[SammyJ]

Hi everyone,

I was offered a position at a mid-sized private CPA firm. I was also completed the full interview process with a good public accounting CPA firm, but found out yesterday I did not receive an offer.

Speaking as someone who recently graduated college and already has his CPA exams passed, do you feel it is important to get that public accounting experience first. Also can you help me distinguish the differences between both fields. And also if I were to take the private accounting position, will getting into public accounting later mean I have to start from square one again?

Thanks!

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[Anonymous]

Umm…how do you define public and private CPA firms?

My impression has always been that “private accounting” referred to working directly for the person whose accounting you were doing (aka being an accountant at Walmart who does the accounting for Walmart), whereas “public accounting” referred to working for a firm who does the accounting for other companies (aka working for Smith & Jones, CPA, who does the accounting for AT&T). I might be wrong on these definitions…but because this is my understanding, I have no clue what to tell you. 😛

The only other definition I can come up with would be if a private CPA firm services privately held companies, and a public CPA firm services publicly held companies? If so, then I'm still useless, but I just learned something new. 😛 Cause I've been saying that I work in public accounting, but the firm I work for only does closely-held companies – like a partnership with 5 members, or a corporation held solely by one individual, that sort of thing. So, I may have been using the wrong title…whoops.

[acamp]

Yeah, I'd like to hear more about the private accounting firm, what they do and more importantly what your role would be and what opportunities they offer. I'm a strong believer in going the public route after school as the experience is second to none in my opinion.

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[Jennifer241]

Public accounting = CPA firm

Private accounting = private sector (accounting in companies, municipal's etc.)

There are no private and public CPA firms.

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[Jferjamey]

By private vs public firm, do you mean a publicly-held firm, like the big four, vs a privately-held firm, like a smaller or local firm? If that's the case, then the classification of a firm's shareholders does not define the type of work that you will be doing. I agree with the PPs–public accounting is public accounting.

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[Jferjamey]

B - 81 (8/31/13) first attempt!
A - 80 (2/3/14) first attempt!
R - 89 (7/31/13) first attempt!
F - 86 (7/2/13) first attempt!
Licensed CPA: 12/31/14

Becker rocks!

"Discipline is choosing between what you want now, and what you want most." -Abraham Lincoln

[SammyJ]

Hi everyone,

Thanks for the response. I meant to say a CPA firm that works only with public companies vs. a CPA firm that only works with private companies. Thanks!

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AUD-69, Retake: 84!!
REG-86!!
BEC-81!!
Education- Done
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[Mayo]

Well, not sure if that exists. Even firms that have public clients also have a fair share of large private firms.

But I'll read your question “do you feel it is important to get that public accounting experience first” as “do you feel it is important to get that large public accounting firm experience first?”

I think it's actually just fine if you start out at a smaller firm. Just not too small. Transferring to a larger firm will be fairly easy after a few years at a smaller or midsize CPA firm. Just make sure to actively network while you're working. Then when you need an “in”, it'll be easier to float your resume to HR directly.

Mayo, BBA, Macc

[Author]

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