[hdaus]

So I am waiting for my license. I am 36 and have worked at a small, 14-person NFP in DC for 10 years – it was an entry level position (I know, I know: life happened). I have no other accounting experience. I currently make $60k plus excellent benefits (parking, healthcare, vacation, sick, work from home, casual environment, awesome coworkers). Most peple working there have been there around 20 years. The organization hasn’t been doing very well financially recently, though.

My plan was to look for Controller and Assistant Controller jobs in the NFP field as soon as I got my license. My boss of all these years, however, just told me she is planning to retire next year. She wonders if I am interested in filling her position and maybe she can talk to the president, the other VP and 2 directors . She is currently VP of Admin and Finance (I doubt I will have the same title, though, if I am officially offered the job). I don’t think there will be a lot of opposition from the others. So she will have about 1 year to train me on what she currently does and supervise me on that until she retires.

There is nothing official about all this yet. I am interested in it, however. So I wonder, should I stay and take the offer if offered, or should I let it go and go out looking for the controller/assistant controller or other job out there?

Here are my assumptions: seeing that there isn’t much money to spare right now, maybe they bump me up to $70-75k, reorganize the org. chart and make me controller or some such title (hopefully). Then test me out for that 1 year. My biggest challenges will be reporting to higher ups especially boards and our president, engaging with auditors and other accounting and administrative stuff my boss does but she is an exceptional boss and has more faith in me than I have in myself. She is convinced I can handle it and asked me if I thought she was born doing this – to which I answered yes. lol. I also have a foreign accent which affects my self confidence (but I come from an English-speaking West African country). Plus, I am not the brightest accountant, and need to learn accounting parlance more, etc. I intend to take public speaking and other self-development courses (I am looking at toastmasters).

Or, I could look around for jobs, maybe get an interview or two, see how much they are offering so I could use it as a gauge to compare what they (potentially) offer me and how much I could make out there. I have not looked for a job in – yes, 10 years. I know finding a job is not a cup of tea, though, which is one of the reasons I am also considering staying at my current place if they officially discuss me filling my boss’ position. I wonder how much an (entry) assistant controller or controller makes in the DC area .. ?

I wonder if I can handle her job. I wonder if I should not stay but go out and look for something else. I wonder if it would be better to stay there without seeming complacent. But I could maybe stay there (if they paid me enough, I guess), experience her job, and use that on my resume to step higher later on if I need to.

Any thoughts?

[Anonymous]

In your shoes, if I was earning enough to not lose sleep over money, and I enjoyed my work and my coworkers, and felt proud of what my organization does, then I would be very interested in replacing my boss when they retire in a year.

On the other hand, if I was living paycheck to paycheck, or my career was not fulfilling on a personal and professional level, I would be looking for a new opportunity once I was a licensed CPA.

[Thrawn]

If you are happy stick with what you know.

BEC 87 Feb 14
REG 84 Apr 14
FAR 82 Nov 14
AUD 86 Feb 15

[Thrawn]

If you are happy stick with what you know.

BEC 87 Feb 14
REG 84 Apr 14
FAR 82 Nov 14
AUD 86 Feb 15

[If I can, u can too!]

if it was up to me, i don't think it's worth the trouble to be paid in the $70's for an assistant controller job b/c you will be under lots of stress that you mentioned up there dealing with the auditors/upper management. you're less likely to learn the accounting principles b/c your hands won't get dirty booking the entries, reconciling, processing, posting adjusting entries etc. your job will be learning management skills (soft skills). i guess it'll be a quick way to move up in the management world but you won't have the foundation that many managers will have.

obviously the decision is totally up to you, particularly which direction you want to pursue, management vs pure accounting path. even with the pure accounting path, it'll eventually take you to the management path later on. furthermore, i assure you that you can make $70's easily being an accountant/sr accountant at a public company.

Licensed CPA since Apr 16
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BEC-80
REG-72,77
AUD-56,72,72,72,80! Thank you, thank you, thank you Lord!
FAR/BEC/AUD: Becker & Yaeger lectures (Wiley & Ninja MCQs). REG: Becker lectures (Ninja MCQs).

