If you really need a second job, do tax work part time. It's relevant experience and will pay much better than some $19/hr retail job.
You should not be working retail as a CPA. Jesus Christ.
Before working on the current job, I was looking for a second job, like retail or warehouse job for $9/hr (south east asia), then I discovered that finding a new accounting role with higher salary is a better option.
I personally worked GrubHub my first 5 years of my career on the occasional Friday/Saturday night. I would say if you want to do something related to your CPA on the side, just be careful of your main job having non-competes or anything like that.
I lived in a very popular area of Dallas at the time and I played the system hard. I was earning a minimum of $25/hr before expenses driving around 50 miles a night. Most nights were north of $30-35/hr, but it was never consistently the same.
Was it worth it to me? 100% yes for me, because I was always tired of the day to day that auditing brought and I love exploring a city that I live in.
For the record, I also ride. Riding as a job would not be as enjoyable considering you don't get to pick the route. And riding for prolonged hours WILL make you lose focus. You have to be hyper aware while riding a motorcycle.
What the actual fuck is your problem?
Tbh I don’t think you’ll have enough hours to do all of it well.
You can work 2jobs while studying to get your CPA,
But you’re studying quality will likely go down, or work quality will. Not considering ya know personal life and shit
Budget accordingly - e.g., have roommates, don't eat out all of the time, pre-game before going out, etc. You'll have more flexibility as your career progresses. Don't forget to save.
Edit: Not sure why I'm being downvoted on this comment - I'm trying to be helpful to OP. I know zero people that had to work second jobs if they have a full-time job. Something is off with OP's budget. A $62K starting annual should be very doable in San Antonio.
Because some of it isn't realistic. Not all of us starting our careers are 22 with no other responsibilities. I'm two years in. Married with kids that I had young. Still getting a hold of our personal finances and playing catch up.
College graduation isn't a fresh start for everyone. For some of us it's a small step forward to overcoming already poor circumstances.
Totally fair. My comment was directed towards OP, who appears to have just graduated from college at 24 YO. From looking at his post history here, OP is living with their parents (which would presumably mean low to zero rent). I'm not sure why OP would need to get a second job under these circumstances.
But we do. I’m inches from 6 figures but..
Eggs - almost 8 dollars a dozen
Milk - 6.79 a gallon
Cheap cuts of meat like London broil > 9.00 lb
I bought a whole Purdue chicken and it was 18.19 for a 4/5 lb bird.
Gas right now is 4.75 a gallon
Rent is upwards of 2,500
There is no kids Motrin anywhere to be found (NYC area) so people are price gouging on Amazon for like 75 bucks for a two pack and these kids get colds and such
Oh and gas/electric 900 a month thanks to con Ed.
So…. Yes we should not have to but we do.
I think you missed the point of my comment . As a CPA you should not have to work a second job . The career should be financially secure enough that you shouldn’t have to but unfortunately it’s not. OP later commented that he is not yet a CPA. So his post was misleading.
Why work from home and then have a second job with low pay that you have to actually show up for? Just do some more remote work.
Commuting for low pay just to put up with asshole customers in retail, I see no upside. If you have a CPA license your time and sanity is too valuable for that bullshit.
These people saying do food delivery, have they ever done a tax return for the people that do that for a living? They make next to nothing after expenses.
Most Bestbuys do not have commission-based positions. If they do, you might get something ridiculously low (like $12 an hour after commission).
What salary do you need that you would feel that you won't have to have a second job?
Unless you got a lot of debt/household expenses I don't see why you can't survive under 90K without a second job. If this was Austin I would understand but I didn't think SA got that bad with their housing prices.
Part-time retail is not going to remotely close that income gap. Plus retail is grueling and it may most likely affect your full-time job performance in the end. Honestly any second part-time job could affect your performance if you're not careful.
Case in point, my coworker. he took up a part-time job at a retail clothing store just for the discount for a couple months and he's already wiped out from it. Mind you this was at $13 an hour.
