[jesta81]

I have been working in the public accounting field in the governmental auditing section for about 5 years. The hours are getting tough with having a family.

I saw a position in my home town for the Finance Director of the Town. The town is fairly small (10,000 people). I was really excited and applied, as I meet just about all the qualifications except for operation experience. Now I am wondering if I meet the qualifications. Do public accounting people move into town operation positions? Or do you have to start at the bottom again and work your way up to the Finance Director position?

AUD (11/26/14) 84
FAR (02/04/15) 87
REG (08/28/14) 84
BEC (07/07/14) 71, (10/01/14) 83

[alloverit]

I'd be concerned about whether the work you'd be doing qualifies for maintaining an active CPA license. It's been awhile since I've read the rules, but in addition to the CPE I believe you must have a job that is reasonably related to accounting/auditing…which this job may or may not be.

Someone else may have better input, but that's the first concern I thought of when reading your post.

[jesta81]

In Maine the only renewal requirement is 40 hours of CPE. Maintaining my license wouldn’t be difficult with online CPE courses.

AUD (11/26/14) 84
FAR (02/04/15) 87
REG (08/28/14) 84
BEC (07/07/14) 71, (10/01/14) 83

[rp 12]

I would say go for this role and hopefully they get to interview you. Once you get to interview stage try to relate your current or previous job experiences to the job you're interviewing for. I can share this approach because I did land an onsite interview with a state govt. audit department w/o any prior govt. entity/fund audit experience. Since I was able to relate my for profit industry and consulting experience, they felt that I'm coachable and willing to learn new area, etc.

Hope this works out well for you. Good luck!

"Success in life comes when you simply refuse to give up, with goals so strong that obstacles, failure, and loss act only as motivation"

AUD: 68, 62, 77✔ (expires 10/31/16)
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[Author]

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