[mafalo1989]

My boss keeps asking what I can do to bring value to the company. I have a situation where I’m the first accountant at the financial firm I’m working at, they have never had this position before. I have no idea what value I can bring, I don’t know how I can help clients out. The only other job I’ve ever had was doing payables and receivables and I hated it which is why I jumped on the opportunity to work at a financial services firm.

They hired me on as a tax preparer, they have a small subsidiary company that provides tax services to their clients and whoever in the general public wants to pay our fees. After tax season I’ve found myself with basically nothing to do except study for the exam, update a couple of spreadsheets throughout the week, keep Quickbooks updated, and cut checks. I’m supposed to be learning the payroll system today and then that duty is getting transferred over to me but that is only a twice monthly task.

They won’t fire me because they’ve invested all of this time and money into training me to do taxes and buying me Becker to study for the exam and paying all of my fees but now my boss comes into my office several times daily and asks me what I can do to bring value to the business and I’m left scrambling to come up with something and normally I just say something like “I’m not sure yet, I’m trying to think of more ideas” and that just makes me sound stupid.

Like I said, I have experience working under a CPA but that only experience was the year of hell I spent doing receivables and payables for a company that was extremely disorganized and never paid their bills on time. That place was a mess so the second I got the opportunity to work in a field close to accounting and have my study materials and exam paid for I jumped on it without knowing that this was a new position and they had no direction for me. All I’ve been told is that next tax season I’ll be running the tax portion of the business, that only covers about 3, maybe 4, months of the year. What can I do to be beneficial to them for the remaining 8 months?

Can anyone give me some ideas?

[Jay]

We;ll, I want to say go out and get clients and split the billings maybe 70/30 employer/you if possible BUT it sounds like you wouldn't be able to properly service business clients due to lack of experience. For example, you could go door to door to restaurants all over your area and try to get them as clients. You would charge a monthly fee and then a Tax Prep Fee for the corp return. Unfortunately you don't have the experience to do that. You need to expose yourself to more varied work and create business opportunities using acquired skills. It's a tough question. I think you just need more experience.

REG 82 (08/08/15)

[Missy]

Basically you need to find needs that they don't even realize exist and start filling them.

If you could handle more work during the time you ARE doing taxes, explore ways to market that service starting in January when people are starting to think about thier taxes. Go so far as to get quotes for mass mailing campaigns, etc.

If you or someone else is constantly being asked for special reports/projects look for ways to automate that report so it becomes easily available and useful.

For example, a few times a year the sales manager asked me for a report of sales by distributor. I can't run it out of quickbooks because many sales are split between distributors and quickbooks can only assign one distributor to a sale. I keep up that report weekly and send it to him. He may not have even realized previously when he requested that information how useful it could be to have it at his fingertips at all times but NOW its his lifeline.

Another example, office space is SO expensive here and I figured almost half of our square footage was taken up by filing cabinets and/or storage boxes. I compared the cost to have an external document scanning company scan and retain all of our documents to saving nearly 50% on our office rent and within 12 months we had a smaller office and no paperwork in house and were saving a couple grand a month.

Currently I am in the process of converting all of our vendors to ACH payments and should eliminate the need for paper checks, envelopes, and stamps entirely. That isn't a huge savings but it is still value added.

All of these were things I came up with on my own, wasn't even as if there were complaints that precipitated them. Just looking for ways to make things run smoother and more efficiently then before I got here.

Licensed Massachusetts Non Reporting CPA since 2012
Finance/Admin/HR Manager

[mafalo1989]

I think you're right. I have pretty varied experience with taxes, I've done mostly individual returns but I've been exposed to business returns, I just need to focus on learning more about those. I did about 300 tax returns on my own in my first year of doing taxes, I've seen nearly everything that can be included and excluded from taxes. Other than that and the year and a half I wasted at the manufacturing plant doing receivables and payables I don't have any other experience and at this company I have no one to train me on anything. There are no other accountants, I was under the impression that there was another CPA at the firm when I was hired but after I took the position I learned that the person I thought was a CPA will actually be in the process of becoming a CPA, I'll likely be done with the process before he is.

I just don't want it to get to the end of the next tax season and have them telling me I don't bring them any value outside of preparing taxes and then I'll be stuck looking for another job again. The guy says he plans on having me work here for a long time but I don't understand what my duties should be and apparently he doesn't have any direction for me. All of the duties I've taken on are duties I've invented for me to take on. Before I worked here they didn't have anyone checking their QB on a weekly basis, the person cutting checks has a job unrelated to all accounting activity so I just took that from her, I was already updating spreadsheets from the day they hired me, and then the payroll stuff isn't going to be very time consuming.

