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black.lion posted:Yall I got my license 🥲 Congrats! I managed the same last month. Feels great having free time again.
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Jun 1, 2022 13:40
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Ungratek posted:Congrats! I managed the same last month. Feels great having free time again.
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Jun 1, 2022 19:08
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Congratulations black.lion and Ungratek! Now is the time to forget everything you learned.
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Jun 2, 2022 01:05
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Congrats to the new CPAs! I just got my UltraTax renewal price. I told the sales rep he's lucky that Drake sucks.
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Jun 2, 2022 21:58
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I use ProConnect and my price doubled recently. Getting squeezed on CPE too. Not sure why tax and accounting stuff is so expensive all of a sudden.
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Jun 3, 2022 04:02
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*partnerishly* changes in the risk profile, inflationary increase really, covering our costs, additional regulatory attention, revision to the standards
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Jun 3, 2022 08:57
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Thanks y'all! <3Missing Donut posted:Congratulations black.lion and Ungratek! Now is the time to forget everything you learned. I repressed every scrap of auditing study the moment I got my passing AUD score, working on wiping the rest from my memory - alcohol helps
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Jun 3, 2022 20:32
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black.lion posted:Thanks y'all! <3 Accountant Megathread - Alcohol Helps
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Jun 3, 2022 20:36
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black.lion posted:Thanks y'all! <3 It's pretty mind-boggling to me that so many people take the CPA exam. As someone who hires accountants and supervises 3 of them, I actually consider it a potential liability that someone spent 2 years of their life studying for an exam that doesn't make them better at their job.
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Jun 3, 2022 21:23
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pseudanonymous posted:It's pretty mind-boggling to me that so many people take the CPA exam. As someone who hires accountants and supervises 3 of them, I actually consider it a potential liability that someone spent 2 years of their life studying for an exam that doesn't make them better at their job. Passing gives you a bonus in most CPA firms and you can't promote to manager without one. Also most job recruiters see it as a positive or offer higher wages if you have one, so you're an outlier
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Jun 3, 2022 21:27
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Good Citizen posted:Passing gives you a bonus in most CPA firms and you can't promote to manager without one. Also most job recruiters see it as a positive or offer higher wages if you have one, so you're an outlier If your plan is to stay in public accounting to the manager level and beyond it makes perfect sense. If you want to self-select for the kind of hiring where people don't know what a CPA means, it also makes perfect sense. The other kind is the ones who are CPAs themselves and won't admit what a terrible test it is and how meaningless passing it is as an indicator of anything other than your ability to take tests. So if you want the kind of manager that is into hazing, it's a good way to help you get hazed more.
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Jun 3, 2022 21:33
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You are absolutely 100% an outlier on this.
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Jun 3, 2022 22:00
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Hellblazer187 posted:You are absolutely 100% an outlier on this. I hate to break it to you but I talk to my peers.
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Jun 3, 2022 22:02
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Listen man, I don't make the gatekeeping rules, but if you want to have a high level accounting or accounting adjacent role in a public company then CPA + time in a public accounting firm is generally a prerequisite for entry. I'm not doubting your preferences or that you found some likeminded people but the idea that having an admittedly meaningless CPA designation is anything but a benefit in 99.9% of cases is bananas
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Jun 3, 2022 22:11
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Lol. "Getting a well recognized professional designation? Bit of a red flag, if you ask me." To the new CPAs in this thread please do not let this guy discourage you. The vast majority of people who hire accountants prefer to see those three letters.
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Jun 3, 2022 22:24
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Having a CPA license is a liability if you’re trying to make a desperate jump out of public accounting and are seen as too expensive for most staff accountant roles.
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Jun 3, 2022 22:33
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You kind of need those letters if you intend to prepare audited financial statements and the like. The IRS also respects CPA's more than non-CPA's and won't brush you off as easily.
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Jun 3, 2022 22:34
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Hellblazer187 posted:Lol. "Getting a well recognized professional designation? Bit of a red flag, if you ask me." Oh, I definitely agree with most people it will help you. Those are just specifically the jobs I don't want, working for the people I don't want to work for.
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Jun 3, 2022 22:34
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pseudanonymous posted:Oh, I definitely agree with most people it will help you. Those are just specifically the jobs I don't want, working for the people I don't want to work for. I guess that might be the case for some people but I work in financial reporting for a major public company and my job rules compared to most accounting jobs out there. I work light hours, can do it from anywhere in the world, and if I ever get bored of it i have a half dozen recruiting e-mails a week to peruse. Life is good outside of, y'know, *waves around at the entire world right now*
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Jun 3, 2022 22:38
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There are also college programs that spit out hundreds/thousands of kids into the maw of the Big 4 who pass the exams before leaving school.
