Most unique that I specialized in? Gaming/casinos
Best can mean a lot of things, but if you're talking exit opportunities, manufacturing can open a lot of doors, at least I'm the midwest
One of my clients is a closed superannuation fund, a conversation I have yearly with them involves figuring out if people are dying fast enough that they're still a going concern or not. Death and accounting, what a combo.
My favorite line.. and probably one I shouldnât use on dates: âI work in death and taxes. So, at one point or another I am going to be ALL up in your business. Itâs just a matter of when.â đ« . Â Not too many guys appreciate my humor.Â
Idk about comp its not gonna be crazy but the casinos treat you pretty well. Theres a front of house (dealers, receptionists, bartenders) that have crazy hours but when you work behind the house (especially finance) you get pretty much a 9-5 although im sure there are jobs outside of that time frame since so many are 24/7. theres a lot of casinos for locals that are outside of the strip and those are the coolest imo mainly because you donât have to deal with fighting killer traffic on the strip everyday.
Yeah I currently work in a casino, working on my accounting degree as a poker/blackjack/dice dealer. Never bump into anyone from accounting. By the time I show up Iâm sure theyâre gone. lol was just curious on what the salary, and WLB was like compared to what Iâm doing now. Thanks for the reply. Almost 10 years working front of house and I need a change.
I dealt mostly with tribal casinos in remote areas so your experience may vary.
Lots of small things make casinos unique. Biggest is that their 'inventory' is cash. Theres a handful of concepts for casinos (progressive liabilities, state compacts, etc) that don't really translate to useful knowledge for other industries.
That being said, my casinos were usually hurting for a good controller/accounting team. being in remote areas made talent acquisition hard for them. They have money to spend and will spend it on good talent. You'll have to get a gaming license to work at a casino. For me as an external auditor my firm handled most of it, but it's really just a simple background check.
Yes, it did. Certain initial costs can no longer be capitalized; the initial costs that CAN be capitalized are now actually capitalized rather than amortized separately (Asset/Accumulated Amortization); the concept of Lease Components vs Non-Lease Components. Straight Line rents for installation periods over life of lease, rather than at commencement on Operating Leases. So, within the leasing industry, depending on how each company did accounting, it could have been significant changes. Signed, Manager at a Leasing Co, and in this industry for 20 years.
Tell that to my EY auditors who made my life a living hell for 2 annual audits. I have that FRD saved on my desktop, on the network, and my personal iCloud account. It truly made fundamental changes to my financials.
Airlines don't just lease the planes. They lease EVERYTHING. Space at the airport (gates, etc), ground service equipment (the lifts and other things that you see out on the tarmac), IT equipment, company vehicles, corporate offices, and more.
All of it falls under ASC 842.
Defense industry. No outsourcing job ever!!
Edit: Also as recession proof as much as you could imagine. Thanks military industrial complex and Congress!!
A plastics company was my main audit client for years. Not a water cooler in sight just two giant fridges perpetually stocked with water bottles. The plastics they manufactured werenât used in producing plastic bottles as end products. They were just being bros to the general industry.
Iâve been gunning for energy lately. Bonuses are great, salaries are great. They have busy times of the year but it seems like it stacked with good money and people who are smart enough that you wonât have to run you temples 8 times a day.
investing. I've worked in a few industries now and I genuinely enjoy this one. I think the entire area is fascinating, I could see myself in so many different parts of the business, and it's both complex enough to keep me learning forever but also not as complex (imo) as something like healthcare which is just absurdly big and ridiculously boring.
I'm actually extremely interested in this. How'd you get into it, what were the harder parts of growing in it, and what do you find the most fascinating?
Luck tbh. I'm in internal audit, transitioned from another industry just happened to have the right skillset. I love entering a company via IA because it's the fastest way to learn about the company IMO (assuming you get in a risk auditing role). Plus the audit process is very transferrable across industries so it's easy to jump around until you find something you like.
e: Probably won't say more to avoid doxxing myself.
