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Calcaneus posted:I'm currently an Accounting major and am kinda going through that "is this right for me?" phase. I liked my early accounting classes well enough, but I know it gets "worse" as it goes on. I just worry that I will find myself in the situation where I realize I hate my job 5 years later. CIS and Accounting are very intertwined these days. Also I don't really think my accounting classes were anything like what I do on a day to day basis (I do auditing and consulting work). It isn't very exciting to be quite honest. However, the pay is decent and you're less likely to be unemployed right now.
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Nov 3, 2010 04:08
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I thought this thread would be the best place to ask this rather than start an entirely new thread. I've noticed this thread has been very US/Canada-heavy, and I was wondering if anyone could tell me if I would have any chance of breaking into a Big 4 through their graduate programmes in the UK? They say like like graduates from all backgrounds so long as they have very basic requirements fulfilled (i.e. good maths and English scores at the GCSE level; a good undergraduate degree in any subject). Is this all bullshit? They say they are just looking for smart people they can train, but my education is not in Accounting at all (undergrad in History; postgraduate degree in Economic History). For my postgraduate degree, I got a distinction/1st from LSE, so that's about the only selling point on my CV - otherwise I have no internships or any sort of experience in the field, and no accountancy education. Am I in the situation where I need not apply? Do any UK accountant goons know anything about these Big 4 graduate programmes?
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Nov 3, 2010 09:50
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I graduated in 2008 with a Business/Finance degree and have 6 accounting credits. Right now I plan on going back to my university to obtain all the accounting credits and then take the CPA. I live in PA, is this pretty much what I have to do? Get credits -> pass test -> find an entry level accounting job? What if I already have accounting responsibilities at my current employer, how can I find out if that can count toward my experience requirement to become a CPA?
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Nov 3, 2010 13:57
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waar posted:how can I find out if that can count toward my experience requirement to become a CPA? Check with your state board of accountancy. Here in OR, you need to work under direct supervision of a CPA with five years' experience and get them to sign off.
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Nov 3, 2010 16:49
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Another Canadian chiming in here, hopefully I can give anyone considering a career in accounting some insight. I'm currently doing an 8-month internship at a Big 4 while I complete my undergrad in Acccounting, and then I'll go on to write my CA exam (CPA for Americans). As a junior in audit, I can say that the work is definitely not glamorous, and in busy season the hours are quite long (I'm schedule for 50-55 hour weeks in January). But within a couple of years once you move up the ranks and gain more experience, you'll become quite a knowledgable and valuable asset not only to the firm, but to the firm's clients. Every month or so we receive emails from a bunch of employees who are leaving to go work in both the public and private industry for different corporations. Having a CA (CPA) designation won't limit you to audit work for the rest of your life - consulting and advisory services are things that you can move on to later on. Obviously accounting won't be for everyone, but if you like business, or at least business on the corporate side of things, then getting your CPA/CA designation is a great way to open doors. Four or five years at a big firm is worth it once you start networking and realize the career opportunities that await in other industries!
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Nov 3, 2010 20:31
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waar posted:I graduated in 2008 with a Business/Finance degree and have 6 accounting credits. Right now I plan on going back to my university to obtain all the accounting credits and then take the CPA. I live in PA, is this pretty much what I have to do? Get credits -> pass test -> find an entry level accounting job? What if I already have accounting responsibilities at my current employer, how can I find out if that can count toward my experience requirement to become a CPA? Passing the test takes awhile so many people study while they work to get the necessary experience... so I would get the credits and then get a CPA-related job then knock the test out. Like the other posters said you need to check with your state's board to find out what the requirements were. Typically you have to work under the supervision of a CPA for a certain amount of time (one year in my state).
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Nov 5, 2010 03:25
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Calcaneus posted:I'm currently an Accounting major and am kinda going through that "is this right for me?" phase. I liked my early accounting classes well enough, but I know it gets "worse" as it goes on. I just worry that I will find myself in the situation where I realize I hate my job 5 years later. I had 150 hours just with an accounting degree due to a later major change, but this is the path I would have taken if I started accounting earlier.
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Nov 6, 2010 22:52
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alfaholic posted:
Wuss. 90-100 hours a week from 2/1 - 4/15.
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Nov 8, 2010 18:55
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I'm graduating at the end of the year and I have no idea what the hell to do. The local job listings are all "accounting clerk" positions that don't seem to require a functioning brain (and pay accordingly) or positions that require a CPA and/or 5 years of experience. The only one of the Big 4 around here is KPMG. I can't do an internship because I work full-time. Am I just screwed?
