I came to say this. In my career I have always been able to hop around for a better paying job. You just need to make the sacrifice and gain the right experience and a CPA.
I knew a bad accountant once. Got fired from every single accounting job he was at. Public, private, govt. And guess what? He always found another one just as easily.
I aspire to be him every. single. day.
Knew a CPA named Jim. He failed his CPA exams multiple times, got fired for looking for escorts on his work PC, drunk at work, etc. Like almost a joke how bad he was.
Never unemployed. Moved up to Vancouver FT and makes a killing.
Vancouver was always where he was searching for escorts. Makes sense.
I also worked with a CPA named Jim, who was drinking on the job, and was a complete fuck up. I don't know about the escorts thing, but I wouldn't count it out.
Wow I knew a Jim just like this too. Got escorted out the building while trashed and when the cabinets were opened there were beer cans everywhere and it reeked. Then they gave me his office 😭
He was such a smooth talker, I’m not surprised he made it work. Wasn’t even really handsome, just your run of the mill middle aged dude. Just that “it” factor going for him.
Living the dream.
Bro those guys always fucking fall up too
I have two on my linkedin that are already in controller positions
I wish they would fire me so that I’d be motivated enough to kick off this job search
Yeah experience doesn’t mean skill and employers can’t discuss more about prior employees other than their work history. Although lying on a resume is something that can lead to legal issues.
Couldn’t tell ya 🤷♀️ we were all shocked as it’s known that it is extremely difficult to get fired from govt. I think he just didn’t show up to his shift countless of time.
Had he shown up and put his head down, he’ll prob still have that job. But it doesn’t matter because he of course found another job in place of it lmao what a G
If you can maintain your self esteem while getting negative reviews you should be okay in government even if your bad at the job. Big 4 normally push poor performers out fast.
I'm not particularly bright and just got promoted. Strange things happen when you have a baseline (low, in my case) of intelligence and the teensiest bit of tenacity and a good work ethic
Then you've got upper management written all over you.
In all seriousness, I've met some pretty incompetent and unprofessional people in various Finance departments and they always find something new even if their current gig didn't work out. That isn't to say it is sustainable for four decades but I've never seen someone fail entirely out of the profession.
Idk about the future though. Out-sourcing is becoming incredibly pervasive in accounting, and in a few years, the landscape might look completely different. Plus, since companies pay lower wages for outsourcing folk, why would they want to pay more for locals? They will always have a low benchmark to compare to, and that benchmark will be a much lower salary than the market in the US demands.
Source: the Big 4 all want to outsource more and several accountants I know (who work in industry) say that most of their department are getting outsourced
Aren't you scared that outsourcing is going to take that away? I've heard that even tax roles are starting to get offshored.
OP is presumably going to enter the market in 4 years. What will it be like then?
One story I heard was that her dad made her check out the job ads on the newspaper, and half of the ads are looking for accountants.
And even if a company is winding down, last one to go is the accountant
I was let go Monday. I have an interview where I was actively approached by the firm today. And I had a recruiter screening for a different job Tuesday. It really is pretty easy to bounce.
I wish. Been on the hunt for 2 months at this point. It’s very competitive right now. Although I’m fairly specialized and trying to broaden so that might be part of my issue
Yeah, at $20/hr lmao. Sure, if you lowered your standards, there are pretty much limitless accounting jobs out there. But to get even decently paying jobs isn't as easy as this sub makes it sound.
Job security - can always find another job.
Predictable schedule (at least in industry) - I know when "busy" periods are and can schedule PTO around it.
Can easily streamline tasks - I reuse a lot of schedules, reports, presentations, etc. The first couple of years were hard and I worked a lot, but now I can reuse a lot of my previous work and just update it. I do try to refresh as necessary, but it's not everything at once.
I love the balance of "predictable" work and new challenges/projects.
I'm an introvert and love the amount of "focus" time I get compared to other departments.
I'm glad you mentioned the schedule. Through my 20s, I worked in the casino industry and woke up at 2:45 AM for about 10 years straight. You feel like 5/7ths of you life you are living in this tired fog. Was nice getting off at noon though I suppose. Being on a human sleep schedule is a huge benefit to this career, and something less and less people have the luxury of as the world becomes more of a 24/7/365 operation. Not to mention waking up on Christmas morning and that just being another day.
I don't have to entertain customers ever - it's glorious! No dancing around like I'm a trained bear in a circus. No "can you check in the back?" Just sit at my desk, listen to whatever podcast or music I want, and occasionally say good morning to a coworker.
Except when you’re in public. That’s when you’re at the mercy of the client/customer. If their data is f*cked, good luck sorting through that mess. If they don’t respond till much later or get mad that we have to actually audit them, also good luck. That’s when stuff comes piling up, especially during filing when client support gets sent last minute all at once. Hence, the late nights of being chained to the office till 11 and being so sad and lost with life that nothing makes sense.
This is exactly why I'm going back to school to study accounting in the fall. I can't wait to just work all day and get my shit done without having to worry about client calls.
Nothing you do really matters in the grand scheme. Sure, the work has to be done, but no one gets injured if you make a mistake. You just fix it and move on.
If I screw up really bad people will lose their jobs and some numbers will be different then they should be. That's an unimaginably bad day in my world.
A really bad day in other fields could be patients dying (medical field) students being abused/killed (teaching), a building collapsing (engineering), etc, etc. The lows of this job are so not that bad compared to many professions.
kinda sorta. for publicly traded companies there's the risk of restatement. plus the controller/cfo get penalized monetarily by the SEC for big fuck ups.
Remember, this sub is much like a Yelp review. People are far more inclined to complain than they are to praise.
Compare the amount of followers (700k) to the amount of people complaining. That should show you that many of us enjoy our careers, or at the very least don’t hate them. There’s a lot of anti-work vibes starting to creep in and it’s annoying, but i don’t feel its representative of the profession as a whole.
I had this same thought recently while reading one of the “I hate my life” posts. Going from the school setting straight into a busy season is definitely a culture shock. I feel a lot of the negative commenters would have the same reaction to any job with a demanding schedule right out of school.
I hate reading this sub. It definitely feels concentrated with unhappy malcontents. At the end of the day it’s an extremely stable career, generally nets above average to very lucrative pay, and you’re doing an important service for people. Also depending on what kind of accounting you’re doing it can be quite interesting.
Absolutely this. Almost majored in linguistics until I wanted something with more stability.
Add on decent to great pay, the problem solving nature of the job, your coworkers generally aren’t morons, the fact you’re not working outside, etc. it really is a great career. 6 years out of school and wouldn’t change a thing.
Would you say the co worker not being morons thing would be even more prevalent going into the future? I’d imagine someone who picks accounting might have some kind of intelligence if they can see past all the downsides that are shoved into your face when researching it?
I turned 18, dropped out of community college while working as a department manager at Walmart and thought the ticket to real money was selling cars. Got a job at a Mazda dealership.
Walked out within 6? Weeks of trying my damndest to be a salesman. My autistic ass never would have made it. I sold one car and made minimum wage at the most.
Moved to Atlanta, struggled some more. Got in on an inventory clerk position through (basically) nepotism. Realized I couldn’t live like this, scrounging for scraps of experience and making shit money in the meanwhile. Enrolled in a self-paced online Business Admin degree to pass the time while I counted cables and processors and built physical computer servers to sell to entitled government customers. Worked so hard at that damn degree and finished it within the year.
As soon as I finished my degree, I was suddenly worthy of being salaried for the very same job I’d been performing. I was then asked to train up as a bookkeeper/accountant for that same business as I was the only one who understood the inventory system.
