[Anonymous]

Does this bother anyone else? I feel like I need to vent…

I know there is no way to ask this question without coming off like an elitist jerk but I’d be lying if I said it didn’t annoy me. Let me preface this by saying I have a pretty liberal definition of what I consider to be an accountant (anyone in public, private or gov’t that performs assurance, audits, tax, etc.) BUT I do think there is a “line” (e.g.HR block employees or bookkeepers.)

I realize this bookkeeper is proud of their “Associates Degree” (if they even have that) and may work very hard in the “Accounts Payable Dept” or whatever and that’s fine. But when a licensed CPA or a 150 credit hour CPA candidate with public experience are also called accountants and the average layperson mistakenly considers these roles comparable well I feel like it cheapens the latter’s accomplishments.

When someone tells me, “Oh you’re an accountant? My friend XXXX is an accountant too!” I really have to bite my tongue because what I want to say is, “No, your friend XXXX is a bookkeeper who cuts checks and stuffs envelops all day.”

Why is it a lawyer or a nurse has to have a license to be called those things but anyone working in any accounting dept. of any company can run around with impudence calling themselves accountants?!?

So when I overhear said bookkeeper rambling on about being an accountant I’m left with two options. Either:

1) Be a total douche and cut them down with a statement like, “Oh me too, what state are you licensed in?”; OR

2) Swallow my pride, let them have their ego boost and stop being such a jerk inside my head.

Let me just say number 2 is very difficult for me sometimes….

[jeff]

That may be true in your case, but most undergrad programs don't gear their curriculum towards prepping people for the exam … Which is why people get an accounting degree and then plop down another $2k-3k on a review course (or two)

[mmcgrad1]

I should be grateful then for the education I received. My program based their curriculum off of University of Illinois's program. I just assumed most accounting programs were like commodities. I will say my review course was definitely useful just to know what information was important and what info wasn't. I probably would have studied in way too much detail if it weren't for the review course I took.

NIU CPA Review Correspondence is awesome!

I passed all four sections on the first attempt

[thistooshallpass]

“That may be true in your case, but most undergrad programs don't gear their curriculum towards prepping people for the exam”

Amen to that. I could bitch for days on how much it annoys me that I graduated w my BS and then figured out how the CPA exam works. Not only do the classes you take in no way prepare you for the exam, I felt completely lost on how to go about it, no one ever mentioned needing to plan to possibly spend thousands for review material, throw away a year of your life, continue paying to get and keep your license, continuing education…I think if you are attending a college, on a “CPA track”, they should be obligated to give you some kind of heads up what you are getting into.

AUD 85 (2/12) Using Becker
FAR 81 (5/12)
BEC 79 (7/13)
REG 85 (10/1)

"It's not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves."

[Anonymous]

It doesn't bother me at all, actually.

You have never worked in private accounting, it's obvious from your post. Accounting is not only assurance, audit, and tax.

There are full-charge bookkeepers with bachelor's degrees in accounting . Some are even CPAs. And there are so many staff and senior accountants with different, often limited, accounting functions. I've met senior accountants/assistant controllers with no formal accounting education, who know more accounting than many CPAs working in public.

I'm just curious. Who would you consider to be more of an accountant:

– a General Accountant, posting adjustments to the GL, performing reconciliations and balance sheet analysis (all done within 4 hours at the end of the month)

– a Staff Accountant, who works on accounts receivable/payable all month; resolves all kinds of related issues, creates the schedules for the related GL adjustments, and makes sure the General Accountant has nothing to reconcile

[Anonymous]

It's obvious from your post you missed the “etc.” after the assurance, audit, tax.

I'm also not knocking private accounting or saying they are any less of an “accountant” than someone who works at a Big 4. I also stated, in the post you didn't read very well, that I have a very liberal definition of what an accountant was.

I'm talking about the equivalent of a dental hygienist saying they are a dentist. The same arguement can be made that the dental hygienist even does more dental related activities than an actual dentist but at the end of the day one has a piece of paper on the wall and the other doesn't.