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Nov 9, 2010 01:33
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Johnny Longtorso posted:I'm graduating at the end of the year and I have no idea what the hell to do. The local job listings are all "accounting clerk" positions that don't seem to require a functioning brain (and pay accordingly) or positions that require a CPA and/or 5 years of experience. The only one of the Big 4 around here is KPMG. I can't do an internship because I work full-time. Am I just screwed? this is basically my exact situation. except you left off the "campus recruiting" cattle call where every firm gets 150 applicants for 10 interview slots for 2 jobs. I figure my options at this point are basically 1. wait out the economy, 2. give up, or 3. hit Abbi with a brick and steal his practice.
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Nov 9, 2010 03:06
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Are you two planning on preparing/taking the CPA exam right after graduating? I am in a similar position (fall job fair resulted in 0 interviews since only a small number of firms showed up this time), but try to make myself feel better by telling myself I'll have better luck after passing the exam since it'll set me apart from many other applicants (oh god, I hope). I've been applying like crazy on websites, but have a feeling online applications are just for the amusement of the company as they get autodeleted and never get read. I guess one bright spot is that I graduate in the spring instead of next month, so I can hope the spring job fair has more firms than the fall. It just sucks that I had a ton of internship interviews back when I was horrible at interviewing, but now that I have improved my skills I can't land an interview to save my life  edit - I've also had professors recommend attending state CPA society events, so I've been keeping an eye out for those. It might be worth checking into if you aren't already. Carlton Banks fucked around with this message at 05:47 on Nov 9, 2010 |
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Nov 9, 2010 05:37
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I hadn't considered taking the CPA exam right away; Virginia doesn't seem to have any experience requirements, just an accounting degree with 150 hours. One big problem: it costs about a grand to take, which is money I sure don't have. The whole point of this exercise was to make more money... Dammit. My brain is also about fried from two years of constant work/school/work/school, so I don't know how well studying would go. I was really hoping to take a break from studying for a little while after graduation.
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Nov 10, 2010 02:01
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Johnny Longtorso posted:I hadn't considered taking the CPA exam right away; Virginia doesn't seem to have any experience requirements, just an accounting degree with 150 hours. One big problem: it costs about a grand to take, which is money I sure don't have. The whole point of this exercise was to make more money... Dammit. My brain is also about fried from two years of constant work/school/work/school, so I don't know how well studying would go. I was really hoping to take a break from studying for a little while after graduation. Being a CPA candidate or having passed sections of the exam gives you infinitely more credibility when you are applying for jobs.
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Nov 10, 2010 03:02
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Mattism posted:I had this exact same thought in April of this year when graduation was approaching. Do not take a break. Do it now. It's just another 4-6 months of busting your rear end studying stuff you're already probably pretty drat familiar with. Not to mention once you have a job, studying for the exam on top of work sucks a lot.
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Nov 10, 2010 03:53
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hellboundburrito posted:Not to mention once you have a job, studying for the exam on top of work sucks a lot. Two other things to think about that makes taking the exam ASAP a good idea: 1. After a few months/years away from school, your study skills are going to be poo poo. I took a few years off after high school and it was a rough transition for my first semester in college since I forgot so many of the techniques I used in high school. Eventually I picked it back up, but the point is that you will be much better at studying for the exam right out of college than you will be a year or two from now. 2. Think about an advanced math class you took in your freshman or sophomore year, think you can do half the problems now that you were able to do then? As one of my professors is so fond of saying, knowledge has a short half life. According to him, there will be a large number of questions on the exam that deal with matters you might not experience frequently on the job. If you have been out of school for a while, there is a good chance you will have forgotten many of the minor details I can understand cost being an issue (since I am dreading the bill for Becker/exam registrations), but there's got to be some way to swing it. Carlton Banks fucked around with this message at 05:15 on Nov 10, 2010 |
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Nov 10, 2010 05:13
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scribe jones posted:3. hit Abbi with a brick and steal his practice. Sorry, I got enough staff as it is. I've been hit up twice this year by friends that were begging me to "go shopping" on their staff and take them off their hands before they did layoffs. Had to turn them down.
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Nov 10, 2010 17:39
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Johnny Longtorso posted:I hadn't considered taking the CPA exam right away; Virginia doesn't seem to have any experience requirements, just an accounting degree with 150 hours. One big problem: it costs about a grand to take, which is money I sure don't have. The whole point of this exercise was to make more money... Dammit. My brain is also about fried from two years of constant work/school/work/school, so I don't know how well studying would go. I was really hoping to take a break from studying for a little while after graduation.
