|
I think the feedback you get from various accountants here will vary with each person's capacity as an accountant. There will definitely be differences between people's responses based on whether they work in public accounting or industry, and if they work in public accounting it will certainly be different for those who work for a Big 4 (and within that category, those who work in different areas of Big 4 accounting), regional and small-firm public accounting. That being said, there always seems to be a lot of negativity surrounding public accounting, especially concerning the Big 4. It is a great place to start an accounting career because most firms are generous in terms of paying for the CPA exam and review materials, bonuses for passing, plus the name on your resume. My personal experience as a first year associate at a Big 4 has been mostly positive, but I'm an auditor in the smallest division of our firm. This means I enjoy the benefits of the Big 4, and minimize the negatives - i.e. my busy season is no more than 55 hours a week, no integrated audits, and it feels like I work for a small firm because my group only has about 140 people in it including both audit and tax. To reiterate someone's earlier point, being a CPA and a lawyer is both rare and highly sought after. I know several people who fall in this category, and while they work a lot they also make a ton of money. Tax law seems to be a particularly good field to get into. In terms of education requirements, it does vary from state to state but most seem to be requiring 150 credits total to be certified, which is increasingly becoming a requirement for promotion. Here in MA, certification requires 150 total credits and some minimum number of accounting credits; you do not need an MSA or MST or any other Masters degree, and you can get credits from a community college if the credits transfer to an accredited four year school. As I found out earlier this year, this means that you can take courses for acceptable credit at a community college prior to graduation from a four year school, but if you want to take additional credits after graduating they cannot come from a community college.
|
#
¿
Nov 17, 2009 22:42
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ Apr 28, 2024 11:08 |
|
|
Ribsauce posted:It gets better. You'll be talking to people and doing more interesting stuff soon enough. One thing I have noticed is accountants like to complain (myself included). Whenever you reading Accounting Today, the Interim Report (or whatever you local cpa mag is) half the articles are airing out complaints about every gd thing on Earth. Whatever, we all have jobs, can't say that for too many industries right now I'm glad someone else has noticed how much accountants like to complain. I'm fairly new at my firm but every senior I work with loves to complain constantly. One of our seniors left the firm to work for one of our clients last week and we had an unofficial going away party for him at a bar after work, and I swear I've never seen this guy so happy - he was practically glowing. I asked him what he'd be doing at his new job, and he got this big grin on his face and said, "straight chillin' man."
|
|
#
¿
Nov 28, 2009 20:59
|
|
|
staciems86 posted:You're right about it being dull and boring. Accounting classes were the worst classes I've ever taken. I'd say it depends on a lot of things - the professor, the type of accounting class, you as a student, etc. Any class can suck if the professor is boring or crappy, and some people I feel are almost programmed to enjoy it whereas other classes someone else might enjoy may seem like the most boring thing in the world. In my case, I found most accounting classes to be interesting enough, whereas I hated all of my finance classes and thought they were boring as hell. Not all accounting classes are created equal either - managerial/cost accounting classes in my opinion are miserable for most people for example.
|
|
#
¿
Dec 25, 2009 07:23
|
|
|
puchu posted:I liked management accounting classes, instead of looking just at numbers you actually have to put them in to a greater context which is way more interesting This just goes to show that the professor and the student affect how the class is received. Managerial accounting was one of my least favorite courses, whereas I actually enjoyed tax accounting (even though I'm an auditor...).
|
|
#
¿
Dec 25, 2009 16:36
|
|
|
Desertfox621 posted:I'm graduating in May, and I will have my CPA education and experience requirements done. Georgia lowered the reqs to one year public or private (Go Georgia!) so as long as I pass the exam I will be a CPA when I'm done. I'll preface this by saying it is from my own knowledge of the job seeking process amongst my friends in accounting in our region and may not be the same everywhere. I work in audit for a Big 4, but I have several friends who didn't have the GPA to get hired by my firm and ended up at smaller firms so I think if you're not trying to go with a Big 4 you will have a good chance. In all honesty it may still hinder your chances but you will probably land something somewhere anyway since accounting majors are in demand in most markets. As mentioned, the best strategy is definitely to go through your career services office since they probably have the right contacts and many firms probably recruit at your school. You could also directly reach out to them by looking on their websites to see if they have online recruiting systems (i.e. submitting your resume online) or using the contact info to talk to someone in charge of hiring. It's awesome that Georgia lowered their requirements, and if you don't get a job right you should definitely try to take parts of the exam while you wait since it will help you both in the long run and with getting a job - I'd be surprised if any firm would pass someone up if they seemed like a strong candidate AND had some or all parts of the exam finished. However, keep in mind some firms may pay for the exam and/or review materials for you, all of which are expensive, so I would focus on finding a job first and taking the exam second.