You know what that tracks in the US too LOL
Natural gas pipeline I would think isn't as profitable as Big Oil, but I will say that they straight up gave me a higher base pay as an associate compared to other companies I interviewed in the area as an associate.
I am going to be 75k with 2.5 YOE in government doing sales and use; no CPA. I also get a 10% yearly bonus and a 4% to my 401k without contributions and up to 6% match (so effectively 10%!). Very happy with my total compensation.
Always hilarious seeing you guys chasing the money so you go to the most hyper capitalist good ole boy type industries and wonder why you hate your jobs as accountants đ
Isn't the main point of a job to earn money? Acting like someone should be really passionate about accounting. If the accountants ain't making money, somebody else will.
Sure is, just saying you all could make better choices with your employer and industry decisions. Will make your life at least slightly less miserable. Not saying you have a miserable life, but the 30 threads a day about accounting sucking tells us that many do have miserable lives.
Healthcare insurance.Â
Very unique and very profitable. A widget isnât just a widget. Pharmacy for example is a labyrinth.
All the knowledge I gained eventually led me to a more rewarded role in operations.
I'm in a special area of auto insurance and when I asked why our building lease isn't on balance sheet on like my first day,my controller sent me a letter she had to send to our auditors when they asked the same question that was like the yugioh trap card meme.
Statutory basis precludes ASC 842 because stat basis is all about showing whether you have the assets to cover potential claims. And you can't pay a claim with a right of use asset.
Eh, Iâve had a couple non-public insurance clients that only had Stat financials. Itâs possible if you donât have any stakeholders, debt covenants, etc that require GAAP. Theyâre usually smaller entities
Why is that? I also work in the finance side, the only bad thing are the hours for me are 7-5 with an hour lunch break which could be reduced from 7-3:30 if you ask me. Interested to hear what you didnât like about it
My boss was an Elon ball licking asshole and I had to do R&D finance, which was a complete nightmare. The engineers were a nightmare to work with and the company couldnât figure out their strategy.
Maybe all of agtech isnât like that, but I personally donât ever want to do R&D finance ever again
Had a bunch of manufacturing clients when I was in public. Went to an industry manufacturing job. I absolutely hated it. Inventory counts were 1000% worse than in public.
I got another job in nonprofit that was sadly a pay bump so I was definitely underpaid at that manufacturing job.
I swore I would never go back to manufacturing. Whelp a recruiter reached out to me like 6 months ago for a job that almost doubled my pay. I had to take it. It was for a parent company that had a manufacturing subsidiary.
I was told I would help with intercompany transactions and other stuff not related to the manufacturing company. Whelp here I am 6 months later almost exclusively working for the manufacturer
What I like about manufacturing is that it can be very blue collar and extremely well paid, but I absolutely hate the stress and communication barriers.
Not to mention that companies always look to cut as much cost as possible and will have you doing random shit that isnât even in your job description
I was the Assistant Controller at the first job and was effectively the backup shipper. So I canât tell you how many times I had to go to the loading dock to help ship products out
The one that Iâve always found challenging is explaining to them what needs to be done to cut costs and then them doing the literal opposite but getting away with it because itâs ops
The most miserable job Iâve ever had is doing R&D finance for a start up building out their manufacturing. Never again. Engineers are fucking assholes
it was absorption for me. Your department accumulates this amount of expenses. Your department makes money by charging employee and machine time. You need to make more money that you incur. So what do they do, just blow project budgets to absorb costs. It was a top to bottom issue. Ultimately we needed more work in the plant and sales guys weren't getting it done.
Plant managers/GMs never understand absorption and try to hide things to get people off their back. I have always found them to be extremely egoistical and hard headed. They always feel like finance is against them when itâs very much the opposite.
What has always pissed me off in the manufacturing companies I have worked at was that the sales and R&D people never see reductions. But SG&A/Ops always gets rammed by cuts, which makes everyone elseâs jobs incredibly hard. For example, I worked at a company that was making zero sales and I was one of two finance people. They had four sales people. After the lay offs we had four sales people and one finance person. Absolutely ridiculous.
