[jlondon]

I thought I was into accounting (keeping track of records, booking things, knowing historically/solid numbers of my expenses) .. but the study process has been really hard, and now I feel like leaning towards the finance side. I mean, I even built an excel spread sheet to figure out my spending and then I have an analysis of my budget vs. actual amount spent..

I mean, should I even pursue a cpa if I’m leaning towards this side of the career? At work, I work with the financial analyst and FP&A, and 3 of them have inactive CPA license. I mean, they do need to really understand accounting in order to figure out what gets booked to what, etc… But there is one person who doesn’t have anything accounting related.

I’m just wondering.. should I even put myself on this path to pursue a CPA license, sacrificing A TON of time, only to have my license as inactive later when I find a job.. Is this even worth it? Or should I look into the direction of pursing a different certification? Please any life experience, kind of don’t know what to do at the moment…

BEC: 69, 57, 72, 73, (anticipated for 4/4/2015)
AUD: 65, 63, 74, 84!!! (expires 7/31/2015)
FAR: 63, 57, (scheduled for 4/1/2015)
REG: ... 42, (Anticipated to be around 5/20~)

-Every Set Back is a Set Up for a Major Come Back #motivation

"I've missed over 9,000 shots in my career. I've lost over 300 games. 26 times I've been trusted to take the game winning shot, and missed. I've failed, over and over and over again in my life. And that is why, I succeed." - Michael Jordan

"You are not your past, but the resources and capabilities you glean from it" -Jordan Belfort

[Study Monk]

Has the study process been hard because your not interested or because the material is hard?

I believe the mathematics in finance is harder than the mathematics of accounting.

I would still pursue the CPA exam because it can help you get your foot in the door with some finance jobs.

I spoke to an ancient wise man who sent me on a mushroom induced journey through an ancient forest to find the key to passing the CPA exam. A talking spider monkey told me to throw the last of my drinking water in the dirt to find what I was looking for. So I followed his instructions and the following message appeared in the soil:

"Do 5000 multiple choice questions for each section"

[Study Monk]

Has the study process been hard because your not interested or because the material is hard?

I believe the mathematics in finance is harder than the mathematics of accounting.

I would still pursue the CPA exam because it can help you get your foot in the door with some finance jobs.

I spoke to an ancient wise man who sent me on a mushroom induced journey through an ancient forest to find the key to passing the CPA exam. A talking spider monkey told me to throw the last of my drinking water in the dirt to find what I was looking for. So I followed his instructions and the following message appeared in the soil:

"Do 5000 multiple choice questions for each section"

[jlondon]

I think it's a little bit of both.. I just can't seem to to sit down and study this material. It's like I want to do anything else besides study this..

BEC: 69, 57, 72, 73, (anticipated for 4/4/2015)
AUD: 65, 63, 74, 84!!! (expires 7/31/2015)
FAR: 63, 57, (scheduled for 4/1/2015)
REG: ... 42, (Anticipated to be around 5/20~)

-Every Set Back is a Set Up for a Major Come Back #motivation

"I've missed over 9,000 shots in my career. I've lost over 300 games. 26 times I've been trusted to take the game winning shot, and missed. I've failed, over and over and over again in my life. And that is why, I succeed." - Michael Jordan

"You are not your past, but the resources and capabilities you glean from it" -Jordan Belfort

[jlondon]

I think it's a little bit of both.. I just can't seem to to sit down and study this material. It's like I want to do anything else besides study this..

BEC: 69, 57, 72, 73, (anticipated for 4/4/2015)
AUD: 65, 63, 74, 84!!! (expires 7/31/2015)
FAR: 63, 57, (scheduled for 4/1/2015)
REG: ... 42, (Anticipated to be around 5/20~)

-Every Set Back is a Set Up for a Major Come Back #motivation

"I've missed over 9,000 shots in my career. I've lost over 300 games. 26 times I've been trusted to take the game winning shot, and missed. I've failed, over and over and over again in my life. And that is why, I succeed." - Michael Jordan

"You are not your past, but the resources and capabilities you glean from it" -Jordan Belfort

[Study Monk]

I was like that on two out of the three times I started to study for the CPA exam. However after 5 years of working a job in retail I realize that in life you have to spend a majority of your time doing things that are not fun to be successful. I don't know if this is the exact wording of this quote:

The difference between successful people and unsuccessful people is that successful people do the things that unsuccessful people don't want to do.