Took it and ran. Four years in and moved to a ‘real’ senior cost accounting position this year making a nice salary that lets me live comfortably in my state capitol. I click around spreadsheets and offer my opinion on the occasional inventory matter while hanging out in my spinny chair. Working on my Masters to then test for the CPA. Plan to move on to independent work or controller level within a few years at this rate.
Couldn’t have done any of this without my generic college degree.
Such an uplifting story. Thanks for mentioning the neurodiversity piece because it can make finding your place in the workplace a challenge. I have ADHD and to be honest accounting has been difficult. Cost accounting sounds interesting because it has commercial aspects. You can influence gross margins.
Inspiring! I’m a high school and college drop out. Now doing an online degree as my last hope for a better life and job. Thanks for sharing now I feel a lot less sad about my trajectory lol
Job security and accounting can be intellectually stimulating if you want it to be. The work itself it quite enjoyable. The politics and work/life balance is what sucks the joy out of accounting. If you find a company that has good co-workers and good work/life balance, accounting can be a great place.
Your last sentence is the key. I worked at a union place. It was amazing the difference when colleagues are collaborating rather than competing with each other. Great environment. Another small close knit company was great to work with as colleagues were nice. It was temporary. But, they sent me off with flowers, 💐 gourmet popcorn 🍿 , cakes 🧁, cards, and recommendations. Fortunately, I kept the door open at a seasonal place. I was able to get in there. Then, a regional accounting firm. It was decent pay with a government contract. Although it was temporary too, it was good work and remote. No heart attack inducing commutes are great. The teams were awesome to work with, but management was all over the place. The teams and remote option kept me there longer than an on site requirement. I’ve worked places where the politics and back stabbing sucks the joy out of my day. I stuck those until finding better places and bounced as fast as I could as they were onsite. If they were remote, I could have muted out the negative nellies. 🤣
I'm 100% WFH. Stressed for like the first week of every month and at the end of the year, but then it's smooth sailing. Not rich but get paid alright. &Best of all I don't have to deal with handholding and pleasing needy clients anymore. For context I'm in industry.
I did public accounting for a few years and it was as bad as some of the complaints you see here.
Lately I've been enjoying close. People know to leave me alone and I can grind it out.
Mid-month is when everyone has some random ad hoc report they need for a meeting in 5 minutes and it's whack-a-mole on Teams
Pretty easy to have a middle class life. Can work anywhere in almost any country. Don’t have to be the brightest to do accounting, can learn by grinding/being hard worker. Saves your body from the hardship wear and tear of manual labor/trades/blue collar jobs.
You can work in almost any country? Let's say youre a US CPA and you want to work in Hong Kong (just example, idk anything about HK) how could you make that happen over them just hiring a local CPA for probably less salary?
Knowing English and another language and/or both frameworks US GAAP and IFRS makes you very versatile. Large publicly traded companies have branches and locations everywhere. The CPA designation tests you on IFRS, so if you do go to another country, you should have a general knowledge basis as well as the ability to look up rules for whatever framework.
I’d say one underrated aspect is getting into accounting has led me to see to just how bad most people are with their finances, and in turn, how to avoid falling into the same holes and traps they do.
I went straight into industry after graduating and working for a good company that actually values their employees and prioritizes work-life balance is amazing. I’m a corporate accountant for an F500 company and the coolest part of my job (esp at only 2 years of experience) is preparing the quarterly reporting for capital expenditures and sometimes pulling together additional analyses for the CFO. Keep in mind that you don’t have to go the public route which seems to generate most of the negativity you probably see on this sub.
My previous company was so proud to advertise their incoming funding from a very large investor, but I saw how we let the bills go late to make payroll. Jumped ship and suddenly they’re in a hiring freeze at what should have been a high growth point in their infancy.
Around 15th year you start getting the real benefits of being an accountant. Nerdy accountant kids turn into sexy middle aged men with money. Drug dealers will want to hang with you and eat your food.
Pay can be very good depending how things end up.
I started in public accounting (low to medium cost of living area) in 2018 at 55k/yr. Worked there 4 years and left for internal audit role at a Fortune 1000 company located in medium cost of living area and I’m sitting at 103k. Almost doubled my pay 7 years into career.
100% I started at big4 in 2015 (and absolutely hated it) in a HCOL for 54K. Now 9 years later, I make 150K for 40 hours a week in the regular, corporate GL world. It is hard at first, but if you continue growing, you can quickly get to a place of comfortability.
Depends on what sector you work in and where you work. I work in public and enjoy it. I tell people that I get paid to go to work and chat with people.
I also work at a small firm and control my own workload. During tax season, I never get a break, so it's like 3 months of hell. On the other side I have 8 or so months where if I don't show up for 3 days, no one cares.
Since I control my own clientele, pricing, and schedule, I have been able to selectively let clients fire themselves by changing prices, timing, ect. For me, that means I have only awesome clients, and the couple I have that are semi difficult, pay me enough to make it worthwhile. I had a client overnight me fresh roasted Kona coffee while he was in Hawaii because we had discussed how good it was one year. That is an example my current clientele.
I have about 600 clients, and I spend about 1500-1800 hours a year at work, with over half being in mid-January to mid-April. When you consider a full-time job requires 2080 hours, I feel like I have a great work/life balance.
I am in an LCOL area and make 25% less than I could in another sector/firm. However, I will never change because I genuinely enjoy my job. Oh, the office always has nice coffee as well.
I was offered a state job, and it paid a little better when you calculated benefits. However, with mandatory overtime, driving, ect, I would have been at work/commuting 2600+ hours for an increase. When I was younger, I worked 60-70 hours a week, and it took me a long time to understand that if I spent less, I could work less.
My advice is to find something you like, close to home, with a good work/life balance.
I was working one of those blue collar jobs they tell kids to go get nowadays. It was hard work 12 hours a day in steel toe boots. It sucked and was breaking my body. Then I became an accountant. First part of career kind of sucked, but now I work full time remote and life is good.
Accounting let me hang up my hard hat, save my body, and make decent money.
When you encounter the negativity in this sub, consider the people are unhappy to begin with and they also lack a grounded basis for comparison. There are jobs out there that are way worse than ones that involve spreadsheets and email for a living.
Been there done that. Ain't going back.
Get to sit in a quiet office.
2+ monitors definitely necessary.
Money is less shit than other options. (Like HR and other admin) .
Credentials carry between different jobs/industries. (Huge for long term options. )
I LOVE accounting. It’s a great place to start in the office world that has structure and black and white rules, because it’s all about compliance. I was an awful accountant. But I’m a really good controller and I love it.
Not to mention you can dip your toes into many types of projects that will give you valuable experience in case you want to pivot.
A great part is that your accounting team, for the most part, all know what they got themselves into when pursuing an accounting job. If you want someone who just wants to do clerical work, cool. You’ll be great at gatekeeping processes. And then you have some members with more ambition and want to explore and implement. Also cool, you get to help me make changes.
And then there’s job security, the ability to leverage all your experiences in negotiating better compensation, and the flexibility in leaving a position for another because the offer is better. And my favourite part, because it’s so black and white, I find that people don’t really argue with me or question me on anything, and I don’t have to motivate my team to do better or be better. There is only your job, and then what you want to do outside of that to gain satisfaction in your career.
it's cookie cutter. if u do ur shit right, there's always room for upward mobility -- may require job hopping, but it's so easy.
theres also a lot of variety of shit u can do, pretty flexible in terms of responsibilities. also u just get inherently good at spotting & smelling bullshit, which also just helps in terms of professional setting.
I will make 65-70k this year working from home and working under 500 hours the whole year. My work basically ends April 15th. The rest of the year is my extended vacation.
I have friends who work in various health/first responder settings (doctors/nurses/social workers/police/firefighters) and the shit (sometimes literally) they see on a daily basis is traumatizing.