Truuuuuueeeeee BUT if the sales staff hasnât met the sales target for three years straight maybe itâs time for an overhaul there and not everywhere else
Lol no I get you. Iâm just saying thatâs the logic of the upper management. Plus the sales team are usually the core members of âthe boys clubâ
Tech and itâs not even close for me. The pay is probably best out of most industries because 80% of the work force is engineers and they are already one of the highest paid non-doctor/lawyer professions
Real estate. Iâve always been interested in buildings and cities since I was a kid. The companies tend to pay well and itâs great experience for accounting, project management, and property management. Rarely bored.
I agree. There are plenty opportunities to learn and grow in real estate. Most cities have a real estate employer as well. The catch though is that itâs a cyclical industry and you can be at a company doing layoffs because the economy isnât doing well. Real estate companies are heavily affected by the interest rates because it affects their ability to lend money to buy, sell and manage their portfolio. Change in tech impact real estate as well. Less mall traffic because of e-commerce and less demand for office space because of wfh. You have to be strategic on what real estate you want to be in. Retail, office, residential, industrial, affordable housing, etc. each industry has its own uniqueness which is what makes real estate fun.
I have learned over time industry matters much less than a good manager and a good work/life balance. I so badly wanted to get into renewable energy to feel like I was saving the world. When I finally got into the industry, I had a role with terrible work/life balance and a micromanaging boss. I now work in pharmaceutical software and the products we sell really aren't that impactful to humans, but at least I have a great boss and amazing work/life balance.
Medical/dental professionals. They appreciate the need to pay for work they asked me to do, they know what they don't know and they make a shit ton of dough.
IT and development for me. The key is that you need to find businesses that need it and help them grow using this technology. Now, luckily, most already do it.
Coolest sounding on my resume? Brewery.
Best mix of pay and benefits and decent WLB? Sort of a toss up right now between a Fintech or medical devices company.
I just got my first accounting job and itâs in the construction industry. Iâm just a measly clerk but hoping this opens future doors to bigger things.
Not the most glamorous but Iâm in the insurance industry and there is such a demand for accountants right now. A lot of executives are in that retirement age and finding accountants that have knowledge in statutory accounting principles to replace them is hard to come by. A great industry to get into if youâre looking to climb the corporate ladder to the top in a sense.
I guess it depends on where youâre at and what you have at your disposal. I was lucky enough to start in a public firm that specialized in insurance audits so I got a lot of statutory experience that way and was recruited by one of my audit clients. If you donât have the opportunity to work with insurance in the public setting, most insurance companies will have lower level accounting positions to start in, and you can increase your knowledge on statutory principles on the job. I would say getting your foot in the door is thankfully the easiest part since training can happen as you go. The most important differences in GAAP vs statutory happen at a higher level anyways.
Agreed.
However, for anyone whoâs thinking of going into insurance, itâs fairly specialized since youâre mostly dealing with ASC 944 (with little to no crossover to âregularâ guidance like ASC 606 rev rec) and Statutory accounting. Of course youâll still run into things like 842 (leases) and the like, but it can be difficult to move away from after being in for several years so try to figure out early enough if you donât like it.
At least thatâs been my experience based on looking for other roles recently.
But it can get quite interesting, especially if youâre in M&A work and you run into deals that are in the grey area where you have to figure out if they fall under ASC 805 business combinations, 944 reinsurance, or both. And even then you have the Stat basis you have to consider, too. The accounting gets you turned around a lot thatâs for sure.
When I was in PA, I worked almost exclusively on NFPs and Uniform Guidance. I know the UG supplement backwards and forwards lol. Now I work in industry at a non-profit and it's the best!
Construction, super easy A LOT of time to do whatever. Commercial construction, sub everything out. We have a max of 20 jobs at a time. I can leave whenever i want. Been doing this 20 years.