|
|
#
¿
Dec 30, 2009 07:05
|
|
|
Darkmage posted:In my state, taking the CPA exam requires 30 more credits than it requires to graduate. This could go towards a Business Admin. major for example. I've just recently switched to Accounting (from Mechanical Engineering) and I've considered eventually getting an MBA along with the Accounting major. Would this just be a waste of time? Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but most MBA programs want you to have some work experience prior to enrollment. It would most definitely not be a waste of time to get an MBA at some point after you become an accountant - in fact, most people who leave my firm (a Big 4) go for their MBA after as it will give you a lot more opportunities. If you graduate with an accounting degree, have a decent GPA and take the right steps towards getting a job, you'll be in a good place to eventually get an MBA.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 16, 2010 06:55
|
|
|
LactoseO.D.'d posted:The more reputable programs require it. The average MBA age has been getting younger and younger though. More people are pursuing the degree earlier in their careers. I don't understand it, but some people try to pick up an MBA right out of undergrad, and there are programs that let them. This is true. I suppose that people who are getting their MBA earlier are just following the trend right now, where it seems like more and more people who can't jobs out of college are going to grad school and for a business major, an MBA is a pretty logical progression. Some MSA programs can be useful (in terms of preparing you for an accounting career, taking the CPA exam) especially if you need more credits to become licensed, but in general I'd say if you can get the credits by cheaper and quicker means it is better. An MBA is far more useful for getting better jobs than an MSA is.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 16, 2010 21:08
|
|
|
TheChimney posted:Does anybody know anything about he Defense Contract Audit Agency? I am about to go get my masters in accounting and am seriously considering them. I literally know nothing about the DCAA (I didn't even know it existed until just now), but this may be of interest to you. In college I had a professor for a fraud class who was a former US Attorney, then FBI agent, and he is currently a special agent with the DoD's Inspector General. His work sounds similar to this, in that he was a CPA and used accounting to trace money back to terrorist organizations and investigate contractor issues. He liked his work and it sounded pretty interesting to me, and in the future I may consider trying to get into that agency.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 28, 2010 04:48
|
|
|
puchu posted:What are some burning issues that accountants are keeping up with this year? I'm starting to prep for interviews you see... I'm with a Big 4 and only audit private companies, and one thing we've been discussing a lot lately is FIN 48 implementation for private entities. If you're interviewing with a smaller firm that deals mostly with privately held clients you might impress an interviewer with some knowledge about that. As another poster said we are also looking at IFRS although that is a bit further down the road for us.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 30, 2010 19:48
|
|
|
renholder posted:i am curious if you mean something else besides fin 48, since the effective date is 2006, or you have businesses with a lot of questionable tax deductions? I work primarily in bank accounting and the major hot button stuff is still allowance for loan and lease losses, fair value accounting, and other than temporary impairment. Public companies have been dealing with FIN 48 for a few years now (I guess since 2006), but private entities were only required to implement it for years ended after 12/15/2009. If someone here is applying to a Big 4 and looking for top of mind things to talk about, FIN 48 probably won't be a big deal. However, since I only deal with private entities and I know many small accounting firms and some regional firms primarily work for private companies as well, FIN 48 implementation could be something that an interviewer would be impressed by if you are knowledgeable about it. That being said, since FIN 48 has been around for a while some private companies may have implemented it already, possibly even at its inception. However, I know from experience that there are many that have not.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 2, 2010 04:08
|
|
|
Ribsauce posted:Does anyone know a nice clean guide of CPA experience and other requirements state by state? My google skills are failing me. Becker CPA review has a pretty good listing of state by state info on the exam - http://www.beckercpa.com . They also have a really good review program, albeit very expensive (I think around $3k) if your firm doesn't pay for it. I'm not sure about NC, but in MA I think it's a certain number of auditing hours. That means even if you work for a Big 4 or something, if you're in tax you still need to work some audit engagements to get your hours for certification. I don't remember the specifics because I'm in audit and don't really think about that aspect too much.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 26, 2010 02:45
|
|
|
rockin peanut posted:One might say they need to... Gotta love accountant humor...
