[Anonymous]

This is not an interview 😛

Just curious why you decided to pursue accounting and if/why you think you made the right decision.

[BatmanInTraining]

I'm only 23 and still like to think Im young and don't know it all, so my answer might seem dumb. I chose it cause I had a professor at my community college who seemed so genuinely happy with his career. He had his own practice, and taught part time accounting classes and just genuinely amazing person. After talking to him, it seemed like maybe that could be for me. Now having passed the CPA and graduated college, but not yet starting Big4 job (starting in 2 weeks) I sometimes doubt this may be what i want. But I wanna give it my all and see what happens. I don't mind long hours, but Id rather them be for me and not someone else. So I still think I can be happy in this career but I have to make it work for me. But that might be the case in anything people do.

[Skynet]

The women.

[BatmanInTraining]

@Skynet You legit made me laugh so hard. I had a nice cathartic moment and then I see your post. Thank you. hahah

[tskits75]

Growing up I wanted to be a Zoologist and go to Africa and study big cats, but realized that was prety unrealistic. My senior year in high school they introduced an accounting class and the rest was history.

AUD - 92
BEC - 79
REG - August
FAR - TBD

[Missy]

Wanted something that ultimately I could freelance/consult from anywhere in the world when I'm ready to get out of the 9-5, also I have a neurological condition and wanted a career that could easily be adapted if I wasn't able to write, type, drive, or even walk at some point.

Licensed Massachusetts Non Reporting CPA since 2012
Finance/Admin/HR Manager

[Anonymous]

Aligned with @Missy on this one.

The freedom. The prestige. The challenge.

[Ben]

Well, my parents said I started counting things when I was a year old, and I just figured “hey if you've been doing it this long, you're probably good at it”.

[cleethree]

I come from a family of accountants (both of my parents are actuaries) and I am pretty good at math. But now that I am in the profession, I realize it not as math heavy as I thought.

At times I consider if I should of went into finance instead.

[Earla Riopel (NYCARE)]

At the start, my mother wants me to. It's a long story, but I will try to make it short.

I wanted to become a Civil Engineer. How would I know, I was only 15 when I graduated High School. I like the title ‘Engineer…so and so'.

Unfortunately, my mother who owns a small store wants me to help her at the store. Since it's a small store in a small town, I said, I'll go for a Commerce degree major in accounting. So, I can work for the government (City/Province), and help her at her store. That never happened.

At 19, I graduated from my Commerce undergrad (7 full + 3 summer semesters in 3.5yrs). I didn't stay in our small town, I went and look for work in Manila instead, so I can pay her back with my tuition fees and related costs for my undergrad faster.

At six months in Manila, staying with aunts, looking for work, I couldn't find any, even a salesperson in a mall. During my stay with my aunts, I learned how to take care of my younger cousins, and I became their housekeeper.

I thought, since I am becoming a housekeeper for my aunts in Manila, I rather go and work in Singapore, join my other two aunts, and get paid. So that's how I worked for a British family of chartered accountants.

After 4 years in Singapore, I went to Canada, and the rest is history. Even after 32 years since my first undergrad, I still want to be an accountant. Also, my husband is very happy that he married an accountant. His retirement days is safe. Lol!

[RyonT]

I hadn't declared a major yet, and ended up taking an accounting course. While many were struggling with debits and credits, it came pretty easily to me. I liked it and decided I could do this for 30-40 years. 10 years in, I don't necessarily dislike it, but I wish I were doing something else some days. Sitting at a desk all day does sh*t for your back. That being said, I've wanted the CPA title ever since I started, so its obviously not all that bad since I'm torturing myself with this exam.

[Ben]

RyonT – I'm a little over 10 years into my career, but I'm completely with you on wanting something else some days.

I'm an EA and have a tax firm (boo hiss, I know), and we do bookkeeping and what not for several hundred clients. The work I dont mind, the people I dont mind… keeping up with the IRS some days is a pain in the back, amongst other places. When (keep telling myself when, not if) I get my CPA, I know the state board is a pain as well. But my clients need CPA services so here I am.

[Superdude3000]

I really enjoyed my first accounting courses. The math was simple and I enjoyed the balancing of debits and credits. I figured it's a very practical with regards to job security, plus there's a lot of mobility. I also discovered that the supply of CPAs was not increasing nearly as fast as the amount of accounting grads so, basic economics, CPA salaries should continue to increase if supply is restricted – assuming of course they don't ease up on the requirements to sit. I find accounting to be logical which works with my more left-brained mind. The ‘puzzle' aspect of it all is also cool. Auditing appealed to me specifically for the following reasons: work environments change, you get to ‘look up the skirts' of businesses, and there's an element of creativity depending on who your client is – meaning procedures will vary

[Ana]

I had already had a business degree (didn't like acct classes then) from a prestigious school in SoCal and a good job in the booming field of plastic surgery. Then when the economy took a nosedive in 2009, I decided to go back to school and get a second degree in Accounting because it's a field that no matter what has work. It took only about a year. I can take 10 more classes and get a Master's in Acct. As far as the right choice…I don't enjoy accounting, it's not a passion, I don't excel at it, and I don't know how I'm going to do it for another 30 years. Most of the time I want to strangle my staff because they're lazy, know it alls, and don't know basic acct. However, I've had great jobs and now a promising career since I've made the change. I have the freedom to tell a CFO or President to F off and go to another company if I choose to. In SoCal where the cost of living is so high you really a great paying job to live.

[waffle_house]

Became an accountant because my managerial accounting professor said I would make more money in accounting than a math major.

After 4 years of experience, this was a lie. 🙂

[ellejay]

I worked as an office manager for some time, and we worked with a CPA from a public accounting firm to help fix up our books and do our taxes. He was a great business advisor and a resource to us. I wanted to be someone who business owners would want to come to for help, like him. I really enjoy taking information that is all over the place and organizing it into a tidy list (i.e. financial statement, or tax return) – I also like to advise clients and learn about their business. Through my job at a small public accounting firm, I have learned a lot about a variety of industries, and I enjoy the fact I am always learning something new. There are boring aspects of my job, but I do not feel overall like my job will ever be boring. Some days I come in just to help with bookkeeping and that is boring, but then I might get a foreign complex tax return to do which requires a lot of research and learning. In public, I feel like I will never learn enough and I might be a weird person – but I like that.

Originally I wanted to be an OB doctor. Then I decided I didn't want to be in school for so long. So I decided to go for nursing (both my parents are in healthcare). I even completed all my prereqs, and really enjoyed all of those classes. But then I decided accounting was more my style, no night shifts, and pretty flexible for at least half the year (at my current firm anyways). I'm also not on my feet for 12 hour shifts cleaning up peoples' puke and blood, so that's a bonus.

To add – I also thought I'd be making bank as an accountant. Hahahahahahahaha hahahahaha.

[Author]

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