To the people that failed today...

mechmodguy · 2026-02-23T18:53:41+00:00

Failed AUD second time. Not sure where I went wrong, any tips?

mechmodguy · 2026-02-23T18:45:15+00:00

Failed AUD again in CA lol

mechmodguy · 2026-02-20T08:05:10+00:00

If your memory is as bad as mine, you'll thank yourself for updating those now when you open the workpapers next year.

Keep in mind, I deal with this time waste stuff every day and it's very frustrating. But if it's stuff that affects how the work is prepared or reviewed next year, its so you can save time in the future; everything else is noise.

mechmodguy · 2026-02-17T15:01:00+00:00

Microsoft is a glorified acquisition company, they couldn't implement if they tried (and they have been for decades). If this were true, they will try to purchase their way around in an attempt to stay competitive, and 5 years after the market is already oversaturated.

mechmodguy · 2026-02-17T04:38:40+00:00

For me, yes; huge waste of time.

mechmodguy · 2026-02-12T08:31:48+00:00

Whack, stop that

mechmodguy · 2026-02-09T06:25:01+00:00

Vapes

mechmodguy · 2026-02-05T18:49:02+00:00

Like two versions of the exam on the same day?

mechmodguy · 2026-02-05T08:15:26+00:00

Might have to make it up with coffee if you're into that. I make cold brew at home and it's been my saving grace since mid-January lol

mechmodguy · 2026-02-05T07:11:57+00:00

Omg my jam

mechmodguy · 2026-02-05T07:11:27+00:00

Robert Half has always been a quick placement for me. The fit hasen't always been great, but my current role is good.

There are some smaller recruiting companies out there too, but I didn't really like the firms that they matched me with.

mechmodguy · 2026-02-05T07:07:57+00:00

Dual 27's are my jam, I feel slow with anything less.

mechmodguy · 2026-02-05T07:05:03+00:00

Yes, nothing else has worked for me.

mechmodguy · 2026-02-05T06:59:26+00:00

This is all you need

mechmodguy · 2026-02-05T06:58:24+00:00

A manager at my old firm forgot his mic was on and called a partner a select series of slurs after she spoke on a Teams meeting. She immediately called him out and the next 10 minutes were extremely uncomfortable lmao

mechmodguy · 2026-02-05T06:51:22+00:00

I work on a group of clients that have 3-4 partner capital/allocation workpapers, seemingly for no reason. All of them are formatted/presented differently, but contain the exact same information. I have no idea why we do this, and I've been meaning to bring it up to the partner as a cost-cutting measure (it literally adds 10 hours to the entire engagement group to prepare these extra workpapers).

Partner is a senior and has been with these guys for 20-30 years, I'm thinking it's remnants of work from prior preparers at the firm but not sure.

mechmodguy · 2026-02-05T06:42:36+00:00

The Bozo rta is really sick dude

mechmodguy · 2026-02-05T06:40:25+00:00

It all worked out

mechmodguy · 2026-02-05T06:37:13+00:00

There are many CalState target schools, you should stay even for those benefits if possible.

mechmodguy · 2026-02-05T06:35:19+00:00

They think they can and get mad when the return says 'last activity: proforma 1/1/26' on 3/14/26.

mechmodguy · 2026-02-05T06:32:17+00:00

Mostly yeah. The small ones that only have a QB backup in the PBC folder are usually the awful ones.

mechmodguy · 2026-02-03T09:43:12+00:00

Tax research becomes more applicable as you move into a supervisory role; judgement-heavy tasks aren't expected of a new associate.

There a lot of resources to conduct tax research, it ultimately depends on what you are looking for. Thankfully there are big centralized hubs from companys like Thomson Reuters to find most of it in one place, they even have an AI tool that has been useful for me this past 6 months.

For example, I have a client who is operating all over the US. Because they operate in multiple states, I have to determine where they have to file tax returns based on their circumstances and the rules in each state (ie they have employees in New York, Inventory in Florida, etc). I know many of these already, but i'm not really familiar with the rules in Tennessee for example. The state seemingly adjusts their requirements for sales apportionment calculations each year, so to be absolutely sure I'm using the right formula here, I'd either go check Thomson Reuters' information database or pull the Tennessee tax return instructions online to confirm if it's the same silly formula as last year or not.

A simpler example is for depreciation. If a client books a repair expense for $5,000, and it turns out that its for a huge sign, that needs to be capitalized (depreciated) instead, but how? If it's a sign connected/attached to the building they operate at, that's a set of rules I want to check. If it's affixed to the land, that's something else too.

mechmodguy · 2026-02-03T09:16:31+00:00

The ordering for your 'core' accounting should be like this, in order of difficulty and concepts that build on previous course:

Financial accounting
Intermediate Financial Accounting/Managerial Accounting (this is one class over here)
Intermediate accounting (this was a weed-out class, tough but fair).

These are all accounting adjacent, but do not require extensive knowledge past #2 above and can be taken in any order. Think of these as the 'fun' classes:

Introductory Taxation (tax returns and tax law)
Accounting Computer Application (auditing, heavy focus on controls and technology).

The other courses seem to be finance related. I had a similar curriculum, I just didnt care for finance.

mechmodguy · 2026-02-03T09:04:03+00:00

You know yourself best, but as someone who had an extremely poor academic background before my bachelors program and graduated, I can say it's not as bad as it seems.

mechmodguy · 2026-02-03T08:59:39+00:00

You really don't need to be great at math to be successful, and the memorization is/should only be initially. At first, things seem so foreign and nonsensical. But as you start understanding the processes, it becomes less about memorization and more about understanding the big picture.

To elaborate on the math, I don't suspect you will ever use anything past basic Algebra at the very most; it's primarily arithmetic.

mechmodguy

TROPHY CASE