There is a lot of confusion out there because people think that they have to do things they are passionate about when in reality less than one percent of society works in a field they truly love. The goal is to find a career that is tolerable where you can make a comfortable wage and develop a proficiency that makes you feel like you contribute towards something.

The media portrays finance as being more sexy than accounting, but both will lead you to a similar work environment. Instead of billable hours a lot of finance people have sales quotas. A lot of financial analysis jobs are done by accountants anyway. If I were you I would do the CPA and try to slowly transition to jobs with more finance in them. The alternative is a masters in finance and maybe studying for the CFP or CFA.

I spoke to an ancient wise man who sent me on a mushroom induced journey through an ancient forest to find the key to passing the CPA exam. A talking spider monkey told me to throw the last of my drinking water in the dirt to find what I was looking for. So I followed his instructions and the following message appeared in the soil:

"Do 5000 multiple choice questions for each section"

[Study Monk]

I was like that on two out of the three times I started to study for the CPA exam. However after 5 years of working a job in retail I realize that in life you have to spend a majority of your time doing things that are not fun to be successful. I don't know if this is the exact wording of this quote:

The difference between successful people and unsuccessful people is that successful people do the things that unsuccessful people don't want to do.

There is a lot of confusion out there because people think that they have to do things they are passionate about when in reality less than one percent of society works in a field they truly love. The goal is to find a career that is tolerable where you can make a comfortable wage and develop a proficiency that makes you feel like you contribute towards something.

The media portrays finance as being more sexy than accounting, but both will lead you to a similar work environment. Instead of billable hours a lot of finance people have sales quotas. A lot of financial analysis jobs are done by accountants anyway. If I were you I would do the CPA and try to slowly transition to jobs with more finance in them. The alternative is a masters in finance and maybe studying for the CFP or CFA.

I spoke to an ancient wise man who sent me on a mushroom induced journey through an ancient forest to find the key to passing the CPA exam. A talking spider monkey told me to throw the last of my drinking water in the dirt to find what I was looking for. So I followed his instructions and the following message appeared in the soil:

"Do 5000 multiple choice questions for each section"

[jlondon]

@ StudyMonk.. Hmm. you're right at that point… I should continue to study, and get a career that is sustainable.. then I'll be switching out after to do something I love. Sometimes it does take extremely hard work to get from point A, to point B, which your ultimate goal is to get to point C, but can't get to C without going through B.. not a great analogy, but you get my point..

BEC: 69, 57, 72, 73, (anticipated for 4/4/2015)
AUD: 65, 63, 74, 84!!! (expires 7/31/2015)
FAR: 63, 57, (scheduled for 4/1/2015)
REG: ... 42, (Anticipated to be around 5/20~)

-Every Set Back is a Set Up for a Major Come Back #motivation

"I've missed over 9,000 shots in my career. I've lost over 300 games. 26 times I've been trusted to take the game winning shot, and missed. I've failed, over and over and over again in my life. And that is why, I succeed." - Michael Jordan

"You are not your past, but the resources and capabilities you glean from it" -Jordan Belfort

[jlondon]

@ StudyMonk.. Hmm. you're right at that point… I should continue to study, and get a career that is sustainable.. then I'll be switching out after to do something I love. Sometimes it does take extremely hard work to get from point A, to point B, which your ultimate goal is to get to point C, but can't get to C without going through B.. not a great analogy, but you get my point..

