[10keyLeah]

I’m looking for tips about how to approach my job hunt.

I just passed the last exam section. I live in a rural area with only a handful of CPA offices and generally they are 1 or 2 person offices. There aren’t many opportunities that come up. Part of the reason I sat for CPA exams was that I had trouble landing a job over a year ago when I was looking and applying for anything business related that came up.

In WV, you do not have to work directly under a CPA, but you have to have a CPA vouch for your work and sign off on it. Am I wrong to think that I’d rather work directly under a CPA even though I would take any job that would fulfill the requirements?

I’ll spruce up my resume, but after that, I’m not sure how to approach the job hunt.

For example, I’d like to apply to work with a CPA that does mainly just taxes, but I know he is in the middle of busy season right now. Should I apply now, or wait until after April 15?

So, I’m looking for some thoughts and direction.

Ninja Combo, Yaeger, Wiley -- Licensed CPA, May 2015

[tomq04]

Congrats! Now that we know the story, i'm curious as to the question posed above,

If you were an animal, which would you be?

REG- (1) 76
FAR- (2) 64, (5)74, (7)83 (Over achiever!)
AUD- (3) 70, (4) 75
BEC- (6) 75

[10keyLeah]

@tomq04 – lol! I'd probably say an owl. Owls get a big picture view, go after what they want, and they are smart. However, I don't puke up the bone of my prey. lol

I guess that answer would be better than a sloth or a snake.

Thanks @Lilla and @studylongustudywrong. Maybe I should take notes and just do the best I can do and learn all I can. I'm dreading make the first year mistakes, but I guess that is expected.

Any suggestions if there's anything I can do to make learning ‘real world' payroll and bookkeeping easier?

Ninja Combo, Yaeger, Wiley -- Licensed CPA, May 2015

[10keyLeah]

@tomq04 – lol! I'd probably say an owl. Owls get a big picture view, go after what they want, and they are smart. However, I don't puke up the bone of my prey. lol

I guess that answer would be better than a sloth or a snake.

Thanks @Lilla and @studylongustudywrong. Maybe I should take notes and just do the best I can do and learn all I can. I'm dreading make the first year mistakes, but I guess that is expected.

Any suggestions if there's anything I can do to make learning ‘real world' payroll and bookkeeping easier?

Ninja Combo, Yaeger, Wiley -- Licensed CPA, May 2015

[Anonymous]

@10key congrats on getting your first accounting job. I just came across the whole thread and “getting the job” post reminded me of my self when i got my first accounting job. Passing the exam really pays off. I think you should start gathering info about your license now if you haven't done so yet. I think you don't have to talk to your employer about it, but there might be a lot of details that you need to know ahead of time. Some states requires a certain percentage of experience in taxation or accounting. Others require the CPA signing off your experience to be licensed in the same state you work in and that was a problem in my case. I wasn't aware of that till a year passed and I realized my boss is not licensed is the state i work in!! You may not have an issue with these specific requirements, my point is to look for details as you may encounter a requirement you've never heard of. No one can turn down a job for such a reason, but at least you know what to expect and plan for it. Congrats and Good luck!

[Anonymous]

@10key congrats on getting your first accounting job. I just came across the whole thread and “getting the job” post reminded me of my self when i got my first accounting job. Passing the exam really pays off. I think you should start gathering info about your license now if you haven't done so yet. I think you don't have to talk to your employer about it, but there might be a lot of details that you need to know ahead of time. Some states requires a certain percentage of experience in taxation or accounting. Others require the CPA signing off your experience to be licensed in the same state you work in and that was a problem in my case. I wasn't aware of that till a year passed and I realized my boss is not licensed is the state i work in!! You may not have an issue with these specific requirements, my point is to look for details as you may encounter a requirement you've never heard of. No one can turn down a job for such a reason, but at least you know what to expect and plan for it. Congrats and Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Tips to make it easier? Keep your notepad nearby and think in the bigger picture. Real-world bookkeeping for me usually meant getting a copy of the client's bank statement – including check images – and having to figure out what accounts the expenses should go against…and the client usually had no clue.

Accountant: “$73.28 at Walmart last week – what was that for? Was that for toilet paper for the house, a new drill for the crew, or paint for the project?”

Customer: “Uhh, I don't know – I'm sure it was a business expense though.”

Accountant: *ram head against brick wall*

Hopefully your customers are a bit more aware than that, but don't count on it. 😉 The key, though, is getting to know your customers (and your boss/coworkers will provide most of this initially) and then figuring out in the grand scheme of things what really matters. If your customers really just need the bookkeeping done in order to do a tax return (which was the case with most of ours), then getting hung up on whether the Home Depot expense was nails that will be used on the next 3 projects or paint that was already used up really doesn't matter, because either way it's cost of materials (if it's at year-end it could matter, but that's beside the point). Unless it needs to be capitalized or is a personal expense, the details really don't matter if their bookkeeping is only used to do a tax return! You get the basic idea? Not saying details don't matter at all, just that sometimes, you have to look at the bigger picture.

