[Anonymous]

I’m full of frustrations now…

I have been working in a very very small public accounting firm for almost three years now. I passed my CPA exam since Nov 2012. I have been searching for mid-size accounting firms since tax season was over, but so far I don’t even have a job offer!!! I mean, I will become a CPA within 3 months and I m that incompetence??? This is totally out of my expectation!

I have sent out resumes to almost everywhere, I have 7 agents helping me for job searching as well. The agents were helpful in general because they really brought me some interviews with some firms within 5 days. So far I had 4 interviews but I got rejected in all, which I had no clue completely. I honestly thought I nailed those interviews down, because our conversations were pretty good, I was able to answer their questions firmly. I shared my tax, audit experience with them and they seem impressed! I even sent out thank you letter after the interview and they got back to me saying we would be in touch for second interview next week. But then next week, all I received were “Thank you again for your interest in xxx. While we enjoyed meeting with you and learning more about your background, we will not be moving forward with your candidacy at this time.”

This is a disaster for me, I thought passing the exam, having 3 years of experience would help me land a job in one of the firms easily. I’m not asking for high salary anyways. My small accounting firm is closing anytime soon (bosses are 75 years old, retiring, wanna sell the business for extra $$)

I’m lost, I’m panic, I m thinking..was passing the CPA exam was a mistake? because I don’t see the benefits so far…

[zooyuka]

Is acquiring your current employer an option?

BEC 71,77
REG 65,85
FAR 7/1/13
AUD 8/24/13

[Anonymous]

I will try to take over the business instead of being employee any more!lol!

[Anonymous]

You know sometimes life puts something right in front of someone and they walk over it for something that is less assured and could be more frustrating in the long-run….

Buy the firm that you are in! Build your own business. Think of ALL the possibilities!

I have reviewed the books of several single or double CPA firms and they are pulling in between $550K – 660K…One focuses on tax and non-profit audits…an interesting twist…and has one staff accountant and one receptionist that also does simple returns…that is the $550K office. In the first one, I estimate the CPA is pulling in at least $150K and possibly $250K…The other has two CPAs, a receptionist, and a bookkeeper that focuses on Quickbook and payrolll transactions and a property manager (the wife of one of the CPAs). That second firm focuses on “family businesses” which sometimes can involve multiple businesses in an extended family. Also many times they are plugging into a cultural community and gain referrals from the Korean and Indian communities. They also are expanding into trusts and estate tax returns which makes sense for larger and multi-generation families. The CPA takes a $90K salary and not sure about salary of his wife. But would estimate he and his wife are making $150K. He also teaches tax classes and gives talks at Chamber and Real Estate Broker gatherings. He partners with estate attorneys and financial planners to gain referrals. I worked with his to consider a strategy that expanded his business using Sage Softw

Good luck!

[robastu]

I agree with @smalltimeauditor, it seems like many of the job seekers in this thread are non-native english speakers.

First of all, I have a lot of respect for you all as knowing more than one language is a very useful business tool. However, being proficient in english may not be enough to secure a job in today's job market. I've worked with a lot of international students, while all of them are smart and hardworking, many are simply not strong enough in their english speaking and writing to secure full time employment. The sad part is most do not realize this is a problem, they think having great technical skill can overshadow speaking and/or writing deficiencies. Unfortunately, this is simply not the case. Public accounting requires a great deal of client interaction and if a potential employer doesn't think your english is up to par, they may write you off from the start.

My advice is to have full and honest evaluation of your english skills. Do people have trouble understanding you? Does your writing require significant revision? If so, consider taking some extra english classes at your local community college. Short term, this will almost certainly delay your job search but long term I believe this will lead to a better and more successful career.

REG - 1/4 - 95
BEC - 2/16 - 93
AUD - 4/25 - 98
FAR - 5/31

[Author]

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