BEC: 69, 57, 72, 73, (anticipated for 4/4/2015)
AUD: 65, 63, 74, 84!!! (expires 7/31/2015)
FAR: 63, 57, (scheduled for 4/1/2015)
REG: ... 42, (Anticipated to be around 5/20~)

-Every Set Back is a Set Up for a Major Come Back #motivation

"I've missed over 9,000 shots in my career. I've lost over 300 games. 26 times I've been trusted to take the game winning shot, and missed. I've failed, over and over and over again in my life. And that is why, I succeed." - Michael Jordan

"You are not your past, but the resources and capabilities you glean from it" -Jordan Belfort

[Mayo]

“now I feel like leaning towards the finance side. I mean, I even built an excel spread sheet to figure out my spending and then I have an analysis of my budget vs. actual amount spent..”

Sounds like accounting to me??

Mayo, BBA, Macc

[Mayo]

“now I feel like leaning towards the finance side. I mean, I even built an excel spread sheet to figure out my spending and then I have an analysis of my budget vs. actual amount spent..”

Sounds like accounting to me??

Mayo, BBA, Macc

[mla1169]

Budgeting and comparing to actuals is not finance. Finance is far more complex than that, making investment decisions, being very well versed in time value of money, and analysis of financial statements to aid in the decision making process. I wouldn't consider it as a career any easier than accounting.

FAR- 77
AUD -49, 71, 84
REG -56,75!
BEC -75

Massachusetts CPA (non reporting) since 3/12.

[mla1169]

Budgeting and comparing to actuals is not finance. Finance is far more complex than that, making investment decisions, being very well versed in time value of money, and analysis of financial statements to aid in the decision making process. I wouldn't consider it as a career any easier than accounting.

FAR- 77
AUD -49, 71, 84
REG -56,75!
BEC -75

Massachusetts CPA (non reporting) since 3/12.

[mcki2900]

Hello all,

I am in a similar situation as far as being unsure about what career path to pursue. I recently graduated with a B.S. in Finance and a minor in accounting Spring '13 however, I have come to realize that all the careers that both interest me and make a good living necessitate a strong accounting work history (big 4 or large firm). As a quick background, I graduated with a 3.0 GPA which is not strong however, I did play intercollegiate football earning a few conference honors and worked a part time night job. I wanted to apply to a Big Four firm out of college but believed my weak GPA would immediately put me out of contention. I am currently working as a finance associate at a smaller company and am thinking about buying the CPA study materials and attempting to take some of the first sections come May. If I pass all of the sections will this help to overshadow my low GPA and hopefully give me an honest shot at working for one of the Big 4 firms? Would the Big Four look favorably at my past extracurricular or are they inconsequential at this point? Any opinions will be much appreciated as I am a little lost at this point on how to achieve my career goals.

[mcki2900]

Hello all,

I am in a similar situation as far as being unsure about what career path to pursue. I recently graduated with a B.S. in Finance and a minor in accounting Spring '13 however, I have come to realize that all the careers that both interest me and make a good living necessitate a strong accounting work history (big 4 or large firm). As a quick background, I graduated with a 3.0 GPA which is not strong however, I did play intercollegiate football earning a few conference honors and worked a part time night job. I wanted to apply to a Big Four firm out of college but believed my weak GPA would immediately put me out of contention. I am currently working as a finance associate at a smaller company and am thinking about buying the CPA study materials and attempting to take some of the first sections come May. If I pass all of the sections will this help to overshadow my low GPA and hopefully give me an honest shot at working for one of the Big 4 firms? Would the Big Four look favorably at my past extracurricular or are they inconsequential at this point? Any opinions will be much appreciated as I am a little lost at this point on how to achieve my career goals.

[mla1169]

I wouldn't even mention the extracurriculars, or the GPA (unless asked) . It's troublesome how many people try to justify their GPA by saying they had this or that going on too (for what it's worth I had a 3.7 GPA while working full time, had a house, 2 kids, 2 dogs, and ran a Girl Scout troop).

More important to network, build professional relationships and be very impressive during an interview.

FAR- 77
AUD -49, 71, 84
REG -56,75!
BEC -75

Massachusetts CPA (non reporting) since 3/12.

[Author]

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