at a community college.
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Aug 2, 2016 07:51
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At my community college, I took intermediate without taking the cost accounting. It was confusing but I'm the end I figured it out. I had taken cost accounting like 6 years prior during my undergrad (JC courses were post Bachellrs) but didn't remember anything.
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Aug 2, 2016 10:46
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JohnnyTreachery posted:can Managerial and Intermediate I be taken together, or is this a terrible idea? also same question for Managerial + Cost. This might be different at your institution, but at the one that I attended (as well as the one I teach at) Managerial & Intermediate can be taken together as they are two separate types of accounting. In my area, managerial and cost are similar and one would be a prerequisite for the other.
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Aug 2, 2016 23:19
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I just think it would be a bit hard to understand both at once. Managerial is confusing as all hell in the first place, I can't imagine doing it with intermediate, especially since a lot of people really struggle with intermediate. Then again in grad school I took it alongside financial accounting and tax, so you kinda have to deal with it sometime.
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Aug 2, 2016 23:30
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Managerial and intermediate are totally doable together, but then I got a C+ in intermediate and a B in managerial. I do have a sweet job staring at spreadsheets professionally now so hey give it a shot.
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Aug 3, 2016 02:44
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I had the option of taking intermediate 1 and cost at the same time. I knew people who did it and they hated themselves and it seemed they got lower grades because of it. I waited and was glad I did. But some people did it and manage to get A's. When I did it I was taking the accounting core to get into a masters program from a social science bachelors. GPA is king these days and if you have the time I would spread out the classes since managerial/cost was a weed out class where I was at. If you are blitzing and have already taken the GRE/GMAT with a good score, pile it on.
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Aug 5, 2016 01:22
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PatMarshall posted:That's one of the end goals of working in public, right? Industry, or make partner, I suppose. I had always heard it was best to put in as many years in public as you could stand before moving in house as you can come in at a higher level and promotion within industry is not supposed to be as quick as in one of the firms. That career path is mostly for the assurance guys. I did tax at a big 4, and you can move to doing tax in industry but its going to be for a huge company that does it all in house. Your best bet to stay in tax but not at big 4 is move to a regional or local firm and move up that food chain (this is what I did, and I am loving it). Tax is fun cause you are slammed for 4 months, then you get a summer break, pick back up in Sept and Oct and then get a winter break.
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Aug 9, 2016 23:01
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Hellblazer187 posted:So, I forgot I made this thread 100 years ago. I'm a CPA now as of like two weeks ago. Congratulations on certification. How in the Hell does one pass the FAR exam? I just submitted payment to sit for the third time - the fact that I'd failed the second time actually hit home as soon as I hit the "Confirm Payment" button. I've accepted that I simply wasn't prepared the first time I sat for it, and that I hadn't taken it seriously enough...so the 62 I earned the first time was well and truly deserved. The second time, though...I don't know what I could have done differently. I truly felt and still feel like I was as prepared for it as I'm ever going to be. Got the score back about a week ago - 67. I did better on the simulations than the average person that passed the exam, and did worse in every single part of the multiple choice questions save for one, "Specific Situations" or whatever the Hell that one is. I was on par there. I knew when I decided I wanted to take the exam that failure was a very real possibility, but I didn't anticipate how awful repeated failure would start to feel. The location of my cube at work doesn't help. I'm right next to the audit department, which is staffed by really, really ridiculously good-looking people who are all in their early 20's, and who all apparently passed their exams the first time they took them. And Goddamn do they love to talk about it.
