[ridiqls]

I thought it’d be cool to get some input from people in the vast world of accounting what various industries are like. I haven’t seen this topic discussed much.

I just recently (less than a year) decided to change my career to accounting and have gone back to school to go full fledged study mode and to get my CPA. I’m wondering what are some of the pros and cons of the various industries out there especially for accountants, mainly for “industry”/corporate accounting.

I’ll start with some of the things I have read/been told:

– Manufacturing: Working as an accountant or even a bookkeeper in manufacturing is very demanding and in high demand. From what I read, companies drool over people with manufacturing experience. Probably because it’s so specialized and specific. I have also been told it’s pretty intense and demanding though, with lots of responsibility.

– Health/medical: seems to be a lot of audit work here. either that or the clerk payroll type stuff if you work in the admin dept for a hospital.

Does anyone work in the sports industry? What about automotive such as Honda Toyota, major auto companies? What about new and trendy companies like recent (less than 10 years) explosion of yoga companies such as lulemon, etc.

What about electronics and consumer goods? Tv production or hollywood?

I’m very curious what kind of experiences are out there and how they differ in terms of work environment, culture, pay, age, hours, etc. I saw a good amount of accounting jobs and interns for companies like disney and universal when i was in college.

I’d love to work for an automotive company. As you can tell, this is geared more towards private industry type jobs but if you have public experience that’d be interesting to hear too.

[John Tucker]

I'm in a B2B Sales role within the Commercial Finance industry, been involved in this role for 7 years and it's a passion of mine. I already completed my MBA and working on obtaining my CPA License, so going forward I will continue to have a great career in B2B Sales moving up into top management positions of a B2B Sales Force, firm, etc. But having the CPA+MBA+Commercial Finance experience allows me to move into a variety of other roles/positions should I decide to change which includes:

– Stock Brokerage

– Equity Trader

– Business Broker (buying and selling of entities)

– Supply Chain Management

– Banking

– Insurance

– The Accounting Suite of Options (financial, managerial, tax, auditing, forensic, or financial planning)

– Education sector (seeking a fully funded PhD and becoming a teacher)

Pretty cool right? This is why I love the Finance major/overview, there's so many different career paths that you can choose and create for yourself, both domestically and internationally. There's a lot of demand out there for those with the specialization, experience, and the right degree/certifications like the CPA License and MBA.

* State of MA CPA Exam Candidate
- BEC: Sunday, August 24th
- FAR: Saturday, November 29th
- AUD: TBA for February 2015
- REG: TBA for May 2015

[Lindrobe]

I work in tax at a very well known private university. The pros of this industry (in my opinion) include stability, and in the university I work for, they let you move around pretty freely. Other possible areas an accountant could move into include accounting, research accounting, budget, treasury, investments. There are campus level accountants, but each individual unit also has their own accountant and business manager. The pros of this industry also probably include the benefits. Health insurance is good and pretty cheap, 403b is 10% from university and employee must contribute 5%. The university will also pay for your kid's college and there is quite a bit of PTO.

The negatives of this industry include lower pay than for-profit companies and the fact that some positions are pretty specialized and don't translate well to outside industry. Also, less flexible than many companies.

FAR 12/3/14, 87
AUD 2/3/14, 90
BEC 4/1/14, 88
REG 5/27/14, 94

Licensed CPA, Indiana

"Successful people do things that unsuccessful people don't want to do"

[Quinacridone]

I work Defense which is likely a dead-end accounting job (as in it would not be easy to switch to corporate accounting or public/private tax or GAAP related) so I sometimes really worry about my career options should anything ever happen. I'm specifically with the Department of Defense. As part of the civilian force, I worry about downsizing of the military because it also could signal downsizing of the auditors. I would then be limited to finding a position with a defense contractor or any other Federal (GAO, FAA, etc.) related auditing type position.

The pros of my job, though: it is so dynamic. Each audit is like learning a whole new industry. For some, this would not be a pro – the job has an ever-climbing learning curve. I'm fluent in Federal laws, and do my own research in any and all Defense and related regulations (i.e. did an Air Traffic Control audit where I had to apply FAA regulations – something nothing in my accounting background had prepared me for). While I do audit funds, my audits are normally operational (my favorite type audits). Who would have ever thought when I was sitting in accounting 101, I'd someday be climbing through an old B-52 bomber looking for radiation!!!

REG - Nov 4, 2013: 88
FAR - Feb 27, 2014: 86
AUD - April 5, 2014: 91
BEC - May 6, 2014: 83

Florida CPA 24 July 2014
(Done in seven months - thank you Jesus!!)

[MsAvi77]

From my own experience and what I've heard from my accounting friends, some of the two worst industries to work for are Law Firms and Marketing firms.

You're experience, CPA certification, intelligence, etc. is just not very well respected. You are not the main revenue generator and some of these very successful employees bringing in the money have huge egos and treat you like a second class employee. Also, very often there isn't much room for growth (no matter what they tell you when you get the offer/interview).