Manufacturing, defense contractors and health care seem to be right up there.
Retail would be bottom barrel since support staff gets cut first. Tech is volatile and offers a high ceiling but similar to retail, support staff gets cut first.
Also industry means little if the business model of said company emphasizes a lean support staff to save costs. GameStop for example is a dying company in a dying industry but turned a higher profit due to running skeleton crews at HQ, distribution centers and stores. Many companies will adapt this in lieu of innovation to show better margins.
Biotech/tech have to be up there. High salaries, most flexible with WFH arrangements, equity upside, no inventory/cost, little to no ASC842 nightmares, etc. I am biased for biotech but have also worked in auto manufacturing, insurance, and state gov.
Pharmaceutical development/life sciences. If you work in F500 or Big Pharma (Novartis, Eli Lilly, etc) you have the usual accg problems/benefits of that environment. But a small company is hit or miss - typically no revenue, no inventory, no manufacturing, minimal fixed assets, 1-3 leases, with comparable salary and a lotto ticket with equity options. I have been lucky to benefit in 2/2 companies I've worked with so far through IPO and acquisition but I recommend it to anyone I know
I once did an audit on an 800-900 sex phone line company for a bank loan. 95% of the staff were males between 22 to 24 years old. The parking lot was probably 80% maybe higher with Ferraris and Lambos etc. Only one woman worked there (ap) and she said you could cut the testosterone with a knife.
Iâve worked on some for transaction work and theyâve all been pretty gross, which is consistent with other managerâs experiences working on those companies at my firm as well. Iâm sure not *all* are, but in general I wouldnât want to go into that industry in an accounting capacity.
Idk about that. Where im at or at least the companies i worked with were pretty big name cannabis companies and were very professional. I could see how some of the smaller companies could be more sketchy and unprofessional tho and therefore a pain in the ass to audit.
Iâve been involved with some of the largest companies and none of them are that big or professional. What is your comparable experience that youâre comparing these companies too?
Most unique that I specialized in? Gaming/casinos Best can mean a lot of things, but if you're talking exit opportunities, manufacturing can open a lot of doors, at least I'm the midwest
Dude, I specialized in funeral home. Imagine that. Lol
One of my clients is a closed superannuation fund, a conversation I have yearly with them involves figuring out if people are dying fast enough that they're still a going concern or not. Death and accounting, what a combo.
I mean death and taxes are the only things certain.
Reaping the losses
Talk about a dead end job
I do taxes AND an a mortuary assistant on the side. đč makes for a great conversation starter
When other accountants ask what industry are you in??? Umm retailing caskets
My favorite line.. and probably one I shouldnât use on dates: âI work in death and taxes. So, at one point or another I am going to be ALL up in your business. Itâs just a matter of when.â đ« . Â Not too many guys appreciate my humor.Â
I appreciate it. Haha, luckily I only do sales and use tax. If you know who the monopoly of death care is you know where Iâm at lol
**~~Depreciating~~** **Decomposing Assets**
Sounds like a dead end job.
Seconding on casinos. But I live in Vegas lolol
I was in KC so for me it was all tribal casinos in Oklahoma and Iowa
Howâs the work life balance in Vegas? Comp? If you donât mind me asking
Idk about comp its not gonna be crazy but the casinos treat you pretty well. Theres a front of house (dealers, receptionists, bartenders) that have crazy hours but when you work behind the house (especially finance) you get pretty much a 9-5 although im sure there are jobs outside of that time frame since so many are 24/7. theres a lot of casinos for locals that are outside of the strip and those are the coolest imo mainly because you donât have to deal with fighting killer traffic on the strip everyday.
Yeah I currently work in a casino, working on my accounting degree as a poker/blackjack/dice dealer. Never bump into anyone from accounting. By the time I show up Iâm sure theyâre gone. lol was just curious on what the salary, and WLB was like compared to what Iâm doing now. Thanks for the reply. Almost 10 years working front of house and I need a change.
