[outrenthome]

Hi everybody, I just wanted to ask for your honest opinion.

I am a Master of Science in Taxation (MST)… earned at the University of Texas at Arlington (Go Mavericks!)

I am currently studying for my last CPA exam (BEC)… and I am planning to be done with my CPA exam journey by the end of this May 2014—hopefully.

I have been working 1.5 years in a small Tax accounting firm here in Dallas, TX. I earn $40,000 (barely enough to live in a small apartment in the bad side of town).

Once I will have passed my last CPA exam, I think I am going to hunt for jobs all across the United States.

Is there anybody here who works for corporations and is also an MST? What is your experience and is it better than working in public accounting? I really would love to work for a public accounting firm, but I just wanted to know if there is actually a plan B if I end up to be considered too old to join a Big 4 firm at the age of 33.

Also, how big of a wage should I ask my future employer? As I said, I am willing to relocate anywhere in the US.

Thank you for your help!

R

[How many letters do you need]

I don't have an MST, nor am I in taxation, however I have a few friends who are. Corporate tax accounting, from what I can tell, is the way to go. Now, you may need some Big4 as a base, but down the road, being a tax expert inside a corporation is seen as the general direction for most I know in the area. Money and balance is usually better and when you move up to managing a team (if you so choose), your team will be small (thats a huge perk in and of itself). In addition, it's usually a tiny little nitche within the company so you don't usually have to deal with too much on the politics side, and very rarely are tax experts laid off. A bit of warning though, if you go that way, you will probably want to decide fairly early on if you want to do tax the rest of your life or if you want to move on to other things (controller, etc) down the road. You can get boxed in fairly easily that way, but usually people who love tax generally don't mind that so much 🙂

MBA,CMA,CPA, CFF?, ABV?

[How many letters do you need]

I don't have an MST, nor am I in taxation, however I have a few friends who are. Corporate tax accounting, from what I can tell, is the way to go. Now, you may need some Big4 as a base, but down the road, being a tax expert inside a corporation is seen as the general direction for most I know in the area. Money and balance is usually better and when you move up to managing a team (if you so choose), your team will be small (thats a huge perk in and of itself). In addition, it's usually a tiny little nitche within the company so you don't usually have to deal with too much on the politics side, and very rarely are tax experts laid off. A bit of warning though, if you go that way, you will probably want to decide fairly early on if you want to do tax the rest of your life or if you want to move on to other things (controller, etc) down the road. You can get boxed in fairly easily that way, but usually people who love tax generally don't mind that so much 🙂

MBA,CMA,CPA, CFF?, ABV?

[Author]

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