Now onto the positive 🙂 I really think that tax work is very interesting and the plus side for me was that summers were pretty light and we only have to bill 35 hours a week. It's true that tax season is rough but as someone without kids I didn't really mind. I think auditing has the same plus side but the work just isn't as interesting for me personally. Auditing experience, unlike tax, will open a lot of doors for you if you wish to have a government job eventually.

I could write more but I don't want to overwhelm you with information. Wishing you luck in your search for a good fit!!

BEC 81
REG 81
FAR 76
AUD 76

Done Forever!!

[mla1169]

Worked for 12 years for a German company that provides non financial audit and product safety testing. It was a service company and not a manufacturer and the cons are I got little to no actual cost accounting experience. The pros were international exposure and billing and payments in foreign currencies and that can be very desirable..

Left there and worked 5 years at a huge defense contractor (manufacturing) then 2 years at a small defense contractor (manufacturing) and I can tell you not all manufacturing experience is considered equal. I had companies that didn't want to hire me because I had no manufacturing experience in consumer goods or whatever their specialty is. Defense manufacturing is a great niche experience and if you know how to put together CAPA data and can work with DCAA auditors it can be in demand. Unfortunately when the govt is not building ballistic missle defense systems (like now) its not necessarily stable work which explains why I'm no longer there (they cut people to 3 days a week and I resigned). When the govt is spending though its an incredible opportunity.

Now I'm a financial analyst for a landscaper. LOVE IT! a mile from home, short hours, zero stress. Money isn't awesome but my lifestyle is exactly what I envisioned at this point of my life!

FAR- 77
AUD -49, 71, 84
REG -56,75!
BEC -75

Massachusetts CPA (non reporting) since 3/12.

[LongShot]

I've worked for state government in the past and currently work in accounting for a fairly large bank, relative to the area. Pros of state government: almost impossible to get fired. Cons of state government: pay sucks, benefits are ok, not always easy to transition into private sector, promotions might happen in 10-20 years when someone retires. Pros of banking: pay's pretty decent, benefits are unvelievable, almost never work past schedule, people are fantastic, and job is kinda fun and learning plenty. Cons: not much.

FAR - 75
AUD - 72; 87
REG - 64; 74; 84
BEC - 88

Done!!

[fuzyfro89]

I work as a sr. consultant (internal audit rotation program) focusing on finance (treasury, fp&a, asset mgmg, etc) for one of the automotive giants. Left Big 4 audit last fall.

Interesting part is I get to touch a ton of areas of finance through the projects that our group manages/leads, and get to travel to some neat places around the world. The work itself is good, but I am hoping the network will serve me well within the company, or elsewhere if I decide to leave or want a change someday.

The company is what it is. It's a Fortune 20 (I think?), so think beyond enormous in every way. Nothing here is small or uneventful, so being precise and thoughtful in everything we do is important… as are the global/company-wide lessons learned when we complete a project in a certain function/region.

Culture is tough, but that's going to be similar in any other Fortune XX company where you have > 10,000 employees. Pay is good, but I also came in near the upper end (or so I'm told) of the comp range due to some of my particular background experiences and timing while they were building out a team.

I look forward to hopping somewhere else in a year or two for another change of scenery (and raise, of course…), and also to give the company a chance to prove its worth to my career.

I still get bugged by recruiters from my hometown (southeast), here (midwest), and northeast region (finance role recruiters), so I'm sure with a little careful search I could try something else if I wanted. The Big 4 name plus Fortune 20 name doesn't hurt, as well as having my CPA license.

All in all, I think I'm a big company guy. I like the potential for variety/complexity/endless low-hanging fruit. I could basically throw a dart at an org. chart and find some project worth exploring that would add value to the company. But, who knows what the future will bring!

I can offer more, but I find myself sort of rambling aimlessly so I'll truncate it at that.

[Anonymous]

I worked at a national firm for an internship in college and ended up taking a full time offer there in tax. Sigh…tax…its great in its own unique way but it can really pigeon-hole you if you're not careful (but this may be good if you are a tax person). While working at the national firm I only worked on a handful of clients because they were so big. I guess you could say they were a manufacturing company, but they distributed and sold their own products.

I currently work in the entertainment industry in Los Angeles as a Tax accountant at a national business management CPA firm. I gotta tell you, this is NOT what I expected. It varies from the tax work at a national firm in that I can actually change the books of the client I am preparing the tax return for, which is something I had not done previously in my career. It has reinforced a lot of the basic accounting skills accountants should have (bookkeeping, general knowledge of how to book certain real life scenarios) On the other hand, these small business management firms aren't always the best when it comes to streamlining the processes of their business. There is a LOT of wasted time and inefficiencies. Don't even get me started on the lack of controls! I would also argue a CPA is not required to go far in this industry…I may even go so far as to say it's a waste of time for CPAs. The pay is not even close to what you'd get at a national/Big 4 firm and the processes used for tax are not very orthodox/standard IMO. If you add the unruly attitudes and entitlement you have to deal with on the daily…it's not worth it.