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Aug 12, 2016 01:31
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How are you studying? It sounds like you have the sims down, so ignore those from now on, you can always look up the answers half the time anyway using the research module. You need to cycle through MCQs over and over again. Are you using Becker or another system? If your firm isn't paying for Becker, consider getting the Gleim test bank, it's got a poo poo load of MCQs (like 2,000+ for FAR) and do all of them until you get all of them right (Consider calling and asking if you can get only the test bank without the other materials if you already like your books). Read the answer explanations, figure out why you got the questions wrong, and repeat. Skip the questions you get right on your repeat runs. Don't even waste too much time on any one question doing the math, do what you can in your head and learn to make reasonable guesses. You can always look at the answer explanations. By the time you get all of them done, you start recognizing the questions and concepts behind them, easily seeing the tricks inside the MCQs by identifying key phrases and fact patterns. There are only so many fact patterns on the CPA exam, the only thing that changes is the fake entity name and the numbers. If you can learn all of them you can pass easily. I used to work for Gleim as an assistant editor, and I'm somewhat of a fan of their System for Success. Do diagnostic quizzes of modules/units/whatever your system calls it, then identify your specific weaknesses and only study (read/watch lectures of) those. It is a waste of time to watch lectures on things you know, and reduces the effectiveness for things you don't know. Personally I used Becker and just spent my free time cycling through MCQ quizzes on my iPad until I got them all right. Got an 87 the first time on FAR and passed all four in 92 days from starting to study (outside of my normal job duties) to taking my last exam. If this isn't your last section, consider taking AUD or BEC in the mean time to get your confidence up, it helps. The CPA exam can be passed, you just need to cycle MCQs. Also, ignore what your coworkers say, you just need to join the 300 club to get three letters after your name.
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Aug 12, 2016 01:56
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I got the NINJA 10 point combo, which is the book, notes, audio, blitz (final review), and of course the MCQ. No video lecture. I still haven't passed any sections, but that is 100% on me for not putting in the time. I have found that I learn exactly opposite from the way Ninja suggests. Their suggestion is to read the book, take notes, re-copy the notes, etc, then do MCQ. I am terrible at reading things I'm unfamiliar with, especially when not structured like a school textbook, so I never got anything out of reading the book first. I learn by loving up. Good thing I don't work for a bomb squad. Drilling questions gets the concepts and tricks in my head, almost challenging me to not pick the easy (wrong) answer. Then going back and reading the book works because I'm familiar with it and can follow along. I'm not shilling for it, in fact I think I probably should have gone with Roger CPA, but it's an alright program. I won't be done with all four sections by the time access runs out, so I'll be getting single section MCQ access until I'm finished. I'm taking audit September 8th and only started studying in earnest yesterday, but with the amount of time I'm putting in, I believe I can manage.
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Aug 12, 2016 02:07
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Good call not recopying the notes, that is the biggest waste of time possible. You're correct to learn by doing, not by watching/reading. Another piece of unsolicited advice, put some time pressure on yourself, it will force you to study if you only give yourself so many days. 75 days of doing MCQs every day feels a lot worse than 25 days of doing MCQs every day, but you feel a lot worse skipping a day in the latter than the former, which will motivate you to stick to your plan. Hurt Whitey Maybe fucked around with this message at 02:17 on Aug 12, 2016 |
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Aug 12, 2016 02:14
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^^ yeah my self-inflicted schedule is tight. Trying to get done before the end of December so I can leave my day job, take a few weeks off for a trip, and job search/give myself time in case I get a 74 somewhere. BEC: August 2nd (probs failed) AUD: September 8 (on pace) FAR: October 29 REG: December 10 Actually my new method that seems to be working is: - Watch blitz to get a condensed version of the notes with some explanations - MCQ until literally every one is done, repeating questions I got wrong until I answer correctly for the right reason - Read the book/notes while at my 2nd job which mostly consists of sitting around watching the clock - Listening to audio lectures when doing anything other than the above activities - Actually sleeping Moneyball fucked around with this message at 02:22 on Aug 12, 2016 |
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Aug 12, 2016 02:20
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You're doing it right, the second and fifth steps especially. If you're staying up late to study you drat well better have poorly planned an exam for busy season because you're a masochist.
