[Kong]

Hello, first time posting here. I just had some questions. I am an undergraduate in CA college, and I was wondering if CPA is really necessary to work in government ? I’m a very mediocre guy, I don’t plan to move upward desperately like others, just want some typical 40 hours work jobs. I did some research on government accounting, and I truly believe it is for me. But, taking extra courses to meet 150 units requirements or studying for CPA exam are nightmares for me since I just wanna be done with the education after this semester. I would appreciate some feedback. Thank you.

[discouragedinpublic]

Hi! I worked in local government for a year and the short answer is no, you don’t need the cpa to work in local government but they did want us to have our masters.

Another thing to factor is that government work can be incredibly boring at least where I worked. You literally do the same thing almost every day.

Another thing to factor is that when you are working for the government you are also a civil servant and you don’t get paid like you might in private. Our government did not provide us with simple things like coffee or plastic wear, we had to buy all of that on our own. We also had high turnover, at least once a month someone was leaving.

One other thing… our government still made us work 70 hour weeks some times in order to get the CAFR out on time so it’s not always truly a 40 hour work week.

[Author]

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