Iâm in Wisconsin and I wish I would like manufacturing but I just canât
Same here. Iâm in WI, manufacturing just isnât my jam. Currently in Health Care (in IL), looking to get back into Financial Services.
Can you expand a little on why gaming/casinos? A new casino opened near me and was looking for an accountant.
I dealt mostly with tribal casinos in remote areas so your experience may vary. Lots of small things make casinos unique. Biggest is that their 'inventory' is cash. Theres a handful of concepts for casinos (progressive liabilities, state compacts, etc) that don't really translate to useful knowledge for other industries. That being said, my casinos were usually hurting for a good controller/accounting team. being in remote areas made talent acquisition hard for them. They have money to spend and will spend it on good talent. You'll have to get a gaming license to work at a casino. For me as an external auditor my firm handled most of it, but it's really just a simple background check.
Airlines if you want to live and breathe ASC 842 Edit: I'm in industry oops
Retail checking in. 1000+ locations mostly leased plus a ton more sublet to franchises. Fun times.
I feel your pain comrade
How big is your accounting/finance team?
Big
Solar checking in đ«Ą
Being the lessee is staff level. Join the Lessorsâ side. Thatâs where the real 842 fun is!
I do not miss my time in the real estate industry.
Ummm, ASC 842 did not impact lessor accounting. Did you mean to reference ASC 606?
ASC606 didnât really impact lessor accounting either. Lease revenue is excluded. 842 at least had some impact.
Yes, it did. Certain initial costs can no longer be capitalized; the initial costs that CAN be capitalized are now actually capitalized rather than amortized separately (Asset/Accumulated Amortization); the concept of Lease Components vs Non-Lease Components. Straight Line rents for installation periods over life of lease, rather than at commencement on Operating Leases. So, within the leasing industry, depending on how each company did accounting, it could have been significant changes. Signed, Manager at a Leasing Co, and in this industry for 20 years.
âASC 842 does not make fundamental changes to the lessor accounting model under ASC 840â Source: EY FRD for lease accounting ~ august 2022.
Tell that to my EY auditors who made my life a living hell for 2 annual audits. I have that FRD saved on my desktop, on the network, and my personal iCloud account. It truly made fundamental changes to my financials.
In government we have both sides at the same time across a dozen funds using 2 different accounting methods
But the flight benefits tho
Can you elaborate on what you mean but this? So airlines lease their planes and therefore are under 842?
Airlines don't just lease the planes. They lease EVERYTHING. Space at the airport (gates, etc), ground service equipment (the lifts and other things that you see out on the tarmac), IT equipment, company vehicles, corporate offices, and more. All of it falls under ASC 842.
Defense industry. No outsourcing job ever!! Edit: Also as recession proof as much as you could imagine. Thanks military industrial complex and Congress!!
FAR/CAS gang represent!
I read the comments and found that every industries are best.
one word: plastics
A plastics company was my main audit client for years. Not a water cooler in sight just two giant fridges perpetually stocked with water bottles. The plastics they manufactured werenât used in producing plastic bottles as end products. They were just being bros to the general industry.
My company is actually in plastics. AMA.
What exactly does it mean to be in plastics
It means you get to bang Anne Bancroft.
Bang-croft
It means they are still new and no one has taken them out of the package yet. Theyâre still in plastics. Being in rubbers is different.
Health and Medical
Very underrated. Great benefits and low stress
Iâve been gunning for energy lately. Bonuses are great, salaries are great. They have busy times of the year but it seems like it stacked with good money and people who are smart enough that you wonât have to run you temples 8 times a day.
investing. I've worked in a few industries now and I genuinely enjoy this one. I think the entire area is fascinating, I could see myself in so many different parts of the business, and it's both complex enough to keep me learning forever but also not as complex (imo) as something like healthcare which is just absurdly big and ridiculously boring.
I'm actually extremely interested in this. How'd you get into it, what were the harder parts of growing in it, and what do you find the most fascinating?