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Nov 11, 2010 00:13
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Johnny Longtorso posted:I hadn't considered taking the CPA exam right away; Virginia doesn't seem to have any experience requirements, just an accounting degree with 150 hours. One big problem: it costs about a grand to take, which is money I sure don't have. The whole point of this exercise was to make more money... Dammit. My brain is also about fried from two years of constant work/school/work/school, so I don't know how well studying would go. I was really hoping to take a break from studying for a little while after graduation. As a CPA in Virginia, I can tell you there is in fact a one year experience requirement. edit: To be a CPA, not to take the exam. You can take the exam w/ 120 credits even, you just can't get licensed.
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Nov 11, 2010 01:33
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Carlton Banks posted:Two other things to think about that makes taking the exam ASAP a good idea: These are good points also, because there are certain classes that are particularly useful for the exam and the more time that passes between when you take those classes and when you take the related section of the exam, the harder it is going to be. For example, I took 2 tax classes in my last year of college and then took Regulation first and passed. It has been over a year since I took that exam and if I had to retake it, I'd have to study a lot more than I did back then.
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Nov 11, 2010 04:03
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I'm actually ten years out of high school; this is my third shot at college (first time I wasn't interested, second time I had to quit because of family stuff; I'm actually finishing this time!). And I work full-time, as I said, so working and studying at the same time isn't exactly new to me. Not that I enjoy doing both at the same time, but I don't really have a choice.TheOldMan posted:As a CPA in Virginia, I can tell you there is in fact a one year experience requirement. Ah, thanks. The state board of accountancy's website doesn't make that clear. So what happens if you take the exam without the license requirements? Do you have a certain period of time in which to fulfill them?
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Nov 11, 2010 23:43
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waar posted:I graduated in 2008 with a Business/Finance degree and have 6 accounting credits. Right now I plan on going back to my university to obtain all the accounting credits and then take the CPA. I live in PA, is this pretty much what I have to do? Get credits -> pass test -> find an entry level accounting job? What if I already have accounting responsibilities at my current employer, how can I find out if that can count toward my experience requirement to become a CPA? The Assistant Controller where I work as a staff accountant is close to taking his CPA but unfortunately our Controller hasn't stayed current with his CPA for some years now so he is going to take it out of state where that isn't a requirement - Illinois I believe? I don't know what the difference is, if there is one at all for taking the exam outside of a state in which you plan to work. But it might be something worth looking into.
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Nov 12, 2010 03:50
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Johnny Longtorso posted:I'm actually ten years out of high school; this is my third shot at college (first time I wasn't interested, second time I had to quit because of family stuff; I'm actually finishing this time!). And I work full-time, as I said, so working and studying at the same time isn't exactly new to me. Not that I enjoy doing both at the same time, but I don't really have a choice. That's a good question. I'm not entirely sure if there is a time limit or not.
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Nov 13, 2010 05:16
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TheOldMan posted:That's a good question. I'm not entirely sure if there is a time limit or not. I think this is another state-dependent question. I believe Louisiana requires you get the experience within 5 years or something.
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Nov 13, 2010 08:33
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My wife is currently a CPA working as an auditor at a Big Four accounting firm. Recently, she has really wanted to find a new job, primarily due to a really ridiculous amount of extra hours, travel and the general stress associated with the job. Reading through the thread I see that a ton of this is kind of "just the way it is", but I'd really like to help her find something that reduces the amount of stress she is dealing with. Has anyone else gone through a similar situation and found something that thought was significantly improved? Was there some other change, job-wise, that you went through that improved things? (Note, I'm totally dumb regarding the field, haha. So, I may not be able to have any meaningful conversation about it.)
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Nov 15, 2010 22:47
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pocket pool posted:My wife is currently a CPA working as an auditor at a Big Four accounting firm. Recently, she has really wanted to find a new job, primarily due to a really ridiculous amount of extra hours, travel and the general stress associated with the job. Reading through the thread I see that a ton of this is kind of "just the way it is", but I'd really like to help her find something that reduces the amount of stress she is dealing with. Does she have like no idea what she wants to do? A CPA working for a Big 4 isn't exactly lacking in opportunities.
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Nov 16, 2010 04:51
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Harry posted:Does she have like no idea what she wants to do? A CPA working for a Big 4 isn't exactly lacking in opportunities. No I don't think she's really all that sure what she wants to do.
