[ScnCPA]

I recently passed the CPA exam!! Woohoo! I have been a government auditor for about 6 year. I want to start doing accounting/bookkeeping work on the side but I don’t have any work experience in that area. I’m planning to complete the QuickBooks ProAdvisor program so I can be certified and I’ll use that to help to market myself. But I just wanted to know if anyone else has done a similar transition? Or if anyone has started their own side business?

AUD 84 (April 2015)
FAR 78 (Nov 2015)
BEC 74 (Feb 2016) 76 (April 2016)
REG 69 (July 2015) 77 (June 2016)

Ethics 93 (July 2016) Waiting for License

[Natalierose]

The CPA, and even less so, QB cert don't mean you're qualified to do that.

You literally have no tax or bookkeeping experience. How will you know what to do, how it's done, where to get clients, ect.

I'd switch to that field for a few years first.

REG- Passed
BEC- Passed
AUD -Failed - Retake in October
FAR- Scheduled 8/1/2016

[Missy]

People start side bookkeeping with a high school education, a 6 week community college certificate and no experience at all so its not rocket science and of course you can do it.

However theres so much more to it than you imagine, paying clients expect to be able to reach you during regular business hours (not as many opportunities after work and weekends) and since you're competing against non degreed bookkeepers you're looking at companies that only want to pay $10-$15/hr because if you won't do it for that someone else will.

I do tons of bookkeeping for free (youth sports and scouts and a small nonprofit I volunteer for) and its nice but you've got a lot more to think through than knowing the mechanics of quickbooks.

Licensed Massachusetts Non Reporting CPA since 2012
Finance/Admin/HR Manager

[Anonymous]

I'd agree with Natalie. If you wanted to get a job as an accountant, go for it! Your auditor experience can be valuable for that. However, to start a part-time gig being your own boss doing it? I'm a little leery of that. You have no experience to draw on to really know what you're doing. I'm a CPA; legally I can do auditing. However, I wouldn't take on an audit client, cause I have no experience auditing and I don't know how to really do auditing. I know the theory of it, but not the practical work. I think I'm generally pretty good at learning from books, tutorials, etc., but I wouldn't trust someone else's business to my lack of experience. Same with a change the other direction – an auditor with no hands-on experience doing accounting shouldn't start doing it for others without someone over them to go to with questions and to oversee their work.

Now, if you get a job as an accountant for a couple years, then you could go off on your own and do great. With the base knowledge you have, it wouldn't take long at all to gain the hands-on to fill in the gaps. But, just like I'd need to work a few audits before I could do an audit, you'd really need to do some accounting work before you could perform the accounting function independently for another company.

EDIT: Basic, basic bookkeeping, you could do as-is. However, to provide full accounting services would either require you trial-and-error'ing your way through and taking 4x as long as needed (reducing your end pay-per-hour considerably) and resulting in poor work product, or you'd need just a little bit of time working with someone else to get the basics under your belt.

[msgolds]

I'd switch to corporate accounting first and get used to that arena before you consider doing that.

I'm an Auditor turned corporate / nonprofit accountant, it requires a very different way of thinking.

BEC - 90 PASSED
FAR - 84 PASSED
AUD - 93 PASSED
REG - 84 PASSED

I DID IT!!!!

Using Becker Self-Study

"If we were put here to carry a great weight, then the very things we hate are here to build those muscles."

[smeech8000]

I would think a better area to focus on would be Tax Controversy (as opposed to bookkeeping and other nonattest stuff). Seems like a more natural crossover from your recent experience.

B 92
A 99
R 90
F 92

Becker Self-Study

OH CPA since 2/18/14

[ScnCPA]

Thank you everyone for the advice.

AUD 84 (April 2015)
FAR 78 (Nov 2015)
BEC 74 (Feb 2016) 76 (April 2016)
REG 69 (July 2015) 77 (June 2016)

Ethics 93 (July 2016) Waiting for License

[Author]

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