[splash6]

I hate accounting, but I have an accounting degree from a state university and have passed 3 of the 4 CPA examination sections, and maybe all of them come 9/19/2019. I went into accounting because I knew I needed a profession and wanted to make money, and even though I hated it in college I kept my head down and kept finishing the classes because I had no idea what else to do. Now I’m almost done and still hate accounting and feel like I’ve ruined my life by wasting all this time on something that will make me miserable. I hate how you basically have to do public accounting first since non-public jobs are locked behind public accounting experience, and public is filled to the brim with snide, cut-throat pricks. I got run out of my first accounting job while in a public firm because I didn’t kiss partner ass and they took that personally and used a single mistake I made on an audit to run me off after locking me out of the good audits.

Anyone else have this experience?

[Cruz818]

Straight up, I find accounting incredibly dull and boring. But the value of of those three letters (CPA) cannot be denied. There's so much you can do as a CPA that is not necessarily accounting related. Examples:

-Credit analyst / Relationship Manager at bank – Rather than compiling financial statements, you can analyze said financial statements for creditworthiness. Having that accounting understanding during financial analysis will put you leaps and bounds ahead of others doing such analysis

-Economic Loss reports – I currently do this with another CPA. We create economic loss reports for accident victims; we assess how much income they've lost to date from the accident (actual loss wages) and also try to estimate how their injuries may impact their ability to earn income in the future (loss of earning capacity)

-Human Resources – I run payroll for a number of companies. Understanding the accounting on the back-end has helped a lot, particularly forecasting employee costs/budgeting

-Consulting – If you have a decent network, you could try the self-employed route. Don't necessarily have to be all accounting-based, but being a CPA shows your commitment and dedication to your development.

Just a few ideas anyway! Hope that helps.

[animalwithin]

I'll echo what @Cruz818 said, I find accounting horribly mundane and I don't like it very much either. But it has helped tremendously in the world of business, investing, finance, and consulting and there is a huge financial incentive for me to continue in this field so I do.
I always recommend starting your own business, you'll never be wealthy working for someone else so perhaps have that in the back of your mind as you go through different jobs.

[Silent]

Too little to late now is it not? You have 3 choices that i see. 1) Suck it up, get 1 year of experience under CPA and go in to taxes. While that is accounting, it's different and you can open your own firm ) Study for EA exam and in few months get yourself EA and open up your own company 3) Find something else to do that have nothing do with accounting, taxes, auditing etc. Being you already got degree in accounting and maybe passed all 4 exams doing something else is probably not something that you want to do.

[CP_Abadie]

Y'all nucking futs; I genuinely love accounting. I can choose to not talk to people, while still being the voice of reason, and the voice that controls the flow of funds so most people listen. It's wonderful!!! 🙂

[Biff Tannen]

We’ll see how much you hate it when the recession hits and your college buddies who studied liberal arts or history are asking for job referrals. CPA = job security

[bmaveragames]

Transition to corporate finance; you can do so much with an accounting degree that's not being a controller.

I actually have a degree in finance/MBA and am getting my CPA because I do so much M&A and work with our accounting group it makes sense and helps prove on paper to get better jobs in the future.

[Recked]

Tons of jobs you can do with the CPA. Audit work is just one small slice of the pie.
I truly think self-employment is the key to a happy life, good pay and solid work life balance.
Anything else and you're just making money for someone else.
Keep on that grind, find some corner of the market that makes you happy, and dominate it!

[TheeAccountant]

The biggest lie that was ever told to people is that they should “follow their bliss” and “do something they love”. Yeah, twenty years and about a half million dollars adjusted for inflation later… F%!@ that $#@!. They don't call it “work” because it's fun. Let me give you a little background about me. I have a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Animation from a very prestigious private art college. It cost me more money than I even want to think about, not including interest. Of course it was money I didn't have and so I borrowed most of it. I worked in Game Development. Oh doesn't that sound sexy! Yeah, it's real sexy when you show up for work and they tell you you're being let go and “oh by the way, not only can we not make payroll we can't pay the employer portion of your taxes either.” One payroll, that's not too bad you say? How about the fact that they were already behind on payroll as it was. That didn't just happen to me, it's happened to several people I know. It's also real sexy with those 80-90 hour work weeks to meet deadlines. Ask the spouses who shamed EA online because they never saw their husbands. So you don't like accounting. You're not likely to really love much of anything that you do for 40 to 70 hours every week for very long that is going to pay something. Work is work. When you get that nice fat paycheck and it's on-time, be grateful.