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Jun 3, 2022 22:51
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When I was preparing Qs I loving hated the people I worked with, and absolutely didn't respect my manager or her boss, and was non-nonplussed that those people thought the CPA was a big deal and a strong indicator of being smart and a good accountant, also non-nonplussed to learn they were all CPAs. The problem with the CPA exam is it doesn't signify what people think it does, and there is a similar problem with attestation services in general. A "clean" audit doesn't signify what people think it does, and for some reason, the people actually offering the attestation services don't even remotely care about changing that public perception, just protecting themselves legally. To me, the two problems seem inextricably linked; and like a useful thought experiment for thinking about what kind of jobs and career you actually want and what kind of people you want to work for and with. When someone applies to work for me and is a CPA I just ask them why they took the exam and what they thought of it, I do the same for people who don't hold it, though a lot less specifically. I think it's a really useful tool for establishing if people can actually reason and reflect.
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Jun 3, 2022 22:52
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I, for one, am perfectly fine with people having misconceptions about what what my professional certifications mean and the nature of audits as long as I keep getting paid and they don't make me take yet another test.
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Jun 3, 2022 22:56
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Good Citizen posted:I, for one, am perfectly fine with people having misconceptions about what what my professional certifications mean and the nature of audits as long as I keep getting paid and they don't make me take yet another test.
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Jun 3, 2022 23:12
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Modern man discovers his job, and all the trappings around it, are mostly bullshit. News at 11 Wait, breaking news, turns out most his coworkers are morons. This is a shocking new development in this story
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Jun 3, 2022 23:15
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I feel like you guys are being partially defensive when y'all talking about two clearly different things. That guy is just saying our entire industry is bullshit, which is true. And you guys are saying a CPA designation makes you more money, which is true. Really, no reason to argue.
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Jun 3, 2022 23:18
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I will say I've met plenty of brain dead CPAs and plenty of very good accountants without the license. Most of the time the dummy with letters after their name makes more money.
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Jun 3, 2022 23:20
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Covok posted:I feel like you guys are being partially defensive when y'all talking about two clearly different things. That guy is just saying our entire industry is bullshit, which is true. And you guys are saying a CPA designation makes you more money, which is true. Really, no reason to argue. I think replying to someone that just passed the exam by saying "baffling decision to take the test, major red flag 2/10 would not hire" is downright mean. This is true regardless of how stupid our industry is (and you're right about that).
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Jun 3, 2022 23:23
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If anything, I think we need more misconceptions about who CPAs are and we should create and spread rumors ourselves. Did you know that CPAs are 73% better lovers than non-CPAs?
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Jun 4, 2022 03:34
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pseudanonymous posted:When someone applies to work for me and is a CPA I just ask them why they took the exam and what they thought of it, I do the same for people who don't hold it, though a lot less specifically. I think it's a really useful tool for establishing if people can actually reason and reflect. What do you do when the reason is “to advance your career and make more money”? Which is the answer that all of us here are giving.
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Jun 4, 2022 14:23
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pseudanonymous posted:non-nonplussed lol stop huffing your own farts
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Jun 4, 2022 16:49
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PatMarshall posted:lol stop huffing your own farts I just love that episode of the X-files so any chance I get to reference it I can't pass up. Ungratek posted:What do you do when the reason is “to advance your career and make more money”? Which is the answer that all of us here are giving. I think that's a really good answer, and more or less the one I'm looking for.
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Jun 5, 2022 00:50
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this has been weird, but fun i got the letters at an attempt to fill the gap in my self esteem, didn't work so now im gonna go do the actuarial exams i guess (it was for the money, and also so i can take more equity in my firm and we don't have to change the name to remove "CPA" which would be sorta sketchy i think) black.lion fucked around with this message at 12:53 on Jun 5, 2022 |
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Jun 5, 2022 11:50
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Hellblazer187 posted:I think replying to someone that just passed the exam by saying "baffling decision to take the test, major red flag 2/10 would not hire" is downright mean. Oh wait I missed this part.
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Jun 6, 2022 16:22
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In 2017, KPMG laid me off with a group of 20 other new hires citing overstaffing in their Manhattan office. Today, they sent me an email asking if I wanted my old job back. gently caress no! Edit: For the record, it wasn't like they knew who I was. It was an email listing my exact old postion in the exact old office in the exact same department, saying they were trying to recruit for it. Covok fucked around with this message at 19:11 on Jun 7, 2022 |
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Jun 7, 2022 17:58
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Congrats to the new CPAs. I need to get on that train fairly soon as I just graduated. Any advice for someone who has been working in industry for a few years?
