[HoldMyBeerCPA]

I graduated in May of 2013 at the age of 21 with my degree in accounting from CSU Fullerton in California. Unfortunately, I did not have the finances to get the additional 30 units to have the academic requirement for eligibility for the CPA exam. The first mistake (I don’t want to call it a mistake, because I thought we would make it, I’d call it an unwise decision) I made was moving out of state to Utah to follow my girlfriend. We split.

Fast forward to June 2015 and now, I’m currently, I’m working at a small family company doing some A/R, Credit Card Reconciliations, and SEC filings as a financial reporting specialist. I communicate somewhat with plenty of CPA’s, however, it is not on the basis I would like. Mainly, it’s due to omissions, errors, and other minute things within their company’s 10-Q and 10-K filings. Not the greatest of things to put on a resume, I know. I’ve been here for about two years now, and while I’ve had to earn the extra accounting responsibilities, it’s not putting my degree to the greatest of use. Recently, I interviewed with a small CPA firm in Utah for an audit associate position. While I did get an offer, I’m hesitant to accept the offer for a couple of reasons.

Firstly, I did not take audit while in undergrad (I’m regretting it now) nor do I have direct experience in external auditing, so I’m certain that this will be a hindrance while employed there.

Secondly, while I’ve planned out my timeline of obtaining my MAcc (I would need to do this online if I choose to work at a CPA firm while in a MAcc program), it wouldn’t be completed until July 2018. At this rate, I’d start in Fall of 2016 (I’ll need to save as I do not want to take out loans), My plan is to take two classes in Fall ’16, and ’17 while taking two classes in Spring ’17 and ’18, while taking one class in the Summer of ’17 and ’18. With all that being said, while in the interview, the partner let me know that the ideal timeline for me getting my MAcc and passing the exam would be three years. As it stands, I wouldn’t meet that. Four years would be more ideal.

Lastly, I would need to give my current employer one month’s notice because of the responsibilities I currently have at my job.

I’m wondering if it’s worth taking up the offer and “winging it” as I go. Also, I’m wondering if I should even begin studying for any portion of the CPA exam if I’m a year away from beginning grad school. I only have 120 units, so I’m not eligible to sit for the exam in my state.

TL;DR:

– I’ve worked as a Jr. Accountant/Financial Reporting Specialist for two years since I graduated in 2013

– Through a connection from one of our SEC Registrant Clients, I got an interview and offer with a small CPA firm.

– I do not have any direct experience in auditing nor did I take auditing in undergrad

– It would take me four years at best from today to complete my MAcc and obtain my license

– Should I take the offer even though I do not have direct audit experience, never took auditing in undergrad, and won’t be able to obtain my license until 2019?

– Should I begin studying for the exam now, even though I’m a year away from entering grad school?

– If so, how can i begin studying for the exam?

Thanks in advance for your insight!

EDIT: For what it’s worth, I am now 23 years old in 2015.

[taxsage]

My advice is to hold off on the Masters, and get the units for the CPA exam by taking classes at a community college. Basically try to find the cheapest way to get the units you need. Your 21 so you have time for 2 or 3 career changes, and saving the masters for a potential career change is a better strategy. I would take the auditing job, because you don't need a course on it, and do that for 2 years. I would not prioritize the CPA exam over being successful in your auditing job. Get a feel for how important the CPA exam is to them and temporarily make plans around there expectations. 2 years of private experience and 2 years of public accounting is a very good background for a 23 year old. You can get the CPA license when you are 23 and 24 and the Macc will never be needed(a savings of 20 to 30k). You of course can start on the CPA sooner, but you might want to spend the next 6 months working on your excel skills and reviewing audit work papers from prior years. University of North Alabama has cheap units that come with CPAexcel.

The advice I wish I could give my 21 year old self is run your personal finances like a business. You want to spend your money on the most productive assets(CPA) and minimize unnecessary costs(masters in accounting).

[MaLoTu]

@ taxsage – With all due respect, at the typical CC, it will take one year to earn 6 semester units if the OP can only take one class at a time. If they were to squeeze in the summer then 9. OP will have to be in school for 3+ years just to meet the requirement with nothing additional to show for it. Additionally, if OP is in a state like CA (very well might be given the school mentioned), a MAcc will satisfy the accounting study portion of the the Licensing Breadth in the state of CA. If it were only 9-10 units short, I would definitely agree, but sometimes time is more valuable than money.

