[Anonymous]

Hello All:

Honestly, am I too old for a career in public accounting? I am currently 31 y/o, with 3 years experience as a staff accountant in higher ed, not married nor have children. I have always wondered how public accounting would boost my career, and the different industries it could potentially expose me to.

In addition, I have always wondered what our external auditor would do with our files and how they’d find a potential I/C weaknesses which they would document. I know, they would apply testing and analytical procedures, but reading a book versus doing are two different things, in my eyes at least.

The roles is a ” Audit Associate” with a tier-two firm which has a Fall 2015 start date. Responsibilities will include, but will not be limited to, the following:

*Reviewing and auditing business transaction cycles including cash, treasury, capital expenditures, and other income and expenses

*Researching audit issues, utilizing electronic databases, and review-tracking financial information, utilizing audit related software

*Identifying, researching, assessing, and informing senior staff members of audit related issues

*Collaboratively working with client team members to build rapport and strong client relationships

Or am I seeking the wrong role? In other words, should I be applying for experienced roles within public accounting? However, I have noticed that most firms, if not all, require some experience in public for someone to qualify.

Thoughts, concerns? Much appreciated!!

[fuzyfro89]

Unless you have any type of audit experience, even internal audit may qualify in some situations, most external audit roles require some experience to apply for an experienced role.

You're not too old, so long as you can convince the person sitting across from you that you'll have no problem fitting in on a team and taking direction from people much younger than yourself.

[highlightnumb]

You are what you think. Go for Gold 🙂

FAR. Feb 2014 76
REG. Jan 2015 79 half way there!!
BEC. Feb 2015 79 thank you God!!
AUD. Apr 20, 2015 and will be done. Hold that thought 65, 7/14/15 85!
Ok where was I? Oh thats right now I'm Done!!!!!!!!!
Ethics 92!!

"You down wit SEC?, yeah you know me!!!"

Cali Candidate

All Becker Materials, Wiley Test Bank, Ninja audio, Ninja MCQ, Ninja Notes

[funtimesNOT]

I am Thirty-one and entered public accounting two years ago! I love it. I did just make a transition that set me back, but up into the big four. I don't see any other path for an accountant. You maybe old for public accounting but in 5 years you will be young for a controller if you make that transition! If you don't have a problem with younger people tell you what to do the you will be fine. It is the people who constantly remind you that your old, but those individuals are few and far between and usually miserable human beings because their life is so boring….but I digress…. life is short try it out you will learn a lot. plus in 10 years it won't matter anyway. oh by the way go for experienced… and if they want you they will place you where you belong.

AUDIT - 79
FAR - 64, 77
BEC - 69, 71,79 - DONE!
REG - 60, 75

Nothing in the 80s ; however, I worked full time the whole time! (like 10 hour days) so it can be done 🙂

[Skynet]

The older age only makes me more appealing to the ladies. So all those young guns better watch out especially when I am armed with my little blue pills.

[Anonymous]

It depends what you mean by “public accounting”, i.e. tax or audit. I am also 31. I entered big 4 when I was 24, did my 2 years and left. Most staff and seniors in big 4 are mid 20s or so.

I would say that you're never too old for anything, however; I will also say as a 31 year old that it would take a gun to my head to get me to go back to big 4 audit. At this stage of my life I value my time more than money…

Tax may be a good choice. Although tax accountants at non-big 4 firms also work long hours during busy season, the work is not as tedious and demoralizing as the work required of a staff/senior auditor. Additionally, tax does not require the endless running around from client site to client site or spending weeks at a time in Holiday Inn's….

Again, you are never too old for anything, however, as someone who is the same age as you, I would find audit (non-manager/partner level) work exhausting…

That's just my 2 cents, but good luck to you no matter whatever you decide 🙂

[Anonymous]

You'll be fine.

I started at 31 after having spent my 20's as a bartender and ocean lifeguard.