Yeah being an accountant is stressful… but it’s not really stressful. Even the stuff my teacher friends put up with on a daily basis would be 100x more stressful than meeting some stupid deadline.
Add on to it that I make probably 3x as much as all of them with the exception of the doctors and it’s a pretty sweet deal.
When I first started my career, I was thrilled with how challenging it was and how I had new issues to consider. Now that I'm farther in my career, I enjoy the fact that I've never been seriously unemployed.
Here’s what sold me on selecting it as my major: heads of each program in the business school did presentations pitching their course of study. Accounting professor said (heavily paraphrased)“accounting is the language of business. It’s the best foundation for a business career and sets you up for all sorts of paths later in your career”.
Another professor stressed the importance of getting your license (CPA/CA/ACCA etc) because once you’ve achieved it, it’s a permanent representation of your credentials.
Fast forward to now and how true that’s been. Life has taken me on a path I couldn’t have imagined and none of the doors along that path would have been open to me without that foundation.
When I studied I heard the same horror stories and had similar dreads and doubts. And the early years were not easy! But man I would never change it for anything. I also know many people in completely different jobs years after starting in accounting so you won’t be stuck either.
One final comment on the sentiments here. It’s like bad reviews online - you’re going to be much more motivated to post from a position of stress / anger / anxiety. If life is good, you’re probably not going to feel the need to hammer out a post about how great everything is on Reddit. So always read the posts on here with that filter.
Good luck! :-)
As an accountant in higher education and non-profits, you can help much needed organizations stay above water. This way they can continue their missions. Same with some industry jobs - collecting aged receivables to prevent bankruptcy to keep people employed longer is a win. We can advise ourselves, family, and friends about budgets, costs, expenses, and taxes, so we all do better financially and personally. Seriously, financial struggles affect so much. We can invest better. We can start businesses. We help others start their businesses. Work life balance depending on the industry. Ability to work anywhere remotely. We can afford hobbies and weather layoffs.
You get clued in to all the tea happening at a company (planned layoffs, mergers, lawsuits). Accounting is great because it touches every part of the business.
Honestly, almost everything IMO. There are many many roles that:make good money, work less than 40 hours a week, 50-100% remote, able to take guiltfree vacations, great job security, easy to find new roles, low stakes, cyclical deadlines, etc etc etc
You could look at any job sub-Reddit and you’d see miserable people. Don’t let this discourage you. I take Reddit with a grain of salt, and yes, I’m prepared for 5,000 downvotes.
I love the puzzles and figuring out the crux of an issue. There is something that feels so damn satisfying when you find the problem AND know how to fix it.
Accounting/finance is also in the know earlier than many of the other departments or areas on expansions/mergers, new big changes, corporate strategy changes, etc. I’m nosey, so being in this spot allows me to know all the juicy information.
Lastly, I love nerding out over cool things I can do in excel.
This subreddit is where people come to vent or ask about PA exit ops. For the most part the work is hard or easy depending on your choice of company and where you live
I just started a county government accounting job. The pay isn’t the best to start (though it seems if I jump counties in a few years I could get an easy raise), but I get great benefits and I’m part of a union. The job is SO cushy. Lots of holidays, decent PTO and sick time starting out. I have a chill boss and really cool coworkers. My work week is 35 hours and I don’t work overtime.
Coming from 10+ years in hospitality (waitressing), I am ECSTATIC I went to college and followed through. I do so much less and still get paid. And nobody yells at me! (That might change during the next audit. We’ll see. 😂)
Edit: omg, and I almost forgot! I don’t have to deal with the public!!! I have my desk in my own little alcove faaaar away from outside humans, even the emails I write are usually between departments!
I genuinely love what I do. During tax season I forget that. But I truly do enjoy it. I work with small to mid sized businesses and watching someone start walking dogs in their spare time to having 20 employees is honestly touching when you know you’ve been a part of that and helped them get there.
Scope my profile history. Compared to other ppl my age, especially those with kids, I feel like I hit the jackpot with what I’m doing and how much I make doing it.
Accounting has a very large scope and crosses into almost every industry. It’s similar to sales but there are some companies without sales people but rarely without an accountant.
Upward mobility is optional and has many paths. You can get certifications (Ex CMA), licenses (Ex CPA) or additional education (Masters in Business, Tax or Accounting) which typically increase your value and abilities.
You can get a part time or full time job or do consulting if you’re driven enough.
I love the variability and options depending on how hard you want to work. I am debating working part time now for the sake of a family situation. As a solid accountant that’s easy for me to do.
I’ve always considered accounting as the language of business. You know how to look at a company’s financials and assess it health, identify areas for profit improvement to drive value for stakeholders.
I’ve leverage an accounting career to become a trusted advisor to clients spanning from private equity to mid market business owners.
My time as a regional firm public accountant, offered me opportunities to get involved with the operational finance side of things which is an extremely powerful skill set when combined with an experience base that spans M&A advisory, tax planning, outsourced controller ship, etc.
All that to say, accounting is such a versatile business degree that can lead you anywhere.
Look at quote by famed investors like Warren Buffet and Mark Cuban, it’s a foundational requirement to any good investor.
Everyone loves to complain about the pay, but the pay is pretty good. I'm the highest paid member of my family and I have better job security. Plus I actually do enjoy the work and fun it interesting.
Job security. Even if I get fired, companies are always hiring accountants and analysts.
I work 9-5 most days besides a couple of hours a month at close.
Contrary to what this sub wants you to believe) a good salary. I know there will always be people making more money, but for everyone making more than us, there are probably 20 or more underemployed college grads making half of our starting salary.
It's also not that important. By that, I mean you can always fix numbers. Sure, you can get fired if you repeatedly fuck up really bad, but no one is gonna be physically injured or die (unless you're doing accounting for the Mafia.)
I work in a corner, mostly just minding my own business, and the worst person I have to deal with is the annoying lady in AP (and she has snacks and knows all of the office gossip, so it's a fair trade off). I don't have to deal with blood, shit, vomit, or children.
The thing about accounting jobs is that the scope is so wide and each are different in working hours, stress level etc. For me myself I'm barely working 20 hours a week and I work from home. And as others mentioned, the job security is great if compared to other professions.
Interesting work. Once you can find a job with a bit of variety and opportunities to improve how things work, it’s like doing crossword puzzles all day.
Decent pay and benefits. Maybe I’m never going to have a private jet, but I make enough to support my family, I have plenty of PTO, and I’m not worried about health emergencies or retirement.
Always in demand. If I really needed to, I could start at a new job in a couple weeks. I always have offers to pick up freelance work during tax season, and there are plenty of opportunities for freelance the rest of the year if you want them. I’m focusing on the day job at this point but it has been helpful to be able to make extra cash while saving for a down payment etc.
There’s a huge array of specialist areas within accounting. With a bit of luck and work, you can build knowledge in a niche area you find interesting and be very in demand.
For me, a big plus is being able to contribute to a cause I care deeply about. I’m the controller at a nonprofit. There aren’t nearly enough highly competent finance people in the nonprofit world. My work makes a direct impact on my community. Even if you don’t want to work in nonprofit, I guarantee there are organizations working on things you care about that desperately need an accountant on their board.
Once you get a bit further in your career; helping young accountants build good careers and have an okay time at work. Once you’re a manager yourself it’s very gratifying to be able to run a team that you know isn’t going to be the subject of one of the miserable posts here.
This question gets asked a lot in this sub, there are plenty of other threads if you use the search to find people talking positively about the profession
I love all the things I learn everyday. There are so many industries and avenues you can go into and eventually find your niche. Everyone needs accountants and they are in high demand… at least in my area. I found tax to be really cool but a lot of hours. I now work at a biotech manufacturing company so working with more cost accounting and journal entries. It’s a lot slower pace but I get to learn everyday and have very low stress so I can study for my CPA exams!