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Nov 16, 2010 05:08
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pocket pool posted:No I don't think she's really all that sure what she wants to do. If she likes the work but hates the travel, she could look at working for a local CPA firm. Now's the time to switch, since the audit schedule is starting to fill up.
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Nov 16, 2010 22:39
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Halisnacks posted:I thought this thread would be the best place to ask this rather than start an entirely new thread. No one ever responded to this, which I guess indicates there are not many British accounting goons here. I got an interview with a Big 4 in London for a Public Sector Audit position leading to an ACA. As I'm completely out of my depth, can any goons offer advice on preparing for the interview? What to expect, what they are looking to hear, etc.? I would be very grateful. 
Halisnacks fucked around with this message at 11:59 on Nov 20, 2010 |
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Nov 19, 2010 22:56
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What kind of work can accountants move into, or are you pretty much obliged to be an accountant for life?
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Nov 21, 2010 21:04
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Hey quick question. So as an undergrad I wasn't a business major, I graduated with a degree in history. As you can imagine the job prospects for history majors were less then none so I took some classes at a local community college in accounting and loved it. So now I'm currently getting my MBA in Accounting at a fairly good business school and was wondering since I don't have a real accounting degree, how would this affect me in my job search when I graduate? I want to work at a public accounting firm, but I'm nervous that because its only a MBA in Accounting I'll be at a disadvantage. So lets say I want to work at one of the big 4 firms, would I even have a chance?
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Nov 21, 2010 21:41
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SavesTheLava posted:Hey quick question. So as an undergrad I wasn't a business major, I graduated with a degree in history. As you can imagine the job prospects for history majors were less then none so I took some classes at a local community college in accounting and loved it. So now I'm currently getting my MBA in Accounting at a fairly good business school and was wondering since I don't have a real accounting degree, how would this affect me in my job search when I graduate? I want to work at a public accounting firm, but I'm nervous that because its only a MBA in Accounting I'll be at a disadvantage. So lets say I want to work at one of the big 4 firms, would I even have a chance? Can you sit for the CPA exam? If so, they don't care. If not, take the credits you need to be able to sit for the CPA exam.
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Nov 22, 2010 03:42
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SavesTheLava posted:Hey quick question. So as an undergrad I wasn't a business major, I graduated with a degree in history. As you can imagine the job prospects for history majors were less then none so I took some classes at a local community college in accounting and loved it. So now I'm currently getting my MBA in Accounting at a fairly good business school and was wondering since I don't have a real accounting degree, how would this affect me in my job search when I graduate? I want to work at a public accounting firm, but I'm nervous that because its only a MBA in Accounting I'll be at a disadvantage. So lets say I want to work at one of the big 4 firms, would I even have a chance? As gmilo said, you will want to get the credits to sit for the exam and become certified. Many public accounting firms are now only hiring people with the number of credits required to become licensed (in most states, 150) so you will likely need to do that before applying, even if you haven't passed the exam yet - although having the exam done will help. Aside from that, I would say having an MBA focused in accounting will give you a pretty good shot at getting hired. Your undergrad degree doesn't matter so much if you have the coursework for a CPA, are on the CPA track and particularly if you have a graduate degree focused in accounting. We just hired someone who was a psychology major and then went on to get an MSA which is less impressive than an MBA.
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Nov 22, 2010 03:47
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Umbriago posted:What kind of work can accountants move into, or are you pretty much obliged to be an accountant for life? I would consider accounting to open up a very large set of doors as far as what you can do. Just in my very limited experience I've gone from doing basic bookkeeping stuff like paying bills for businesses, to performing compliance testing in a large corporation, to performing forensic (fraud) investigations, performing financial statement audits, auditing 401k/benefit plans, and doing performance/compliance audits for various clients for various reasons. Not all accountants sit at the same desk everyday and perform the same job. Having the background can also help you get into management type positions, since you will typically have a good basis of knowledge for budgets and the like. There's also enforcement type positions like the IRS, FBI, DEA, etc Basically it doesn't ever hurt to have an accounting background. I'll never forget walking around at a job fair for school trying to find a specific firm I wanted to speak to. I was flagged down repeatedly by people when they saw I was an accounting major from my name tag while just about every other major was given the cold shoulder (except engineering, which I would consider the only other major I wish I could have done for the potential it gives) gmilo fucked around with this message at 03:52 on Nov 22, 2010 |
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Nov 22, 2010 03:49
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gmilo posted:Can you sit for the CPA exam? If so, they don't care. If not, take the credits you need to be able to sit for the CPA exam. hellboundburrito posted:As gmilo said, you will want to get the credits to sit for the exam and become certified. Many public accounting firms are now only hiring people with the number of credits required to become licensed (in most states, 150) so you will likely need to do that before applying, even if you haven't passed the exam yet - although having the exam done will help. Aside from that, I would say having an MBA focused in accounting will give you a pretty good shot at getting hired. Your undergrad degree doesn't matter so much if you have the coursework for a CPA, are on the CPA track and particularly if you have a graduate degree focused in accounting. We just hired someone who was a psychology major and then went on to get an MSA which is less impressive than an MBA. Yeah when I graduate I'll be able to sit for the exam. So sounds like I'll be OK then, thanks for the info.
