[LonelyRonPaul]

As the topic suggests, I’m at a bit of a crossroads with my next career move. Wondering if anyone might have some insight =)

I’m 28 and have been working for about 2.5 years in corporate finance at a large public company as a staff accountant in Florida. My prior accounting experience consists of 2 years as an accounting clerk at local government. Our company was recently acquired and my position will be eliminated in about a year, which I believe to be accurate based on workload. I’m currently on a retention agreement that pays out 6 months severance when I get laid off. So I’m not worried about losing my current position here but I don’t want to stagnate either. I will also have my CPA license in hand in August.

I’m debating two choices right now. My first thought has been to switch into public accounting. I don’t have any experience in public accounting but I feel like it would be valuable for my future career to pick up a few years of experience at least. I’m pretty interested in getting some experience in tax and maybe even starting my own practice someday but I would be open to other areas of public as well. My concern with this is I feel like it would be a lateral move and during this time I could be working in a senior accountant role.

My other thought is to continue on my current career path and take on a senior accountant role. I feel like I am ready to take this on from the valuable experience gained at my current job. I will definitely have some strong references as my work location was the company’s world headquarters and I’ve worked pretty closely with some high ranking employees. My concern here is this now may be my last realistic opportunity to break into public accounting before I advance too far along on this path. I wouldn’t want to stunt my growth on the private route or for opening my own tax practice due to lack of public accounting experience.

I appreciate any advice you can provide!

FAR - 78, 5/7/16
AUD - 87, 7/16/16
BEC - 8/27/16
REG - 12/3/16

[LonelyRonPaul]

Maybe I should've included a TLDR 🙂

28 years old, 2.5 yrs industry staff accountant and 2 yrs local govt experience. Will have CPA within 2 months and will start job searching around that time. Do you recommend I go the public accounting route while I'm young with no obligations or continue on as a senior accountant? Interested in relocating from South Fla.

FAR - 78, 5/7/16
AUD - 87, 7/16/16
BEC - 8/27/16
REG - 12/3/16

[Anonymous]

I worked for a local public accounting firm and want to move into private but maybe i will stay in public. I have just completed taken the CPA and also looking at different alternatives. I don't have too much experience but i was wondering why you want to go into tax. With your corporation finance experience, audit will suit you better, wouldn't you?

[LonelyRonPaul]

Oh for sure. I'm sure I would have an easier time getting into the audit side since I have the industry side experience already, but the corp finance path is feeling a little dry to me. I'm just curious to see if tax is an area I would be more interested in and it would be nice to have that experience in case I wanted to open my own firm one day.

FAR - 78, 5/7/16
AUD - 87, 7/16/16
BEC - 8/27/16
REG - 12/3/16

[Anonymous]

@LonelyRonPaul Depending on the small CPA firm, you may have responsibilities spanning into both tax & audit territory.

Why are you wanting to move from South Florida? Where are you looking to move?

[ragepsn29]

I am kind of in the same boat like you. I just got my CPA license last week and have a few years experience in industry. I am currently unemployed and looking for opportunities in public accounting. If I cannot find anything in within 2 weeks then I will also look for non-public accounting (which I am sure I can get it in no time). I just thought that working in public accounting will help me get exposed to various industries and it's just good to have public experience. if I don't get public experience then I will be fine too. I only got one phone interview before I have my license. After I have my license last week, I have two phone interviews and one in person interview set up for this week and next week. Having CPA does help to open doors for you.

AUD - 65, 72, 70, 74, 81
FAR - 66, 71, 76
REG - 69
BEC - 80

[LonelyRonPaul]

@Almond I'm ready for a change. I've lived here my whole life and I'm pretty tired of it. Cost of living is also getting out of control with no real increase in salaries to match. Housing is being put up about as fast as these builders can move and the prices are getting outrageous. I'm open to many major US markets with some exceptions. Really not interested in another area of Florida for now and almost zero interest in the Northeast as I have already had that cultural experience living in So Fla, lol.

Chicago has peaked my interest lately. I really enjoyed my visit and I can see myself living there. The people were so much more friendly and not stuffy compared to down here. Cost of living actually seems really close to what it is down here, so I don't think it would be much of a shock. I know the winters suck but I'm finding that I hate the heat and humidity even more. I can definitely deal.

I also have some friends around the DC area and LA who are trying to spark my interest. I'd be open to those as well.