|
|
#
¿
Mar 2, 2010 04:12
|
|
|
Desertfox621 posted:So, I have a bit of a dilemma. I have two basic choices as a new graduate, a job in audit/assurance, or a job with my current (private) employer. I really want to move into audit, but this private employer has offered me a job as the corporate controller. ~20mil in revenue/yr, 75 people, mid-sized I guess. My question is, if I take this job, would it be harder for me to transition to audit later on? For example, if I hated it, in two years would the CPA firms laugh me away? Or would they see a controller's experience as a plus? In my experience, people in public accounting and auditing go into it for two reasons. Some want to become a partner at a firm or eventually start their own, and some use it as a launching pad to something better. Corporate controller is definitely a position that people I work with would love to have after they leave public accounting, so if the money is there then I would suggest going that route.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 4, 2010 04:30
|
|
|
Mandalay posted:Yeah, I don't get it either. They even stick a 3-month internship in the middle. (guaranteed) In my opinion, a Masters of Accountancy isn't a very useful degree in general so I don't really think the school's prestige is much of an issue. Sure, if you have your MSA from a really good school as opposed to a crappy one, it is going to look better. However, the main reason (around here in MA, anyway) why people get their MSA is to get enough credits to become certified. Some people, such as myself, had enough extra credits from undergrad to take a couple of additional courses after graduation and not having the MSA hasn't hurt me a bit.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 6, 2010 08:41
|
|
|
There were 203 people in my intern class, and only one didn't get an offer. That person didn't get an offer because he allegedly sexually harassed a senior associate (it is said that he told her "drat, you white but you got a black rear end!") but he was still allowed to finish out his internship.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 7, 2010 09:15
|
|
|
Afro Thunder posted:Just posting to echo the sentiment that a masters in accounting is just for people that had undergrad degrees that didn't give them enough units to take the CPA exam. Most CPAs I know at higher levels have their MBAs but the few that I know that have MAs had undergrad majors like marketing/advertising/business with the bare minimum of accounting units. I don't have any experience with the FCPA, but I too am interested in forensic accounting. I had a professor in college who was a CPA and a CFE (Certified Fraud Examiner), and had worked as a CPA at E&Y, US Attorney, Special Agent with the FBI and ultimately ended up as a DCIS special agent with the DoD. He used to emphasize that the CPA/CFE combination was an excellent thing to have and could make you a lot of money and open a lot of doors.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 8, 2010 04:39
|
|
|
gmilo posted:I've heard the CFE is a very easy certification to get. Getting a lot of good experience actually using it seems much harder. I don't know much about the CFE so I'm not sure how easy it is to get, but I agree the experience to use it is pretty hard to get. It seems like it takes a while to move up in a Big 4 to the point where they would let you transfer into a role like that, and obviously there are a lot of hurdles in becoming a federal agent that would allow you to use it as well.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 9, 2010 04:40
|
|
|
jaymm posted:how is everyone enjoying busy season? I am sacrificing sleep currently so I can have some small amount of time to myself before I need to pack up and live in a hotel for the rest of the week. Mine was good until this week. I was averaging about 55 hours a week, but my new client is fairly complicated and our entire recurring team quit (except for the partner) so it's a brand new team now. So far it's shaping up to be a pretty horrendous job and I'm sure my hours will look more typical from here on out (I'm guessing 8am-11pm M-Th, 8:30am-7pm Friday, 9am-6pm Saturday and working from home on Sundays).
