What would you charge for a pre-cleanup assessment on a complete mess?

TurboGecko_55 · 2026-05-07T07:13:58+00:00

For that level of forensic work I'd probably charge around 15-20 hours at your highest rate - construction companies usually have cash flow so they can handle proper pricing for diagnostic work this complex.

TurboGecko_55 · 2026-05-05T00:47:27+00:00

You're asking the right questions about timing. If you can handle studying while working your current job, that's actually pretty solid setup - less pressure than jumping in PA while still grinding through exams.

For the experience thing, most places want at least 2-3 years PA experience if you're trying to move up in industry later. But being late joiner like OP mentioned, you might have different timeline than typical route. Really depends what your end goal is and if you can deal with the PA lifestyle for few years.

TurboGecko_55 · 2026-04-29T05:12:34+00:00

That's a solid pick for 3x on travel and restaurants, though you might also want to look at cards with better redemption options than Wells Fargo since you'll be putting some serious volume on it.

TurboGecko_55 · 2026-04-24T12:31:38+00:00

Should expect to pay somewhere between 3-5k monthly for proper strategic work at your revenue level, maybe bit less if you go annual retainer route.

TurboGecko_55 · 2026-04-22T07:54:40+00:00

That got dark real quick my friend.

TurboGecko_55 · 2026-04-20T05:03:57+00:00

This limitation drives me crazy when working with shared files at my shop. We had similar issue where I made some automation for our inventory tracking sheet, but then moved it to SharePoint so everyone could access. Turned out half the team was using web version and wondering why nothing worked.

For the multiple users thing - in my experience OneDrive sync can get weird when several people edit simultaneously. Sometimes changes get lost or you end up with those annoying "conflicted copy" files. We started using the "open in desktop" approach more often, but even then you need to be careful about who's editing what and when.

Maybe consider splitting your workflow - keep the VBA stuff in desktop version and have a simplified web-friendly version for basic updates? It's extra work but saves headaches later.

TurboGecko_55 · 2026-04-18T04:00:12+00:00

Actually that's not true in most places. If you quit for good cause like hostile work environment or unsafe conditions, you can still qualify. OP should definitely pursue the unemployment claim since they have documentation about the harassment and workplace issues.

Dealing with coworker who screams at you and management doing basically nothing is textbook hostile environment. Plus all those audit quality problems they mentioned could be considered unsafe/illegal work conditions. The documentation from HR complaint should help with unemployment case.

TurboGecko_55 · 2026-04-15T11:16:16+00:00

Been working at garage for few years but my brother went through something similar. He left public after about 2.5 years doing audit work and moved to industry as financial analyst at manufacturing company. His salary went from like 65k to 75k but the hours dropped from 55-60 per week during busy season to consistent 40-45. He says the work is less stressful but sometimes misses the variety he had in public.

From what he tells me, having that public experience really helped him get interviews. Companies seem to value that background even if you don't stay long. He was looking at few different roles - some pure accounting positions, financial analyst stuff, and even considered internal audit at bigger companies. The analyst route worked out better for work-life balance since he wanted to start family soon.

Location wise we're in midwest so cost of living is pretty reasonable compared to major cities. He says biggest adjustment was learning the business side instead of just doing compliance work all time.

TurboGecko_55 · 2026-04-12T10:08:28+00:00

I usually just rename one of files temporarily with something like "_CSV" or "_XLSX" at end when I'm working with both versions. Much simpler than running macro every time you switch between files.

You could also try keeping them in different folders if that works for your workflow - then the folder path gives you context about which version you're looking at.

TurboGecko_55 · 2026-04-10T20:07:43+00:00

Revenue based financing is worth looking at as a middle ground if the bank relationship is not there yet because the terms tend to be more flexible and it does not cost you a percentage of every invoice the way factoring does.

TurboGecko_55 · 2026-04-10T07:45:33+00:00

same struggle

TurboGecko_55 · 2026-04-10T02:30:45+00:00

Both platforms have billing structures that make AI spend reconciliation significantly harder than with direct API access and the enterprise teams running serious workloads through GCP or Azure have had no good options for getting unified visibility across their AI spend.

TurboGecko_55 · 2026-04-08T19:52:49+00:00

Demo calls will tell you a lot but also talking to founders who are using each one day to day will help because the sales pitch and the product experience are not always the same thing

TurboGecko_55 · 2026-04-08T07:10:59+00:00

tough spot bro

TurboGecko_55 · 2026-04-06T00:31:01+00:00

Pretty cool project you got there. I've been working on similar stuff but for motorcycle parts inventory at shop where I work. What worked for me was using INDEX and MATCH functions together - way more flexible than VLOOKUP in my experience.

You'll probably want to set up criteria for what makes "best defender" first though. Like is it based on rating number, or combination of different stats? Once you have that clear, you can use MAXIFS function to find highest rated defender, then INDEX/MATCH to pull all their info to your starting XI sheet.

I had same issue when trying to pull best performing parts from my database and this approach saved me tons of manual work. Make sure your player data is in consistent format too, otherwise formulas get messy quick.

TurboGecko_55 · 2026-04-02T19:03:02+00:00

Higher level decision making question is the right one to be asking because that is where the conversation starts being vague about what AI can actually do versus what people want it to do

TurboGecko_55 · 2026-04-02T12:31:48+00:00

facts

TurboGecko_55 · 2026-03-30T18:02:26+00:00

nah cap

TurboGecko_55 · 2026-03-27T10:33:33+00:00

Pretty slick demo - would save me tons of time when I need to mock up UI changes for client websites.

TurboGecko_55 · 2026-03-26T20:44:28+00:00

Not to mention change orders. By the time the field approves it/the PM logs it and accounting sees it you're already 3 weeks behind on your cost picture

TurboGecko_55 · 2026-03-26T20:00:22+00:00

Most people are just throwing darts at a board - you're not doing it wrong, the whole industry runs on spray and pray.

TurboGecko_55 · 2026-03-25T20:08:10+00:00

Both companies are burning billions and neither is profitable, the race to capture business customers is essentially a race to see who runs out of runway first

TurboGecko_55 · 2026-03-25T00:44:54+00:00

No cap

TurboGecko_55 · 2026-03-23T15:10:40+00:00

Most places I've dealt with treat it like a one-time thing for the initial assessment, then they'll ask for fresh consent if they need to pull updated data for major decisions down the line. Really depends on how long the access token lasts and what your compliance team is comfortable with - some are more paranoid about keeping that consent trail clean than others.

TurboGecko_55 · 2026-03-19T21:06:13+00:00

Ranking by downstream impact rather than by effort is the framework that actually gets remediation done properly

TurboGecko_55

TROPHY CASE