[PinkButterfly]

Hello All!

I am seeking career advice! Any help would be appreciated.

I’ve been studying for the audit portion of the CPA exam. As I’ve been studying, I realized that I’d like to pursue a career in audit.

I have 3 years of experience in the brokerage industry as an accountant. I started interning at a brokerage company. After graduation, I was offered a position as an accounting analyst. Two years later, I was promoted and joined another group within our accounting department. I’m a senior accountant now and it’s been about a year since that promotion. The job pays well and the bonuses are nice, but I’m willing to go for a pay cut to actually start enjoying life.

I enjoy what I do but the hours are really taking time from my life. All I do is work and work.. I average 60 hours a week and 70 during the monthly close process. During the weekends, I study for audit which I’m really enjoying (I’m not being sarcastic)! 🙂

I ran into a neighbor of mine today. She asked me if I was new to the neighborhood! I’ve been living across the street form her for about 3 years now!

Also, the people I interact with the most are the “night shift” workers at my train station. We have become good friends. Oh and the guys that mostly ask me out on dates are people from work (which I don’t date) and the people I see during my commute, including the workers which I prefer not to date. Yep that’s how bad it is. Anyway sorry I’m ranting now!

With that said, I’m looking for a career that does not involve insane number of hours and a rewarding area such as audit. I don’t mind the “busy seasons.”

Is it too late for me to purse an audit career? I’m 27 years old and don’t have any audit experience. Actually, I did intern as an internal auditor intern at one point in college. I doubt that would help though!

Will my chances of joining a public accounting firm increase if I have my CPA? Any suggestions/advice?

Sincerely,

Stressed & Single forever (if I continue to work where I work)!

[valueofnothing]

i think that b4 audit will involve as many hours as you're dealing with now… maybe a little less during non-busy seasons, but more during them.

but that's based on heresay and perceptions… so someone who actually has experience doing that may be able to tell you that that isn't necessarily the case.

REG - 81
BEC - 88
AUD - 85
FAR - 81

[thechamp26]

I don't think your chances of joining a public accounting firm will increase that much if you have your CPA because you will most likely start at the staff level. It becomes more important when you move up a bit (senior level and manager for sure).

[thechamp26]

I agree with valueofnothing in terms of hours… You will probably work a little less in the “off” months and depending on the firm, you might work more during busy season. You also have to factor in your client load. If you are lucky enough to be staffed on a couple fiscal year end clients, you may be busy the whole year.

[ROACH]

sup baby im single too. we got a lot in common.

BEC: 66 | 69 | 7/23/2013
AUD: 8/28/2013
REG:
FAR:

[neko2020]

You can easily change careers at 27 to audit but will have to take a pay cut most likely (depends where you live now). I audit external firms and don't have crazy hours at all, most of the time 40 to 45 hours a day. I switched careers from a much higher paying job to this auditor job because of quality of life and interests. Lots of vacation days, not too much stress, etc… But it was a pay cut but at some point some people put more value on other things rather than money and status, that's just me, to each his own. Our company has positions for internal auditors and external auditors so there's opportunity and there's a lot of similar companies to my own that offer the same experience. It is probably too difficult to get into the big 4 considering this economy and all but who knows if that's your goal. A lot of it is about networking.

[Anonymous]

“I ran into a neighbor of mine today. She asked me if I was new to the neighborhood! I’ve been living across the street form her for about 3 years now!”

That was worth a good laugh!

I just started at a CPA firm at 26 after working in private accounting for about 3 years. I do disagree with what somebody above said. If you do have your CPA you would definitely be more attractive to a firm; they will be able to bill you out at a much higher rate. Granted, you will start at the bottom, but could jump up to middle management at the firm rather quickly.

I would bet you would be interested in internal auditing as opposed to public accounting…just a hunch. Good Luck!

[thechamp26]

Smith – do you work at a public accounting firm? Billing rates are based on experience/level , not whether or not you have a CPA….

[T-rex]

Being single can be a plus when studying for the CPA exam.

AUD - 95, BEC - 85
REG - 85, Rawrrrrrr FAR - 88
Used Becker for all sections.
CA candidate not residing in CA

[T-rex]

Perhaps we need a dating thread in addition to the weight loss thread…

AUD - 95, BEC - 85
REG - 85, Rawrrrrrr FAR - 88
Used Becker for all sections.
CA candidate not residing in CA

[jeff]

Singles thread & Fitness thread?

Jeff Elliott, CPA (KS) | Another71 | NINJA CPA | NINJA CMA | NINJA CPE

[letsfixthis]

My girlfriend is frustrated beyond belief with me right now because all I do is study for these exams…..any tips on how to remedy this? I set aside breaks to spend time with her during the weekends, but it never seems to be enough. Anyone else have (or ever had) this problem?

BEC: 87 (7/13/11)
FAR: 86 (8/31/11)
AUD: 99 (10/6/11)
REG: 88 (11/30/11)
Ethics: 100
(Illinois)

Used Becker for all four parts. Supplemented it with Wiley Test Bank for FAR and REG (HIGHLY recommended) and NINJA notes.

[Anonymous]

@letsfixthis – My hubby is in the same boat, and we have a 4 yr old. I just keep telling him how much this is going to pay off in the end and that I'm in the home stretch… How far along in the process are you?

[T-rex]

Instead of a singles thread, we could have a relationship advice thread. Some folks may want advice on how to avoid becoming single. Others may want tips on how to avoid remaining single.

AUD - 95, BEC - 85
REG - 85, Rawrrrrrr FAR - 88
Used Becker for all sections.
CA candidate not residing in CA

[Anonymous]

@champ…my buddy.

I begin my work with a firm in a couple of months, so I'm novice when it comes to billing/invoicing. I would still imagine a staff accountant who had a CPA could, in a short amount of time, reach a higher level of billing. Maybe they bill on years of experience, I dunno…I would still imagine having a CPA would be attractive than not having a licence if you were attempting to gain employment at a CPA firm.

[letsfixthis]

@asleephere, I sympathize, it must be even tougher with a little one. Unfortunately I've only taken one exam so far, which I'm cautiously optimistic I passed (BEC). I'm in the middle of studying for FAR right now and as I'm sure you know, it's just a beast. GF is in her second year of residency (meaning her hours are crazy too), so this is a pretty bad time. I've tried really hard to explain to her that this is temporary and should hopefully be over before the end of the year, but all it seems to cause is guilt and frustration.

@T-rex, I 100% agree. We need to have a relationship advice thread because I don't want to become single as a result of spending too much time with Peter Olinto and that other Tim guy who wears pink shirts and makes you highlight every single line of printed text.

BEC: 87 (7/13/11)
FAR: 86 (8/31/11)
AUD: 99 (10/6/11)
REG: 88 (11/30/11)
Ethics: 100
(Illinois)

Used Becker for all four parts. Supplemented it with Wiley Test Bank for FAR and REG (HIGHLY recommended) and NINJA notes.

[Author]

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