[Anonymous]

Hi there guys,

This is the first time I’ve decided to post my concern about this CPA route. I have an MBA – major in accounting, as well as a bachelor’s of business admin w/accounting major. I’ve worked for the federal government and quit because the job was too “put your head down and work”. I’ve read so many blogs about how accounting is extremely boring and dry. I remember not being to focus because of the boring work. So I do not know how to do a career change now because I have all my education in accounting. I do want to make a high salary and work hard, but not at the expense of my ability to be happy. I just don’t feel fulfilled with it.

On the other hand, I’ve already put so much into my education, and if I don’t go for my CPA but stick with accounting, I won’t get the opportinities and the salary that come with CPA. So, if I choose to stay in this field, it is obvious that I should go for the CPA license. I just don’t know why I am dragging this so much. I am currently taking a CPA prep course through my MBA program, and the tuition fee included the cost of the CPA prep software. I am currently not working and only have this one CPA course. I’ve tried looking for a job – this one Financial Analyst position was almost mine and when i didn’t get it I felt so discouraged and all I’ve been doing is watching crappy shows and being in a state of paralysis.

So I posted this because everyone seems so helpful here. I enjoy numbers, I do. I just want it to be meaninful…Do I need a CPA in order for my work to be meaningful? Probably not. I don’t know if I am lazy but I realized that the last 6 years of school getitng my Bachelor’s and MBA with accounting majors that I can’t stand tax and complicated tedious calculations which accountants always do. I’ve always had a talent for leadership, event planning, writing (my english prof said that my critical analysis of a famous poem was the best he has read in twenty years). So I thought maybe if I get my CPA, I can eventually build a career in writing ABOUT accounting-related issues, but I’m not sure how realistic that is. I can’t wait to hear what you guys have to say!

[SeattleAccountant]

@Confused311 “I've tried looking for a job – this one Financial Analyst position was almost mine and when i didn't get it I felt so discouraged and all I've been doing is watching crappy shows and being in a state of paralysis.”

Please, please do not get discouraged. You have my sympathy and understanding.

Let me tell you, if I got discouraged every time (especially a decade ago: min experience, weak English skills) I got rejected for a job or opportunities, even measly ones, I would be in mental asylum.

Take time to grieve & contemplate, but make it short like 3 days and afterwards, get back to the fight.

Write a list of where you want to be, how you think you are going to achieve that AND start seriously “beating” on the people's doors – make it conscious and deliberate effort. Talk to anybody and everybody that might help you to find a job you desire even if it is out of your comfort zone.

You never know how it is going to turn out.

Took me a lot of effort but I have gotten better than the imagined results.

Also, eventually I came to conclusion that being loyal, diligent and very hard working, I absolutely don't want to work for company that did not want me in a first place!

Becker Class of Jan - Aug 2013: FARB DONE!!!!
CPA license pending 🙂

[lyzgrace]

I struggled with this while I was in school. I was good at numbers and I enjoyed accounting, but could NOT see myself making it a career.

Then one day we had a special guest who was an IRS Special Agent. She worked in public accounting until her mid-forties, when she got bored. Her kids were all in college, so she spent six months training at the FBI training facility in Quantico and entered the world of forensic accounting. She didn't glorify the job and said there was a lot of tedious desk investigation, but said they also got to do a lot of field work and worked alongside the FBI and Secret Service.

I was totally sold. This woman got to be a CPA who put away white-collar crime and carried a gun. As someone who could spend all day watching a Law & Order marathon in my pajamas, I really needed no further confirmation that I had made the right career choice. If there are any careers in accounting you could call meaningful, I would definitely say this is one. The FBI has a nearly identical position, the only thing about that one is you are required to be mobile for as long as you work for them. The FBI owns you. If you take the IRS position, you are required to be mobile for 6 months, then you can find an open position and settle there. All depends on how bad-ass you want your job description to sound 😉

That being said, I did not decide to go into law enforcement. I took a minor in Entrepreneurship and when I open my own firm I will focus on small business financial management. I know it probably sounds boring to a lot of people, but I LOVE love love helping people build their dreams. You could get all patriotic and say that America is fueled by the mom-and-pop shops and small business is the lifeblood of our economy and blah-blah-blah… honestly I just hate corporate America, I've hated every job I've had with large companies, I am NOT wired to be an employee, and I feel for others who are in the same position. I personally think that managing the finances of small businesses is very meaningful and I look forward to making it my own small business. It all depends on what's important to you =)

ETA: And I absolutely believe you could get a job in financial journalism!! I've never researched it myself, but somebody's gotta write all those articles in the Journal, right? =) Do what you love and do what you're good at. If writing and numbers are those two things, GO for it!