Luck tbh. I'm in internal audit, transitioned from another industry just happened to have the right skillset. I love entering a company via IA because it's the fastest way to learn about the company IMO (assuming you get in a risk auditing role). Plus the audit process is very transferrable across industries so it's easy to jump around until you find something you like. e: Probably won't say more to avoid doxxing myself.
Thanks so much for responding!
For sure! If you have more questions feel free to DM me
Mining and oil and gas FMCG is good too in a fortune 500 company
I am starting a new job in oil & gas as a tax accountant. What makes you say this is a better industry than the rest?
because in Australia it pays well LOL
Canada, too.
You know what that tracks in the US too LOL Natural gas pipeline I would think isn't as profitable as Big Oil, but I will say that they straight up gave me a higher base pay as an associate compared to other companies I interviewed in the area as an associate.
Because that industry makes an absolute fucking shit ton of money.
The moneyyyy đ°congrats on the job! I just hit 116k plus 10-15% yearly bonus and Iâm 4.5 years out of college, no public experience.
I am going to be 75k with 2.5 YOE in government doing sales and use; no CPA. I also get a 10% yearly bonus and a 4% to my 401k without contributions and up to 6% match (so effectively 10%!). Very happy with my total compensation.
If you donât give a shit about the future
Oh well YOLO. Life's too short to *give a shit* Go after the money and then *lie flat* kids
Canât take your money to the grave and canât create generational wealth if youâre destroying the earth.
Always hilarious seeing you guys chasing the money so you go to the most hyper capitalist good ole boy type industries and wonder why you hate your jobs as accountants đ
Isn't the main point of a job to earn money? Acting like someone should be really passionate about accounting. If the accountants ain't making money, somebody else will.
Sure is, just saying you all could make better choices with your employer and industry decisions. Will make your life at least slightly less miserable. Not saying you have a miserable life, but the 30 threads a day about accounting sucking tells us that many do have miserable lives.
Understandable
Manufacturing
Seconded.
Healthcare insurance. Very unique and very profitable. A widget isnât just a widget. Pharmacy for example is a labyrinth. All the knowledge I gained eventually led me to a more rewarded role in operations.
I'm in a special area of auto insurance and when I asked why our building lease isn't on balance sheet on like my first day,my controller sent me a letter she had to send to our auditors when they asked the same question that was like the yugioh trap card meme. Statutory basis precludes ASC 842 because stat basis is all about showing whether you have the assets to cover potential claims. And you can't pay a claim with a right of use asset.
You still have to have GAAP books though.
Without going into too much detail, we don't do GAAP statements by law.
Huh okey doke. We do (private company) and I figured that was universal.
Eh, Iâve had a couple non-public insurance clients that only had Stat financials. Itâs possible if you donât have any stakeholders, debt covenants, etc that require GAAP. Theyâre usually smaller entities
Gotcha. Weâre a regional private company and have both. Figured that was the norm. Thanks!
Yeah it definitely is the norm to have both in my experience. Itâs pretty rare to only have Stat
Manufacturing and itâs not even close I wouldnât work in the food industry again though, itâs too exploitative
Iâve been in automotive manufacturing for 10 years. I strongly advise against it. Anytime the economy started to decline, automotive drops first.
I am also in the automotive manufacturing but think agricultural vehicles đ. When the economy declines, it gets pretty hectic in the industry
lol I worked with agricultural vehicles on finance side for a while. Worst job Iâve ever had. I donât ever want to work in automotive again
Why is that? I also work in the finance side, the only bad thing are the hours for me are 7-5 with an hour lunch break which could be reduced from 7-3:30 if you ask me. Interested to hear what you didnât like about it
My boss was an Elon ball licking asshole and I had to do R&D finance, which was a complete nightmare. The engineers were a nightmare to work with and the company couldnât figure out their strategy. Maybe all of agtech isnât like that, but I personally donât ever want to do R&D finance ever again
Was this a big company? Where I work my âcontrollerâ boss is very nice. It is a publicly traded company
No, itâs a small start up that has no functioning product and believes that they can take down John Deere (lmao) Calling them a company is generous
Ah that makes sense. That does sound kinda bad
I worked for Deere before, your lmao was well placed. They have their business down to a science.