|
|
#
¿
Mar 10, 2010 01:25
|
|
|
mcmagic posted:80 hours plus working from home sundays... No wonder they quit. Like I said, the rest of my busy season was pretty good. I work in a small division and we work significantly less on average than bigger divisions that deal with banks and public companies, so we tend to hate our lives a bit less. I have friends who do 80 hours a week for four months straight, so I'm not really complaining about this upcoming stretch.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 11, 2010 04:59
|
|
|
Nipple Drainage posted:So moving into industry is best done with audit exp? even compared to advisory exp? I think he was comparing tax and audit only. Moving from advisory to industry would be roughly similar to audit, maybe easier because you have to be on top of your game to work in advisory and you likely moved from audit to advisory at some point anyway. In my experience people in audit have better luck moving into industry for a couple of reasons; you tend to have more day to day interaction with clients in audit so you might have more contacts, and people in industry often see auditors as having a more well rounded sense of a business. I'm not saying that tax professionals don't get an in depth understanding of their clients or business in general, but overall their focus is more specialized. That being said, they could be very highly sought after in industry for other positions in which their expertise would be valuable.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 23, 2010 03:33
|
|
|
Tiax Rules All posted:So, as someone who is getting a BA next year in something totally unrelated to accounting, with no experience in the field, should my next step be to apply for an accounting masters program? Like garythetard said, it depends on what you do. Personally, I think the best way to get a good and fairly lucrative job in accounting is to become a CPA and then go into public accounting. While public accounting is in most cases a LOT of work and doesn't pay as well as most people would like considering the hours for part of the year, it is a great stepping stone to another job in finance or accounting. Having public accounting experience, particularly with the Big 4, will give you a lot more opportunity in the field following your exit than if you try to move up from a typical staff accountant or clerk position. This situation is one of the only times I will recommend getting an MSA. It will qualify you for public accounting positions and give you the base technical knowledge you need, and the rest you'll pick up along the way once you start working. And the bonus is that you can eventually get your CPA and you'll be well off from there.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 10, 2010 00:18
|
|
|
I agree with the last poster that said you should get a job in what you want to do. That being said, I personally would tell a recruiter (if I was in your position) that I am most interested in tax and would really like to work in that area, but that I think I would be a good fit in audit if there was demand for it. When I was first recruited I didn't know which side of the business I wanted to go into, but I expressed interest in both sides and I got a job (in audit) and am happy just the same. Contrary to what another poster said, this time of year (August - September and a little of October) is the busiest time for tax in my practice. There are a lot of extensions and partnership returns to be done by the extended deadline, and right now everyone in tax is scrambling. In fact, I just rolled onto a tax team despite being in audit and I've been doing partnership returns for the past few days and will be for the next few weeks. The point of me saying this is that depending on where you end up working, you may have opportunities to experience both sides. Also, to answer your original question my firm (Big 4) hired 20 people from my graduating class, and the split between tax and audit was exactly down the middle.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 3, 2010 03:51
|
|
|
garythetard posted:If you go audit can you decide on any industry you want to specialize in or does it all just depend on what the firm needs at that time? I can only speak to my firm (Big 4), but you can generally choose the industry or group you want to be an auditor in. No matter what they are always receptive (in my experience and that of others I know) to your interests, and will try to place you in a particular group if space permits. I know that when you finish an internship and receive an offer, they usually ask you if you liked the group you interned with or if you would rather go to a different group full time. When I first got an internship offer, I had interviewed with the partner in charge of my group for the entire country. He made it sound fairly interesting and was also an alum from my school, so I requested to be placed there and have worked in it ever since.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 9, 2010 03:23
|
|
|
Bean Bandit posted:I went straight into industry right before I graduated. While working there I earned my master's and now some years later I would like to move into public accounting, preferably with a small regional firm. Is there anything that can help me or is it too late for me to think about public accounting? Are firms interested in hiring people like me who have accounting experience, just not in public accounting? Word around my office/firm is that attrition is high right now, and recruiters are finding it somewhat difficult to attract new talent. From what I see just in my group, this seems pretty accurate since we've been losing people left and right for the past couple of weeks and the outlook for replacing them is bleak. I work for a Big 4 though, so I'm not sure if this is the case with smaller regional firms - however, it sounds like the other Big 4 are having this issue right now as well. That being said, because of these conditions I think you'd still have a great shot at getting into public accounting. You've been in industry for a while so you understand accounting and that side of the business, and the rest you can pick up from training and experience. I know there are several people who work in my group who came from industry - we even have one guy who worked in sales (and was a struggling comedian on the side), got his masters at 35 and now works with us. It's kind of funny because he is now 38 and in his third year, and works under seniors who are only 25-26.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 9, 2010 04:05
|
|
|
Hellblazer187 posted:Hey, this thread is still around! My firm (a Boston Big 4) and many others seemed to be able to weather the storm a bit better than most other industries. To put it in perspective, there were about 200 new hires in my class two years ago, around 180 last year and about 190 this year (although many of those are deferred until January due to new 150 credit requirements). There can be a lot of turnover in public accounting, if that's something you're interested in, so recruiters always seem to be pretty active and I know that my office is making a big push for new talent. By the time you graduate, I would think that the job market for accounting majors would be as good as it is now but more than likely it will be better. Have you started looking into internships yet? And congrats on doing well through your first few semesters. Your priorities should be to continue doing well in class, researching internship opportunities and considering your plan for getting credentialed if that's what you want. It's never too early to start thinking about the exam, even if it will be a while before you can sit for it.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 26, 2010 03:01
|
|
|
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. There are more than a couple of accounting courses that you'll likely encounter that tend to weed out accounting majors, so you're right in that it will get harder as you progress. If you stick with it for a while, just know that you won't experience everything you do in these classes in the real world and you will do things in real world accounting you maybe never saw in class. Also, some people go into accounting because they actually like it a lot, and others might get into it for opportunities down the road. If you like accounting so far but also have an interest in IT-related areas, you could double major or take on a minor and pursue a career in something that is relevant to both. All Big 4 firms, most regional firms and many small, local firms have IT auditors and IT consulting which you might find interesting. In many cases they are paid more, and you might need to get a CISA instead of or in conjunction with a CPA.