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Nov 22, 2010 04:11
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gmilo posted:I would consider accounting to open up a very large set of doors as far as what you can do. Just in my very limited experience I've gone from doing basic bookkeeping stuff like paying bills for businesses, to performing compliance testing in a large corporation, to performing forensic (fraud) investigations, performing financial statement audits, auditing 401k/benefit plans, and doing performance/compliance audits for various clients for various reasons. That sounds good, thanks for your answer. I've never considered a career in accountancy before -- I'm a history and politics graduate and I always presumed that I would go into academia, but chances of a job in that field are about 800-1 right now and only getting worse. So I really need to give some thought as to what else I could do. Fortunately in the UK you don't necessarily need to take an accountancy degree to go into accounting, or a law degree to go into law, etc. -- firms will hire you as a trainee and have you take your professional qualifications as you go along. A plus for me is that I'm temping in a university business department at the moment, and I'm on very good terms with the accountancy staff, so I can hopefully get some good tips and perhaps even line up some work experience to help me consider whether it would be a good career for me. My main concern is that the hours working for the Big 4 would kill me over time, but if I knew I could move out into another field after a while then it would be a lot easier to cope.
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Nov 22, 2010 10:43
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I think I might apply for a job as an accounting clerk in the new year. Looking on indeed.com, about half of posting with that title pay as much as I currently earn as an attorney and it would help me get experience in the field I actually want to go into. I wonder if work as an "accounting clerk" could possibly satisfy the 1 year work experience requirement for the CPA. I guess there's also the possibility of internal advancement if I can get such a job. Has anyone here worked as an accounting clerk or an a/r or a/p clerk? Was it helpful in becoming a full on "accountant"?
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Nov 22, 2010 23:46
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I worked as a general intern, A/R clerk, A/P clerk, and then accountant, all in the same company. I moved up to accountant when I graduated, and will probably move up when I pass the CPA exam. IMO, clerk experience CAN be helpful. However, it's not really accounting. It's more data entry, posting, reconciliation, etc. Anyone can do it with just a weeks worth of instruction. The clerking may or may not provide the 1 yr experience. It usually has to be under the direct supervision of a CPA. Your state reqs will vary. In my (limited) experience, clerking won't help get you an accounting job. It's just not the same. Honestly, the only useful info I gleaned from my stint as a clerk was understanding how the job worked. But you'll get that as a full accountant anyway. Clerks also (usually) pay a lot less! This is the only company I've ever worked for, so take my advice with a grain of salt.
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Nov 23, 2010 00:44
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It would have to be a good move for me. The pay couldn't be much lower, unless there was a better (existent) benefits package too. I make about 30k as a lawyer, no benefits. Searching on indeed it looks like there are some a/p or a/r jobs that have a similar salary range. It would also have to be a place where promotion to "accountant" was possible upon graduation. Really, I'd like to be an "accountant" before I graduate, as I know at least two people who hold such a title without much education in the area. One is in my Intermediate I class, the other has only taken a single accounting class. edit: sigh, sometimes I feel like I'll never have a good job. Hellblazer187 fucked around with this message at 01:52 on Nov 23, 2010 |
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Nov 23, 2010 01:38
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There's almost no chance it will count towards the CPA.
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Nov 23, 2010 05:57
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Hellblazer187 posted:I wonder if work as an "accounting clerk" could possibly satisfy the 1 year work experience requirement for the CPA. I guess there's also the possibility of internal advancement if I can get such a job. Has anyone here worked as an accounting clerk or an a/r or a/p clerk? Was it helpful in becoming a full on "accountant"? I seriously doubt it will count towards the 1 year CPA requirement. I was a part time accounting clerk in college and while it helped give me a basic understanding of whats going on it isn't really a great jumping point. If you want to open a lot of doors you should try an entry level position at a CPA firm in audit or consulting.
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Nov 23, 2010 08:03
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