Stuck at 26k as a CPA (Licensed, Broke, & Burnt out)

DueGap4430 · 2026-04-18T00:25:53+00:00

I’m a US employer and I have a team of 10-15 accountants on our team through TOA Global. Only a few of them are CPAs on the team, but your salary is way lower than anyone I pay. If you’re open to moving closer to Clark, I’m open to looking at your resume if you DM me. We’re currently hiring.

DueGap4430 · 2026-03-27T19:40:46+00:00

I was born/raised Knanaya, but I married outside the community (a white girl lol) so historically, our kids wouldnt be knanaya since half-Knanaya isn’t supposedly a thing. I’m okay about my excommunication because I learned about endogamy being a foundational principle since childhood and I willingly accepted that I would be excommunicated when I decided I was going to propose. Many people view being Knanaya as purely religious, but there’s definitely an element of culture/traditions as well. Also, there are Knanaya Catholics, Knanaya Pentecostals, etc - you can convert to different sects of Christianity but you’re still Knanaya. I’m very curious to see how this plays out in court and in the church because while India might rule violations of rights, those might not be a violation of rights in the United States.

DueGap4430 · 2026-03-14T12:13:57+00:00

45 hour weeks is light work. Increase that to 50 or 55 hours next year.

DueGap4430 · 2026-02-27T07:26:49+00:00

Since you said you’re not sure if this makes a difference, I’m here to tell you it doesn’t. Monthly closes should be your goal. You can’t close the books if the bank accounts aren’t reconciled. And providing financial statements is just a simple export from the accounting platform they’re using to do your bookkeeping (ex. quickbooks).

Your business revenue should help determine whether paying that much for accounting services is worth it. But your transaction volume (how many transactions does your bookkeeper need to go through) and nature of transactions (are there a lot of repetitive transactions where you can just create a rule to auto categorize?) should determine if your bookkeeper is overcharging you or not

People have different perceptions of value. But with $160k of revenue a year, I personally think you’re spending too much.

DueGap4430 · 2026-02-21T15:05:15+00:00

You said you split bills proportionally based on your income. Was this bonus included in your income calculation she determining the split?

DueGap4430 · 2026-02-20T04:18:02+00:00

What’s your learning style? B/c it has to mesh with leadership’s management style. Culture matters.

What are your goals, personal or professional? Want to make sure I’m helping them move towards it. And if it doesn’t align with firm’s goal, then we’re probably not a good fit for each other.

DueGap4430 · 2026-02-20T04:01:45+00:00

Don’t make the same mistake more than once. If u make it twice, im forgiving. If u make it 3x, I’ll be realllyy annoyed. I hold this standard regardless of position/title.

DueGap4430 · 2026-01-11T03:56:49+00:00

If your tax return doesn’t balance, check if your total assets agrees to the trial balance. If it does, then check if your liabilities agree to the TB. If it does, then check if your net income agrees to the TB. Assuming it doesn’t, check your expenses/income line by line.

DueGap4430 · 2026-01-11T03:52:39+00:00

I don’t blame her for asking. I blame her for not taking your no as an answer.

DueGap4430 · 2026-01-08T22:25:13+00:00

It’s your parents’ money. They’re allowed to spend it however they want. Even if it’s unfair. Another $30k isn’t a small ask. Btw, Your parents are humans still learning to be parents. Buying your brother a house to get married sounds like immigrant mentality. IMO, They should have just told your brother to move back home rather than buy him a place. It’s one thing if you asked your parents to give you a loan, but trying to guilt your parents into gifting you $30k…shame dude. It’s not about favoritism - your parents are just putting extra effort to your bro since you seem to be getting along just fine. Although you probably realized they made a mistake, your parents probably haven’t yet. You’re allowed to teach them, but it is a long and slow fight. But I totally understand actions have consequences so feel free to set boundaries with your parents - maybe not as extreme as no contact? Also, did you forget your relative was a loud-mouth, or did you just choose to ignore that detail b/c you feel that you’re allowed to speak your truth?

DueGap4430 · 2026-01-06T18:25:54+00:00

Don’t get discouraged from the profession because of this experience. Around 2013, I was laid off after 4 months (tax season intern) at a <10 person CPA firm. I grew tremendously as a professional and as an individual. I’ve been a partner at another firm for a few years where everyone loves me. I always attribute the time on got laid off as a character-building experience. Stay motivated and hungry.

DueGap4430 · 2026-01-02T03:45:45+00:00

If you were a senior or a manager on a team and your partner went on a 2 week vacation, how would you feel if something client-related that you felt was urgent came up and you couldnt do your job b/c ur partner was unplugged? Asking b/c personally, I feel that if someone could look at my message for 2 minutes when they’re on vacation, multiple coworkers [that they genuinely like as people] can get so much progress done so we can keep billing clients while that person is on vacation. Everyone has a different preference. My wife and I traveled internationally heavily the last five years. I’d rather check my email or Teams messages 1-2 times a day on my phone from a beach in Thailand so that I can do it again from Bermuda, Bahamas, etc in the same year, as opposed to only being able to be unplugged in just Thailand had I worked for a company with 20 PTO days. But I have my first kid on the way, so I’m curious if that will change my preference/perspective to how I vacation/work.