Overall, though, real-world bookkeeping and payroll is pretty straight forward, and most of it is done by the computer. You can learn a lot from it, but you probably can't make any mistake that your boss hasn't already made. 🙂

[Anonymous]

Tips to make it easier? Keep your notepad nearby and think in the bigger picture. Real-world bookkeeping for me usually meant getting a copy of the client's bank statement – including check images – and having to figure out what accounts the expenses should go against…and the client usually had no clue.

Accountant: “$73.28 at Walmart last week – what was that for? Was that for toilet paper for the house, a new drill for the crew, or paint for the project?”

Customer: “Uhh, I don't know – I'm sure it was a business expense though.”

Accountant: *ram head against brick wall*

Hopefully your customers are a bit more aware than that, but don't count on it. 😉 The key, though, is getting to know your customers (and your boss/coworkers will provide most of this initially) and then figuring out in the grand scheme of things what really matters. If your customers really just need the bookkeeping done in order to do a tax return (which was the case with most of ours), then getting hung up on whether the Home Depot expense was nails that will be used on the next 3 projects or paint that was already used up really doesn't matter, because either way it's cost of materials (if it's at year-end it could matter, but that's beside the point). Unless it needs to be capitalized or is a personal expense, the details really don't matter if their bookkeeping is only used to do a tax return! You get the basic idea? Not saying details don't matter at all, just that sometimes, you have to look at the bigger picture.

Overall, though, real-world bookkeeping and payroll is pretty straight forward, and most of it is done by the computer. You can learn a lot from it, but you probably can't make any mistake that your boss hasn't already made. 🙂

[10keyLeah]

@brightfuture – Thanks for the tip. I checked with my state's board and it turns out that they have few restrictions on signing off. It certainly makes it easier especially in a rural area where there are a limit number of CPA's. I would say, so far, getting the exams out of the way has been beneficial. I couldn't land a job with just a B.S. in accounting, and now I land a job right out of the gates after passing exams. Although, I did choose to stop looking for work while sitting and lost about 9 months of potential work time.

@Lilla – Thank you! I think most of the clients are ‘small' and have bookkeeping done for tax purposes. Your ‘been there, done that' info is great. That gives me an idea of what to expect. I'll keep what you said in mind.

Ninja Combo, Yaeger, Wiley -- Licensed CPA, May 2015

[10keyLeah]

@brightfuture – Thanks for the tip. I checked with my state's board and it turns out that they have few restrictions on signing off. It certainly makes it easier especially in a rural area where there are a limit number of CPA's. I would say, so far, getting the exams out of the way has been beneficial. I couldn't land a job with just a B.S. in accounting, and now I land a job right out of the gates after passing exams. Although, I did choose to stop looking for work while sitting and lost about 9 months of potential work time.

@Lilla – Thank you! I think most of the clients are ‘small' and have bookkeeping done for tax purposes. Your ‘been there, done that' info is great. That gives me an idea of what to expect. I'll keep what you said in mind.

Ninja Combo, Yaeger, Wiley -- Licensed CPA, May 2015

[Anonymous]

@10key this is very encouraging for me as I too have been in the same boat and couldn't find a job so I opted to just study and try to pass. I haven't passed any yet which has been very discouraging to me. But I worry about finding a job after I pass, but I am glad to hear it worked out for you!

[Anonymous]

@10key this is very encouraging for me as I too have been in the same boat and couldn't find a job so I opted to just study and try to pass. I haven't passed any yet which has been very discouraging to me. But I worry about finding a job after I pass, but I am glad to hear it worked out for you!

[Anonymous]

Just keep your mind alert and pay attention and it's a piece of cake. 🙂 Like I said, most of it is just knowing how to manipulate the software, so I'm sure that you can handle it! (Hmm on that note, since you still have awhile before you start the job, do you know what software they use for bookkeeping and payroll? Quickbooks or other? If so, it might be worth looking around the internet to see if you can get an introductory knowledge of the program. Not so that you can say on Day 1 “Oh I know how to use the program”, but so that on Day 1, you can be focusing on what the trainer is saying instead of on how to open up the program!

[Anonymous]

Just keep your mind alert and pay attention and it's a piece of cake. 🙂 Like I said, most of it is just knowing how to manipulate the software, so I'm sure that you can handle it! (Hmm on that note, since you still have awhile before you start the job, do you know what software they use for bookkeeping and payroll? Quickbooks or other? If so, it might be worth looking around the internet to see if you can get an introductory knowledge of the program. Not so that you can say on Day 1 “Oh I know how to use the program”, but so that on Day 1, you can be focusing on what the trainer is saying instead of on how to open up the program!

[Author]

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