[Swatee]

Hi I am a licensed CPA but I recently lost my job because of performance issues.I was working as a Senior Accountant and in my terms I was working hard and doing well.My manager told me that I lack problem solving and analytical skills so he asked me to leave.This has happened to me the second time when I lost my jobs b because of performance reasons.At each just b my tenure was one year.Does that mean accounting is not for me, how can I help myself?.

[Swatee]

Shawn I have been working as an accountant from past 6 years and I can clearly tell you that CPA license simply gets you the job.In order to stay in your job you need to prove that you are a genious.Nobody cares about the hard work and what they care about is your minor errors that are silly mistakes not effecting or misstating the financial statements.In my situation there certainly something more than just work .Right from the beginning they gave me more responsibility as compared to my other team members and therefore I worked long hours and weekends.Inspite of minimum mistakes and hard work they let me go.They did not value me at all.

[Swatee]

My other team members gossip around, have fun and work from home when they want and their jobs is still secure.I was just not their favorite …..why I have no clue .

[Anonymous]

Swatee I can tell you that you don't have to be a genius or perfectionist to do well in accounting. Like I said, a major part of it is how well you are connecting to others and contributing in the office. If it's a smaller firm or company, most likely you won't be babied or have your hand held as if it were a larger firm that has specific training programs.

Work smarter, not harder.

[Josh]

@Swattee Don't take the rejection personally. My hopes are that better opportunities either working for yourself or someone else open up for you. I lost an accounting job years ago and haven't been able to return yet. I had a partner at a firm here tell me I should stop looking with firms and find people in business to join like myself. Maybe, she has a point, even if I run a “lemon-aide stand” out of my backpack?

[HamsterEat]

@Swatee I totally understand what you have experienced… I was under a manager who micromanaged me for two years before I decided to quit. My manager stole credit from me all the time and I didn't find out until my first review (long story). Please do not get discouraged by your past experience. You are a CPA and you were offered a Senior Accountant role, it just take time and luck to meet the right boss and the right company who will help you grow. Good luck on your new job and stay confident!

[M123]

Be careful of “imposter syndrome” where one thinks they aren't good enough and it's only a matter of time before they get “found out”.

The best companies I've worked for had at least bi-weekly 1:1 meetings with managers and direct reports. Any culture where a termination is a “surprise” to an individual is not a good culture. A professional “people manager” will have frequent communication, share what's working and what's not and give the employee the chance to build up their skills if they have the core skills to do the job (like a CPA certainly would!).

Mr/Ms. Swatee – I would first suggest that you read up on the concept of assertiveness. In this case – you have an obligation to yourself to manage up – to get the feedback you need in order to align your expectations with management. Frequent one to ones with “how am I doing” and “what could I do better”. Be vulnerable, be responsive, don't be defensive. Keep notes of your conversation and every interaction with your boss – try to have an example of how you took their feedback and applied it successfully.

It's also good to take every opportunity to participate in any team meetings. When leadership solicits participants, be the first one with hands up. Be visible, strive to be best and learn from mistakes. Talk to people who matter in the organization, get their perspective. Don't be an island and don't live on an island.

Also – have you read 7 Habits of Highly Effective People? Highly recommended. The mentality of winning is especially important when one gets temporarily set back.

[Swatee]

Thank you very much to all of you .I am going through a low period where I am feeling discouraged because of a shocking failure and nervous because I will be starting a new job.

I just keep questioning my abilities to do things and feel that passing CPA is the easiest thing while the actual job is way hard.

I am sure people hire me because I have my CPA but they let me go because I don't meet expectations required from a CPA.

I will try to implement new strategies in my new job by not asking for a help from others even if it takes me forever to complete a certain task.

I will hold timely meeting with my manager to monitor my progress and will find easier way of doing things by improving the processes.

[Radez]

I have 10 years experience exclusively in private industry, so I can't speak to cultural differences between private and public. With that caveat out of the way, I think every company will have its own processes and history, so there will always be a ramp-up period where you learn to assimilate. I would caution you not to go to one extreme or the other in terms of doing everything on your own or asking for help. Missy's suggestion is a good one. Don't spin your wheels, but if you're going to ask someone senior to you for help, lead with what you've already tried.

Another thing that is worth mentioning is that you can't discount the social aspect of the job. Your rapport with your manager and your team is an important component of your success. I learned this the hard way early in my career. You need to make an effort to be friendly with your team. If you are aloof and the only conversations you're having are ones in which you ask for help, then you will not be as successful. If this is an area where you struggle, maybe do a google search on how to make small talk, and implement some of those suggestions. People generally feel more favorably toward people who express an interest in them.

That said, some places just aren't a good fit, so like others have said, don't let it get you down. Good luck with the new position.

