[Accounting_is_Taxing]

Hi everyone,

I’ve been in private accounting for close to three years. It was my first job out of college so it’s the only type of accounting experience I have. I enjoy my position and have learned a lot. However, I don’t want to sabotage my career by staying in private for too long. The issue is with all the non-accounting work that must be done. At times, I feel like I’m pushing papers around, being human resources and bookkeeping, etc. I do get challenging work like budgeting, month end closes, and financial reporting, but I can also spend a lot of time doing non-accounting work.

I say all that to say this, is looking for a corporate accounting position wrong if I actually like my company and job? I don’t want to switch industries only to find out I won’t like the new job. I’ve been contacted by a recruiter and have an interview soon with a publicly traded company for an accountant position. I wasn’t really looking for a new job, but I’ve been getting contacted by a lot of recruiters for corporate accounting. I’ve basically put myself out there to see to open towards any new possibilities.

I’ve heard that staying in private for too long (especially since a lot of my work is fund accounting) isn’t the best for career flexibility. At the same time, I also don’t want to risk a job that I enjoy for a job that I could potentially hate.

I would appreciate any advice, encouragement, rebuking, etc.

[PJ]

I've never really heard of anyone making a distinction between private and corporate before.

Typically the distinction people will make is public accounting(meaning tax, external audit, etc) and industry jobs. Industry in that sense could mean either a privately held or publicly traded company.

I will say that I do see a lot of jobs posted where SEC reporting experience is either a plus or a requirement, so it could definitely still be a good idea to go that route. I'm just a little confused by the public and private terminology. I wonder if others will agree with this take or not.

[Accounting_is_Taxing]

Ahhh yes, sorry for the confusion. I meant within an industry, not “private accounting”. I currently work as an accounting consultant for a small company. All our clients are small, privately owned businesses. The distinction here would be between a publicly traded corporation and a privately held company.

[Anonymous]

I'd say it really depends where you want to end up. I'm a year out of college at a small, public firm and the variety of work I get to do seems invaluable. Corporate/invdividual tax, bookkeeping, financial reporting, audits/reviews/compilations, nonprofits.. and the list goes on! I'd say that's the biggest advantage of public is you get to dip your feet in everything and find what you really enjoy (which is why I'll never be an auditor).

Most people I hear don't want to stay at the big public companies too long. The hours seem brutal and life is all about work (obviously there are exceptions). I personally don't see the value in going to a company that is publicly TRADED vs public, but maybe I'm just misunderstanding the whole difference of private vs public. My company is not publicly traded, but I believe we're still public accounting?

All in all, it sounds like you don't get to do as much accounting work as you'd like. I'd see how these interviews go first and then consider your options. Maybe make a good ‘ol pros & cons list on a yellow legal pad, HIMYM style! =D

[ultrarunner]

If you want to switch from private to public company, I could add some insight. I switched to a small public company from a small private company. A good thing about working for a small public company is that you will be exposed to many new areas. For example, you could learn internal auditing aspect including SOX compliance and SEC financial reporting (for disclosure purposes). But if you work for a big public company, your chance of learning new things may be limited. They usually divide the job functions, so each function is specialized. They tend to hire an experienced person in the specialized field or hire someone from public accounting. If you can, you should try to get a small to mid-sized public company and start from there. You will have a chance to learn ERP and other applications. Some popular public companies hire only the candidates with ERP (Oracle, SAP etc) experiences unless they are straight from public accounting firms. Good luck.

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[Accounting_is_Taxing]

Thank you guys for the advice! I do get to work on a lot of accounting work such as budgeting, bookkeeping, financial reporting, analysis,tax preparation but on a much smaller scale since all our clients are small businesses. On the positive side, I get the full experience of the accounting cycle – from the initial recording to the final reports. I'm not too specialized in area (except for fund accounting), but I am exposed to different areas. The main issue is that some aspects aren't handled in bulk. Fixed assets and inventory is kind of tracked, but the accounts only get reconciled at year end.

I've thought about the advice given here and did make a list of pros and cons. I am still interviewing for a corporate position, and I could probably make more money. But my current firm offers me huge growth potential, and they take the time to mentor me.

Maybe once I get my CPA license I will re-evaluate my options again.

[Author]

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