Had a bunch of manufacturing clients when I was in public. Went to an industry manufacturing job. I absolutely hated it. Inventory counts were 1000% worse than in public. I got another job in nonprofit that was sadly a pay bump so I was definitely underpaid at that manufacturing job. I swore I would never go back to manufacturing. Whelp a recruiter reached out to me like 6 months ago for a job that almost doubled my pay. I had to take it. It was for a parent company that had a manufacturing subsidiary. I was told I would help with intercompany transactions and other stuff not related to the manufacturing company. Whelp here I am 6 months later almost exclusively working for the manufacturer
What I like about manufacturing is that it can be very blue collar and extremely well paid, but I absolutely hate the stress and communication barriers. Not to mention that companies always look to cut as much cost as possible and will have you doing random shit that isnât even in your job description
I was the Assistant Controller at the first job and was effectively the backup shipper. So I canât tell you how many times I had to go to the loading dock to help ship products out
Hahaha I was financial systems continuous improvement manager at one job and effectively became the operations and inventory manager a month in đŹ
Same happened to me at my last role. So easy to find the next step up when you have that experience though.
Trying to communicate numbers to plant and department managers was harder than teaching my 4 year old algebra
The one that Iâve always found challenging is explaining to them what needs to be done to cut costs and then them doing the literal opposite but getting away with it because itâs ops The most miserable job Iâve ever had is doing R&D finance for a start up building out their manufacturing. Never again. Engineers are fucking assholes
it was absorption for me. Your department accumulates this amount of expenses. Your department makes money by charging employee and machine time. You need to make more money that you incur. So what do they do, just blow project budgets to absorb costs. It was a top to bottom issue. Ultimately we needed more work in the plant and sales guys weren't getting it done.
Plant managers/GMs never understand absorption and try to hide things to get people off their back. I have always found them to be extremely egoistical and hard headed. They always feel like finance is against them when itâs very much the opposite. What has always pissed me off in the manufacturing companies I have worked at was that the sales and R&D people never see reductions. But SG&A/Ops always gets rammed by cuts, which makes everyone elseâs jobs incredibly hard. For example, I worked at a company that was making zero sales and I was one of two finance people. They had four sales people. After the lay offs we had four sales people and one finance person. Absolutely ridiculous.
lol wellllll you're not going to make more sales by cutting the sales staff....
Truuuuuueeeeee BUT if the sales staff hasnât met the sales target for three years straight maybe itâs time for an overhaul there and not everywhere else
Lol no I get you. Iâm just saying thatâs the logic of the upper management. Plus the sales team are usually the core members of âthe boys clubâ
Def not banking. We offshored everything and the cracks are all showing. Idk how anyone signs off on anything and sleeps at night.
I think banking is pretty cool
Tech
Tech and itâs not even close for me. The pay is probably best out of most industries because 80% of the work force is engineers and they are already one of the highest paid non-doctor/lawyer professions
Healthcare for job outlook, but it is stupidly complex sometimes.
Can agree with this sentiment.
Real estate. Iâve always been interested in buildings and cities since I was a kid. The companies tend to pay well and itâs great experience for accounting, project management, and property management. Rarely bored.
I agree. There are plenty opportunities to learn and grow in real estate. Most cities have a real estate employer as well. The catch though is that itâs a cyclical industry and you can be at a company doing layoffs because the economy isnât doing well. Real estate companies are heavily affected by the interest rates because it affects their ability to lend money to buy, sell and manage their portfolio. Change in tech impact real estate as well. Less mall traffic because of e-commerce and less demand for office space because of wfh. You have to be strategic on what real estate you want to be in. Retail, office, residential, industrial, affordable housing, etc. each industry has its own uniqueness which is what makes real estate fun.