[hdaus]

Thank you all for your input. I think after reading your points of view, talking to other friends and thinking it through, it helps me put the whole picture together and decide what I want to do.

@ 4WG2WB I definitely need more money and have decided to take April and May to do job searches and find out what I am really worth and what other companies are offering. However, one of my preferences will still be my current boss' position since I am familiar with the company and will be supervising 2 people in that position. Also, if it doesn't work for me a after some months I can always quit but would have had the experience and can use that to boost my resume.

@ Thrawn: Yeah, I like this place because it is not so stressful. I wouldn't want a job where I wake up cursing every morning. lol

@hokinizeu I have been doing hands-on journal entries, bank recs etc for 10 years now and even if I move to my boss' position I will still have JEs to make and also supervise the person who will then take my job plus the accounting assistant. I am looking at it now as a quick short-cut opportunity to boost my resume if I end up getting the position.

[monikernc]

while you are there and being groomed for your boss' job i would ask for a change in title that reflects the work you will be doing. if a raise can be added fine but i think the escalated title will help in your job search and be helpful if the money issues get worse while waiting for your boss to retire. do the other professional development tasks that you mentioned while waiting, too. you never know when you will need to look for another job so prepare yourself the best you can. self improvement is important moving forward and up, whether it is with your current employer or your next.

good luck!

FAR 7/25/15 76!
AUD 10/30/15 93
BEC 2/27/16 82
REG 5/23/16 88!
Ninja Book and MCQ and the forum - all the way!!!
and a little thing i like to call, time and effort!
if you want things to change, you have to do something different

[How many letters do you need]

Well I don't know what your title is now but it's always easier to get the job when you have the sitting title. If you are say, Accounting Manager, I imagine it would be more difficult to get a controller job somewhere else vs. if your title is controller. If it were me, I get that department head experience, show that you can successfully call the shots, manage people and all of those other things you are afraid you can't do. Your boss is obviously very experienced, is leaving a place she has spent a long time and probably loves as much as you do. She wouldn't tap you and risk screwing all of that up because she wanted to be nice. She thinks you can do it, I would trust her opinion more than your own :). Plus these are all things you are going to have to do as controller somewhere else you are SO much better off doing them for the first time in friendly waters where you are very comfortable with the environment, as opposed to going in cold and taking a staff of god knows who….plus since
you are in non-profit I know money isn't important to you 🙂

I say accept the torch, learn as much as you can before she leaves, kick all wholly ass once she does for a couple years and take off if you want at that point. Who knows? You may not even want to at that point or the finances could get better…..

MBA,CMA,CPA, CFF?, ABV?

[Anonymous]

I'm in the non-profit world, too, so sympathize with some of how it goes…the lower wages (like the prospect of maybe $70-75k as Controller in DC area, which I'm sure is substantially lower than Controller in DC in a for-profit!), the different culture, etc.

If your goal is to move to the Controller level, though, I would definitely say do it where you are, because like “How many letters” said, it's better to do it in a friendly environment. Also, when you're looking for your next job, it will show that after 10 years of being in the organization the people in the organization were impressed with you and wanted you to move up, rather than after 10 years they wanted to keep you in your same role and/or were happy to see you go. When you spend 10 years someone with the same title, a prospective employer doesn't know if that means you did your job so well that people wanted to keep you in it, or so poorly that no one ever dared think of moving you up. So, to have the opportunity to get a promotion on your record is a very good thing. Having 10 years as your current title (Accountant?), then a year or two as Controller while you train, then have it bumped up to VP of Finance when you officially replace her, would look pretty good.

And…to be able to learn all those difficult management skills with a mentor who believes in you right there every day coaching you and believing you in is a rare opportunity. Presuming that you get along with your boss and work well with her (which I'm guessing from the tone of your post), it's a golden chance to learn the skills you want.

Five years from now, you might be VP of Finance at your current organization, or at another, or in some other role at some other company, whether for-profit or NFP. But, you have the opportunity (if they do officially discuss the change of roles) over the next year or so to learn hands-on the skills you want. Sounds like something to jump at if you ask me!

[Author]

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