[animalwithin]

Hi folks, I’ll try to keep this short.

Been working in accounting for 1.5 years now, switched over from medicine. My dad has a very successful CPA firm and this is where I currently work. His firm provides the following for clients:
-Taxes (personal + corporate)
-Consulting
-Payroll
-Financial statement prep
-Business entity formation

I spend my days doing payroll and financial statements and I absolutely loathe it. They’re both things you can hire someone out of high school to do. I also do taxes during tax season and it’s not exactly exciting.

So fast forward to now and I’m basically unhappy in this field which makes studying for this exam pretty tough. My plan was to take over the family business but I just don’t see that happening anymore. Problem is, I only know of accounting through the lens of my dad’s business and I’m left to wonder what else I can do with a CPA license if I don’t stick with him. I love real estate and have had extensive experience in that business, not sure how to incorporate a CPA into that. And I really miss medicine, not sure how a CPA would fit into that field either.

I’m open to any thoughts, opinions, or musings you all might have. Thanks for reading!

[turo9992000]

If I were you I'd ask myself if I would be going into accounting if my dad was not a CPA. If the answer is no, then you should really consider doing something else. Does your dad's firm generate a lot of income? That might be enough motivation for some.

[bhunt815]

If you don't geek out over tax prep or compiling financial statements then accounting might not be for you (yes, there are some of us who do geek out over that stuff). There are lots of other aspects of accounting but the chances that, for example, the data side might turn you on if the financial/tax stuff doesn't seems pretty low. If you want to get into real estate, there are likely more valuable ways to spend your time than studying for the CPA exam.

Having said that, the prospect of taking over a successful CPA firm in a few years is an opportunity most of us don't have. Please stop and re-examine that aspect before you make a decision because that's pretty big.

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[animalwithin]

Thanks for the responses. The firm does generate a very high income and has grown annually for many years. I've spent a lot of time thinking of how I can capitalize on the the high income but I ultimately end up with the conclusion that I don't want to be doing this for many years. I don't think it would be particularly fair to my dad to take over his firm solely for monetary reasons with the ultimate plan of pivoting into something else down the line not relating to accounting.

I can't deny that I haven't learned valuable business/finance skills which will definitely help me in other financial endeavors. And I do like analyzing financial statements of entities that I have an interest in (for example quarterly and annual statements for companies I'm invested in). I just hate the manual act of data entry and can't help but feel most of what I do will be automated within the next several years.

[DM]

Spread those wings! You need some big company exposure. Small business clients and individuals is boring in itself for a young CPA. Go on a sabbatical from your dad's business and use your CPA to get into large complex business transactions. Keep dad's business on the table for later, you are still young and he can always bring you in as COO when you return if all else fails. The key here is that you have a backup plan for life, and not many people have that – so you should always keep that door open.

The biopharma industry is a really good one for CPAs to join. Very fast pace, highly regulated, many operating units/affiliates. Energy and Natural Resources is another great industry for a young CPA. Tech and media is very popular in larger cities. Pick an industry you want to work in and then go from there.

[cpa1234]

Everyone needs an accountant. So if you like real estate or medicine, go on indeed.com and see if any medical practices or real estate firms have their accounting done internally. If places don't have basic accounting done internally, they may have internal auditors. So you could make a switch to a new firm, but find a staff audit job. Take the CPA exams, get your license, and work in audit for a couple years. Then you could apply for an internal audit position in a field of your choosing that's looking for one.

[Ken]

It sounds like you're doing accounting to please your family and not yourself, which is a very common problem with EVERYBODY. You're afraid of disappointing your dad with his long-time expectations of you. If you don't speak up soon it will only get harder to break the news to your family that this isn't the career for you.

You can rationalize that you like or can tolerate accounting work all day, but if you wake up in the morning and the first thing you think is that boring & monotonous job when I can be doing more interesting jobs, then you already decided in your head.

To the other replies, it doesn't matter if you do accounting for a biopharma company or a strip-club, at the end of the day you still have to analyze the boring numbers and spreadsheets. If being a CPA was fun then EVERYBODY would be doing it & you would hear about droves of people changing their careers to be an exciting accountant.