FAR - 78, 5/7/16
AUD - 87, 7/16/16
BEC - 8/27/16
REG - 12/3/16

[Anonymous]

@LonelyRonPaul Nothing but good things to say about the Chicago area. The market is huge. The winters can get extremely cold but they're not as bad as people make it sound. I'll be moving to South FL in the coming years and can't decide which area would be best.

[LonelyRonPaul]

@Almond I can definitely tough it out! No more hurricanes haha, so that's fine with me.

Palm Beach County is pretty nice. As always, there are areas in Riviera Beach, West Palm, Lake Worth to avoid completely. The Jupiter/Palm Beach Gardens area is quite good (that's where I am), I particularly liked Delray/Boynton as it is more affordable and you get more for your money. Boca is ritzy of course and expensive but there are affordable areas here and there.

Broward and Miami Dade county are OK. The dumpy and shady areas become more and more pervasive as you move south of the PBC line. People become ruder. Drivers get even worse, if that's possible. Rush hour traffic is shit on 95. Turnpike is more reasonable. Downtown Miami and Miami Beach are really pretty but expensive to live. You can find a decent neighborhood for a reasonable price down there but it's gonna take some digging.

You will also need a car in any of these areas lol. Public transportation is just not realistic at all.

FAR - 78, 5/7/16
AUD - 87, 7/16/16
BEC - 8/27/16
REG - 12/3/16

[MaLoTu]

I think if you make the transition to public then now is the time. Like you mentioned, it will mostly be a lateral move, but in a couple years it will be a downgrade. The upside is that you will likely end up in a better position for advancement by having public experience.

Also, if you plan to stay in accounting go with audit. If you are just trying out tax before you leave accounting all together, than that is valid. However, there are not as many opportunities for someone in tax and a corporation's tax department is one of the first things to get outsourced in a bad economy. Additionally, it may take many years before you have had enough experience with different returns to build a business that does any more than personal tax returns. These are just some things I have picked up talking to people.

In audit, you might have a bit more of an understanding of what goes in to the decisions the client is making when they record stuff, but the learning curve is still going to be huge. You will be exposed to many more areas of financial operations than you have the chance to be on the private side. If you like constant changes of pace then audit might suit you.

But, to answer your question, yes move to public now if you want to try it out… be it audit or tax.

Good luck!

[ragepsn29]

I was going to ask you a question in my previous post but I forgot lol. You said you worked at a local government. How did you like working there? Working in government was another option I thought about because of their benefits and job security.

AUD - 65, 72, 70, 74, 81
FAR - 66, 71, 76
REG - 69
BEC - 80

[LonelyRonPaul]

@ragepsn29 Yeah sorry, forgot to get back to your post! It was alright. It was an accounting clerk job at the village level, so quite a small department of 5 people in finance. Job security and benefits are definitely top notch. I started with 4 weeks PTO (No separate sick bank. Had to use PTO for that.) and about 15 holidays. Health and dental insurance were both good plans and my premium (single) was $50 a month for both total. Retirement was handled by the state of FL, where you could choose between defined contribution or pension plan. The match was decent I think. I was hourly so, barely worked over 40 except near year end. Personally, I found it boring and repetitive after a while. I just couldn't see myself doing that for my whole career. And of course pay is lower, but if you stick it out for your career, you can definitely make some big money and have incredible benefits to boot. It's definitely a great fit for some people and if you're interested, I say try it out to see what you think. It just wasn't for me.

FAR - 78, 5/7/16
AUD - 87, 7/16/16
BEC - 8/27/16
REG - 12/3/16

[ragepsn29]

@LonelyRonPaul, Those benefits sound really great to me especially the 4 weeks PTO and 15 holidays! At my previous job, I only got 2 weeks PTO and around 10 holidays. I get bored easily too so maybe government job would not a good fit for me right now. It could be a good fit later down the road where I start having my own family.

AUD - 65, 72, 70, 74, 81
FAR - 66, 71, 76
REG - 69
BEC - 80

[LonelyRonPaul]

@ragepsn29 Govt might be one of those things that's harder to break into later on down the road though. That's the only thing. Also, I only experienced govt from that accounting clerk position. It's very possible that I could've been exposed to more interesting work if I had stayed the path there.

FAR - 78, 5/7/16
AUD - 87, 7/16/16
BEC - 8/27/16
REG - 12/3/16

[Author]

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