[AJE]

I have been working for a very large regional firm for 11 months now and am coming up on my 2nd busy season (didn’t do too much the first one). I think it is likely I’ll go up for senior after busy season and there is a maybe/decent chance I’ll get it. I feel like I am getting better at auditing, but not really much better at accounting/Excel/general business operations etc. I will have my CPA license by that point (turned in my application recently) + got a 3.9 GPA in my Masters program. Though I’m doing really well here and enjoy the unique comradery of public I know that the hours/end goal may not be for me. I’d like to work toward something that is more toward operational/finance/accounting based (e.g, director of operations at a charter school).

Is there really any difference on what I can get on the outside in terms of pay, title, etc if I were to wait an additional year? My expectations would be about 80-100k as a senior accountant (SF Bay Area) and can’t imagine that changing much given an extra year of being here – maybe I’m way off base?

FAR 91 - 04/16
BEC 87 - 05/15
REG 77 - 07/27
AUD 92 - 08/31

[Son]

The answer is – it really depends. Hear a few times the best time to leave is after you become a manager (so ~4-6 years). But why not leave when you're ready to move on and grow with your new firm getting experience directly relevant to what you want to be doing.

Besides, job search might take a lot longer than you think. If you start searching after your next busy season (when you'll have your 1.5 years of experience) you might not get a job in a few months or even a year, especially if you're careful and picky.

Salary wise, 80-100K for a senior might not be a stretch considering the cost of living in the Bay Area. But, I have very, very rarely seen salaries that high in public.

AUD - passed
REG - passed
BEC - passed
FAR - passed

[Pete]

Whatever you do, MAKE SURE YOU HAVE ANOTHER JOB, BEFORE YOU LEAVE; that can't be emphasized enough. I know a guy with very solid experience (a bunch of BIG 4 audit from the past), who left his current position to find a higher paying job. Unfortunately, after not being able to find something for more than 6 months, he realized how good his last job was, going back to it.

The job market is a shrinking puddle with multiple AGGRESSIVE fish, vying for a smaller and smaller territory. You don't want to be in it, without currently having a job.

B=84 This exam was such a b**** that I thought I failed-don't know how these things work
A=76 Slacker I am, I'll happily take it
R=81 I LOVE taxes
F=80 I don't wanna get banned for an expletive I'm thinking with "yea" proceeding it

[Author]

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