AUD: 82
FAR: 78
BEC: 75
REG: 8/1 score release!!

[Jennifer241]

MBA, teach accounting at college level. Forensic accounting is interesting.

Also, if you have only had 1 job in accounting and are basing your opinion off having a GOVERNMENT accounting job, please, please, please do some more investigating. Government accounting is not for everyone, it definitely is not for me. I am in public accounting and the CPA's I work for don't do any of the work. They interview the clients, gather the data, and give it to their employees to complete, then review the final work product and give it to their client. There is a big emphasis on having good communication skills as they 85% of their day is spent discussing things with their clients.

Private accounting, not from my personal experience but from what colleagues tell me, is about babysitting your accounting staff. Reviewing their work, preparing budgets, and solving most disagreements between staff in the accounting department. Most people I know in corporate/private accounting do not like their jobs, and are there for the paycheck.

AUD - Jan 9,13 Pass
REG - Aug 30,13 Pass
BEC - Oct 26,13 Pass
FAR - Dec 4,13 Pass

Licensed CPA in the state of Oregon

[FlipACoin]

Well here is the only thing I will add. It's really hard to do truly meaningful work in Finance/Accounting your first few years (and by few I mean <5). Many have the misconception that getting a masters before gaining experience will help get you that foothold but the sad truth is unless that masters is a top 5 school it probably won't help much (and even then…). Not for all of course, but based upon the experiences of myself and my friends who have taken this route, in the corporate finance world it goes something like this:

Years 0-2 you do mostly reporting and grunt work. The key is to add value through your technical skills, efficiency, automation. Learn as much as you can about everything else.

Years 2-5 you begin to ramp up in analytics, maybe 50-50 reporting to analytics. With a masters you can qualify for a Sr.. Analyst somewhere in this timeframe. You provide value through some reporting but you begin to learn the BUSINESS of whatever you are doing (you need to know so much more than the numbers). So you learn about marketing, operations, accounting, REAL budgeting/forecasting and how all of these things impact the business and profitability. These are huge learning curve years and the place where most analysts get lazy. Don't let yourself get pigeon holed in these years, build your skillset or you will be a Senior Analyst for a long long time.

5+ years you become a “senior” senior analyst while you wait for a coveted manager position. I will tell you this, this is one of the more difficult jumps to make. Accounting has many more managerial positions available than finance does as finance tends to be a really small department. If you haven't already, try to get in with a larger company as that will give you the best option to get in as a senior but transfer to a manager position. As a manager or a “senior” senior where you have staff, you truly begin to do meaningful work. Reporting is minimal (but still there, believe it or not), analytics maybe 30-50% and you spend the rest of your time in meetings/presentations/hallway discussions (although this is very company/culture/executive dependent and could vary pretty significantly).

The point of this book (sorry about that!), it's a long road. Have patience, try to build some stability (one of my mistakes growing up through the ranks) but learn to also recognize the great opportunities out there and snatch them up when they come your way. Good luck.

[JoeL]

Are you kidding me, I can't even find a job and You quit your job. Tell your boss that I want to take over your position. LOL

[Anonymous]

Thank you all so much for the input. The reason I haven't been studying for my CPA exam is because I would hate to waste time on something that I hated. I am money-hungry sometimes and so I chose this field. I read a lot about how people regretted not changing their careers from accounting when there was still time.

At SeattleAccountant – thank you for the encouragements – I love knocking on doors when I feel confident – i used to be a door to door sales agent but quit (am I a quitter?). Anyways, I did learn that not being shy about asking for help is a very beneficial thing, and giving help too can be rewarding. I will do just that thank you – just join the race and give it my all again just like I did for that one position I didn't get.

@Jennifer241- the fact that most accountants you know don't like their jobs is very valuable for me to know – thank you. I was wondering if you liked your job? Is public accounting the same as corporate accounting?