It's fine if it doesn't bother some people. I already said it was more of a personal quirk to me but to be called the same job title as someone who has put substancially more effort into their career and education is to me an annoyance.

Yeah I guess I can just run around and say, “I'm a CPA” but I'll bet many people don't even know there is difference between a CPA and a bookkeeper. But I'm positive no one you know would mix up a lawyer and a paralegal.

[samdiegoCPA]

As of now, I don't care about the distinguishment. BUT, after I finish and pass everything, I will definitely care. 😛

AUD: 84
REG: 84
BEC: 79
FAR: 83

[Anonymous]

I don't care about the opinion of those who can't distinguish between a bookkeeper with an associates and a CPA.

And I'm sure most people know that a paralegal is not a lawyer 😀

Call yourself a CPA. There're plenty of people who know about it.

[mla1169]

75, if it makes you feel any better I refer to the woman who works for me as the accountant. She doesn't have a degree. But my reasoning is 2 fold. First, my title is “Accounting Manager” and its just the two of us. So it would be a stretch as best for an accounting manager to only manage myself lol. Second like you said, she is so precise and accurate with her A/P, A/R, Payroll and journal entries that the only mistakes I ever catch are my own. And as someone who spent 20+ years in the workforce without a degree and without my CPA before I achieved the degree and license, I was every bit an accountant 10 years ago as I am now, just with different responsibilities.

FAR- 77
AUD -49, 71, 84
REG -56,75!
BEC -75

Massachusetts CPA (non reporting) since 3/12.

[Anonymous]

“btw – what is the MiniSandra Measure on number of attempts before you shouldn't be an accountant?

2 per section? 🙂 “

I think the pertinent question is how many times posters on this website have to put up with their crap before you throw them off and delete their posts like you do mine?

I don't guess there's an answer for that one is there? At least you haven't reached it yet.

[kristen1479]

This is great. I'm curious though… How does Mini justify making a statement like this: “I know plenty of bookkeepers who are much better accountants than a number of people on this site who manage to squeak by and pass the exams after X number of attempts?” Does he personally have experience verifying these “people on this site's” professional work?

Oh I forgot, he's on his high horse drawing opinions about people without solid data to back it up. I call that arrogant and ignorant. But whatever, he'll continue and I'm fairly amused reading it.

BEC- 73, 73, 80
REG- 74, 83
FAR- 50(didn't study), 76 (<--How the heck did that happen?)
AUD- 71, 71, 79!!!!!
Finished!!

[Anonymous]

No Soup for YOU Kristen1479

[Anonymous]

so Mini, lets say the last exam I have to take I have failed three times. If that would be the rule then I should have to take a three year break to get my experience and thus lose the other three credits causing me to start this torturous hell all over again? For the record, I'm not slamming your comment, I love how you are open and honest on the forum, but had to put my two cents in here as you can see it took me five attempts to pass audit.

I went to a university where we only had one audit class, which was taught by a foreigner that no one could understand. I work in private healthcare accounting as the Staff Accountant and have no public experience. However if I want to move into a different position when someone retires in a few years then I have to have my CPA. I was a 4.0 student in my major yet have struggled with the exam as it is an entirely different beast and you can't study for it like you did in school.

I have been on both sides, I was a bookkeeper and also have my BS in Accounting with 150+ credit hours. Even though I did a lot of the same work when I was a bookkeeper, I didn't want to call myself an accountant. That is one reason why I went back to school.

[Anonymous]

I'm beginning to think that minimorty and sandra are alteregos of Jeff so that he can say what he wants anonymously.

[jeff]

Doh! I'm busted.

I have a confession: Minimorty and Sandra are my alteregos.

[kristen1479]

@ CPApending- If it's the same soup Mini's eating, I'm better off without it.

BEC- 73, 73, 80
REG- 74, 83
FAR- 50(didn't study), 76 (<--How the heck did that happen?)
AUD- 71, 71, 79!!!!!
Finished!!

[Author]

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