[GettinACPA]

I have just been approached for a senior accountant position at a large private company. However, I have recently been thinking I may need to get into public accounting to gain more marketable experience for my career long-term. I am kind of stuck, I have a good employer but career growth is fairly slow, and it took 1 year after getting my CPA license to get this offer and no bonus post license.

Any help or incite will help. Thank you in advance!!!

BEC-75 (1/14)
AUD- 55(5/13), 62(4/14), 76 (8/14)
FAR- 69(4/13), 70(7/13), 76 (2/14)
REG- 67(11/13), 78(5/14)

Needed two more units(ugh!) Completed 6/15

CPA 2015 (:

[TaxGod]

I have done both, but it is hard to answer your question because it really depends on your long term goals, what you want with your career, and also how much you value work/life balance.

Public accounting is great for experience because you get tons of different tax stations and see things from different angles. Private is good because it has a better work life balance, usually more money, and you can specialize in either the company or the industry you work for.

Personally i like the public route because im young willing to work long hours and it is better for myself for down the road. However, i am not sure i would turn down a senior position if i was offered it in private.

AUD: 02/28/15 - 89
FAR: 05/29/15 - 80
BEC: 08/03/15 - 81
REG: 08/27/15 - 76

[GHardesty]

I have seen so many accountants in management (i.e. controllers, directors etc.) that did not have a background in public accounting. The controller of the company i work at does have public accounting experience, but also does not think it is necessary for controllership positions. The highest paid controller that I have personally worked with did not have a background in public accounting.

With that being said, if I were to advise somebody coming out of college I would say that the fast-track is to work for a public accounting firm, do well there, and then work in private accounting.

At some point though, it is not worth moving backwards to work as staff assurance, for example, going from private to public.

I'm not sure what your current position is. Is this a promotion? If you are a staff accountant and you are being offered a senior accountant role then I would advise to strongly consider – given you feel that you are a good fit with the culture and express during the interview process (you are interviewing them as much as they are interviewing you) some questions that are important to you, to be happy (and therefore produce results).

Lastly, public and private are totally different. If you like the job description and you find it rewarding then that also might make more sense then pursuing public. The opposite is true for public vs private. However, if you feel that public accounting is a necessary option (for market experience) I would advise that is not necessarily true.

Hope that helps.

AUD 80 05/31/16 (1x)
BEC 80 01/16/16 (3x)
FAR 78 11/23/15 (2x)
REG 87 02/29/16 (2x)

[Track55]

I work in private and get treated like a prince

AUD - 74, 99 !!
REG - 74, 92
BEC - 83
FAR - 73, 86

Studying for Ethics exam

California candidate
Business and Industry

[Author]

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