ETA: I see that he said he lived in Utah … or at least he left CA. If you move back to CA you can sit for the CPA exam already without the 150 credit hours. lol.

[Anonymous]

Take the job. You've got at least a month before you start; that's time to cram an auditing course in if you're worried (not one for credit – that requires registering for courses etc. – but you could get an auditing textbook and self-teach the course in a month or use CPA exam auditing materials to cram audit procedures in a month).

As for 3 years for a Master's and CPA…how is that not 3 years? You'll be in for the 16-17 school year, then in Master's for the 17-18 school year (plus a summer course), so that's 2 years. You've got a year between now and then to get your CPA exams out of the way, and according to the NASBA site: https://nasba.org/exams/cpaexam/utah/ you only need 135 credits to sit for the exams. You can get 5 credits over the summer with ease. A school like LSU would be an option, as they offer 8-week online courses, so with 2 of those, in 8 weeks you'll be exam-qualified.

As taxsage suggested, Master's courses are not required for your 30 credit hours in many states. Looks like Utah does require graduate courses and/or graduate degree, so this doesn't apply to you, but for people in other states who are reading this… In many states you can take Community College or other classes online and definitely do more than 1 a semester. You could also use a variety of other methods to earn credit online and quickly – if you search this forum for ways to earn credits, you'll find information about LSU courses, CLEP, DSST, TECEP, and other ways that you can get credits very expediently. (LSU courses are about 8 weeks for a 3-credit course – you could take 2 or 3 at a time if you worked hard.)

For the OP, though, I'd say get 6 credits in the next few weeks, then take the CPA exams before starting the Master's, and that will put you back on the 3-year timeline. And kudos for not taking out obscene amounts of debt for your Master's. 🙂 I'm in the “save for it first” boat as well.

P. S. To answer your last 2 questions: don't start studying for the exam now if you won't take it for 2-3 years…no real point in it. Could read through something like the Wiley Auditing book (prior year would be cheaper) to get audit exposure for your new job, but studying for the exam itself 2-3 years ahead is too far ahead IMHO.

[Monkey Wrench]

Take the job, auditing in school is very theoretical, and you do not get any ‘real world' experience from it. Even studying for the CPA auditing section is not like real world auditing. You will not be a hindrance to your new employer unless you are just a lazy person. As for the month notice, thats nice and all but do not feel obligated to give them that long, you may have lots of responsibilites, but I guarantee no company has failed because a lower level accountant has left. They will make it, they may have some inconveniences, but you may pave a path for the next employee that comes through that your position was either over worked or under valued.

[HoldMyBeerCPA]

Thanks to all for the insight though I think I may have screwed the pooch and jumped the gun a bit, unfortunately. At this rate, I was leaning towards accepting the offer. In our interview, I let the partner know that I would need to give a month's notice.

I replied to his email yesterday with the offer stating that I could not start on the 15th and that my only concern was not passing the orientation/preliminary employment/whatever you want to call it. I haven't heard back from the partner since yesterday, so I'd really be bummed if I blew it due to something like this.

@Lila, I was referring to three years from this summer. However, it does look like it would be a two year timeline overall.

[kcrc]

Don't worry about not having auditing experience. You can train a monkey to audit (grab 5 invoices from that folder). You won't have any understanding of what you're doing for several years anyway. Plus they'll go ahead and treat you like you're dumber than a rock even if you're a National Merit Scholar.

[Yaz88]

If I were you, I would take the Auditing job and take the classes to cover for the CPA.. It's different sitting for the CPA exam vs Getting your license, at least in my state.

Do Not do the MAcc. The biggest reason is that if take the MAcc, you will narrow your career options. you already have accounting under your belt.. Do something different in case down the road you want to change career so I would hold on to the masters until trying public accounting..

Good luck

[HoldMyBeerCPA]

@Yaz I have intentions of going with the auditing route in terms of my career. In Utah, I would need an additional 30 units to obtain a CPA license. Additionally, I couldn't envision myself doing anything different at this rate. At least something that isn't related to accounting. It seems as if I should take the offer from the CPA firm. I just hope it's not too late.