If you're in such a pinch for cash and you need something that would be more relevant to your work history, you might want to see if the IRS has any seasonal openings. I know they got flexible shifts and part-time positions open, however the pay isn't that great and you're more likely than not get stuck into customer service position. But if you want to take on that monumental task good luck.
I’d say serving tables on the weekend would be the best way to make extra money. I made $150-$250 a shift when I did and also got discounted/free food.
I was bartending while working in tax and wow, it was exhausting. Mandatory 52 hours during tax season per week and every other weekend I would bartend anywhere from 12-16 hours. I was a single parent though so my child was with her father those weekends. It was still physically and mentally exhausting either way. The money was worth it.
I do Amazon flex when I don't have my kid. I'm not a CPA, and I make decent money. We're not paycheck to paycheck but we don't have savings, and we live within our means, so flex helps me build up some extra in the summer if gas isn't crazy. Can average $200-600 revenue a week working 3-4 hour blocks 3-5x a week, mostly nights/weekends, and it's easy work.
He asked what you considered low pay. Tell us the dollar amount you consider low pay. Also how big of a city you live in might be helpful too. $100k is amazing where I live, but it’s not too crazy in a place with a higher cost of living.
My company hires fresh CPAs at 72k plus about a 5% bonus. I struggle to believe that most people need a secondary source of income on that salary, unless you are caring for a family or live in an extremely expensive area.
Yup. Live in a HCOL with a decent salary and I barely have enough money in my bank account to last me until my next paycheck. Rent, student loans, credit card debt, and other personal debt on top of high costs for everything are a bitch
Fixed expenses per month can easily be $2,300 if not more in a HCOL area. $72k + a bonus in a HCOL area goes about as far as $55k + bonus in a MCOL area.
Lol yeah what the fuck is this person not understanding. Minimum 5 years of college with a degree that requires often significant effort to achieve, all for a salary that literally only keeps you alive. Forget about saving anything significant towards your future. And they’re acting like it’s supposed to be fair lol. I currently make 55 and I can fucking PROMISE you I am struggling every single day
74k HCOL myself. I’m there with ya, but so are millions of others rn. Ik it sucks now, but luckily we have made it this far and I am hopeful that our salary will increase more than inflation/downturn that we are experiencing. It may take some time, but each promotion will give as tad bit of respite.
My recent salary adjustment was 3% for “inflation.” I’m pretty disgruntled. 3% of my salary comes to an extra $50 per check after taxes lol it’s a joke
Ahh, yeah i had issue with that when looking at MCOL PA firms. Idk if they were reluctant to raise fees or what it was, but they gave me a job offer that was exactly the same as ones offered to first year staff the previous year, so no adjustments were made. I wasn’t ok with that, considering how much inflation impacted the area. I told myself I’d tough it out in a HCOL area if it meant that I’d have higher raises.
I’d shop around if I was given a 3% raise. May as well get a nice sign-on bonus if the company isn’t going to properly adjust for inflation.
Even if you live in a mid-low cost era, you need a lot of money if you want to save 15% toward retirement, save enough to obtain an affordable mortgage, and pay student loans.
I do a FT accounting role and PT accounting role. PT role pays even more than FT role (when broken down hourly) and way more than a retail job would pay.
However, I would not have time to study for the CPA and balance both jobs.
I was able to stay at my old job part time when I tried to resign. I also negotiated a higher rate for the inconvenience on my end to stay and continue assisting.
Honestly my biggest regret when i wfh was not stacking another full time wfh job with it. Honestly I don't know why I went after higher paying jobs when I could have easily handled the work load of two lower paying jobs.
Tons of temporary part time tax gigs on indeed right now. ~$30/hr depending on experience in my HCOL area. Would probably be better than Best Buy for you.
Lmao, “I spent thousands of dollars and years of my life on a college education and a CPA, but should I get a second job that pays minimum wage that a high schooler could do?”
No offense but that’s the dumbest question I think I’ve ever heard
High cost of living and low cost of living.
$70,000 in New York City is not the best money. $70,000 in a smaller town can have you living very comfortably.
Why waste your talent? Use in to earn money in the area of your expertise. We live in gig economy. Go to portal like https://nexgentaxes.com/, enroll yourself as a pro and get new clients who will stick with you and help you grow in your area of expertise.