[mafalo1989]

I just don't know what to do with all the time. I mean I'm sitting here with Becker open on the other screen doing MCQs while I write on this forum. If I don't come up with ways to make myself valuable I'm going to be stuck making my approx. $32,000 a year salary struggling to make rent payments, insurance payments, and student loan payments. All my professors made things sound like it would be easy after I got out, I'd find this job with loads of work that needed to be done that would provide me with more opportunities to earn money than I could imagine and I'd be getting paid between $40-60K a year. My mom answers phones at a pediatrician's office and makes more money than I do and her job is about a million times less stressful, I have a friend that works at Dairy Queen as a manager and makes over 60K a year with a high school education and here I am with 7 years of higher education under my belt and two accounting degrees and I'm doing the work that someone that requires the education level of a GED. I've busted my ass since I graduated high school and I'm still struggling 9 years later and now I'm like $40,000 in debt for two degrees I'm not using and I'm at a job that has nothing for me to do.

[Jay]

I think you need to jump ship, honestly. If you're not getting anything out of your job (money and experience) you should find a place that where you can grow. Work for a public accounting firm, small or large, and get the experience doing varied tax returns. I understand you did 300 personal returns but it scares me that nobody checked your work to see that it was done correctly. I'm sure you are good at your job but having no guidance and running a tax prep service without a strong foundation is scary. I think you should work for a good CPA who can expose and teach you Tax Preparation for Businesses and Personals.

REG 82 (08/08/15)

[mafalo1989]

I had someone checking my work, they were done correctly. The problem is I had terrible grades in college, I was one of the unlucky ones who had to work and go to school. I had like a 2.89 GPA, CPA firms will look at me, ask for my transcript and immediately throw me out of the pool of candidates. The idea that grades or GPA is not an indication of intelligence is not popular with CPA firms in my area. I've been out of college for 2 years now and when I was looking for a new job I was still asked about my GPA. When I get compared to people with zero work experience what-so-ever but with an outstanding GPA they always pick the person with the stronger GPA. I know this for a fact. Several of my college classmates had not worked a day in their life, 22-23 years of being supported by their parents, and they obviously had like 3.5-4.0 GPAs because they had all this excess time to study. I worked 20-30 hours a week and got terrible grades and my GPA is showing it and I'm being punished and treated as if I'm unworthy of a good job because I had to do what I had to do to get through college without starving. I've applied to the exact same jobs as those higher GPA students and they always got the job despite having no work experience and to this day, almost exactly 2 years after graduating, it still happens. I have interviewed with those people and I have witnessed them bomb interviews and they are still chosen over me because my low GPA indicates that I'm stupid.

[mafalo1989]

I've had interviewers at those firms laugh at me because of my GPA. I mean actually laugh in my face and tell me I would never have a chance and I should try volunteering and working for free. The whole time I have to sit there straight faced holding back tears and resisting the urge to get up and walk out while telling them to go to hell. The CPA firm thing is not for me because from what I've experienced just in those interviews, most accountants are assholes. I've interviewed at probably 5-6 firms and they were all that rude and unprofessional.

[Jdn9201]

Well to answer your initial question you bring value by being a problem solver and by doing things that need to get done but don't – because others either don't want to do them or don't have time to do them. I agree with the other poster – you need to get out and get a better job – if not now then when you pass your CPA. I don't know where you live but 32k is far lower than what you should be making. Keep in mind that most recruiters will use your current salary as a basis for what you make at your next job. I spent 7 years at a low paying job coming out of school so I learned this lesson myself the hard way. I'm sorry that other interviews haven't worked out well but you can't let others opinions change what you think about yourself. So what..you had a lower GPA. In exchange you learned valuable skills while working in school that the kids who didn't work didn't learn. It's up to you to present those skills to interviewers. If they still want to make fun of you, then walk out. They don't deserve you as an employee if that is how they treat people.

BEC - 88 8/29/15
REG - 82 11/14/15
AUD - 83 1/8/16
FAR - 80 2/29/16

[Missy]

You really have two paths you can take, you can wait for someone to tell you what you can be doing in which case you probably won't be there long or you can take some initiative and create something awesome thats worth more than 32k a year.

Yes your GPA will work against you but only until you've got a few years experience under your belt then GPA shouldn't even come up. In interviews you might want to own that GPA admit you could have given better effort and explain how you've learned to manage your time better. Working 20-30 hours a week does not tank your GPA, but poor time management will. I had a 3.8 gpa going to school full time, not a class or two per semester, worked 50 hours a week and had 2 kids so I'd have very little patience for someone saying the only got a 2.89 because they worked part time.