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Aug 12, 2016 02:27
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I passed AUD two months ago. Failed BEC before that and just retook it. Working on FAR right now and I'm hoping to take the test in mid October. I'm using Rogers for the lectures and questions and I got the Ninja MCQs as well. Holy poo poo FAR is a ton of material. AUD and BEC had 8-10 sections in Rogers program. FAR has 32! For AUD I did the lectures and notes on the weekends then did Rogers MCQs during the weeknights. Once I got done with the lectures and had seen Rogers questions twice I did tons of Ninja MCQs. Those Ninja questions felt much harder and prepared me a lot. AUD was easier to me because I see a lot of that material everyday at work but passing a section made it feel real. I have an 18-month clock ticking and its forcing me to put in the time. Ideally I passed BEC, pass FAR in October and then Reg in early December. The reality is that I probably failed BEC again and give it another shot in December. Take it from me: get your CPA as soon as you can after college. Don't wait until you're 30 and have forgotten everything about cost accounting.
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Aug 12, 2016 03:08
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FAR is terrible and I got incredibly lucky with a 76 my first try. Echoing just do a million MCQs until your eyes bleed because there is so many completely different topics in FAR.
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Aug 12, 2016 15:05
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I grabbed the Ninja products to supplement my main program and had the good fortune of passing them all on the first try. I would easily recommend it for anyone. And just remember all cpa stands for is, couldn't pass again. Lord of Garbagemen fucked around with this message at 18:12 on Aug 12, 2016 |
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Aug 12, 2016 18:09
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I got a 45 in BEC.  When I actually study consistently for an entire prep time, I'll compare scores.Well, time to get off SA and go study AUD.
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Aug 23, 2016 22:55
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Moneyball posted:I got a 45 in BEC. I majored in Philosophy and could have done better than this on a first pass without studying.
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Aug 24, 2016 18:41
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My family owns several restaurants, and we've had the idea that perhaps I could do the accounting for our company. My question is, how difficult would it be for me to learn enough to be able to do this properly? Basically, I would need to prepare profit and loss statements for the company, and do the taxes and deal with payroll. The difficult part would be knowing enough to be able to deal with the filing of all the various taxes, and the regular changes in tax laws which affect companies.
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Sep 5, 2016 20:14
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Do you have any accounting background whatsoever? If you have training as a bookkeeper you could at least do bookkeeping, but as a CPA I would STRONGLY recommend hiring a CPA. Taxes are a lot more complicated than the layperson understands, and taking a couple of accounting courses at the local community college or reading Accounting for Dummies is not going to get you what you want. A CPA may seem expensive up front, but generally they'll keep your financials pretty well and will be able to do your taxes, as well as advise you on how best to structure your operations.
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Sep 5, 2016 23:22
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The actual day to day operations should be fine. Don't attempt the taxes though.
Harry fucked around with this message at 00:13 on Sep 6, 2016 |
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Sep 5, 2016 23:56
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Hurt Whitey Maybe posted:Do you have any accounting background whatsoever? If you have training as a bookkeeper you could at least do bookkeeping, but as a CPA I would STRONGLY recommend hiring a CPA. Taxes are a lot more complicated than the layperson understands, and taking a couple of accounting courses at the local community college or reading Accounting for Dummies is not going to get you what you want. A CPA may seem expensive up front, but generally they'll keep your financials pretty well and will be able to do your taxes, as well as advise you on how best to structure your operations. I don't have an accounting background. Throughout the year, sales tax, workman's comp, federal and state taxes and so on have to be taken out, and regular payments have to be made to various government agencies. And then there's the yearly filing in april. Do you believe that the entire thing is too complicated for a person without a CPA (or close to it) to handle, or just the yearly filing? We're paying an accountant $1500 per month to do all of our taxes and to prepare P&L statements once per month. He processes the payroll but doesn't write checks.