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Jun 16, 2022 20:56
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Jhordhynne posted:Congrats to the new CPAs. I need to get on that train fairly soon as I just graduated. Change your major to IT and enjoy a much less stressful career Fake edit: poo poo, you said you JUST graduated, nvm, meant to say "CONGRATULATIONS!" My career has been really weird, so someone else can jump in and give a better perspective maybe. I worked in the trades for a bit, decided I wanted a desk job, and so went (back) to college and decided on Accounting. I think what I wanted was Finance, but figured that out too late. Oh well! Anyway - just re-read your post - I'm trying to figure out what your path has been, and/or what you're looking for. You say you have been working "in industry" for a few years; were you doing A/R, A/P, etc.? Or what is the background? On my first read I thought you were a fresh grad looking to jump right into industry, but maybe you're closer to the same situation I was in? At any rate - are you looking to stay in industry? Or are you really wanting to get some public experience?
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Jun 16, 2022 21:09
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It's been a weird progression but it was hotel night audit (2016) -> AR (2018, hotel) -> AP (2019, hotel, constuction) -> Staff Accountant (2020, general product sales). All of this while starting from community college and getting my mental health in order. Right now I work for a small family run oil company currently making $90k. However, I was hired to handle a set of non-oil companies in a totally different industry where I do all but tax and audit. I know the exam is the next step, but the work experience portion is killing me. I have a couple of CPAs who could sign off on my work, but I'm not sure how direct their supervision has to be. If they couldn't, would it be worth leaving and going into a public firm? Otherwise, would I be missing out on anything by not having that public experience? I guess I'm just worried about my boss retiring in the future and how handicapped I might be in applying for the next job.
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Jun 16, 2022 22:19
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Jhordhynne posted:I know the exam is the next step, but the work experience portion is killing me. I have a couple of CPAs who could sign off on my work, but I'm not sure how direct their supervision has to be. If they couldn't, would it be worth leaving and going into a public firm? Otherwise, would I be missing out on anything by not having that public experience? I guess I'm just worried about my boss retiring in the future and how handicapped I might be in applying for the next job. Just ask them if they'd be willing to sign. It's very state dependent on exactly how close that linkage needs to be, and largely up to that CPA to determine if they are comfortable. If you start passing sections and your supervisor won't sign off, there are a ton of public accounting firms that will happily take you on.
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Jun 16, 2022 23:24
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Jhordhynne posted:It's been a weird progression but it was hotel night audit (2016) -> AR (2018, hotel) -> AP (2019, hotel, constuction) -> Staff Accountant (2020, general product sales). All of this while starting from community college and getting my mental health in order. pseudanonymous posted:Just ask them if they'd be willing to sign. It's very state dependent on exactly how close that linkage needs to be, and largely up to that CPA to determine if they are comfortable. Seconding what pseudanonymous said - you should be perfectly fine. Either someone will sign now, or someone will pick you up and sign pretty soon after that. Each company is different with what they want to see w/r/t to continued education. I only have F100 experience, but my last company started out real big into credentials (either CMA or CPA) but stopped pushing that as hard at some point - it was generally regarded that you didn't necessarily NEED credentials to make it up to middle management in the Accounting space, but it certainly couldn't hurt. After that it became a bit more encouraged/required. (Naturally, some positions - such as externally-facing roles with the SEC or whatever - absolutely did require a CPA at least. But these were relatively rare.) My current company hasn't said a word about credentials. I have noticed that a lot of my co-workers seem to have MBAs for some weird reason, even at just the Senior Analyst level. I'll have to pay attention to how much not having something is going to limit me going forward, but I don't think it will - not for the next step, at least. (My plan is to pick something up eventually; maybe when my kid starts school, we can do "homework" together or some poo poo idk) Overall I'd say that I feel like your work experience is arguably stronger than mine from a resume perspective. Plus, you can talk about how you've worked in multiple industries (hospitality, construction, energy/petrochemicals). That's not nothing! That's three industries you could look at and be like "Yeah I have experience in this field already, so I understand a bit about the business." That being said, if the CPA is what you're going for - will your current company pick up the tab for that? If not, would it make sense to hop over to somewhere that will?
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Jun 17, 2022 00:34
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Zarin posted:My current company hasn't said a word about credentials. I have noticed that a lot of my co-workers seem to have MBAs for some weird reason, even at just the Senior Analyst level. In my experience, this is either a company with an excellent tuition benefit and employees are making the most of it to make them potentially more marketable in the future, or a relatively insular MBA hiring cult (culture fit means having an MBA, what’s this “culture add” business?).
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Jun 17, 2022 14:17
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