[Earla Riopel (NYCARE)]

Started my accounting journey 35yrs ago, received my undergrad at 19. But due to poverty and to help my parents pay my student loan, I had to take jobs, even a nanny for a chartered accountant family. I had to live in 3 countries and adapt another country to pursue my dream on becoming a ‘CPA' on a budget, and helped my husband raised our 3 grown-up kids (25/24/19).

I had worked for 4 accounting firms during tax season, but eventually stopped and just concentrate on how to help bring in enough funds to pay our bills, and a little for investments. For now, my family are fine with what I have been doing for another 3-5 years, but likely I have to find ways of bringing in more funds before then.

As to what your experience, I had that in my last chartered accountants firm job. It almost ruined my desire of going back to work as an accountant. It was just a ‘junior accountant' position, not so much of a big deal. But it was a big deal for me, because it was a 6-months contract, longer than from my prior tax season jobs. I was let go after 2 weeks, with no solid reason. I could have sued them, but felt the fear of being ‘blacklisted', with 3 young kids and being a US CPA candidate.

That was 2007. Since then, I concentrated on doing voluntary work, whenever I can, and concentrated with my family, and at the same time cross the border to write my CPA exam, whenever I can. As an immigrant, I find it a little harder to work in the area of my profession, compared to my native land, Philippines. Once you are a CPA in the Philippines, you can't be unemployed, there's always work for you.

For now, being in Canada for 27+ years, I might not get the full usage of my CPA designation once I received it, but I will have it for life to take care of my family and related members with finances and investments.

Thanks for sharing your job experience, at least it gives me a prospective way of thinking on how to deal with future job prospects, which it hasn't really changed much 10 years ago. I have been active in social media since my last ‘junior accountant' job, and your experience and others confirmed that there are still job places which haven't changed over the years.

Good luck with your new job, I hope you have nice superiors.

[CPAwesomeCA]

How can a “Senior Accountant” fail to do something as easy as a bank reconciliation? Even my interns can do way better than that.

I think accounting is definitely not for you from what you have described.

[CoachEmUp]

Wow honestly comforted to read the stories from everyone in here. I'm currently on my CPA journey because I started a new job as a senior accountant and it was a horrible fit from the get go (partially on me and also on them). After a month of trying to get up to speed and learn a completely new business and industry it was not for me. I gave it everything I had but the culture there was poor and I was left alone to the wolves after minimal training.

After my boss sat me down and said they expected more, etc. and I told them that I was trying my best but felt they weren't giving me the support we both knew and agreed I would need for switching industries, I quit a week later.

@CPAwesomeCA I disagree with your assessment. If someone isn't given the proper tools to a bank rec then it's not going to really matter how smart or dumb you are, it won't be successful.

@Swatee I agree with others, the social part of an office CAN be (not always) a big part of the job. The best possible thing you can do is use what you've learned from what didn't go well at this job to cater your interview questions for the next job hunt exactly to ensuring you'll wind up in a better position where you can be successful. Dwelling on the past isn't going to help, but learning from it will put you personally in a much better place in the future. Good luck!

[Swatee]

CPAwesomeCA it wasn't a straightforward bank recon, even my supervisor did not understand it in the beginning.They told me that they will find a simpler way of doing that bank rec but it took them several months and until I raised a dog that I can't reconcile.The general ledger is a month behind the bank statement which makes it complicated.I tried to reconcile it and was able to put all ieces together but one piece because I didn't go that far .Something was not booked correctly in the account last year and that was the reason for the variance.It was a silly mistake and I am not dumb, would have never passed CPA if I was dumb.

[Swatee]

Flag not dog*

[Radez]

Man, I had to take on the bank rec from a staff accountant who, whenever he couldn't reconcile, would just post an adjusting entry to bank fees. It was under the threshold requiring review so there was no oversight to the journal entries. He'd been doing it for at least a year. Every month tied out to the penny but his O/S check list was shit. Notwithstanding my seniority, that wasn't a fun time.

[Anonymous]

What many of these employers do is hire people and use them as a scapegoat for when work isn't completed on time or within budget. If you don't build relationships with clients, people in the office, or network, etc. and are the one who always keeps their head down and focuses solely on their work, regardless how fast or efficient you perform your work, it will be an easy call to shift blame onto you for little mistakes and let you go.

Even though you technically probably aren't the weak link in terms of accounting ability, that's just how many accounting firms work unfortunately.

With that said, some office cultures would probably love to have people who can just sit there and focus on nothing but their work. But it's up to you to identify those opportunities and establish yourself.

At the end of they day, it's all about balance. Emotional intelligence and fitting in as well as IQ and technical ability are equally important for the most part.

[Author]

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