|
|
#
¿
Nov 3, 2010 03:12
|
|
|
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.
|
|
#
¿
Nov 10, 2010 03:53
|
|
|
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.
|
|
#
¿
Nov 11, 2010 04:03
|
|
|
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.
|
|
#
¿
Nov 22, 2010 03:47
|
|
|
Ribsauce posted:The only thing that matters is who supervises the department/him (right?) If the Company is big enough there is a decent chance he will have a CPA over him. All the form says is "was employed as an accountant under a CPA for X amount of time" Your questions are some that we discuss daily on some of my teams at work - there are a lot of people in very similar positions to you in terms of really not wanting to do another busy season, not having something else lined up but not knowing how much time is left to quit "reasonably." A lot of people have sort of taken the position that they need to look out for themselves and if they don't quit before busy season, they might just have to do it during if something good comes up. Personally, I think you need to do is ASAP. I don't think it is unreasonable to quit now, but the sooner the better because they probably won't be happy either way but you'll mitigate the burning of bridges the sooner you do it. I am also one of the people who will not be leaving any time soon, so I always advocate for early quitting because it *may* screw me over less during busy season (but it will still probably screw me). That being said, it sounds like if a few conditions are met you might consider staying - if that's the case, the closer it is to busy season the more leverage you will have if your firm needs staff. They might be willing to make some concessions in order to keep a body around for at least a good part of the season. We have a woman in our group who has been on a reduced work schedule due to having a baby 9 months ago and we were all sure she would have quit by now. However, it looks like the closer we get to January the more likely they are to let her keep her reduced schedule even during busy season (they weren't going to initially) just so they don't lose someone else. Unrelated side note: Any tax preparers in this thread? I do taxes on the side during busy season (horrible idea in terms of work-life balance), and just got the IRS pamphlet in the mail saying tax preparers now need to be over $60 a year which seems like such a ripoff. I realize tax preparers make money doing taxes, but it's not like they give us any sort of free e-filing program or anything with the fee. Luckily I'm at least a CPA so I don't have to deal with the testing they want to implement in 2011. hellboundburrito fucked around with this message at 03:49 on Dec 1, 2010 |
|
#
¿
Dec 1, 2010 03:46
|
|
|
Ribsauce posted:To clarify, "but I don't have anything lined up" means I do not have anywhere I have to be. Once I quit I am going to travel for a few months and then move across the country, I could leave in literally 2 weeks or 4 months, it makes no difference to me. As for leverage, I don't care to flex any leverage. My ideal answer would be "alright that is fine, stay a couple weeks and finish the three engagments you are on, here is your final expense + paycheck, have a nice life!" but if it is "Look, it is really late to do this, we need you, here is X money and no Saturdays" then I don't really mind staying too much either. If it is "yea, we need you, we'll give you an insulting raise and 70 hours a week" I'm leaving treadmarks. All fair points - I wasn't trying to imply you want to use leverage, I guess I just meant that the leverage might naturally exist even if you don't choose to take advantage of it. In my opinion, I suppose that the phone works if it's the only way you'll get a hold of the partner. Is the partner the only person you can have this conversation with? I'm assuming you work at a smaller firm than me, but I know if I were to give my notice I'd bring it up to my coach/manager who I see more often than my main partner. quote:For many years, the IRS really didn't give a gently caress about unethical preparers. Sure, every once in a while they would go into crackdown mode, but they really didn't care unless the dollar amount was huge. Whistle-blowers were ignored even if the frauds were in the six figures per annum. In the last couple of years, the IRS seems to have taken a dim view of paid preparers and taxpayer representatives as a whole, taking the stance that taxpayers should be able to deal with the IRS by themselves. I don't know exactly what the split is between delusion and self-interest, and I don't care to know. Nevertheless, the IRS feels it necessary to regulate the industry. I'm not advocating against some sort of regulation - I *do* think an element of regulation is a good idea. I guess I'm just sort of displeased about the sudden fee as it relates to the small time (and for arguments sake, we'll direct this towards honorable, tax-code abiding preparers) preparers who do know the tax code but don't do a whole lot of returns during tax season because it's side work for them. I also think regulation and perhaps the element of testing they plan to implement are more effective deterrents for a preparer to sign off on a fraudulent return than the fee itself. That being said, I'm going to pay the fee regardless so I can do taxes in the little spare time I have during busy season, but I guess I wish there was an added benefit of efficient and cost effective filing that was included with the fee for those of us who choose to go through the proper channels and accept the regulation of the field.