Licensed Massachusetts Non Reporting CPA since 2012
Finance/Admin/HR Manager

[Skynet]

Leave.

Then when all $hit$ goes to HELL, they will realize how much value you bring to the company.

[mafalo1989]

Ok, I worked part time, had two parents that were diagnosed with cancer during my school years and had a Grandmother that was diagnosed with cancer twice during this period. Worked and took only upper level accounting classes during the time, at one point being enrolled in 21 credit hours- well over the amount of credits considered full time, working, and driving two and a half hours back and forth to take care of sick family members. Yes, my GPA tanked. I was more worried about spending time with my mother who almost died after she became septic, my dad who had tumor the size of half of his neck removed, and a Grandma who was diagnosed with breast cancer for the second and third time only a year after recovering from all the chemo and radiation she had to do the first time she was diagnosed. And I worked 20-30 hours on top of that. I don't really think I should have to go through reliving all of those awful experiences every time I go to a job interview and have to explain why my GPA was low. It's kind of difficult to go through an accounting book and do homework when your mom is down the hall screaming in pain because of a botched colon cancer surgery or yelling at you to help her change the bag of feces that is hanging at her side. I don't need anyone to feel sorry for me, I need people to realize that a low GPA doesn't reflect intelligence and understanding. All it does is keep people who are hard workers from gaining employment. I think it's honestly kind of rude to ask about that and to require people to explain themselves because I don't think I should have to go into an interview and say “My GPA was so low because I wasn't studying because instead of studying I was emptying an actual bag of shit that was attached to my mother and helping my dad recover when half of his neck was cut off” That isn't going to go over well in an interview at all.

[Missy]

I'm very sorry for what you've been through and hope everyone is doing well.

Take your GPA off your resume, you've been out of school a while it looks like and if you've got a year or more of experience the only employer likely to ask is Big 4.

Going back to your original post/question it sounds like you need direction on which tasks to take on at this point so this employer is clearly not for you.

Licensed Massachusetts Non Reporting CPA since 2012
Finance/Admin/HR Manager

[M123]

“Would you like fries with that?”

No joke – the upsell is the most important thing with consulting or advising. If one is doing tax – almost certainly there will be opportunities to upsell.

Kids? How's that 529 doing? No 529? Let me help.

How's your 401k? Awesome – how about your Roth? No Roth – well let me help you with that.

You want to buy a house? You want to use a loan from your 401k? That's a terrible idea – let some of our experts help you with that.

There's a million things you can find. But never ask a yes/no question – it's a finding followed by “let me tell you why you need fries with that”.

And as far as this role – getting out of one's comfort zone is one of the best ways to grow. Give it an honest shot!

[ruggercpa2b]

I am an immigrant and had to work full time while I was in school full time. My situation is nowhere near like yours but, when I graduated my GPA was a 2.8. I had no family so I had to work and my grades suffered. I do not have my GPA on my resume. When I am asked about my GPA I explain that I worked full time while I was also going to school full time. I managed to get a job at a Big 4 with my low GPA. One of the partners who has become my mentor told me straight up that on paper I would never make it but when you meet me and talk to me you realize I have so much more to offer. That is where networking helps you. I am now back in industry after working at a Big 4 and a regional firm.

People have given you some valid points. I never put my GPA on my resume. Even though they paid Becker for you, the reason that he is constantly asking what you can bring could potentially lead to you getting let go if you can't come up with ways to add value.

AUD - 73, 72 retake 7/2/2016
BEC - 8/20/2016
REG - TBD
FAR - TBD

I am so ready for this nightmare to be over. Been at this way too long.

[MaLoTu]

If it were me, I would draft up some sort of plan for your boss that shows some initiatives that you think you could spearhead to grow the business.

One very obvious item would be to look into each of the firm's current clients and itemize which ones currently do their taxes with you and which ones do not. For the ones who don't, consider a plan for reaching out to them and asking if you can review their taxes from last year. If you can find savings and or mistakes made on their 2016 or even 2015 taxes you will probably win a new client for the firm.
Additionally, you can look into what specific industries your firm serves and compile a list of similar company's and try to help with efforts to expand the client base.

I am really curious what was communicated to you at the time of your interview/ job acceptance… it sounds like they were expecting you to be a self starter and take on growth operations. Did you give the impression that you were going to build a tax practice? Also, do not be so sure they will not fire you. Yes they invested a lot into your training but businesses will easily and justifiably cut their costs at a loss. Why would they consider to sink money into an unprofitable venture.

If you choose to go the route of expanding the business, I would try to get a deal where you get a kick back, if your firm does not already have that policy, that would close the gap on your wages.

I typed this from my phone during my morning commute, sorry for any typos.

[Author]

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