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Sep 6, 2016 01:15
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Orange Sunshine posted:I don't have an accounting background. I don't know how big your business is, and I mostly do investment partnership tax, but that seems like a pretty good deal to get all that taken care of. Maybe shop around if you think you can get a better deal, but having someone you can get to do everything is usually worth it, especially if you have no experience soon it. Doing it yourself is a great way to mess something up that winds up costing you far more than you would have saved.
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Sep 6, 2016 03:13
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Orange Sunshine posted:I don't have an accounting background. At my current company I create the monthly financial statements, and a combination of myself and my direct reports take care of everything else you've listed besides the yearly filing. Once a year we bring in our CPA firm to do our filing as well as a "review", which is more intensive than just filing but less intensive than an audit - they basically look at common trouble spots for us / companies in our industry and try to find and fix mistakes, but they don't hunt for evidence of fraud. Maybe once a year besides that something goofy will come up that we need to pay billable hours for, but since we have a working relationship with them I can shoot them a quick e-mail to clarify something or get guidance on an issue and they'll respond for free. I can't imagine completely breaking off our relationship with our CPA unless we hired a CPA directly. You definitely shouldn't fire your CPA. If you're just looking to save money, there's likely much more lucrative places to spend your time and energy. If you're interested in accounting, or interested in learning about the accounting aspects of the family business, you should talk to your CPA about it. They'll be able to advise you on the things that would be easy for you to handle directly, as well as give you guidance on issues to look out for.
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Sep 9, 2016 04:45
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A GIANT PARSNIP posted:At my current company I create the monthly financial statements, and a combination of myself and my direct reports take care of everything else you've listed besides the yearly filing. Once a year we bring in our CPA firm to do our filing as well as a "review", which is more intensive than just filing but less intensive than an audit - they basically look at common trouble spots for us / companies in our industry and try to find and fix mistakes, but they don't hunt for evidence of fraud. Maybe once a year besides that something goofy will come up that we need to pay billable hours for, but since we have a working relationship with them I can shoot them a quick e-mail to clarify something or get guidance on an issue and they'll respond for free. I can't imagine completely breaking off our relationship with our CPA unless we hired a CPA directly. Our accountant is totally incompetent, and so ought to be replaced one way or another. I catch him making mistakes on our monthly profit and loss statements all the time, and he does a variety of other things wrong. I think what you've described is what I want to do, to still have a CPA but have them do much less than they're doing now, with me doing the bookkeeping and payroll. It definitely needs to be a different CPA.
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Sep 9, 2016 10:00
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Orange Sunshine posted:Our accountant is totally incompetent, and so ought to be replaced one way or another. I catch him making mistakes on our monthly profit and loss statements all the time, and he does a variety of other things wrong. I usually turn away bookkeeping and payroll as I don't have time for it anymore. You should start doing your own bookkeeping and just go to a CPA for consulting/compliance work. That will get you the most bang for your buck.
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Sep 13, 2016 00:39
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I'm currently looking for a new position, and I was hoping some people here with accounting experience could take a look at my resume. I'm looking at controller / assistant controller / senior analyst positions depending on the size of the company and the scope of the work. I tried asking in the resume and interview thread a few days ago but no one responded. I've uploaded a copy of it here, any feedback would be greatly appreciated!
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Sep 13, 2016 00:43
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A GIANT PARSNIP posted:I'm currently looking for a new position, and I was hoping some people here with accounting experience could take a look at my resume. I'm looking at controller / assistant controller / senior analyst positions depending on the size of the company and the scope of the work. I tried asking in the resume and interview thread a few days ago but no one responded. Honestly the best way to land a job you want is to pick 4 to 5 companies you really want to work for and tailor your resume to their job descriptions, match with things you have done and then hope to hell. Don't be afraid to make your resume more than 2 pages you have 9 years of experience, show it. How many people did you mange in each position? What were your main tasks instead of your accomplishments? I see no audit prep or binder sign off experience surely you must have touched that.
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Sep 13, 2016 05:28
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