[BoringCPAMan]

Hi,

I’m looking for some advice on my career.
A little background: I graduated from a small university in NY in 2017 with a job offer from a medium sized national firm in audit. I got to work on the CPA exams during my last semester in college and during the few months I had before I started working (my start date was in November). I ended up passing my last part a few month in to the job and I’ve just sent my papers in to NY to get my license. I’ve been working in audit for a little over a year now and coming up on my next busy season. I’ve worked in several industries including real-estate, manufacturing, and insurance and I’ve come to the realization that I hate public accounting. I had the long hours. I hate the travel. I hate going from one company to another always feeling like an outsider. I can’t say I particularly hate the work, but that really depends from client to client.
I figure it is in my best interest career wise to stay another busy season so that I’ll have essentially 2 years of experience under my belt. But I don’t think I’m cut out for public accounting long-term.
I was wondering if anyone has had a similar experience and tried switching from public to private industry. I don’t enjoy what I’m doing, but I don’t want to stunt my growth by leaving too soon. If I were to leave, would I be able to seek opportunities in industries I haven’t audited? Would I be eligible for senior positions in the private industry (figuring I’m market senior in public)?
Thank you in advanced!

[Tim]

I never worked in public outside an internship but it's my understanding the vast majority of people leave public after 2 years. I expect a lot of people to be able to relate to your situation.

[MaLoTu]

You should stay until you make senior. It is unlikely that you would get a senior role in industry without the title in public. I think that there are opportunities to grow in industry and public.

[cpa1234]

I was in public for a year. I knew I wanted to do more specialized accounting (forensic accounting), so towards the end of the 1 year mark I began applying to jobs and got one. The best way to find out if you'd be hired as a senior accountant in private in whatever type of accounting you want to do is to apply to jobs. Jump on indeed.com and start applying to what you dream of doing and apply for jobs you think you're really qualified for. If you get interviews, go to them. If they hire you, take the job. It doesn't hurt to apply because the best case is you get the job and leave public. The worst case is you keep working at this job until you get more experience to try again. Just make sure to put down that the company you are applying for cannot contact your current employer. Good luck!

[seagull]

I agree with the other, it is very unlikely that you’ll get a senior position in Private at this point in your career. I made the switch to private a few months ago after 2.5 years in public. I didn’t care that it wasn’t a senior position as I felt the private job could benefit my career. I also got a 30% raise so that definitely motivated me.
I can already tell you I won’t be in this job for long. I hate it and it makes me miss public. It is nice not having to worry about billable time though. So I’m still debating weather I want to go back to public or if I want to stay in private. I feel like maybe I just don’t like the industry I’m in. It’s hard finding a job in private though. I say this because I wouldn’t take any job, like AP/AR/ Payroll Specialist, etc.

[DM]

I just moved from NYC Big 4, after 2nd year senior, to top tier bank (working under CFO) and got over 30 percent salary increase, 25 percent salary bonus, eligible for promotion after first 6 months. IMO, the only reason to stay at a Big 4 firm is if you want to make partner somewhere or transfer into advisory/tax. Truth is, Big 4 experience is highly valuable and will land you a better job in private than non-Big 4.

@seagull, I miss client service time as well. I suggest staying with your current firm and try to lead/get involved with side projects. Ask your supervisor, controller or CFO if they have any projects on hold that you can look at in your downtime. Maybe you can lead implementation of new accounting system or something like this. That way you get similar project experience to audit (managing project budget, deliverables, etc.). Be patient and wait for an opportunity to pounce on, but be proactive in finding new work. This may lead to new opportunities/connections in the firm. Also, in your performance eval, make it known that you are looking for additional work in a specific area.

All Big 4 new hires generally have had an internship with Big 4. So if you want Big 4 and have no public experience, then you need to get an internship and start entry level. Then you are evaluated for performance against your peers. It is common in Big 4 starting classes to include college grads, accounting masters grads, and international transfers.

[Accountant405]

I have worked in public for a total of 7 years, oil and gas accounting for 2 years and private/industry for 2 years. Personally I enjoyed oil and gas the best, but with the way oil and gas has been there were not many jobs the last few years. I would say in public you get the most experience and all around accounting knowledge. I primarily work in tax, but the down side about public is it becomes very stressful and you are insanely busy for 10 months out of the year. In industry its consistently slow and is also very repetitive. It just depends on the person. I feel like industry as a lot more drama and favoritism. Public can wear you down quickly though and make you a bot.

[jeff]

2 years is enough to not raise eyebrows if you jump.

I went from public accounting (very small firm) to a privately-held company.

It's all about the people who own the company and the management.

If they're good people who are others-focused and have a culture of serving customers well and integrity is important – it will likely be an awesome place to work – and the benefits will reflect that.

If the owners are jerks … focused on themselves … see their employees and customers as a means to get what they want financially … it will be a tougher road.

I happened to work for the former, so I know that they exist.

[Small4]

I jumped MUCH later than you and i asked myself why i endured it longer than i needed to. However, if you truly feel like public accounting is not for you, i dont see a reason why you jump now as long as you are not going into a private position in a desperate attempt to just “get out”. One key point i want to make is private doesnt necessarily mean its “better”. you have to have a feeling that it provides certain things for you 1) its interesting work 2) you work with ok people 3) there is career growth. #3 is actually important since when you jump, at some point you will crave for more…and if you dont have upward mobility opportunities in your current job, you will feel like you have to make another leap.

In short, best you have senior title before you leave, BUT honestly 2 years is enough without anyone asking “hmm why are leaving already?”. Also, if you are feeling like this already, you dont want to overstay just for the sake of “staying till manager”….

Higher pay will always happen if you are surrounded by supportive people. Public or private. You can always jump from private to private. Good luck!

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Been doing this since 2007 on and off...

[Iceman]

“You should stay until you make senior. It is unlikely that you would get a senior role in industry without the title in public. I think that there are opportunities to grow in industry and public.”

I disagree. I have not worked in Public, nor have I hired anyone who has worked in Public.

But if you hate Public accounting, its never too early to see what's out there. Your future career growth depends a lot more on how sharp you are and how hard you work in private industry than on how many years you have in Public accounting. Just having a CPA and any public experience will get you interviews at most mid-sized and even larger manufacturing type firms. Not sure the level – that will depend more on how many years experience you have and what responsibilities you are willing and able to take on. But even if you join a company as a staff accountant, promotions can come quickly for the A players. Just don't get yourself pidgenholed in AR/AP or payroll clerk type of roles. GL or Cost Acctg is where you get the right exposure.

[MaLoTu]

@iceman – I meant with no other accounting experience outside of audit that it is hard to move from staff auditor in public to senior in private. Obviously you don’t need public experience to be promoted to senior in industry. However, I maintain that coming out of public it is not likely you will land a senior role in industry unless you are leaving as a senior.

[DM]

@MaLoTu, senior roles in private (i.e., Vice President, Controller or above) usually seek managers and above at CPA firms (those with extensive project management experience). Audit seniors can get Assistant Controller at best, but will generally always start as AVP or Associate level (an experienced role nonetheless). Unfortunately, I recommend staying with current CPA firm until you get the title even though most accounting jobs require 1-3 years experience. If you want to take a big leap, then you can try to get into a start-up. Start-ups require more responsibility than you typical accounting job. My best tip would be not to rush into private and stick out another year for CPA License experience.
The saying ” the longer you stay at CPA firms the harder it is to move,” is absolute nonsense. This is just another thing people tell themselves when audit gets miserable.

[Author]

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