[EANcpa76]

Hello all,

The last time I posted on here was regarding the CPA exam itself, but this time it’s regarding my career and wanted some feedback/advice. Sorry for the long post.

While I was grateful to still have a job during COVID, I realized that in the five years I been in public accounting, I realized it was time for me to leave and switch to private. This past May a company in private industry reached out to me on LinkedIn and I could not turn it down.

What I did not like about public that drove me to leave:

1) Constant stress
2) Long hours, that were becoming too much for me as I would like to spend time with my significant other
3) Salary was way too low and the partners were obviously getting a steal on me
4) Realizing that there was no way I could just prepare tax returns for the next 38 years. Seriously how does anyone find this exciting after the first two years?
5) I was only promoted once in the five years I been in public (which made me even further realize I did not belong in this part of accounting)

I can see how maybe others feel different and I was with a small firm. There was just so much that frustrated me and so much that stressed me out. I had one recruiter from a large firm say that maybe switching firms is all I need, but I knew that if I was burnt out on preparing tax returns and didn’t want this as my career, wouldn’t changing firms not do anything for me? Even if I did get into the Big 4, I’d probably only last two years and have to work terrible hours.

So here I am with some downtime now and will start my job in private in a week. If I stay in private for the rest of my career, will I be missing out on a lot? Will I end up with a much lower salary in the long-run? Ironically, this private gig offered more than what I am making now. Less hours and higher salary…that’s a win-win in my opinion.

For those who switched from public to private, was it difficult? I have never actually done month-end close, G/L work, etc. I am also weak in Excel since I did not have to do any crazy functions for my past job.

Looking back now, I wonder if I wasted my 20s attempting to make a career in public. I had nothing but high stress, feeling inadequate, feeling stuck…anyone else felt this way?

Thanks.

[monikernc]

You are doing what I want to do – switching from tax to private and doing more accounting functions. And being paid more! Good for you! At the very least you will broaden your experience in a different Corp culture with better benefits. You will need excel so start working on those skills now – not hard but it can do so much. CPA Academy has a free tips,tricks in excel that is basic but good foundational functions.
Good luck in your new job and if you see my resume come across your desk give it a nod!

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