|
|
#
¿
Dec 2, 2010 04:21
|
|
|
Missing Donut posted:Unless you do fewer than 10 or 15 tax returns, I think the fee isn't unreasonable. (If you do fewer than that, why even bother?) As AbbiTheDog posted, the old status quo was insufficient to even track the tax preparer community, let alone regulate it. Getting everyone to one database, even if it requires a small user fee, is a necessary first step toward the goal -- what good is it to impose regulations on preparers if the IRS doesn't know who to enforce against? As I said, my issue isn't with regulation - I think regulation is a good idea, but I don't think the fee is going to be the most effective element of regulation if it's even effective at all. The fee itself won't deter people who wish to fraudulently prepare returns, but true regulation in the form of registration, the testing and so on will. Don't take my comments as being anti-IRS and anti-regulation, I understand it is their job to make sure returns are properly prepared and taxes are paid. And as I also said, if the fee included some sort of efficient way of e-filing for free, I would definitely support it. Even if I weren't a CPA and was subject to the testing in 2011, I'd have no problem with that either. Last year I only did five returns because I was swamped, but this year I plan on doing about 10-15. I "bother" because it is still extra income. The fee most definitely isn't the end of the world and won't stop most honorable preparers from registering (including myself), and I'm not as upset about it is maybe I came off as being. I guess I just feel for the small time preparers who do know the tax code, don't commit fraud and only prepare a small number of returns.
|
|
#
¿
Dec 3, 2010 03:39
|
|
|
Viriatha posted:I've read the entire thread and given the OP's original question the focus for accounting seems to be on having it as your main career and working for yourself or a firm of some sort. I have a related question. What are your options if you want to do this part time? I'd say your options are limited, but you do have options. On the tax side, you could do temp work somewhere during tax season or work for a tax franchise such as H&R Block. You could also look at accounting staffing firms such as Accountemps and see if there is a position available where you're not working full time. Various companies also might have positions available where there is less than full time need, particularly in the bookkeeping area, although in general I'd say this is rare. Also, some firms might be interested in hiring you on a reduced schedule basis although this too would be rare.
|
|
#
¿
Dec 12, 2010 07:55
|
|
|
Brother Michael posted:hey all, it's been awhile since I posted in this thread. I started my own business over the summer and had to take a break from my accounting program this past fall. I am now starting back up this quarter. The Big 4 firm I work for has finished recruiting for the coming winter and summer internships, but you could try for a year from now or the following summer. Recruiting at Big 4 firms for internships seems to be pretty similar so I would assume the other three firms are in the same boat. Intern life at a Big 4 is pretty sweet, at least in my experience and the experiences of my friends. I wouldn't necessarily generalize that "everyone says working full time for a Big 4 company is awful," because your mileage may vary. It definitely has its rough patches during the year, but overall I enjoy it and the summer is pretty good. I do work in a small group though, so I may have it easier than the average employee at a Big 4. You also have to consider all the people who stay for years and years - it isn't for everyone, but it IS for some people so in that sense, it can't be miserable for everyone who works there.