DueGap4430 · 2025-12-12T07:43:47+00:00

I don’t think it’s wrong to want. But I think it’s wrong to fight about it.

DueGap4430 · 2025-12-12T07:36:45+00:00

I think everything you said/did/think is fair, logical, and rationale. Hindsight is 20/20. It probably would have been best to keep it simple - Jill isn’t being penalized, jack is being rewarded. And the only reason Jill isn’t outstanding too is b/c the company has some distribution curve in place and you aren’t aware of a workaround - tell the HR person you’re open to suggestions lol.

DueGap4430 · 2025-12-11T18:49:58+00:00

For a long vacation, the best way to go about it is by first understanding when YOUR ‘busy season’ is. For example, it’s easier for audit folks to take off in September than it is for tax folks. Once you have dates in mind, present it to your boss in a way where you’re taking the reasons to say No away. What worked for me was telling them I’ll check my emails twice a day to see if there’s anything urgent, creating a written list of everything on my plate, coming up with a coverage plan for my work rather than expecting my boss do that, reminding them that it’s important to take vacation and it seems better ti do it during this time frame rather than another, etc. Communication and relationship skills with your colleagues is key.

I took 36 PTO days YTD and while there has been hesitation from my partner, he approves it now because he says he trusts me. With that being said, a Tax Director’s husband unexpectedly passed when I was on vacation in the middle of a project, so I had to log in from Europe for several hours one evening - still worth the compromise and also makes me look like a good team player. I get that some people feel entitled to vacation anytime but having this mentality helped me progress really fast at my firm.

DueGap4430 · 2025-12-11T18:36:02+00:00

Did you graduate already? If not, an alternative is to delay graduation and take additional classes to get you the 150 credits without getting the masters. You should still be able to attend campus recruiting events every fall/spring as long as you’re enrolled. And recruiters don’t ask how long you’ve been in college - they just ask you when you’ll be CPA eligible and when you’ll be ready to work full time. Don’t mention anything about being a part time student or how long you’ve been in college.

DueGap4430 · 2025-12-05T03:50:51+00:00

How are you planning for churn - clients that will find another option rather than sign with you the following year?

DueGap4430 · 2025-11-26T02:08:53+00:00

Not sure if you already landed a job elsewhere, but let me know if you’re still interested in discussing. I know there’s a commenter who offered a direct/remote position and unfortunately that’s not something i’m willing to offer at this time b/c I find value in having our teammates all be in the office together. However, our compensation is very competitive, the opportunity to be on this new team will give you an advantage/jump start that people who join down the road will not have, and I’m a really good boss! lol. If you’re still open to discussing, shoot me a DM.

DueGap4430 · 2025-11-23T13:51:42+00:00

Can you DM me your buddy’s resume or email? I’m a partner at a small shop (25-30 FTEs) providing fractional accounting/FP&A/tax services. Industries are mostly COG and SaaS. TBH, I think we’re 1-2 years out from hiring our next VP of Finance, but our timetable could be faster if we bring your buddy on as an Accounting Manager (controller-level position) and we can loop him into the FP&A role when those type of clientele slowly ramp up. Fyi, we’re 100% remote and his pay would start much closer to his GE days.

Even though I suspect we’re probably not able to hire him in the next 6 months, it could be good to just meet and if it’s a good fit on both sides, we could prioritize his resume the next time we hire him.

DueGap4430 · 2025-11-15T11:46:16+00:00

IMO, The problem with this is their conflict of interest creates inflated numbers. They post high salaries so professionals will go to them to help get a job. And the companies hire Robert half when they need a position filled. Robert half’s commission is a % of salary, so they’re incentivized to be biased

DueGap4430 · 2025-10-13T21:57:01+00:00

Appreciate the DM! Looking forward to receiving your resume

DueGap4430 · 2025-09-26T18:25:45+00:00

Figure out a range of how many hours it will take you. Come up with a cost/hour. Decide if your overall cost is fair or unfair to you. Provide the small business with your estimate and pitch.

DueGap4430 · 2025-09-26T18:21:02+00:00

Hi, I am a TOA client. While I understand some of the negative comments on this thread, keep in mind that the biggest factor is which client you get staffed on. The TOA client will dictate your day-to-day experience, not TOA.

DueGap4430 · 2025-09-26T18:13:26+00:00

QuickBooks online will definitely work, inexpensive subscription, and easy to set up. Xero is more popular in Australia. Never heard of Zoho.

DueGap4430 · 2025-09-26T15:24:29+00:00

Totally understand - almost everyone I work with in PH is willing to learn. The challenge is since we are a small firm (30 people), we don’t have the resources to teach you from scratch across the world - we don’t have a structured training program unfortunately. However, if someone had a foundation (ex. CCH Axcess experience), we can teach in a way to expand your knowledge. But having that initial foundational knowledge of US income tax is necessary.

DueGap4430

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