@Lyzgrace – thank you so much! I am the same way – I really see myself having my own business – and a financial management business really does seem like an amazing career. Being a Registered Investment Adviser requires some further certifications – but that coupled with CPA would bring you amazing business. I've done research on RIA firms that help businesses and individuals manage their investments, financing, tax issues and many other topics. Job satisfaction in RIA firms is very high even in times when the economy isn't doing well. You reminded me of when I used to work for H&R block and I loved the feeling of helping people with something they felt helpless about – almost felt like a doctor! lol…So thank you for reminding me that. Good luck on your studies for the FAR exam in april. This would be when I write my first section if I choose to continue this route.

@Joel – The government job in Canada – completely lied about the job description too – it was a desk job rather than a field job and invloved administration rather than actual audit – they didnt have a job description for the position the hired me for and said it was only temporary – then I found out it wasn't so temporary because of the many obstacles and times frames for moving up or qualifying for something else, or maybe I was just lazy and unresourceful because I just felt depressed there for some reason – may have been just the grey atmosphere with ackward people – I should have left right away but the high salary kept me glued to a chair in a grey cubicle in a place where you can't open windows (security b/s) and can't have real plants (bacteria b/s)…So the gov't wasn't for me and I felt like I was destroying my soul by telling poor manipulated immigrants that we will charge them 9% daily compounded interest on amount they didn't think they would owe when file their return 3 years ago. So they didn't know, yet have to pay interest for 3 years even though they weren't told there was a problem. I suspect there are a lot very difficult situations like this created in the finance/accounting world, unfair situations…So I will just use my accounting and business education to start my own business in something I love – flowers and animals. Question is whether I will regret not getting CPA…

I also find that the path to being a CPA is way too structured – it is almost like this accounting profession has to be promoted in this way because otherwise there wouldn't be enough demand for it. There seems to be comments made by professional body members in order to promote this profession. Back when the transcontinental railroad was built in the U.S. – the corporate world started to grow and expand significantly – and this whole time the accounting profession has been evolving since that point, so because it is a fairly new profesison I feel like there is some hidden political agenda for this, CPAs are needed today when the agenda changes – how do you know what is going to happen?

I also disagree with other b/s about CPA exam – like no longer being allowed to bring paper to the exam – you are given a DRY ERASE BOARD LOL…And doing the CPA exam on the computer would be less effective for me because I focus better when I can feel/touch the paper with the questions…twist it around whichever- and make marking and checkmarks or x marks on questions to mark relevant and irrlevant data….

I really would have loved to be part of the accounting world due the globalization taking place now and convergence to IFRS. I think this would open up so many opportunities for travel or to be able to move to a different part of the world…and I'll also regret losing the job security. But even a cleaning business can give job security- everyone needs a cleaning at some point and not everyone has the time for it – right? And I really don't mind cleaning because I really like working with my hands. Anyways, there are just so many opportunities out there.. Being a CPA sounds so tasty, so I'm confused again I am back in square one.

FlipaCoin – thank you – I flipped a coin and I even went on an oracle page lol. To be a CPA or not be CPA, that is the question. The money situation isn't great either right now – the exam fees and such will add up and I'd need a part-time job at least to help cover those costs…One thing that I will NEVER do to myself aagain (well never say never) is working full-time and then still having to study – or is it really that bad?

[FlipACoin]

Confused: That was exactly my point, if perhaps a bit rambly. You have to earn meaningful work. A CPA in and of itself (at least in the corporate accounting/finance world) won't alone get you a meaningful job. Only experience will do that. What it will do is open more doors down the road and perhaps, if you prove yourself, speed the process to getting there. I have been in corporate accounting/finance for about ten years and only now, as I'm looking to move into a higher level director of finance/accounting/controller level, do I feel somewhat limited by not having it. So to be more to the point than last time :)…..you probably don't need it now unless you want to do public accounting or teach on the community college level. But you will probably find yourself happy you have it at some point down the road.

[SeattleAccountant]

@confused,

no, it is not a dry erase board, it is rather double-sided laminated sheet that one writes on with the fine felt tip pen and ink does not erase. Candidate gets 2 sheets like that and 2 felt pens.

Throughout the exam, prometric people will watch out for the candidate to raise hand and bring clean boards and new pens.

While i'm paper-type girl, I found these boards absolutely not bad and doable. It was not an issue at all!

I kept one board always with me b/c that contained all my mnemonics and formulas that I wrote immediately after signing in.

Becker Class of Jan - Aug 2013: FARB DONE!!!!
CPA license pending 🙂

[Author]

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