[sacpa]

I have been offered a full time tax preparer position at a small CPA firm. This position will extend after tax season & year around. I have been given two options:

1. Hourly pay or

2. 20% of what I make for the firm

I will be given a W2 for both options. Health insurance will be offered after 90 days. For hourly pay, there will be overtime offered for work on Saturdays. For the previous 3 tax seasons at other CPA firms, I was offered an hourly pay & a W2. I am not able to decide between the two.

Your thoughts? TIA for all your input.

Btw, the firm is less than 10 minutes from my home – a huge plus. The CPA is an ex IRS auditor who is a walking encyclopedia. The firm provides services like tax preparation, bookkeeping & other services. So there is lot of scope for me to learn a lot.

FAR - < than 75, 10/2013, 2/2015
BEC - < than 75, 10/2013
AUD - < than 75, 8/2015, 1/2016

~ Winners fail until they succeed. Losers quit when they fail. - Robert Kiyosaki
~ I survived because the fire inside burned brighter than the fire around me.
~ Something will grow from all you are going through. And it will be YOU.
~ Right now you may not be where you intend to be, but it's where you need to be in order to get where you want to go.

[Anonymous]

The deal should be, hourly pay + 20% of any new business you bring in. Assuming that you won't have a lot of time to focus on the 20% side of it.

[Anonymous]

The deal should be, hourly pay + 20% of any new business you bring in. Assuming that you won't have a lot of time to focus on the 20% side of it.

[sacpa]

Thanks, jdn9201. The job offer is not yet final. I am going to choose hourly pay & see whether I can change to profit sharing later on when I have a good idea of what I am getting into.

6silvermoonbeams, that would be a nice deal.

FAR - < than 75, 10/2013, 2/2015
BEC - < than 75, 10/2013
AUD - < than 75, 8/2015, 1/2016

~ Winners fail until they succeed. Losers quit when they fail. - Robert Kiyosaki
~ I survived because the fire inside burned brighter than the fire around me.
~ Something will grow from all you are going through. And it will be YOU.
~ Right now you may not be where you intend to be, but it's where you need to be in order to get where you want to go.

[Anonymous]

Yes, don't do proft sharing. I would do the hourly. I do the calculations for my profit sharing plan for my company. After working in profit sharing I learned that I do not want my wages or my retirement $$ to depend on a profit sharing plan. Take in consideration that that it could be different in every company but I wouldn't want to depend on it. 🙂
I'll probably move to a different company after I get my CPA 🙂

[sacpa]

TXCPA2016, thanks for your input! Ya, choosing hourly pay makes more sense, at least for now.

FAR - < than 75, 10/2013, 2/2015
BEC - < than 75, 10/2013
AUD - < than 75, 8/2015, 1/2016

~ Winners fail until they succeed. Losers quit when they fail. - Robert Kiyosaki
~ I survived because the fire inside burned brighter than the fire around me.
~ Something will grow from all you are going through. And it will be YOU.
~ Right now you may not be where you intend to be, but it's where you need to be in order to get where you want to go.

[sacpa]

Update on the job offer:

Almost 2 weeks after the interview, I called the CPA to ask about the position status & he replied saying that he has hired someone. So I politely thanked him & ended the call. To recap, the CPA congratulated me towards the end of my interview giving me the impression that I was hired. The following week, I called him to check the status. When I asked him about the job offer, he said that he has a small company & he will figure something out. He then replied to my questions about pay, whether W2 or 1099 & such. But later he sent an email saying that he is still interviewing candidates. Clearly, he is not an organized person. First, he gave me the impression that I was hired & then told me the offer is not final. Either he forgot what he said earlier to me or he changed his mind.

Since this job offer was not final, I started searching & applying for other jobs, which as you know takes a lot of time. I called the CPA yesterday & he said that he hired someone. Today morning, I got 4 short emails sent by him around 5:15am asking me when I can join & that I can choose between hourly pay or 20% of cash paid by clients. The billing rate would be $150 & I would get 20% of it, if I choose that option. I wonder how I can work under a person with this kind of an attitude.

The other thing is today I had an interview with one of the leading CPA firms in my area. The position is a temporary AR position with mostly duties related to collection calls & other AR/AP duties as required. This is a temporary position filling in for a person going on maternity leave for 2.5 months. My dilemma is to choose between:
1. the tax preparation job with higher hourly pay & some overtime at a small CPA firm, 5 minutes away from my home – I have experience working for the past 3 tax seasons in CPA firms.
2. the AR position with probably lesser hourly pay & probably lesser or no overtime (than the tax preparer position) at one of the leading CPA firms in my area about 20 minutes drive from home – commute not a problem, but work in an area where I would like to enter, explore & gain experience. They clearly pointed out that it is temporary position. But if the person on maternity leave cannot come back as planned, I will have a chance in continuing in the same position, Also, if there are other suitable openings in their firm, I get a chance to be considered for those positions. .

Please help me decide. If only the CPA had confirmed the job earlier, I could have saved all the hassle & probably not even applied to the AR position.

FAR - < than 75, 10/2013, 2/2015
BEC - < than 75, 10/2013
AUD - < than 75, 8/2015, 1/2016

~ Winners fail until they succeed. Losers quit when they fail. - Robert Kiyosaki
~ I survived because the fire inside burned brighter than the fire around me.
~ Something will grow from all you are going through. And it will be YOU.
~ Right now you may not be where you intend to be, but it's where you need to be in order to get where you want to go.