|
|
#
¿
Dec 23, 2010 03:48
|
|
|
Moneyball posted:Can you help get me from where I am in life to at least a starting point in the industry? In terms of staying with your current job versus a relevant job, I personally don't think it matters unless the job you try to get is in accounting. If the most similar job you could get is being a bank teller versus your current job in security, it won't help much at all. If you finish school with an accounting degree, you'll have a great shot at getting a job with an accounting firm - however, you should be looking at the CPA track. Most firms, particularly the Big 4, care about some degree in accounting and the CPA track - i.e. someone who has an accounting degree (bachelors or masters), and is planning on taking the exam or has already taken some or passed. If you're talking about Salem State in MA, I know people who work for my (Big 4) firm that went to school there. I couldn't tell you whether or not they recruit there, but it's definitely possible to get in.
|
|
#
¿
Dec 25, 2010 07:47
|
|
|
Carlton Banks posted:I have an interview scheduled with a firm in two weeks regarding a possible position for the fall (hurray!). While studying the firm's website, I noticed that it mentions how employees generally stick to a single area of specialization (such as healthcare, construction, pension plans, governmental, etc) rather than a broader approach where employees work in multiple industries/fields. Placement strategy may vary by firm, but at my firm it's more or less based on resource need and random placement. If you are interested in a particular area you can ask your recruiter about it and they'll usually try their best to make it happen. I requested a particular group at my firm and was placed there, but the cool thing about my group is that it has clients from all different industries - some financial services companies, some retail, some service organizations, etc. Once you are placed in a group, you may find that you like or dislike it. After a while I'm sure you can request a transfer to another group if you want to try something different.
|
|
#
¿
Dec 25, 2010 18:58
|
|
|
40 OZ posted:I am graduating this semester with a degree in accounting. I don't know what credentials they have in South America (I'm assuming there is one, though), but it is likely not the CPA and even if it were, it would be a different process for licensing than in the US. You could look into joining a Big 4 firm in the states and then try to do a tour of duty with one of their offices in South America - I know people who have worked at Big 4 firms in the US and then did a 2-year tour in another country like England, Australia and France.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 12, 2011 04:33
|
|
|
Turkeybone posted:Count me in as well as someone who worked in one career (culinary arts) for many years, and am finding myself hitting a wall where I know I can do better than what Im doing now. I took a mental health leave from cornell about 8 years ago, in the process of getting back into the hotel school. My plan is to specialize in accounting within the hospitality industry (controllership?).. is this retarded or not so? I figure there has to be a way to parlay at least SOME of the last ten years into usable experience.. even if it's just familiarity with hospitality (hotel and restaurant) operations. If you want to work in the hospitality industry, there are of course accounting jobs there. A controller position will likely be out of your reach when you leave school, because you typically need experience in the accounting field (often times for many years) before you are qualified for that type of position. However, you could start as a staff accountant and work your way up. Personally, I think you should just go straight for an accounting degree and then look for jobs in the hospitality industry as opposed to focusing your schooling on hospitality-related accounting, but maybe someone else here has a different opinion on that.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 24, 2011 04:12
|
|
|
Moneyball posted:A friend's stepdad asked me to work for him at his small design/architectural firm. He started out being the only employee and doing all his own bookkeeping, but he'll be training me to take it over. The downside is that it's only 5 to 15 hours a week, depending on work load, so I can't quit my current job. In addition to continuing your coursework at school, definitely increase your proficiency with Excel and canned accounting/bookkeeping software that small businesses use like Quickbooks, Peachtree, etc. If you can demonstrate proficiency with those, I'd think you could get a part-time gig somewhere doing simple to moderate bookkeeping for a small business - just know your limits in terms of how much your skill set will allow you to handle until you have your degree.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 1, 2011 04:33
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ Apr 28, 2024 11:08 |
|
|
Walk Away posted:It seems to me that the bigger effect lies with whether or not the firms do any recruiting at your school. If a particular firm that you want to work for doesn't recruit at your school, your chances of getting in right out of college are extremely reduced. This goes for the Big 4 as well from what I have seen. I agree with this. Most of the people in my group at a Big 4 come from 7-8 schools in the Northeast (as our office is in the Northeast) and we not only recruit at those schools, but usually have partners who are alumni. The alumni factor plays a huge role as well - up until a few years ago my firm was the only Big 4 that recruited at my college, mainly because a partner in my office who runs our group nationally graduated from there. For what it's worth, the people who aren't from those few schools come from all different educational backgrounds, from state schools to top tier schools.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 3, 2011 04:24
|
|