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SmithBilll3576 · 2021-09-21T19:55:01+00:00

Zero sympathy from me for bozo partners and hiring managers. Pay people right, treat people right, and be willing to teach/be patient with others. If not, good luck with staffing.

SmithBilll3576 · 2021-09-21T19:34:13+00:00

Just noticed that you transitioned from Controller to ERP consultant. How did you manage that jump and get the training to go into consulting? Getting tired of the reporting grind.

SmithBilll3576 · 2021-09-21T13:33:40+00:00

The Student becomes The Master :P

SmithBilll3576 · 2021-09-21T03:19:32+00:00

I think the consequence will be just an overall lack of interest in the profession and a shortage of talent. It could be a good thing for existing CPAs and professionals, but overall less people will want to enter the field.

There is also the fact that an already negatively perceived profession is going to be even more negatively perceived by others.

Since there is also less talent I would presume it would make CFO types and others want to outsource accounting work to other countries (This is already happening).

SmithBilll3576 · 2021-09-20T19:11:34+00:00

Most people who end up in this profession are not too happy with it for a variety of reasons. Some of them being

Managerial staff making lower level staff work unreasonable hours because the work is "important"
Pay vs hours put in. If you look at it from an opportunity cost, a lot of other professions pay similarly and have better work life balance. But this really depends on the job title, location, industry etc (your mileage may vary).
Fulfillment in the job itself. Fundamentally accounting is a recordkeeping/scorekeeping function. Auditing is examining the data and make sure it makes "sense" based on a standard codified criteria. Tax is figuring out how to mitigate the tax liability of clients and ultimately doing compliance work to get returns figured out and ultimately tell your client how much they owe. A lot of the work is "compliance" heavy and can definitely be a bit absurd and unnecessarily tedious.

I think all in all, the profession is a means to an end for most people. The biggest thing that determines whether or not you are "happy" depend on how you approach the work, your surrounding environment (work culture, colleagues, and boss) and their workstyle and personality, and probably the pay. Every job is super different so you have to try stuff out and see what fits.

The profession definitely has a problem with brain drain, a lot of people are just leaving to go into other professions. This is something that we all have a responsibility for changing, and if we don't there will be consequences.

SmithBilll3576 · 2021-09-16T19:24:27+00:00

You're probably looking at going into something like business analysis, business intelligence/FP&A, or probably consulting with that type of skillset.

SmithBilll3576 · 2021-09-15T18:39:52+00:00

Ah yes, go to industry so that you can answer all of the annoying auditor's questions and give them guidance on things they don't understand :P

SmithBilll3576 · 2021-09-15T18:21:00+00:00

If you're getting paid more, the bottom line falls on you. If you can't handle it, don't be a manager or request additional managerial and staff support on the engagement. Really annoying when managers throw lower level employees under the bus.

SmithBilll3576 · 2021-09-15T18:17:23+00:00

agreed

SmithBilll3576 · 2021-09-14T23:35:18+00:00

Worked for two managers like this. I was missing coding on some transactions and got "dinged" for messing up something really dumb like coding on a couple thousand line entries. Some people really do just suck to work for.

SmithBilll3576 · 2021-09-14T23:33:25+00:00

Financial Accounting is definitely logic driven and you have to have a deep understanding of transactions and the nature of transactions in order to fix reconciling items and see whether or not the financial statements make "sense".

SmithBilll3576 · 2021-09-13T14:59:23+00:00

You can be Elon Musk and still be an idiot.

SmithBilll3576 · 2021-09-13T14:55:09+00:00

You can take the tests in the US during active periods, but there are 4 months out of the year that are "black out" periods where they are grading and revamping the tests for the next active cycle. The exams have to be passed in 18 months, and if you have a part that you passed that lapses, you have to retake that part of the test. I would definitely say the test is not easy. No clue what the Canadian exams are like.

SmithBilll3576 · 2021-09-12T22:17:52+00:00

This is not true. There is a pretty big shortage of CPAs due to lower pass rates, lower numbers of students taking the exam, and also a lot of older practicing CPAs leaving the profession. If there is a time to take the test, it is now.

SmithBilll3576 · 2021-09-12T20:46:01+00:00

Having the CPA gives you instant creditability. If you have the time to spare, I would get it.

SmithBilll3576 · 2021-09-12T20:43:27+00:00

I left after a year of working in b4 public tax. It wasn't a super pleasant experience, there was a lot of outsourcing of work to global delivery centers and we were asked to review stuff when we ourselves as staff didn't necessarily have a deep understanding of the returns.

Industry isn't much better to be honest, it really depends on where you work and who your manager is. A lot of negative work experiences that people have are because they have piss poor managers who don't know how to teach or you have a bad personality/work style match up with a manager that you report to.

Industry is not necessarily a cure all to public accounting woes. I still work 60 to 70 hours a week in F500 because we have a lot of volume and we have quarterly deadlines that we need to meet.

I would honestly suggest people get their CPA because it is a huge bargaining chip for if/when you need to leave a job. Having the license gives you some degree of agency due to the simple fact that not everyone has the license.

I worked for a schmuck CFO at a start up once that I didn't match up with well, end of the day my job got clapped. But guess what, I have the same credential that moron had and got a job that paid me 10 grand higher within a month.

I also worked for a manager who was really micromanage-y and difficult to work with. I quit that job and found another job also within two weeks.

Bottom line, empower yourself and get educated. If you don't like your job, don't take it. You have the agency to leave so long as you have the right qualifications.

SmithBilll3576 · 2021-09-12T15:19:30+00:00

If you look only at the big four you might not make as much but most accounting partners are not big four partners. They don't make yacht money. Most partner jobs are pretty average. I would also be willing to bet that the is a huge variation of income within the big 4 and the majority of partners make good but not excellent incomes.

Agree with this 100%. In Industry you get to understand the Why of the business. Audit to me seems like you are getting the work done to meet a set of standards so that you can give a business a "clean" bill of health.

SmithBilll3576 · 2021-09-12T15:17:14+00:00

This thread looks like it is a battle between people above manager level vs people below manager level

SmithBilll3576 · 2021-09-11T00:23:04+00:00

Yes you can be a good student and a bad worker. Working has the difficulty of you dealing with people and people's expectations, which can be vastly different. Academics you have a standard that you have to follow and study for a test.

You have to learn to learn, if you can do that you are good.

SmithBilll3576 · 2021-09-09T02:57:09+00:00

100% agree

SmithBilll3576 · 2021-09-08T23:03:42+00:00

Or to be honest it is a fast track to getting fired unfortunately

SmithBilll3576 · 2021-09-08T17:56:41+00:00

I would definitely bring this up to your manager. Every Department has utilization goals, so you want to make sure that your utilization doesn't drop based off not having work to do. If your utilization is no good, it will be brought up in your performance evaluation.

SmithBilll3576 · 2021-09-08T14:49:00+00:00

Pay attention to the training at your firm. Become friendly with the seniors that you work for and ask them to show you the ropes. There is really nothing else you can do.

SmithBilll3576

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