[CPA CMA]

Public to private back to public.. Why?

Master of Professional Accountancy (MPA) 12/17/2014

BEC 76 (10/3/14)
FAR 75 (10/24/14)
REG 83 (4/6/15)
AUD 75 (4/20/15)
Anticipated Licensure: August 2016

CMA part 1 passed (6/15/15)
CMA part 2 Passed (9/4/15)
Anticipated Licensure: August 2017

[Pray4theCPA]

All the smart people are in tax

FAR - 83
BEC - 81
AUD - 74,93
REG - 75

Becker Self Study & Becker Final Review

[MasterOfTaxation]

I agree about the “smarter” comment. Public is abject masochism to me. When you look at private side by side next to public you would have to question why on Earth would anyone choose the later over the former. The hours are terrible, it's grueling work, in many ways a thankless job, and it's exhausting. But there are people who remain in public their entire lives.

I like “boredom”. I like downtime. I like having the flexibility to bust my ass for the first two days of the week so I can relax the remaining three. People in public are not like that. They work, work, work tirelessly and ask for more. I figured out after two busy seasons that I can hang with the best of them at a big four or local firm for about 4 hours then my brain slows down and turns to mush. The people in public just keep f'n going. I think it's because they have a stronger aptitude for accounting. Some would call this intelligence. I have above average IQ, but some of the clients I dealt with made my eyes spin in their sockets. I got burned out much faster than the people who stayed in public because I think they just pick up on it faster.

I firmly believe everyone who gets involved in accounting and passes (especially with high grades) is reasonably intelligent. But there is certainly some tangible difference between the hordes of people who can't hack it in public (like myself), and those who thrive.

[Jdn9201]

I've worked for 10 years in corporate tax and chose to stay away from public. I've seen people go back to private multiple times. The transition to private is harder than most people anticipate. All they think about is the money and fewer hours, but they don't realize how it really is to work in corporate if they've never done it before. I think what throws people for a loop is having to figure things out on your own. I've spent my career in large corporate (F500) and I learned how to do my job by teaching myself. No one is there to hold your hand. Also, I think people in public aren't taught how to question things – the client gives you the financials and you prepare the return. I've had to research journal entries before and even recreate my own set of financials because the ones I were given were so messed up. You can't just trust what you are given to be true. Lastly, promotions are much harder to come by. It doesn't bother me because i have no desire to be a director or even a senior manager. But, you don't just get promoted just because you've been somewhere x number of years.

BEC - 88 8/29/15
REG - 82 11/14/15
AUD - 83 1/8/16
FAR - 80 2/29/16

[SaveBandit]

Can someone tell me where to find one of these industry jobs with good work-life balance? Because I've never found one of those.

4 for 4

FAR 85
AUD 94
BEC 86
REG 90

[mtaylo24]

@savebandit Try to find a good state/county/city/local Government agency to work for. Work/family life is pretty decent, but the pay is another story. You are pretty much stuck where they brought you in, unless someone dies or you find another gig, but the retirement transfers over fine between agencies…

AUD - 1st - 60 (12/12), 61 (2/13), 61 (8/13), 78! (11/15)
REG - 55 (2/16) 69 (5/16) Retake(8/16)
BEC - 71(5/16) Retake (9/16)
FAR - (8/16)

[Author]

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