I do it mostly for money and I had a college job that only reimbursed my college tuition for “business related” majors. When I'm limited to business majors to study for, it's obvious that a CPA is my best shot at living well. I actually wanted to be a CFA, but it's literally 10 times harder than a CPA. My college finance PhD professor told the entire class to don't even bother in 2005. I'd rather hear the cold hard truth.

[animalwithin]

@DM and @Cpa123, these are things I have thought of. Perhaps I just need to work in a different accounting environment as well as dabbling in other aspects of accounting.

But as @Ken has very eloquently stated above, ultimately that might be futile. I'm not afraid of disappointing my parents actually, I've done that plenty in the past. If I do walk away from accounting however, my relationship with my dad is effectively over (long/complicated story).

Therefore at this point I'm mostly doing it for the money and whatever skills/experience the job brings in terms of finance and business. But if I am doing this for the money, that leaves me with a lot of questions that I don't yet have answers to: is it worth it? Are there other things that I could be doing now that are better uses of my time that would make me as much or more money? How long do I plan on doing this? What's my exit strategy for when I'm ready to leave the industry? If I'm only going to be doing this for X amount of years, is it worth it at all to be doing this in the first place?

[Jimmy Dugan]

Are you really going to be doing payroll and compiling financial statements when you take the business over? I would think you'd have to take on a more strategic role at that point and won't be as buried in the grunt work you're doing now. I love the work I do, but if I was printing checks, filing quarterlies, etc., I would hate it too. You can always hire people to do the work you are doing now and get involved in more advisory work. That said, if you don't even think you would enjoy (or at least not hate) higher order accounting work, you are definitely right to be looking elsewhere.

[animalwithin]

Jimmy, sadly yes. My dad built his accounting firm largely off of those services (he has well over 100 clients so work fills up quickly). Outside of tax season, he spends most of his own time doing payroll, compiling financial statements, and taking care of tax payments, fees, quarterlies, etc.

It's to my knowledge that most of this work is usually delegated to other employees but he's done everything on his own for 25 years and refuses to hire other people. He also works 12-15 hours a day 365 days a year.

At this point I don't even know what higher order accounting work is 🙁

[Jimmy Dugan]

Well, it sounds like he's been very successful with that model but it may not be the one you want to continue. I worked for a small CPA firm for around a year and did the same type of work, and like you I couldn't stomach it. I moved on to working in finance on the private side and have never looked back. Just know that accounting is a vast world that encompasses many different roles and there may be something else out there you like more (finance, auditing , etc.). Or, also nothing wrong with not wanting to do it at all. Maybe invest in some career exploration resources (What Color is My Parachute) and get some ideas about where your interests lie.

[animalwithin]

I definitely can't argue with his financial success. The way he's engineered his business has definitely worked for him, but definitely not one I want to be involved in for the long term.

Thanks for the advice Jimmy, I'll definitely consider take it to heart.

[cantpassagain1]

This seems to be a good problem to have in my opinion – the fact that you have the opportunity to take over your Father's business.

However, I see how you have reservations if it is not what you bargained for. My advice if you miss medicine, hate F/S prep, but will ultimately be inclined to take over your Father's business is this –

Get into auditing at an accounting firm that has a plethora of health care clients. It appears time is on your side so make sure it's a right fit. Get experience so that you can go out and gain these types of clients for your Father's firm once you take over. Typically manager level (~5 years) is when you may (depending on the firm) have the opportunity to learn the client engagement/acquisition process.

I would be shocked if mid-tier and even B4 would not pick you up if you expressed a strong interest to work solely in health care, given your background in medicine. A large part of auditing is assessing risk via understanding the entity. You'll be out at these clients in a medical environment, which I assume is a plus for you, even though it's not in a medical capacity.

It seems like you have a lot of options. I'm not sure if you're a follow-your-heart type of guy, but if that's the case then just nix everything I just said and get back into medicine – don't think twice. If you can't bear both mundane work and not taking over your Father's business in good conscience about it's future, then look into auditing in order to prepare for that day.

[Author]

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