[rfc63]

A year and a half ago, I made a career change from a sales-oriented business into accounting because I liked the numbers side of the business. Therefore, I went back to school as a 30 year old to get the additional credits to qualify for the exam and am waiting to hear back on my 4th cpa exam (BEC) to know if I went 4 for 4 or not. I give you that background so you know that I want to be successful in this field.

I really wanted to get on the audit side of the business at one of the bigger companies but I think they look for 22 yr olds fresh out of school. Because of the disinterest, I took a tax season position at a small company and just completed my first week. They know that I’m new to tax returns but provide little guidance and are too busy to answer my questions. I half-way expected this but I don’t know how to handle it now that it is a reality. Any advice from some of you more seasoned accountants?

[Anonymous]

I'm headed into my third tax season. I spent my first season thinking I was going to get fired. I cried on my way home more than once. There was no training and I felt like a pest for constantly having to ask questions. I've never heard anyone say they sailed through their first season in tax. My best advice is take a ton of notes. I kept a tax notebook divided into two sections; how to use the software and then on anything I learned on tax rules/regs. This made my second year so much easier. You'll be surprised how much better year two is and how much you learned in year one. Also, I'm a big fan of J K Lasser's tax guide. It explains things really well. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

I'm headed into my third tax season. I spent my first season thinking I was going to get fired. I cried on my way home more than once. There was no training and I felt like a pest for constantly having to ask questions. I've never heard anyone say they sailed through their first season in tax. My best advice is take a ton of notes. I kept a tax notebook divided into two sections; how to use the software and then on anything I learned on tax rules/regs. This made my second year so much easier. You'll be surprised how much better year two is and how much you learned in year one. Also, I'm a big fan of J K Lasser's tax guide. It explains things really well. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

EA study material is great for in-depth tax knowledge. If you are in a real crunch and are doing mostly personal returns, hop onto the IRS VITA/TCE link and learn. It's FREE and it covers a lot of the issues you'll deal with doing mostly non-complicated personal returns. Good luck…I entered accounting after the age of 30 also.

[Anonymous]

EA study material is great for in-depth tax knowledge. If you are in a real crunch and are doing mostly personal returns, hop onto the IRS VITA/TCE link and learn. It's FREE and it covers a lot of the issues you'll deal with doing mostly non-complicated personal returns. Good luck…I entered accounting after the age of 30 also.

[rfc63]

Thank you for the responses and the suggestions on reading material. All the best to the both of you in 2014,

[rfc63]

Thank you for the responses and the suggestions on reading material. All the best to the both of you in 2014,

[runnerup]

I started with absolutely zero tax experience (political science major hired as admin turned bookkeeper turned accountant/tax preparer). My boss was more than willing to answer my questions, but I was kind of just thrown into the whole thing. Looking at prior records/documents is helpful. And if I had questions to research, the IRS website or taxalmanac.org were pretty helpful.

REG 10/12/13 - 94
FAR 10/17/13 - 93
AUD 11/11/13 - 92
BEC 11/20/13 - 87
ethics 11/27/13 - 92%

[runnerup]

I started with absolutely zero tax experience (political science major hired as admin turned bookkeeper turned accountant/tax preparer). My boss was more than willing to answer my questions, but I was kind of just thrown into the whole thing. Looking at prior records/documents is helpful. And if I had questions to research, the IRS website or taxalmanac.org were pretty helpful.

REG 10/12/13 - 94
FAR 10/17/13 - 93
AUD 11/11/13 - 92
BEC 11/20/13 - 87
ethics 11/27/13 - 92%

[mystical guy]

I'm not a tax accountant but I used to do VITA taxes, and I have a ton of buddies in tax, in the Big 4. From what I hear, it's really up to you to learn by doing. I had a very similar experience in my programming job in a Fortune 500. They give you a project and expect you to do the research and get it down. Fake it til you make it lol. You'll be fine! Don't give up till you drop.

CPA - Since 2015
CISA - Smashed 2012
CIA - Passed 2015

[mystical guy]

I'm not a tax accountant but I used to do VITA taxes, and I have a ton of buddies in tax, in the Big 4. From what I hear, it's really up to you to learn by doing. I had a very similar experience in my programming job in a Fortune 500. They give you a project and expect you to do the research and get it down. Fake it til you make it lol. You'll be fine! Don't give up till you drop.

CPA - Since 2015
CISA - Smashed 2012
CIA - Passed 2015

[Author]

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