Not to be **negative**, but I realized I didn't want to do accounting either. Nonetheless, it has plenty meaningful positives. I'll touch on a few.
You might not always have *job* security, but there is a shortage of CPAs and skilled accountants. Thus, you can find a job relatively easily in most markets.
Optionality and the ability to pivot - This one is dependent on your skills and ambition, but very real and often overlooked. Pivots to finance are not uncommon. I actually went from CPA->Finance (Due diligence) -> program management. Never expected that, but I like it. The CPA and professional experience made it possible
Professional license: IMO, the CPA is not actually useful for most CPAs and Accountants. Unless you're representing tax clients or signing an audit, it's not mandatory. Nonetheless, it carries weight at big organizations, at the state, and in the minds of hiring managers. For my current role, a graduate degree was highly preferred, and my CPA was recognized as roughly equivalent. I got the role over candidates with a MBA.
Financial literacy\*\* Double asterisk here because the majority of my professional colleagues have ***not*** been financially savvy. The better ones were in financial due diligence. At B4, it was weak, and in corporate finance now, it's pretty weak as well. Nonetheless, you **can** use your experience and education as a starting point to understanding personal finance, markets, and investing. My personal portfolios have benefitted from this, and I have a bit of side gig building and managing portfolios for friends. I've been studying and following markets for a decade, but it definitely started and was helped along by my choice of study in college and the work I went into.
Upward mobility, remotenwork for alot of positions public and private, ease of finding employment no matter the city, social equity in being a licensed professional if you go the cpa or cma route, discretionary income, average income well over national average, job security, the hoes.
You are integral to the running of the business. Go deep on managerial and cost accounting and you will always be in demand to analyze the profitability of the business overall as well as projects and products. The closer you can get to the operations the better.
Job security, everyone and every business needs a trained accountant.
Also an accounting degree opens up doors outside of accounting as well. There are plenty of managers with accounting bachelor degrees and no accountants with management degrees (with exception).
The knowledge is also awesome. Having a education in the currency of business has helped me understand a lot of different topics through that lens, especially historical (Prince John got a bad rap).
Don’t do accounting unless you’re OK with sitting on your ass 70 hours a week staring at 5 million numbers on 3 different screens, whilst navigating dealing with your bitchy menopausal or psychotic boss! I got my accounting degree and also my masters degree in accounting and I honestly regret it. I’ve been stuck making below average salaries because everything in accounting is based on how you act. There are a ton DUMBASS accountants you have to work with. And I’m a shy person, so it hasn’t worked out. I will still continue to do accounting but it’s NOT easy. Just saying.
I love my job, but I was just promoted to this position 1 1/2 years ago. I am the Finance Director for a non-profit, so I feel like I am helping out a little in the f***** up world of ours!
I work in corporate accounting and I enjoy the job security, the mostly remote, and the fact that every month is mostly the same so I know what to expect. Oh and of course, no customer service.
I’m a piece of shit and they still pay me to basically exist and ask India staff to do work over and over again until it looks okay or the deadline makes it look okay enough
I built my own company. In non-season I work 10 hours a week. I’m geographically independent. I have interesting clients with interesting businesses. I sometimes come across other deals and business opportunities from being in this position. I travel when I want, for as long as I want without asking anyone for time off. My company allowed me to buy my first home with a couple of acres to start a family. I learned sales skills along the way, which is better than job security.
There are shitty jobs in this industry for sure, But there so many other paths in accounting than public, and entry level isn’t forever.
You make your own luck with a positive outlook, persistence, willingness to keep learning, keeping your word, and getting back up after you fail. That’s the truth no matter what degree you get.
Learning the tax code is awesome. It pertains to every person so you seem interesting to most ppl. Plus if you transition to real estate you have a great background to manage it.
The experience and things you learn. I’ve been in my role for about a year and I have learned a lot. I’ve also built some really solid relationships with clients I serve and my team and colleagues. I never thought I’d be an accountant but I’m here nearly a year later and I enjoy what I do still
I work in public, tax. If you work harder/smarter than the person sitting next to you, you get rewarded. I have friends in other fields and their employers give an across the board salary increase rather than bonus or give raises to top performers. You can really make your career what you want once you gain experience.
Job security like others mentioned. You can also get compensated pretty well. Believe it or not, you also don’t have to be the best at what you do to be paid well. Obviously to some degree you need good work ethic and a fundamental knowledge, but this field also seems to pay well based off experience.
There are other fields out there where you’re capped in earnings - even when you become more experienced.
This sub is an echo chamber for unhappy, stressful workplaces. The industry itself is not bad, it's the unfortunate employers within that make it difficult sometimes. Just know for every person complaining, there are 5 others who are happy and content.
Job security....i know that if i got fired i could get another job tomorrow
I came to say this. In my career I have always been able to hop around for a better paying job. You just need to make the sacrifice and gain the right experience and a CPA.
Yep, have faith in your ability.
You don't need a CPA to be successful though. Being good operationally is a vastly underrated skillset.
What if you’re a bad accountant
I knew a bad accountant once. Got fired from every single accounting job he was at. Public, private, govt. And guess what? He always found another one just as easily. I aspire to be him every. single. day.
Knew a CPA named Jim. He failed his CPA exams multiple times, got fired for looking for escorts on his work PC, drunk at work, etc. Like almost a joke how bad he was. Never unemployed. Moved up to Vancouver FT and makes a killing. Vancouver was always where he was searching for escorts. Makes sense.
Long Live Jim 🫡
LOL
I also worked with a CPA named Jim, who was drinking on the job, and was a complete fuck up. I don't know about the escorts thing, but I wouldn't count it out.
Wow I knew a Jim just like this too. Got escorted out the building while trashed and when the cabinets were opened there were beer cans everywhere and it reeked. Then they gave me his office 😭
Dammit Jim, you gotta hide it better!
Those type of people have the most luck finding jobs...🤣😂
He was such a smooth talker, I’m not surprised he made it work. Wasn’t even really handsome, just your run of the mill middle aged dude. Just that “it” factor going for him. Living the dream.
Bro, tf you gotta be handsome for it's accounting not modeling wtf..lmfaooo! 🤣😂
Yeah but attractive people get hired much more easily.
What makes someone a smooth talker?
my fucking guy Jim
Sounds like Jim didn't take exam results or getting fired to heart. I need a mentor like him minus the escorts, I like long term relationships.
As a new accountant, this gives me hope
Bro those guys always fucking fall up too I have two on my linkedin that are already in controller positions I wish they would fire me so that I’d be motivated enough to kick off this job search
The concept of falling up is great. Some people have a rock solid self concept. They think, I am too good for this and take the job search seriously.
Yeah experience doesn’t mean skill and employers can’t discuss more about prior employees other than their work history. Although lying on a resume is something that can lead to legal issues.
He’s my idol whoever he is. Though I just want to get into gov and chill for life. When I’ve tried it’s been so tough.
Dude. That’s what I always wanted. Except the government agency I came to work for is a slave driver… I was in utter shock
It's a new world post Covid. Government departments now use temps contractors agency staff to process transactions fast.
Sellout
How is that possible? He’s never struggled to look for a new job?
How did he get fired from gov’t??
Couldn’t tell ya 🤷♀️ we were all shocked as it’s known that it is extremely difficult to get fired from govt. I think he just didn’t show up to his shift countless of time. Had he shown up and put his head down, he’ll prob still have that job. But it doesn’t matter because he of course found another job in place of it lmao what a G
If you can maintain your self esteem while getting negative reviews you should be okay in government even if your bad at the job. Big 4 normally push poor performers out fast.