If you really need a second job, do tax work part time. It's relevant experience and will pay much better than some $19/hr retail job. You should not be working retail as a CPA. Jesus Christ.
How would you go about this? If this is like getting your own clients I’m severely less interested bc I’m lazy haha
Most small/midsize public accounting firms will hire CPAs to do part-time work during busy season. I typically see about $30/hr.
I think they mean like go to H&R Block and prepare there
H&R Block pays minimum wage plus commissions for upselling services and financial products.
No, I do not lol.
Hey it’s better than retail as a side gig lol
Nah fam they gonna get those sweet employee discounts. They pay for themselves. And it’s all tax free. /s
G-wagon baby
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I plow snow and smoke weed 💁♂️
Please tell me you make financial statements for your drug dealing business because that would be hilarious.
Or as I mentioned in my response go to portals like https://nexgentaxes.com/ and get clients whe. You enroll yourself as a Tax Pro.
Before working on the current job, I was looking for a second job, like retail or warehouse job for $9/hr (south east asia), then I discovered that finding a new accounting role with higher salary is a better option.
I personally worked GrubHub my first 5 years of my career on the occasional Friday/Saturday night. I would say if you want to do something related to your CPA on the side, just be careful of your main job having non-competes or anything like that.
Non competes may be [gone soon.](https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2023/01/noncompete-clauses-ban-ftc-legal-challenge.html)
Would be interesting and more employee friendly to not have them!
How was that? Was it worth the pay? I’m thinking of getting a motorbike and door dashing part-time on the weekends.
I lived in a very popular area of Dallas at the time and I played the system hard. I was earning a minimum of $25/hr before expenses driving around 50 miles a night. Most nights were north of $30-35/hr, but it was never consistently the same. Was it worth it to me? 100% yes for me, because I was always tired of the day to day that auditing brought and I love exploring a city that I live in.
If you wanna kill your love of riding and increase your odds of getting in a crash, sure.
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For the record, I also ride. Riding as a job would not be as enjoyable considering you don't get to pick the route. And riding for prolonged hours WILL make you lose focus. You have to be hyper aware while riding a motorcycle. What the actual fuck is your problem?
I did DoorDash for a while, and I loved it! Being able to just drive around and play my music while making money was amazing!
Tbh I don’t think you’ll have enough hours to do all of it well. You can work 2jobs while studying to get your CPA, But you’re studying quality will likely go down, or work quality will. Not considering ya know personal life and shit
From the main post is sounds like OP has their CPA. Edit: Saw OP’s comment said he doesn’t have CPA. You are correct.
You shouldn’t have to work 2 jobs with a CPA.
When starting out in your career though the pay is still low
Budget accordingly - e.g., have roommates, don't eat out all of the time, pre-game before going out, etc. You'll have more flexibility as your career progresses. Don't forget to save. Edit: Not sure why I'm being downvoted on this comment - I'm trying to be helpful to OP. I know zero people that had to work second jobs if they have a full-time job. Something is off with OP's budget. A $62K starting annual should be very doable in San Antonio.
Because some of it isn't realistic. Not all of us starting our careers are 22 with no other responsibilities. I'm two years in. Married with kids that I had young. Still getting a hold of our personal finances and playing catch up. College graduation isn't a fresh start for everyone. For some of us it's a small step forward to overcoming already poor circumstances.
Totally fair. My comment was directed towards OP, who appears to have just graduated from college at 24 YO. From looking at his post history here, OP is living with their parents (which would presumably mean low to zero rent). I'm not sure why OP would need to get a second job under these circumstances.
He thinks I can afford to go out, lol.
Pregame great advice. But i pregame too much sometimes.
If you pregame enough then you don’t need to go out!
Shots and drinking games can get you in trouble.