[fuzyfro89]

Have you ever heard the phrase, FAKE IT ‘TIL YOU MAKE IT???

Dude. Take the damn job! Are you stupid??? Taking a single class in undergrad or not won't make you good or bad at your job. In school, you learn how to assess risk, think about audit plans, and learn the fancy terms in the audit book. In real staff audit world, you compare invoices, organize things, research guidance, and other very specific tasks that your team will hold your hand through.

Only other comment, why the f*ck would you give your current employer 1 month of notice? Unless that's in your employment contract, you are giving your (soon to be) past employer more courtesy than your future employer. That makes no sense. Your “responsibilities” will be given to someone else. It's really not your problem. If the Pope can be replaced, then certainly you can.

Sorry to be mean. I'm feeling annoyed at greedy employers who take advantage of nice people..

[Levelle09]

Hey man we are in the same boat: same age, same minor accounting job duties, same goals for 2018 of getting licensed. Only difference is you already have your BA and I won't finish for another 6 months. Plus, you are already in UT, I plan to move there once I finish my BA this year, MAcc, and get my license within the next 36 months all the while gaining some experience under my belt in my current position. As far as school is concerned, I personally recommend you join the military.

****NOW WAIT BEFORE DISMISSING THE IDEA****

I am NOT a recruiter and I am NOT talking active duty. I am just a young guy avoiding student loans and getting paid for going to school at the same time. But, I am talking about the Air National Guard. I think you guys have a base located in SLC not sure how far you are from there but that is where I will be headed. The last thing I am worried about is tuition money because the government pays every dime of tuition for me IN ADDITION to giving me a monthly housing allowance of about a grand each month I am a student PLUS a $1,000 annual book stipend PLUS medical/dental coverage, access to any military installation, discounts, etc and a BONUS for a 36 month contract….all for one weekend of my time per month (not including Friday) ONLY Saturday and Sunday. Also get paid 350 per month for my drill weekend PLUS I still get paid from my full time job.

Now, you can sit here and rack up a bunch of debt from student loans or even spend your hard earned cash to get your master's degree…OR you can put your government to work and have them pay for it. Just my 2 cents. Heck, you already have your degree too. You can apply for a commission as an officer and get paid an extra 200 bucks per month just for one weekend. And the kicker is you will still have your civilian job as you cannot get fired by law for joining the guard. BUT remember, AIR NATIONAL GUARD don't do any other branch if you decide. And oh yeah, congrats and take the job ASAP.

[HoldMyBeerCPA]

@fuzy, No worries, I don't find your comments to be mean. I only mention that one month's notice is necessary because it is indeed in my employment contract. Otherwise, I would've put in my two weeks notice. And yes, I have heard the phrase fake it till you make it, however, I have applied that in my life outside of work and have come a long way since my high school days. Perhaps, it's time to apply it to my professional life.

@Levelle I don't think that national guard is an option for me, specifically. However, I will do my due diligence and at least look into it.

[Mayo]

Auditing class is 100% not correlated with real life auditing.

Real life auditing skills include:

1.) Good professional business writing skills

2.) Time management skills

3.) Good interpersonal/electronic communication skills

4.) Critical thinking skills

5.) Solid foundation in accounting concepts (Account 1, Intermediate, Tax, etc.)

6.) Ability to work hard and long hours

Mayo, BBA, Macc

[HoldMyBeerCPA]

Just to update everyone.

I took the job and will start next month (July 9). The partner was very generous as I had plenty of questions to ask after my interview via email. I'm worrying (again) just a little bit because I feel as if I need a refresher course in accounting as I don't know what accounts I will be dealing with during the engagements. I'm wondering if anyone has any experience working at a small firm where you're not really another cog in the wheel, but in a team of maybe 5 our 6 auditors.

Also, as far as my MAcc goes, I am heavily considering attending an online institution by the name of Southern Utah University https://suu.edu/business/acct/macc.html (has anyone ever heard of them?). While their program is AASCB accredited I do have a few concerns: One being that they're not heavily recruited by the mid-sized and larger cpa firms. Second being that I'll miss out on networking opportunities by not attending an on-campus program. Has anyone completed a MAcc program or any graduate programs for that matter while working full-time in light of busy seasons?

[Author]

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