[Leviticus]

So what are the benefits of Public Accounting?

Through out college, I have been thinking of going into Public Accounting specifically Auditing. I graduated over a year ago and got my CPA tests behind me, and now the real world is hitting me.

It is impossible to get an interview (never mind a job) with any public accounting firm (even the small ones) without having any relevant experience. I’m now beginning to think that there is no advantage in public accounting. If i get a job in any other industry working under the controller, I can get my 1 year experience (for the cpa) and move along the ranks.

So my question to you folks: Is it worth sticking it out jobless and aggressively hunting down a public acct job, or is a job in the accounting division of lets say AT&T or Bloomingdale’s just as rewarding?

? FAR - 91 (08/25/11)
? BEC - 79 (04/12/11)
? REG - 89 (07/18/11)
? AUD - 95 (10/18/11)

[Anonymous]

@kandis,

I'm interested to hear how your job search in the private world went for you after having only one year experience in public accounting. I feel like most people say it's best to have 2-3 years of public experience before moving into industry if you want to get any job that is not entry-level. Do you think this is true?

[Laura]

Ask most controllers, CFOs, & CAOs what the benefits of working in public accounting are they could probably tell you because that's where they started their careers. Ask a senior accountant in industry what benefits there are to working in public accounting they won't have an answer because most likely they never worked in public and have been in industry since they started.

I'm a strong believer in starting in public but I will say it isn't for everyone.

REG-80, 77, 77
BEC-67, 68, 71, 67, 71, 74, 71, 74, 72, 77
FAR- 72, 65,67, 53, 75 (truth be known the 53 was with 4 hours of studying)
AUD-58, 62, 72, 74, 74, 75
took 5 years but I'm DONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Herbieherb]

2+ years in public is golden. Mostly only for fortune 500 types and other issuers. If you can get it from the start go for it. Some industry cos got crazy hours too…I worked in food industry worked like 8-7 every day 1 weekend a month.

NEW YORK- DONE

[kandisjoy]

@erincritchfield – I was fortunate. I worked in public, got laid off and then took a job as a pension administrator (accountant for retirement funds basically) for about 6 months, even though the pay was actually less than my unemployment money. I just wanted to get more accounting experience, plus I was afraid my unemployment would run out (how wrong I was – look at all these extensions!). Anyways, I think that helped; it showed my future employer that I wasn't lazy, and that I wanted to work.

There weren't a lot of accounting jobs available, but I think I only applied for and got interviewed for one other job before I got my current job. I think for my position they were looking for someone with 1-2 years in public accounting as a preference. Worked well for me. :o)

I do think that 2-3 years might be needed for some people. That's what I've heard too.

FAR: 71, 77
BEC: 70, 82
AUD: 62, 78
REG: 71, 68, 85

CA Licensed 11/2011

[thechamp26]

@kandisjoy – wait a minute… when you were in public, if something didn't tie out, you didn't try to figure out what was wrong?

[See Pee A]

@Leviticus: Full disclosure – I will begin work with a Big 4 in January.

I believe it really depends on what you want. If you don't mind putting in a few years of hard work in order to broaden your horizon and give your resume a serious boost, then public all the way. If, however, you seriously value work/life balance and don't need/want a high salary ($150k+) by the middle of your career, then private may suit you better. You do not make much considering how much you work in public for the first several years. The benefit is clear since turnover is very high and many people have no issue finding the ‘right' job for them afterwards.

All in all, it really depends on how much $$ you want to make eventually and if you're willing to put in a few years of modern slavery… then go public. If you are happy with a modest salary and would rather have your set job and hours for your career, private may be a better option.

BEC 86 (08/30/11)
FAR 84 (10/13/11)
REG 88 (11/08/11)
AUD 86 (11/29/11)

Exam prep - Becker self-study

[kandisjoy]

@thechamp26 – Not normally… since most errors that were found were immaterial, they weren't worth looking into. That's one of the things that made auditing so boring for me. On the rare occasion that I actually found an error, there was a 99% chance that it was below materiality and I would have to just tickmark it and move on.

FAR: 71, 77
BEC: 70, 82
AUD: 62, 78
REG: 71, 68, 85

CA Licensed 11/2011

[thechamp26]

Oh, I thought you were talking about on the tax side. I was going to say – there's no materiality in tax!

[TinyBun]

Leviticus,

I spent 4 years in public before switching over to private and I make 20-30K per year more than the accountants my age here that didn't do time in public. That being said, my position and title are also different. It really depends on what you want out of it. I went into public for the money, job security, and experience. But the hours are terrible, the politics suck, and the expectations are unreasonable. It is definitely a tradeoff….

[shellgirl]

being all those said, anyone knows when is the best time to switch from public to private? 1-2yrs, 3-4yrs,? i feel like the longer you stay in public, the harder it is to switch.

I am currently debating whether to go private or stay in public.

CPA CLASS OF 2012!

[Megan]

I've been in public for 4 years (audit). I think it's really hard to get an accurate feel of public (at least auditing) until you've been in it for 2-3 years. For the first 2 years, I had no idea what was going on really, and just did what I was told and moved on. It was boring then, and I was confused most of the time. Now, I feel like there's much more to it than when I was working on it 2 years ago. I think it takes more than a year (more like 3+) of experience to get a feel for what you're actually doing.

That said, I'd much rather be in private now. I hate switching gears all the time and not having enough time to finish the last audit because I'm scheduled for this new audit, having to work so many hours without a lunch break, etc. Plus I have to take 3 breaks a day (I'm a nursing mom) and that's really fun to have to explain to each client.

So my advice is do public for 2-3 years (I'd say audit, although I LOVE doing taxes and wish I could do that), because the experience and the torture will be great for you, but after than, go private.

BEC 52, 61, 74, 77
AUD 80
REG 75
FAR 50, 60, 70, 74, 83...DONE!!
..Texas.. Baby #2 born 4/11/11

[kybridecpa2011]

I interned in private for a year and a half and got a full-time job offer right before graduation. I stayed for almost two years and am about to start in public, in a small local firm.

For me, the decision to go into public was easy. I hated that I wasn't learning anything and that I was constantly chasing my tail (I did budgets and workforce planning) because everything constantly changes and the whole multi-billion dollar company was run on excel. I wasn't learning anything other than how to graciously say “I'm sorry, we slashed your budget.” It was constantly “shooting the messenger” (me being the messenger).

I applied at this local firm on a whim and was called for an interview. Almost everyone there had been there for 5+ years, most had been there 10+ and had kids. It seems like this place really has the work-life balance figured out. Busy season, what I'm told, is an average of 55-60 hours a week and non-busy season is 40-45. Either they're great liars or the place really has the work-life balance figured out.

[Author]

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