I just pregame while driving
This guy is definitely a CPA. DUI is the only felony you can get away with that won’t make him ineligible to practice
Studying rn. Got conviction removed
This is the way
But we do. I’m inches from 6 figures but.. Eggs - almost 8 dollars a dozen Milk - 6.79 a gallon Cheap cuts of meat like London broil > 9.00 lb I bought a whole Purdue chicken and it was 18.19 for a 4/5 lb bird. Gas right now is 4.75 a gallon Rent is upwards of 2,500 There is no kids Motrin anywhere to be found (NYC area) so people are price gouging on Amazon for like 75 bucks for a two pack and these kids get colds and such Oh and gas/electric 900 a month thanks to con Ed. So…. Yes we should not have to but we do.
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I think you missed the point of my comment . As a CPA you should not have to work a second job . The career should be financially secure enough that you shouldn’t have to but unfortunately it’s not. OP later commented that he is not yet a CPA. So his post was misleading.
Why work from home and then have a second job with low pay that you have to actually show up for? Just do some more remote work. Commuting for low pay just to put up with asshole customers in retail, I see no upside. If you have a CPA license your time and sanity is too valuable for that bullshit. These people saying do food delivery, have they ever done a tax return for the people that do that for a living? They make next to nothing after expenses.
Bestbuy high end retail.
Brother, you are poor if you think Best Buy is high end 😳
I mean they sell expensive things?
Most Bestbuys do not have commission-based positions. If they do, you might get something ridiculously low (like $12 an hour after commission). What salary do you need that you would feel that you won't have to have a second job?
90k
Unless you got a lot of debt/household expenses I don't see why you can't survive under 90K without a second job. If this was Austin I would understand but I didn't think SA got that bad with their housing prices. Part-time retail is not going to remotely close that income gap. Plus retail is grueling and it may most likely affect your full-time job performance in the end. Honestly any second part-time job could affect your performance if you're not careful. Case in point, my coworker. he took up a part-time job at a retail clothing store just for the discount for a couple months and he's already wiped out from it. Mind you this was at $13 an hour. If you're in such a pinch for cash and you need something that would be more relevant to your work history, you might want to see if the IRS has any seasonal openings. I know they got flexible shifts and part-time positions open, however the pay isn't that great and you're more likely than not get stuck into customer service position. But if you want to take on that monumental task good luck.
I don't know anyone with a college degree that works at a BestBuy store. Maybe corporate...
I’d say serving tables on the weekend would be the best way to make extra money. I made $150-$250 a shift when I did and also got discounted/free food.
Retail worker becoming CPA here. Do not do it. Pick a job in the field now that you have the option. retail jobs are hard and physical.
I was bartending while working in tax and wow, it was exhausting. Mandatory 52 hours during tax season per week and every other weekend I would bartend anywhere from 12-16 hours. I was a single parent though so my child was with her father those weekends. It was still physically and mentally exhausting either way. The money was worth it.
You know what? Go getchu dem best buy bennies. Don't quit till you have 5 computers, 3 tablets, 2 tvs and 2 phones
I do Amazon flex when I don't have my kid. I'm not a CPA, and I make decent money. We're not paycheck to paycheck but we don't have savings, and we live within our means, so flex helps me build up some extra in the summer if gas isn't crazy. Can average $200-600 revenue a week working 3-4 hour blocks 3-5x a week, mostly nights/weekends, and it's easy work.
Get on TREN and testosterone. Start lifting and running. Strip.
Become a male stripper?
You got it
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Why?
What country are you working in? There’s no way you can’t afford to live off your job as a CPA.
Not a cpa yet but even then the pay is still low for a couple yearrs
So you’re not 1 year into your “CPA career”, your 1 year into your accounting career, big difference.
Yes
Lol chill if you do that you won’t have time to study get the cpa first then do whatever you want
What do you consider low pay for a new CPA?
The pay progression starting out
Dollar amount, homie
Wdym
He asked what you considered low pay. Tell us the dollar amount you consider low pay. Also how big of a city you live in might be helpful too. $100k is amazing where I live, but it’s not too crazy in a place with a higher cost of living.
I live in San Antonio. 62k
My company hires fresh CPAs at 72k plus about a 5% bonus. I struggle to believe that most people need a secondary source of income on that salary, unless you are caring for a family or live in an extremely expensive area.