And I completely agree with some other posters – it's much easier to become wealthy if you start your own business and work for yourself. However that's not without its pitfalls and headaches too.

[Lindsey_p87]

Just chiming in to say you don't HAVE to go the public route. I did about 4 months in the tax world and decided public wasn't for me, have been in corporate accounting ever since and doing fine. In my area at least, the CPA matters more than having the public experience.

FAR - PASSED 11/14
AUD - TBD
BEC - TBD
REG - First take 2/16

[sous vide]

Agree with the others who said you do NOT have to go the public accounting route. I did not. I’m in my (early) 40s and have worked in accounting since I graduated from college. It took me until recently to actually love it and want to pursue my CPA. And hey-I’ve had a slew of amazing jobs (all very different) and do not regret one minute, nor all I have learned at each of them :). The way I reconciled not loving accounting (at first) was to find a position in an industry I liked. Example: There was a time I thought I wanted to explore a creative route (I paint in my free time), so I worked for a local designer. Later down the road, I wanted to explore F&B, so I worked for a food startup. I’m currently still in F&B, but with a different company and in a great corporate position. Don’t get me wrong, I envy those with the public accounting pedigree, but I wanted to tell you it is NOT the only route! And what’s also true-my salary does make life easier! Just don’t work with d*@&s. Not worth it 🙂 Your coworkers // bosses can make all the difference!!!!

[jombe]

I graduated w/ an accounting degree myself, but I swore I would never do accounting after graduation.
–
I initially did 2 yrs of computer engineering in college and then decided it wasn't for me.
I wanted a major that was easier than engineering, but could still provide me w/ stable living, and I thought accounting was it.
–
Well, since graduation, I dabbled in logistics, operations, sales, purchasing, etc, and learned that I either didn't like what I was doing or I sucked at it. When I got exposed to bookkeeping, it wasn't EXCITING, but it made sense to me. As nerdy as this sounds, I liked when my #s tied and balanced. That's when I decided maybe I should look into what accounting actually has to offer. Fast forward 3-4 years, I have my CPA license, 2 years of public experience & now a Senior Accountant in industry. Are there things I hate about what I do? Sure. Would I do anything else? Never say never, but probably not.
–
I guess what I am trying to say is if you really think accounting isn't it for you, go and explore. Maybe you will find something you love. Maybe you will find accounting was actually a great fit for you. Whatever the outcome may be, I highly recommend exploring other venues while you are still young. Good luck, buddy.

FAR - 94 (10/4/15), Local Prep Online Lectures, BISK & NINJA MCQ
AUD - 99 (1/19/16), Local Prep Online Lectures, BISK & NINJA MCQ
REG - 96 (4/19/16), Local Prep Online Lectures, BISK & NINJA MCQ
BEC - 91 (7/19/16), Local Prep Online Lectures, BISK & NINJA MCQ

581 days of listening to lectures, reading texts & 10,000+ MCQs...

[AGI]

People that I know with accounting degree includes, CPA programmer, operation manager, CEO, CFO, human resources, accountants (all sort), business owners, investigator (all sort, all fields), police, fire fighter, general managers (all sort), shop owners / head (all sort), analyst (all sort), business people (all sort).

Who said accountants need to be accountants? Sorry, I've never worked for “true” accounting since day 1. Forget about what the teachers told you, useless junk.

New York - NYC
Passed CPA Exam (11/2014)
In search for a position in NYC that will fulfills the license requirement.

[Skynet]

Don't know about you guys but chicks really dig the glasses and pocket protectors.

Women see you with a Quick Finder and they will literally throw themselves at you!

[Anthony]

Time to get your CPA and bail out.

Not sure what school you went to but saying that you have to do public to get a private sector job isn't true. In my school many firms like JP Morgan, BoA and F500 hires directly out of college. Those kids didn't even touch a single lick of public accounting.

[Ro]

I definitely agree with Anthony. I don't have ANY public accounting experience and I've been satisfied with every private sector job I've had. Every opportunity that I have received has basically given me everything I've asked for (benefits and compensation). I would suggest trying out the private sector before you give up on accounting completely.

[Author]

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