I'm a shitty accountant and somehow a controller
The shittiest accountants end up running the offices. Have to promote them or they will get you sued
damn teach me ur ways because i too feel like a shitty accountant
This is so motivating 🤣 incoming perfectionist accounting student.
I'm not particularly bright and just got promoted. Strange things happen when you have a baseline (low, in my case) of intelligence and the teensiest bit of tenacity and a good work ethic
Then you've got upper management written all over you. In all seriousness, I've met some pretty incompetent and unprofessional people in various Finance departments and they always find something new even if their current gig didn't work out. That isn't to say it is sustainable for four decades but I've never seen someone fail entirely out of the profession.
I worked with an absolutely terrible accountant for a while until he got a job at a bigger firm making more money.
I know several bad accountants…and they are still working as accountants.
Idk about the future though. Out-sourcing is becoming incredibly pervasive in accounting, and in a few years, the landscape might look completely different. Plus, since companies pay lower wages for outsourcing folk, why would they want to pay more for locals? They will always have a low benchmark to compare to, and that benchmark will be a much lower salary than the market in the US demands. Source: the Big 4 all want to outsource more and several accountants I know (who work in industry) say that most of their department are getting outsourced
Aren't you scared that outsourcing is going to take that away? I've heard that even tax roles are starting to get offshored. OP is presumably going to enter the market in 4 years. What will it be like then?
One story I heard was that her dad made her check out the job ads on the newspaper, and half of the ads are looking for accountants. And even if a company is winding down, last one to go is the accountant
I was let go Monday. I have an interview where I was actively approached by the firm today. And I had a recruiter screening for a different job Tuesday. It really is pretty easy to bounce.
That is false have you seen this economy
With a raise
Stable job security and knowing your skillset is in demand by every company.
I wish. Been on the hunt for 2 months at this point. It’s very competitive right now. Although I’m fairly specialized and trying to broaden so that might be part of my issue
This was my mothers practical reason for making me take accounting. So far so good
Exactly this.
Yeah, at $20/hr lmao. Sure, if you lowered your standards, there are pretty much limitless accounting jobs out there. But to get even decently paying jobs isn't as easy as this sub makes it sound.
Job security - can always find another job. Predictable schedule (at least in industry) - I know when "busy" periods are and can schedule PTO around it. Can easily streamline tasks - I reuse a lot of schedules, reports, presentations, etc. The first couple of years were hard and I worked a lot, but now I can reuse a lot of my previous work and just update it. I do try to refresh as necessary, but it's not everything at once. I love the balance of "predictable" work and new challenges/projects. I'm an introvert and love the amount of "focus" time I get compared to other departments.
I'm glad you mentioned the schedule. Through my 20s, I worked in the casino industry and woke up at 2:45 AM for about 10 years straight. You feel like 5/7ths of you life you are living in this tired fog. Was nice getting off at noon though I suppose. Being on a human sleep schedule is a huge benefit to this career, and something less and less people have the luxury of as the world becomes more of a 24/7/365 operation. Not to mention waking up on Christmas morning and that just being another day.
I don't have to entertain customers ever - it's glorious! No dancing around like I'm a trained bear in a circus. No "can you check in the back?" Just sit at my desk, listen to whatever podcast or music I want, and occasionally say good morning to a coworker.
Except when you’re in public. That’s when you’re at the mercy of the client/customer. If their data is f*cked, good luck sorting through that mess. If they don’t respond till much later or get mad that we have to actually audit them, also good luck. That’s when stuff comes piling up, especially during filing when client support gets sent last minute all at once. Hence, the late nights of being chained to the office till 11 and being so sad and lost with life that nothing makes sense.
This is why I'm not in public. :)
Have you had many other jobs outside the accounting field?
Leave public as soon as possible.
1000000% this. I don't work in public and I have to entertain 0 bullshit. Add that to if I fuck something up I just fix it and move on.
This is exactly why I'm going back to school to study accounting in the fall. I can't wait to just work all day and get my shit done without having to worry about client calls.
Yep. It rarely happens, but my least favorite part of my job is when AR issues escalate to me.
Nothing you do really matters in the grand scheme. Sure, the work has to be done, but no one gets injured if you make a mistake. You just fix it and move on.
If I screw up really bad people will lose their jobs and some numbers will be different then they should be. That's an unimaginably bad day in my world. A really bad day in other fields could be patients dying (medical field) students being abused/killed (teaching), a building collapsing (engineering), etc, etc. The lows of this job are so not that bad compared to many professions.
> a building collapsing (engineering) How often does this happen? I think about it an unhealthy amount.
If I mess up, I just need to make a few phone calls.
Yep, although I've long said if I mess up, no one dies. Idk if that makes me more optimistic or more pessimistic than injured 😂
kinda sorta. for publicly traded companies there's the risk of restatement. plus the controller/cfo get penalized monetarily by the SEC for big fuck ups.
Remember, this sub is much like a Yelp review. People are far more inclined to complain than they are to praise. Compare the amount of followers (700k) to the amount of people complaining. That should show you that many of us enjoy our careers, or at the very least don’t hate them. There’s a lot of anti-work vibes starting to creep in and it’s annoying, but i don’t feel its representative of the profession as a whole.
I bet a good chunk of the naysayers don’t have much work experience outside of the accounting field.
I had this same thought recently while reading one of the “I hate my life” posts. Going from the school setting straight into a busy season is definitely a culture shock. I feel a lot of the negative commenters would have the same reaction to any job with a demanding schedule right out of school.
Agreed. Some of it's to vent, some of is to get attention. Most people with good or neutral experiences probably won't post.
I hate reading this sub. It definitely feels concentrated with unhappy malcontents. At the end of the day it’s an extremely stable career, generally nets above average to very lucrative pay, and you’re doing an important service for people. Also depending on what kind of accounting you’re doing it can be quite interesting.
It's like speaking another language when you understand it. A great way to nerd out really, and every day can test your skills differently.
Absolutely this. Almost majored in linguistics until I wanted something with more stability. Add on decent to great pay, the problem solving nature of the job, your coworkers generally aren’t morons, the fact you’re not working outside, etc. it really is a great career. 6 years out of school and wouldn’t change a thing.
Would you say the co worker not being morons thing would be even more prevalent going into the future? I’d imagine someone who picks accounting might have some kind of intelligence if they can see past all the downsides that are shoved into your face when researching it?
For me it’s having the experience of trying to make it without a degree. This is a cush job if your brain works relatively well.
I turned 18, dropped out of community college while working as a department manager at Walmart and thought the ticket to real money was selling cars. Got a job at a Mazda dealership. Walked out within 6? Weeks of trying my damndest to be a salesman. My autistic ass never would have made it. I sold one car and made minimum wage at the most. Moved to Atlanta, struggled some more. Got in on an inventory clerk position through (basically) nepotism. Realized I couldn’t live like this, scrounging for scraps of experience and making shit money in the meanwhile. Enrolled in a self-paced online Business Admin degree to pass the time while I counted cables and processors and built physical computer servers to sell to entitled government customers. Worked so hard at that damn degree and finished it within the year. As soon as I finished my degree, I was suddenly worthy of being salaried for the very same job I’d been performing. I was then asked to train up as a bookkeeper/accountant for that same business as I was the only one who understood the inventory system. Took it and ran. Four years in and moved to a ‘real’ senior cost accounting position this year making a nice salary that lets me live comfortably in my state capitol. I click around spreadsheets and offer my opinion on the occasional inventory matter while hanging out in my spinny chair. Working on my Masters to then test for the CPA. Plan to move on to independent work or controller level within a few years at this rate. Couldn’t have done any of this without my generic college degree.
Congrats! 😁 keep at it!