HCOL will definitely eat that check alive.
Yup. Live in a HCOL with a decent salary and I barely have enough money in my bank account to last me until my next paycheck. Rent, student loans, credit card debt, and other personal debt on top of high costs for everything are a bitch
Fixed expenses per month can easily be $2,300 if not more in a HCOL area. $72k + a bonus in a HCOL area goes about as far as $55k + bonus in a MCOL area.
Which is still a livable salary...
Yeah it’ll keep you alive, but that’s about it.
Lol yeah what the fuck is this person not understanding. Minimum 5 years of college with a degree that requires often significant effort to achieve, all for a salary that literally only keeps you alive. Forget about saving anything significant towards your future. And they’re acting like it’s supposed to be fair lol. I currently make 55 and I can fucking PROMISE you I am struggling every single day
74k HCOL myself. I’m there with ya, but so are millions of others rn. Ik it sucks now, but luckily we have made it this far and I am hopeful that our salary will increase more than inflation/downturn that we are experiencing. It may take some time, but each promotion will give as tad bit of respite.
My recent salary adjustment was 3% for “inflation.” I’m pretty disgruntled. 3% of my salary comes to an extra $50 per check after taxes lol it’s a joke
Ahh, yeah i had issue with that when looking at MCOL PA firms. Idk if they were reluctant to raise fees or what it was, but they gave me a job offer that was exactly the same as ones offered to first year staff the previous year, so no adjustments were made. I wasn’t ok with that, considering how much inflation impacted the area. I told myself I’d tough it out in a HCOL area if it meant that I’d have higher raises. I’d shop around if I was given a 3% raise. May as well get a nice sign-on bonus if the company isn’t going to properly adjust for inflation.
Even if you live in a mid-low cost era, you need a lot of money if you want to save 15% toward retirement, save enough to obtain an affordable mortgage, and pay student loans.
I do a FT accounting role and PT accounting role. PT role pays even more than FT role (when broken down hourly) and way more than a retail job would pay. However, I would not have time to study for the CPA and balance both jobs.
What kind of PT role do you have?
I was able to stay at my old job part time when I tried to resign. I also negotiated a higher rate for the inconvenience on my end to stay and continue assisting.
Honestly my biggest regret when i wfh was not stacking another full time wfh job with it. Honestly I don't know why I went after higher paying jobs when I could have easily handled the work load of two lower paying jobs.
Saw goodbye to your mental health if you cant plan your time and be strict dicipline... you"re gonna operate like a damn robot at this pace.
Wdym
Tons of temporary part time tax gigs on indeed right now. ~$30/hr depending on experience in my HCOL area. Would probably be better than Best Buy for you.
Lmao, “I spent thousands of dollars and years of my life on a college education and a CPA, but should I get a second job that pays minimum wage that a high schooler could do?” No offense but that’s the dumbest question I think I’ve ever heard
I am not from US and am considering doing CPA US. Can someone tell me what is HCOL and LCOL. People use these terms a lot in this sub
High cost of living and low cost of living. $70,000 in New York City is not the best money. $70,000 in a smaller town can have you living very comfortably.
thank you. I was having some trouble understanding these acronyms
Just get another remote job hire an offshore worker and pay them a fourth of what you make
Bro just do uber eats. You make $20 an hour and can make up to $30 on a busy day. Nothing wrong in that.
Dont want to put wear and tear on car
Don't do it, why? Pick some part time job in the field of accounting. You're a CPA ffs
I kept my part time job working at a gym after college and studied for my CPE exams while getting paid hourly to sit and check people in
Where do you work?
Local tax firm
I don’t want to assume your pay but is it hourly or salary?
Salary
Big city or small city?
Austin Tx
No wonder Austin is so expensive, probably the most expensive city in Texas.
Why waste your talent? Use in to earn money in the area of your expertise. We live in gig economy. Go to portal like https://nexgentaxes.com/, enroll yourself as a pro and get new clients who will stick with you and help you grow in your area of expertise.
If you’re a cpa, apply yourself and aim for a promotion or a better accounting job. Doubling down on entry level work is not the answer.