[Anonymous]

Forget the age factor! Shouldn't we be asking Charlie about his study habits? Dem numbers though…;)

[Anonymous]

doobu you make a good point! Charlie what is you secret sauce?

Thank you everyone for your insight, I appreciate it!

[Anonymous]

Lol, no secret sauce…

I usually skim the Wiley Book chapters to get an overview, go straight to the multiple choice, then work backwards, i.e. reference the sections of the chapter for questions that I get wrong or don't understand. I then write a summary of my understanding of each of the important topics from the section in my own words.

I spend the final 10 days or so working questions from the Wiley test bank. I don't really pay attention to my score or how many questions I'm doing. I just focus on making sure I don't move on from a question until I understand why it is right or wrong. I also look at the other incorrect answer choices to understand why they are right or wrong.

Based on what I have read on the forum, I am also one of the few people who works/studies simulation problems in the test bank. For FAR and REG I think I answered most of the exam sims correctly. The sims saved me on REG because I totally bombed the MCQ….. I mean badly! 🙂

From what I gather, most people focus on the MCQ and pay little attention to the sims, therefore, there is more competition on the MCQ part and as I result, I beleive, more difficult to stand out or do very well realtive to your peers.

On the other hand, if you spend time working sim problems during your study, it is much easier to stand out on that part because most people don't study, or spend little time studying that part. Remember for FAR, REG, and AUD, sims are 40% of your score. That's huge…

Disclaimer: I am by no means an expert on this subject. Just my 2 cents 🙂

[Anonymous]

Haha. I was always more concerned about the quality, really. I feel a lot of people focus on the questions only, like you said, and forgo the impact sims can have.

I get that doing as much to be exposed to as much as possible is important, but at a point you're just doing them to do them.

Becker's question bank gave me 4 free answers on REG thanks to doing them over and over, but I still failed (sims were weak). I did all of their regulation questions so many times.

You do memorize and see the answer but don't understand it. I feel small sets, but investigating the questions will help the best.

[StephAV]

You aren't too old at all! 31 is the new 21, says the 32 year old… It will be different, but I think the experience you gain in a short amount of time in public accounting is amazing! If you are willing and ready to work hard, go for it. Some of the people I worked with in public accounting that came in with industry experience were able to leverage that and move up more quickly. I did public accounting when I was young, straight out of college, but there was a diverse staff group at the firm.

FAR - 7/13 - 72, 11/13- 74, 2/14- 82!!! Best score ever (for me)!!!
BEC - 1/14 - 75!!! Perfect score! First Pass! YAY!!!
AUD - 8/14 - 80!!!
REG - 5/14 - 72, 10/14 - 66, 1/15 - 78 - DONE FOREVER!!!
I did 5 of the UNA and CPAExcel classes to earn units.

[GuitarSalad]

To echo what a lot of people on here have said, you're not too old at all. I did a ton of interviews over the past few years (partly because I'm not a great interviewer) but I am about the same age as you. I'm turning 31 this summer and will be starting an entry level position with a big 4 firm this fall.

A few of the people I interviewed with there asked me about my age and working with younger people. I can't be upset with that line of thinking because it could be a legitimate concern. Some people just can't stand the thought of someone younger than them being in charge. The good thing for me is that I had time to come to terms with it since I only decided to go into accounting when I was 27 or 28 and spent a couple years being the old guy in the classroom. It's important to be convincing that taking orders from someone younger won't be an issue with you. Fortunately for me, I'm doing that right now. My boss is younger than me, and he's clearly a better accountant than I am, too.

A couple partners and senior managers actually expressed to me that they thought there were a lot of positives to being a little older than most entry level auditors (maturity, working experience even if in another field) and others felt that me coming from a corporate accounting position also had benefits.

BEC 7/12/13 - 84
AUD 8/31/13 - 86
REG 4/11/14 - 84
FAR 5/30/14 - 88

Licensed AZ CPA - 10/2014

[Author]

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