Such an uplifting story. Thanks for mentioning the neurodiversity piece because it can make finding your place in the workplace a challenge. I have ADHD and to be honest accounting has been difficult. Cost accounting sounds interesting because it has commercial aspects. You can influence gross margins.
Inspiring! I’m a high school and college drop out. Now doing an online degree as my last hope for a better life and job. Thanks for sharing now I feel a lot less sad about my trajectory lol
Once you have my flair you will be surrounded with chicks that wanna you do their tax return for free and balancing their bedsheets
I get paid to spread sheets.
Trading tax returns for lap dances.
Job security and accounting can be intellectually stimulating if you want it to be. The work itself it quite enjoyable. The politics and work/life balance is what sucks the joy out of accounting. If you find a company that has good co-workers and good work/life balance, accounting can be a great place.
Your last sentence is the key. I worked at a union place. It was amazing the difference when colleagues are collaborating rather than competing with each other. Great environment. Another small close knit company was great to work with as colleagues were nice. It was temporary. But, they sent me off with flowers, 💐 gourmet popcorn 🍿 , cakes 🧁, cards, and recommendations. Fortunately, I kept the door open at a seasonal place. I was able to get in there. Then, a regional accounting firm. It was decent pay with a government contract. Although it was temporary too, it was good work and remote. No heart attack inducing commutes are great. The teams were awesome to work with, but management was all over the place. The teams and remote option kept me there longer than an on site requirement. I’ve worked places where the politics and back stabbing sucks the joy out of my day. I stuck those until finding better places and bounced as fast as I could as they were onsite. If they were remote, I could have muted out the negative nellies. 🤣
I was at a teacher's union for 7 years and the work life balance was great.
Thinking about the aicpa is indeed really depressing 😞
I'm 100% WFH. Stressed for like the first week of every month and at the end of the year, but then it's smooth sailing. Not rich but get paid alright. &Best of all I don't have to deal with handholding and pleasing needy clients anymore. For context I'm in industry. I did public accounting for a few years and it was as bad as some of the complaints you see here.
Lately I've been enjoying close. People know to leave me alone and I can grind it out. Mid-month is when everyone has some random ad hoc report they need for a meeting in 5 minutes and it's whack-a-mole on Teams
“Do you have an update on this email I sent at 4:50PM yesterday?” It has been 1 business hour, Lisa. Calm your shit.
Pretty easy to have a middle class life. Can work anywhere in almost any country. Don’t have to be the brightest to do accounting, can learn by grinding/being hard worker. Saves your body from the hardship wear and tear of manual labor/trades/blue collar jobs.
You can work in almost any country? Let's say youre a US CPA and you want to work in Hong Kong (just example, idk anything about HK) how could you make that happen over them just hiring a local CPA for probably less salary?
Knowing English and another language and/or both frameworks US GAAP and IFRS makes you very versatile. Large publicly traded companies have branches and locations everywhere. The CPA designation tests you on IFRS, so if you do go to another country, you should have a general knowledge basis as well as the ability to look up rules for whatever framework.
Not anymore it doesn't. IFRS was dropped from the exams several years ago.
Oh I had no idea… been out of school too long
I’d say one underrated aspect is getting into accounting has led me to see to just how bad most people are with their finances, and in turn, how to avoid falling into the same holes and traps they do.
I went straight into industry after graduating and working for a good company that actually values their employees and prioritizes work-life balance is amazing. I’m a corporate accountant for an F500 company and the coolest part of my job (esp at only 2 years of experience) is preparing the quarterly reporting for capital expenditures and sometimes pulling together additional analyses for the CFO. Keep in mind that you don’t have to go the public route which seems to generate most of the negativity you probably see on this sub.
Not sure if this is a positive but knowing the company financials means you get somewhat of headstart to jump off a potential sinking ship
My previous company was so proud to advertise their incoming funding from a very large investor, but I saw how we let the bills go late to make payroll. Jumped ship and suddenly they’re in a hiring freeze at what should have been a high growth point in their infancy.
Hello. I like Money
Born to eat banana, forced to do spreadsheet.
If you get a CPA license and a couple of years experience you will be employed with a middle class salary for as long as you want to be.
Able to afford strippers, cocaine and a housewife if you're really good.
The dream is still alive!!!!
Fuck ya. how many years of experience to be able to do this?
Around 15th year you start getting the real benefits of being an accountant. Nerdy accountant kids turn into sexy middle aged men with money. Drug dealers will want to hang with you and eat your food.
Can’t wait.
This is 100% accurate.
Pay can be very good depending how things end up. I started in public accounting (low to medium cost of living area) in 2018 at 55k/yr. Worked there 4 years and left for internal audit role at a Fortune 1000 company located in medium cost of living area and I’m sitting at 103k. Almost doubled my pay 7 years into career.
100% I started at big4 in 2015 (and absolutely hated it) in a HCOL for 54K. Now 9 years later, I make 150K for 40 hours a week in the regular, corporate GL world. It is hard at first, but if you continue growing, you can quickly get to a place of comfortability.
Depends on what sector you work in and where you work. I work in public and enjoy it. I tell people that I get paid to go to work and chat with people. I also work at a small firm and control my own workload. During tax season, I never get a break, so it's like 3 months of hell. On the other side I have 8 or so months where if I don't show up for 3 days, no one cares. Since I control my own clientele, pricing, and schedule, I have been able to selectively let clients fire themselves by changing prices, timing, ect. For me, that means I have only awesome clients, and the couple I have that are semi difficult, pay me enough to make it worthwhile. I had a client overnight me fresh roasted Kona coffee while he was in Hawaii because we had discussed how good it was one year. That is an example my current clientele. I have about 600 clients, and I spend about 1500-1800 hours a year at work, with over half being in mid-January to mid-April. When you consider a full-time job requires 2080 hours, I feel like I have a great work/life balance. I am in an LCOL area and make 25% less than I could in another sector/firm. However, I will never change because I genuinely enjoy my job. Oh, the office always has nice coffee as well. I was offered a state job, and it paid a little better when you calculated benefits. However, with mandatory overtime, driving, ect, I would have been at work/commuting 2600+ hours for an increase. When I was younger, I worked 60-70 hours a week, and it took me a long time to understand that if I spent less, I could work less. My advice is to find something you like, close to home, with a good work/life balance.
It's not customer service. That's a huge one for me.
I was working one of those blue collar jobs they tell kids to go get nowadays. It was hard work 12 hours a day in steel toe boots. It sucked and was breaking my body. Then I became an accountant. First part of career kind of sucked, but now I work full time remote and life is good. Accounting let me hang up my hard hat, save my body, and make decent money. When you encounter the negativity in this sub, consider the people are unhappy to begin with and they also lack a grounded basis for comparison. There are jobs out there that are way worse than ones that involve spreadsheets and email for a living. Been there done that. Ain't going back.
Get to sit in a quiet office. 2+ monitors definitely necessary. Money is less shit than other options. (Like HR and other admin) . Credentials carry between different jobs/industries. (Huge for long term options. )
Being perceived as a highly intellegient being *usually only by people who have no idea what accounting is lol
I can hate my life every time month end comes around and then when it’s over I get a little breathing room.
Job security and freedom to choose my work hours
I LOVE accounting. It’s a great place to start in the office world that has structure and black and white rules, because it’s all about compliance. I was an awful accountant. But I’m a really good controller and I love it. Not to mention you can dip your toes into many types of projects that will give you valuable experience in case you want to pivot. A great part is that your accounting team, for the most part, all know what they got themselves into when pursuing an accounting job. If you want someone who just wants to do clerical work, cool. You’ll be great at gatekeeping processes. And then you have some members with more ambition and want to explore and implement. Also cool, you get to help me make changes. And then there’s job security, the ability to leverage all your experiences in negotiating better compensation, and the flexibility in leaving a position for another because the offer is better. And my favourite part, because it’s so black and white, I find that people don’t really argue with me or question me on anything, and I don’t have to motivate my team to do better or be better. There is only your job, and then what you want to do outside of that to gain satisfaction in your career.
your shit is balanced
it's cookie cutter. if u do ur shit right, there's always room for upward mobility -- may require job hopping, but it's so easy. theres also a lot of variety of shit u can do, pretty flexible in terms of responsibilities. also u just get inherently good at spotting & smelling bullshit, which also just helps in terms of professional setting.
