[Anonymous]

Hi everyone. I passed my final CPA exam at the end of November and have been searching for a job since then. I am not licensed as a CPA yet, since I need to meet the 1 year requirement. I have been looking for a staff accountant position in corporate accounting, but am having a hard time landing a job (most likely because my only experience is interning). I did recently find a job opening for an “Associate Accountant- Payroll” — the job responsibilities mainly includes posting G/L payroll activities, monitoring accruals, prepare bank account recs and preparing invoices. I am wondering if this type of position will help me in the long run, for a future staff accountant position? A friend of mine told me that she wasn’t sure how a payroll accountant would look on a resume, so I was hoping to get some more input?

[Anonymous]

AP can be okay for a jumping off point in a company, especially if you already have other credentials in tow. And if it's under a CPA, it does the job for the experience requirements (at least in NY).

That said, I'm working an AP job while I go through the exams and work on my masters via a state school that offers online sections of all their classes. It definitely is mainly data entry and doesn't really involve much, if any, actual accounting. It bores me to tears sometimes but I need to pay the bills while I'm in grad school… plus I'll be going through recruiting this fall so there isn't much incentive for me to jump ship. It's frustrating knowing I'm capable of working in accounting jobs that are at a much higher level, but this is just a stepping stone so I don't go into mammoth debt while in grad school.

[Author]

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