With that said, I'll be starting an auditing associate position next month 🙂

[ridiqls]

Man very good and detailed posts. Thanks!

@fuzyfro89 What exactly is different about a big big company versus say a non fortune 100 company?

@LongShot I'd love to hear more about banking. What do you do exactly? Do you work in the accounting department for a bank like as a staff accountant? I never thought of banking but it sounds like a good deal. I'm guessing if you work for an actual bank then the hours are pretty good.

@mla1169 It sounds like if you're working in manufacturing and inventory related fields, it can be a double edged sword. Like someone could be highly sought because they're really specialized but then they are pretty much dedicated to that particular industry and product type.

@Quinacridone When I'm on USAjobs to check out the open positions I see a lot of military related accounting and budget positions. DOD comes up quite a bit. Do you like it? I've been told if I should government, I should be willing to commit to it as an end position given that the exit is difficult. Do you regret working for the government? It's possible that you can transfer between government positions and agencies though right?

[yourmomsaCPA]

I worked in manufacturing for 5 years (cost accountant, plant accountant, asst controller). I LOVED it. I knew 100% how a product was made because you have know each step, material, length of time, etc. It was very interesting. When I applied for the plant accountant position, I had 2 additional interviews that day and got all 3 job offers. Very high demand – especially if you're in a heavy manufacturing city.

Now I'm the controller for a chemical company. We primarily distribute but have just (well, 2 years ago) formed a JV for a manufacturing facility.

The job is very dynamic. If you're only interested in finance and keeping to yourself, it wouldn't be for you. I have to know IT, HR, Insurance requirements, legal issues — and if I don't know them, I have to at least find a service provider to get the info for me. I'm pretty lucky bc the job I hired on to do wasn't nearly the beast that it ended up becoming but man, what a resume builder (not that I'm going anywhere).

I was in public accounting for 6 months and wanted to shoot myself everyday. Hell to the no would I EVER EVER EVER do it if another opportunity (like waitressing, bartending, begging on the street) were available.

FAR - 87 2/18/14
AUD - 84 4/2/14
REG - 87 7/23/14
BEC - 78 8/26/14

I'm finally an *official* CPA - TX

[CPA50]

What a fun and interesting post!

Because of my ancient-ness, I've worked in a lot of industries.

High-tech startup

Book publishing

Restaurant/Beverage

Food manufacturing

Widget manufacturing

Hospitality

Travel/Vacation/Property Mgmt

Wine/Vineyard mgmt/Ranch/Agriculture

Insurance

Wine broker/marketing

International import/export

Entertainment/Royalties

Non-profits

…and more I can't think of right now.

Now, I work for myself and love what I do – forensic accounting and criminal investigations. I'm glad I have a varied background, as it helps me understand how people work in different industries and create their embezzlement schemes. Don't get me started on the importance of internal controls!

Best wishes on your career search – try lots of things and find your perfect fit 🙂

AUD 88 (expired), 80 retake
FAR 64,69,67,73,67,73,73,73, August 3
REG 75 (expired) September 7
BEC 72, 77

The adventure continues...

[ridiqls]

Forensics sound extremely interesting. It seems like not a whole lot of people do it. I think it's one of those fields where there's definitely a requirement for lots of experiences, I.E. no real entry level jobs for forensics. Although I'd love to do that, I have an investigative mind.

For those of you that work in government, I have a quick question. Can you fulfill your 1 year CPA work experience in government? Or is that very hard to do? I would guess your boss or your direct superior must be a CPA holder so what are the chances of that? I'm looking at the various entry level jobs and they are in the GS5/7/9 category based on your qualifications. I'd most likely start in GS-7. So I would be working under anyone GS-9 and above right? That those levels, are my chances good that I will work with or under someone with a CPA who can sign off on my work experience?

I actually don't even know if the government agencies in accounting require you to pursue your CPA or if that is even looked at positively.

[MsAvi77]

Depends, if you want to work for the irs you will be getting the experience and they prefer candidates with it. Things like the SEC or inspector general don't.

BEC 81
REG 81
FAR 76
AUD 76

Done Forever!!

[MsAvi77]

To clarify, any place will be more impressed with your résumé if you're a cpa

BEC 81
REG 81
FAR 76
AUD 76

Done Forever!!

[GuitarSalad]

I work in the airline industry. The benefits are fantastic. Any time there is an empty seat on a flight, employees are allowed to fly for free. If there's a first class seat open, there's a small fee to upgrade. The downside of that is that the pay is not at the level it should be. I turned down more money at a government auditing position that I wasn't really interested in to stay on here after I finished grad school. I happen to have a great manager and team to work with, so coming into work is actually a pretty nice feeling. Too bad my job is moving to another state within the year…

BEC 7/12/13 - 84
AUD 8/31/13 - 86
REG 4/11/14 - 84
FAR 5/30/14 - 88

Licensed AZ CPA - 10/2014

[Author]

Replies