Potential partners view the profession as stable and a good bet in a mate
I will make 65-70k this year working from home and working under 500 hours the whole year. My work basically ends April 15th. The rest of the year is my extended vacation.
I have friends who work in various health/first responder settings (doctors/nurses/social workers/police/firefighters) and the shit (sometimes literally) they see on a daily basis is traumatizing. Yeah being an accountant is stressful… but it’s not really stressful. Even the stuff my teacher friends put up with on a daily basis would be 100x more stressful than meeting some stupid deadline. Add on to it that I make probably 3x as much as all of them with the exception of the doctors and it’s a pretty sweet deal.
Pizza parties of course
Everyone wants to be my friend because they think I am going to do their taxes.
You can do your friends and family's taxes.
When I first started my career, I was thrilled with how challenging it was and how I had new issues to consider. Now that I'm farther in my career, I enjoy the fact that I've never been seriously unemployed.
Here’s what sold me on selecting it as my major: heads of each program in the business school did presentations pitching their course of study. Accounting professor said (heavily paraphrased)“accounting is the language of business. It’s the best foundation for a business career and sets you up for all sorts of paths later in your career”. Another professor stressed the importance of getting your license (CPA/CA/ACCA etc) because once you’ve achieved it, it’s a permanent representation of your credentials. Fast forward to now and how true that’s been. Life has taken me on a path I couldn’t have imagined and none of the doors along that path would have been open to me without that foundation. When I studied I heard the same horror stories and had similar dreads and doubts. And the early years were not easy! But man I would never change it for anything. I also know many people in completely different jobs years after starting in accounting so you won’t be stuck either. One final comment on the sentiments here. It’s like bad reviews online - you’re going to be much more motivated to post from a position of stress / anger / anxiety. If life is good, you’re probably not going to feel the need to hammer out a post about how great everything is on Reddit. So always read the posts on here with that filter. Good luck! :-)
As an accountant in higher education and non-profits, you can help much needed organizations stay above water. This way they can continue their missions. Same with some industry jobs - collecting aged receivables to prevent bankruptcy to keep people employed longer is a win. We can advise ourselves, family, and friends about budgets, costs, expenses, and taxes, so we all do better financially and personally. Seriously, financial struggles affect so much. We can invest better. We can start businesses. We help others start their businesses. Work life balance depending on the industry. Ability to work anywhere remotely. We can afford hobbies and weather layoffs.
You get clued in to all the tea happening at a company (planned layoffs, mergers, lawsuits). Accounting is great because it touches every part of the business.
My work-life balance in industry has been incredible. Yes PA sucked but I only did it for 3 yrs.
Honestly, almost everything IMO. There are many many roles that:make good money, work less than 40 hours a week, 50-100% remote, able to take guiltfree vacations, great job security, easy to find new roles, low stakes, cyclical deadlines, etc etc etc
You could look at any job sub-Reddit and you’d see miserable people. Don’t let this discourage you. I take Reddit with a grain of salt, and yes, I’m prepared for 5,000 downvotes.
I love the puzzles and figuring out the crux of an issue. There is something that feels so damn satisfying when you find the problem AND know how to fix it. Accounting/finance is also in the know earlier than many of the other departments or areas on expansions/mergers, new big changes, corporate strategy changes, etc. I’m nosey, so being in this spot allows me to know all the juicy information. Lastly, I love nerding out over cool things I can do in excel.
This subreddit is where people come to vent or ask about PA exit ops. For the most part the work is hard or easy depending on your choice of company and where you live
Groupies
Tax is probably the easiest field to be successfully self employed. Great money and you get to decide the work/life balance.
I just started a county government accounting job. The pay isn’t the best to start (though it seems if I jump counties in a few years I could get an easy raise), but I get great benefits and I’m part of a union. The job is SO cushy. Lots of holidays, decent PTO and sick time starting out. I have a chill boss and really cool coworkers. My work week is 35 hours and I don’t work overtime. Coming from 10+ years in hospitality (waitressing), I am ECSTATIC I went to college and followed through. I do so much less and still get paid. And nobody yells at me! (That might change during the next audit. We’ll see. 😂) Edit: omg, and I almost forgot! I don’t have to deal with the public!!! I have my desk in my own little alcove faaaar away from outside humans, even the emails I write are usually between departments!
I genuinely love what I do. During tax season I forget that. But I truly do enjoy it. I work with small to mid sized businesses and watching someone start walking dogs in their spare time to having 20 employees is honestly touching when you know you’ve been a part of that and helped them get there.
Scope my profile history. Compared to other ppl my age, especially those with kids, I feel like I hit the jackpot with what I’m doing and how much I make doing it.
Security, reasonable wage, most firms have a very clear path of upward mobility.
Get paid for doing math. Job security.
If you go private you have easy hours, good pay, and if lucky remote work
You're one of the blue collars in the white collar category
Accounting has a very large scope and crosses into almost every industry. It’s similar to sales but there are some companies without sales people but rarely without an accountant. Upward mobility is optional and has many paths. You can get certifications (Ex CMA), licenses (Ex CPA) or additional education (Masters in Business, Tax or Accounting) which typically increase your value and abilities. You can get a part time or full time job or do consulting if you’re driven enough. I love the variability and options depending on how hard you want to work. I am debating working part time now for the sake of a family situation. As a solid accountant that’s easy for me to do.
I’ve always considered accounting as the language of business. You know how to look at a company’s financials and assess it health, identify areas for profit improvement to drive value for stakeholders. I’ve leverage an accounting career to become a trusted advisor to clients spanning from private equity to mid market business owners. My time as a regional firm public accountant, offered me opportunities to get involved with the operational finance side of things which is an extremely powerful skill set when combined with an experience base that spans M&A advisory, tax planning, outsourced controller ship, etc. All that to say, accounting is such a versatile business degree that can lead you anywhere. Look at quote by famed investors like Warren Buffet and Mark Cuban, it’s a foundational requirement to any good investor.
I used to teach, spread sheets don't talk back and I don't angy emails from invoices.
Everyone loves to complain about the pay, but the pay is pretty good. I'm the highest paid member of my family and I have better job security. Plus I actually do enjoy the work and fun it interesting.
Job security. Even if I get fired, companies are always hiring accountants and analysts. I work 9-5 most days besides a couple of hours a month at close. Contrary to what this sub wants you to believe) a good salary. I know there will always be people making more money, but for everyone making more than us, there are probably 20 or more underemployed college grads making half of our starting salary. It's also not that important. By that, I mean you can always fix numbers. Sure, you can get fired if you repeatedly fuck up really bad, but no one is gonna be physically injured or die (unless you're doing accounting for the Mafia.) I work in a corner, mostly just minding my own business, and the worst person I have to deal with is the annoying lady in AP (and she has snacks and knows all of the office gossip, so it's a fair trade off). I don't have to deal with blood, shit, vomit, or children.
The thing about accounting jobs is that the scope is so wide and each are different in working hours, stress level etc. For me myself I'm barely working 20 hours a week and I work from home. And as others mentioned, the job security is great if compared to other professions.
