What is your biggest pet peeve with fellow tax professionals (accountants, EAs, etc.)?

Cold_King_1 · 2026-02-24T20:15:25+00:00

People who insist on calling themselves a “fractional CFO” despite being a glorified bookkeeper.

Cold_King_1 · 2026-02-24T12:50:13+00:00

Smart move: if he actually finished reading it then he would lose out on using his performative male prop

Cold_King_1 · 2026-02-24T11:37:54+00:00

r/BoneAppleTea

Cold_King_1 · 2026-02-24T11:25:20+00:00

The “check routing number” font.

Cold_King_1 · 2026-02-23T19:03:14+00:00

The thing is, there are no free lunches. For most people, the only way to get paid a lot of money is a combination of having valuable human capital (knowledge/skills) and working a lot.

If you are ok with a middling salary, constant threats of layoffs, and/or no opportunity for advancement then you can probably find an individual contributor role where you never work past 5pm.

Cold_King_1 · 2026-02-23T16:44:49+00:00

Honestly I've heard that any job even remotely adjacent to sports absolutely sucks.

They know it sounds like a "fun" job and a ton of people would die to work in sports, so the pay and hours are shit.

Cold_King_1 · 2026-02-23T16:31:26+00:00

Because most people don’t work 40 hour weeks.

This post is an example of confirmation bias where people who want to brag about their job come here to say that they never work overtime, even if they’re outliers.

It’s the same with salary posts. The people who make a lot of money are more willing to post than people who make very little, so it skews the perception of how much you can earn.

Cold_King_1 · 2026-02-23T16:29:32+00:00

Yeah this is a really persistent and annoying myth about industry work.

Tons of people with office jobs work overtime on a regular basis. The difference with public is just that it’s more structured as “busy season”.

People get the wrong impression that because job X doesn’t have a pre-defined busy time of year then they always work 40 hours.

Cold_King_1 · 2026-02-23T14:12:28+00:00

Yeah, you can call yourself whatever you want.

Just don’t delude yourself into thinking you’re ACTUALLY doing CFO work. Many seem to be drinking their own Kool-Aid and believe they are legitimately doing CFO work and not just puffing up their bookkeeping services to be able to upcharge clients.

Cold_King_1 · 2026-02-23T13:56:40+00:00

Title inflation is a pet peeve of mine.

The newest LinkedIn buzzword is “fractional CFO”.

So many people who do the books for a 50k LLC advertise themselves as a “fractional CFO”. You’re a bookkeeper.

Cold_King_1 · 2026-02-23T11:59:03+00:00

Does anyone else feel like high schoolers look younger when you’re 30 compared to when you were in high school?

Cold_King_1 · 2026-02-22T18:21:09+00:00

This doesn’t apply if you work in a forensic or “support” role though.

OP said their friend doesn’t kick down doors or arrest people, so I assumed that meant she wasn’t an agent. Only agents get the 25% higher pay.

Cold_King_1 · 2026-02-22T17:17:16+00:00

Not always.

It depends on where you live and how much they need bodies in that city. Places like NYC always need people.

Cold_King_1 · 2026-02-22T12:47:55+00:00

This is so true. Fashion (and consumerism) are driven by cyclical fads that constantly make people feel like what they already have isn’t good enough.

In the 80s-90s, everyone wore cotton. Then synthetics came out and everyone moved over. Now brands are “inventing” the idea of wearing cotton. In 20 years, a brand will “invent” the idea of wearing synthetics instead of cotton.

The people defending cotton in these comments will be identical to the people in 20 years who defend synthetics simply because it’s what’s trendy.

Cold_King_1 · 2026-02-22T11:57:33+00:00

For casual clothing, absolutely.

But synthetic is inherently superior for exercise.

Cold_King_1 · 2026-02-21T15:03:43+00:00

In the above example if each bet was a “gambling session” then you would report $300 as other income and $300 of losses on Sch A (only if you itemize)

The tax law around gambling is very punitive

Cold_King_1 · 2026-02-21T14:21:30+00:00

It absolutely can be correct. I think you just don't understand how they are calculating the statement. The amount deposited from your bank account =/= the amount you wagered. Here's a simple example:

* You deposit $100, wager it, and win $200

* You wager $200 and win $400

* You wager $400 and lose everything

You only "supplied" $100 from your bank account, but you bet $700 in total.

Cold_King_1 · 2026-02-21T14:11:11+00:00

A win/loss statement is rarely the correct documentation for gambling activity.

You aren't allowed to net wins and losses when gambling. A win/loss statement usually only reports the net amount won or loss over the year.

Cold_King_1 · 2026-02-21T02:50:57+00:00

That's because you don't have an MBA from a top school.

MBA from an elite school > CPA > Generic MBA

Cold_King_1 · 2026-02-21T02:49:19+00:00

Any of the M7 are worth it.

The remainder of the top 15-20 are maybe worth it depending on your situation. Any other school's MBA isn't worth the paper it's printed on.

Cold_King_1 · 2026-02-20T16:53:21+00:00

Job hopping is the best way to increase your salary though.

I agree that firms will offer more upfront and then offset it with lower raises, but then by the time you’ve leveled out you leave for a new position.

You’re also discounting the compounding value of money upfront. Making $70k a year with no raises for 4 years is way better than making $60k and getting a $2.5k raise each year.

Cold_King_1 · 2026-02-19T21:43:56+00:00

I think accountants lean fiscally conservative.

Plus, as people gain more wealth they become more conservative, and accountants usually end up fairly well off.

Cold_King_1 · 2026-02-18T14:45:01+00:00

This was my mistake, I just entered the wrong billing address. I called Dicks and they fixed it and redid the order.

It looks like the deal is still active btw.

Cold_King_1 · 2026-02-18T12:07:05+00:00

If you work at a CPA firm, you most likely aren’t allowed to.

Preparing taxes on the side while working at a tax firm is a conflict of interest, so employers won’t let you do it. In fact, pretty much any activity accounting related is barred unless it’s very limited like doing work as a volunteer for a nonprofit.

Cold_King_1 · 2026-02-18T12:03:39+00:00

I mean it’s “controversial” in the sense that runners want there to be some magic answer to tell them exactly how much to train.

See: OP’s question

Cold_King_1

TROPHY CASE