[Anonymous]

Generally, I would say go for the permanent position, cause a temp job that's for someone on maternity leave has a pretty high chance of truly being temp, and then you're out of a job soon. If it was simply temp, cause the job was open, then there's a chance that it's really a way of hiring permanent, but with a permanent employee who is simply out for a couple months, it's probably really temp.

However, given how insane the CPA guy has been, I would be extremely hesitant to work under him. Either he told you he'd hired someone when he hadn't, or the other person has left already. Regardless, he sounds like a nut job.

So, my advice would depend on how desperately you're in need of a job. If you're out of work for a few months after the temp job ends, will you be OK financially? If so, I'd go with the temp job, and try hard to find a permanent job for when it ends. However, if you desperately need a steady stream of income, then you might have to go with the CPA firm and just suck it up, but it sounds like the work environment will be terrible so I'd still view the CPA firm as a temporary job and be looking for a new one ASAP.

[monikernc]

I can tell you with keen hindsight not to ignore the red flags this guy is waving. Whether he is a whack job, indecisive or just desperate yet unhappy with his choice of candidates, he is not behaving professionally or treating you with the respect you deserve.
There is so much that is crazy in the world that it will find a way into your life at times but don't invite it in. The stable firm with the temp option is really your only sane choice at the moment if you must have something now. Take it and keep looking. You deserve the best of what life has to offer and in this moment temp AR is it. Something better always comes along. If for some reason you decide to chance it with Mr Doesn't Know Who He Wants then take the definite salary and keep looking for a better environment. Before you do, though, google him and check his status with state board to see if he has ever been in trouble. Good luck and always read the signs for warnings and avoid trouble when you see it.

FAR 7/25/15 76!
AUD 10/30/15 93
BEC 2/27/16 82
REG 5/23/16 88!
Ninja Book and MCQ and the forum - all the way!!!
and a little thing i like to call, time and effort!
if you want things to change, you have to do something different

[mb23]

I agree with monikernc. The CPA is showing some serious red flags, and to tell you one day that he already hired someone then send you emails at 5:15 a.m. the next day asking when you can start is messed up. And this after he congratulated you during your interview even though he was still interviewing others for the position. I would steer clear of working for someone like that…if things are already this disjointed at the interview/job offer stage, it will likely only get worse once you start working there. Good luck with your decision, and hopefully the temporary A/R position will be offered to you.

[sacpa]

Thanks for the feedback, everyone! I am really touched that all of you are looking out for me & giving advice.

Unfortunately, I did not get the AR position. All I am left with is the job offered by the smaller CPA firm. In his email, the CPA mentioned that he forgot a 2nd employee was also leaving & that he will be needing a second person. Looks like he hired one person & that's what he told me yesterday.

Will do some more research before deciding. Probably I should just focus on studying & getting over with the exams.

FAR - < than 75, 10/2013, 2/2015
BEC - < than 75, 10/2013
AUD - < than 75, 8/2015, 1/2016

~ Winners fail until they succeed. Losers quit when they fail. - Robert Kiyosaki
~ I survived because the fire inside burned brighter than the fire around me.
~ Something will grow from all you are going through. And it will be YOU.
~ Right now you may not be where you intend to be, but it's where you need to be in order to get where you want to go.

[Missy]

I think you should take the hourly tax job for the experience. You sound pretty early on in your career (assuming you were getting an offer, no matter what is said it's never an offer until it's in writing.) I wouldn't plan to stick around long, and keep your expectations realistic, even if they lead you to believe you'll be moving up the ranks). Sounds like they made an offer, the person accepted and they assumed they had “hired” someone, then that person backed out-got a better offer elsewhere, etc. Happens all the time. I would advise not to respond to email until 8a lol don't give the boss the impression you are at his call 24/7.

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

[sacpa]

mla11692, I understand. That is why I called & asked him specifically. He lead me on & then said that he is still interviewing. I am 52 & started working only recently after taking care of my family. I have worked in 2 CPA firms in the past 3 tax seasons.

monikernc, I did a Google search. Guess what, a whole document turned up with full details of the issue he faced with the State Board. Violations included not filing audit reports according to GAAP, using a non registered name for his name in his website etc. But another search revealed that his firm prepared more than 1000 reports in 2015. So I guess the problem was sorted out & he is still practising & has thriving practice.

I have an uneasy feeling on many counts. I don't want to get into trouble working for this firm & hurt the limited choices I have. Then again, I can't judge without knowing the full details & background of the issue he had with the state board.

FAR - < than 75, 10/2013, 2/2015
BEC - < than 75, 10/2013
AUD - < than 75, 8/2015, 1/2016

~ Winners fail until they succeed. Losers quit when they fail. - Robert Kiyosaki
~ I survived because the fire inside burned brighter than the fire around me.
~ Something will grow from all you are going through. And it will be YOU.
~ Right now you may not be where you intend to be, but it's where you need to be in order to get where you want to go.

[sacpa]

No other job leads yet. I am financally ok. Just that my trend of working in a CPA firm during the tax season is not going to continue this year & I will be asked about it in future job interviews.

Is it a really good idea to take the plunge & join this CPA firm?

FAR - < than 75, 10/2013, 2/2015
BEC - < than 75, 10/2013
AUD - < than 75, 8/2015, 1/2016

~ Winners fail until they succeed. Losers quit when they fail. - Robert Kiyosaki
~ I survived because the fire inside burned brighter than the fire around me.
~ Something will grow from all you are going through. And it will be YOU.
~ Right now you may not be where you intend to be, but it's where you need to be in order to get where you want to go.

[Author]

Replies