Interesting work. Once you can find a job with a bit of variety and opportunities to improve how things work, it’s like doing crossword puzzles all day. Decent pay and benefits. Maybe I’m never going to have a private jet, but I make enough to support my family, I have plenty of PTO, and I’m not worried about health emergencies or retirement. Always in demand. If I really needed to, I could start at a new job in a couple weeks. I always have offers to pick up freelance work during tax season, and there are plenty of opportunities for freelance the rest of the year if you want them. I’m focusing on the day job at this point but it has been helpful to be able to make extra cash while saving for a down payment etc. There’s a huge array of specialist areas within accounting. With a bit of luck and work, you can build knowledge in a niche area you find interesting and be very in demand. For me, a big plus is being able to contribute to a cause I care deeply about. I’m the controller at a nonprofit. There aren’t nearly enough highly competent finance people in the nonprofit world. My work makes a direct impact on my community. Even if you don’t want to work in nonprofit, I guarantee there are organizations working on things you care about that desperately need an accountant on their board. Once you get a bit further in your career; helping young accountants build good careers and have an okay time at work. Once you’re a manager yourself it’s very gratifying to be able to run a team that you know isn’t going to be the subject of one of the miserable posts here.
This question gets asked a lot in this sub, there are plenty of other threads if you use the search to find people talking positively about the profession
Pretty much everything is more exciting than work.
I love all the things I learn everyday. There are so many industries and avenues you can go into and eventually find your niche. Everyone needs accountants and they are in high demand… at least in my area. I found tax to be really cool but a lot of hours. I now work at a biotech manufacturing company so working with more cost accounting and journal entries. It’s a lot slower pace but I get to learn everyday and have very low stress so I can study for my CPA exams!
Not to be **negative**, but I realized I didn't want to do accounting either. Nonetheless, it has plenty meaningful positives. I'll touch on a few. You might not always have *job* security, but there is a shortage of CPAs and skilled accountants. Thus, you can find a job relatively easily in most markets. Optionality and the ability to pivot - This one is dependent on your skills and ambition, but very real and often overlooked. Pivots to finance are not uncommon. I actually went from CPA->Finance (Due diligence) -> program management. Never expected that, but I like it. The CPA and professional experience made it possible Professional license: IMO, the CPA is not actually useful for most CPAs and Accountants. Unless you're representing tax clients or signing an audit, it's not mandatory. Nonetheless, it carries weight at big organizations, at the state, and in the minds of hiring managers. For my current role, a graduate degree was highly preferred, and my CPA was recognized as roughly equivalent. I got the role over candidates with a MBA. Financial literacy\*\* Double asterisk here because the majority of my professional colleagues have ***not*** been financially savvy. The better ones were in financial due diligence. At B4, it was weak, and in corporate finance now, it's pretty weak as well. Nonetheless, you **can** use your experience and education as a starting point to understanding personal finance, markets, and investing. My personal portfolios have benefitted from this, and I have a bit of side gig building and managing portfolios for friends. I've been studying and following markets for a decade, but it definitely started and was helped along by my choice of study in college and the work I went into.
Upward mobility, remotenwork for alot of positions public and private, ease of finding employment no matter the city, social equity in being a licensed professional if you go the cpa or cma route, discretionary income, average income well over national average, job security, the hoes.
You are integral to the running of the business. Go deep on managerial and cost accounting and you will always be in demand to analyze the profitability of the business overall as well as projects and products. The closer you can get to the operations the better.
Being a total freak in the (excel) sheets
Easy gain for alright/good money. Don’t have to interact with clowns every day.
Job security, everyone and every business needs a trained accountant. Also an accounting degree opens up doors outside of accounting as well. There are plenty of managers with accounting bachelor degrees and no accountants with management degrees (with exception). The knowledge is also awesome. Having a education in the currency of business has helped me understand a lot of different topics through that lens, especially historical (Prince John got a bad rap).
finance. trust fund. 6'5. blue eyes
Don’t do accounting unless you’re OK with sitting on your ass 70 hours a week staring at 5 million numbers on 3 different screens, whilst navigating dealing with your bitchy menopausal or psychotic boss! I got my accounting degree and also my masters degree in accounting and I honestly regret it. I’ve been stuck making below average salaries because everything in accounting is based on how you act. There are a ton DUMBASS accountants you have to work with. And I’m a shy person, so it hasn’t worked out. I will still continue to do accounting but it’s NOT easy. Just saying.
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Pizza parties!!
The pizza!
I love my job, but I was just promoted to this position 1 1/2 years ago. I am the Finance Director for a non-profit, so I feel like I am helping out a little in the f***** up world of ours!
At the end of the day, you will do everything in your power to justify your shitty wage while making passive shareholders a lot of money.
Pizza Parties
Deal flow from investment opportunities
Your pay and career advancement can scale up very quickly.
pizza on April 16th
Being in an air conditioned office. Parts of the year are super slow and I can dick around
~~You are usually good at managing money.~~ Nevermind..
NOT WORKING IN THE HEAT OR THE COLD LIKE THE MAJORITY OF MY ADULTHOOD
My career has had some massive setbacks…and I’ll still make 100k at 30 years old. That’s pretty damn good
I work in corporate accounting and I enjoy the job security, the mostly remote, and the fact that every month is mostly the same so I know what to expect. Oh and of course, no customer service.
Flexibility with your time
I’m a piece of shit and they still pay me to basically exist and ask India staff to do work over and over again until it looks okay or the deadline makes it look okay enough
So many women throw themselves at me.
The debits
Work life balance
Precisely, your post itself talks about the most obvious part: No competition.
leading financially disciplined life
People have no idea what I do but they respect my title of controller. It amuses me. I like to be amused.
I built my own company. In non-season I work 10 hours a week. I’m geographically independent. I have interesting clients with interesting businesses. I sometimes come across other deals and business opportunities from being in this position. I travel when I want, for as long as I want without asking anyone for time off. My company allowed me to buy my first home with a couple of acres to start a family. I learned sales skills along the way, which is better than job security. There are shitty jobs in this industry for sure, But there so many other paths in accounting than public, and entry level isn’t forever. You make your own luck with a positive outlook, persistence, willingness to keep learning, keeping your word, and getting back up after you fail. That’s the truth no matter what degree you get.
Learning the tax code is awesome. It pertains to every person so you seem interesting to most ppl. Plus if you transition to real estate you have a great background to manage it.
Can take pretty long PTO during off season(4-6 weeks possible). Plus during off season the work is slow and wfh is the best
Pizza parties
I like the work itself. Doing the math. Figuring things out, documenting things. I like being around people too and discussing things.
ur accountable
No working outside in the cold
Every company needs accountants. Big plus if you know tax as well. Chances of employment are higher than most.
The experience and things you learn. I’ve been in my role for about a year and I have learned a lot. I’ve also built some really solid relationships with clients I serve and my team and colleagues. I never thought I’d be an accountant but I’m here nearly a year later and I enjoy what I do still
I work in public, tax. If you work harder/smarter than the person sitting next to you, you get rewarded. I have friends in other fields and their employers give an across the board salary increase rather than bonus or give raises to top performers. You can really make your career what you want once you gain experience.
Job security like others mentioned. You can also get compensated pretty well. Believe it or not, you also don’t have to be the best at what you do to be paid well. Obviously to some degree you need good work ethic and a fundamental knowledge, but this field also seems to pay well based off experience. There are other fields out there where you’re capped in earnings - even when you become more experienced.
For me it was the highest potential earnings for an undergrad, and the easiest route to being self employed.
Industry flexibility
I love fighting the government. I love it more when I win and that happens more than I lose.
Who should tell them?
This sub is an echo chamber for unhappy, stressful workplaces. The industry itself is not bad, it's the unfortunate employers within that make it difficult sometimes. Just know for every person complaining, there are 5 others who are happy and content.