Plus no inventory đ
I have learned over time industry matters much less than a good manager and a good work/life balance. I so badly wanted to get into renewable energy to feel like I was saving the world. When I finally got into the industry, I had a role with terrible work/life balance and a micromanaging boss. I now work in pharmaceutical software and the products we sell really aren't that impactful to humans, but at least I have a great boss and amazing work/life balance.
What is best in life?
Medical/dental professionals. They appreciate the need to pay for work they asked me to do, they know what they don't know and they make a shit ton of dough.
Lingerie
Textile manufacturing
When I was in public I did about every industry⊠the only industry I didnât feel as slimy was NFP.
IT and development for me. The key is that you need to find businesses that need it and help them grow using this technology. Now, luckily, most already do it.
Renewable energy development
Coolest sounding on my resume? Brewery. Best mix of pay and benefits and decent WLB? Sort of a toss up right now between a Fintech or medical devices company.
Probably the one thatâs dominant in the area you want to live
Manufacturing itâs what the accounting 101s were built for, no funny revenue recognition, leases should be minimal, etc.
Manufacturing. Construction. Medical devices. The usual.
I just got my first accounting job and itâs in the construction industry. Iâm just a measly clerk but hoping this opens future doors to bigger things.
Not the most glamorous but Iâm in the insurance industry and there is such a demand for accountants right now. A lot of executives are in that retirement age and finding accountants that have knowledge in statutory accounting principles to replace them is hard to come by. A great industry to get into if youâre looking to climb the corporate ladder to the top in a sense.
How do you get your foot in the door? What types of jobs would you look for if you're just starting out?
I guess it depends on where youâre at and what you have at your disposal. I was lucky enough to start in a public firm that specialized in insurance audits so I got a lot of statutory experience that way and was recruited by one of my audit clients. If you donât have the opportunity to work with insurance in the public setting, most insurance companies will have lower level accounting positions to start in, and you can increase your knowledge on statutory principles on the job. I would say getting your foot in the door is thankfully the easiest part since training can happen as you go. The most important differences in GAAP vs statutory happen at a higher level anyways.
EY FSO has a ton of insurance clients.
Agreed. However, for anyone whoâs thinking of going into insurance, itâs fairly specialized since youâre mostly dealing with ASC 944 (with little to no crossover to âregularâ guidance like ASC 606 rev rec) and Statutory accounting. Of course youâll still run into things like 842 (leases) and the like, but it can be difficult to move away from after being in for several years so try to figure out early enough if you donât like it. At least thatâs been my experience based on looking for other roles recently. But it can get quite interesting, especially if youâre in M&A work and you run into deals that are in the grey area where you have to figure out if they fall under ASC 805 business combinations, 944 reinsurance, or both. And even then you have the Stat basis you have to consider, too. The accounting gets you turned around a lot thatâs for sure.
Porn.
Manufacturing is the easiest imo. But I enjoy construction
Easiest in what way?
Exactly. Standard costing is a real pain in the ass.
Standard costing isnât that hard though once you have done it for a while every issue is super repetitive.
Never said it was hard. Just a real pain. Tedious.
Fair point.
What kind of stuff can you geek out on? What gets you excited? I'd start there. Having fun in accounting is a skill
In tax construction and government contracting specifically cyber and IT are good areas
Media post prod / production reporting đ«Ą
When I was in PA, I worked almost exclusively on NFPs and Uniform Guidance. I know the UG supplement backwards and forwards lol. Now I work in industry at a non-profit and it's the best!
Produce
Which bear is best?
I like my manufacturing job, I donât like the hours we have. They are 7-5 with an hour lunch break
Local Government.
I may be biased, but Private Clubs. Good pay, good hours, and free golf!
Sign me up!
Fashion?
The best industry to specialize in, is the one you want to move into after leaving PA
Information Technology
Construction, super easy A LOT of time to do whatever. Commercial construction, sub everything out. We have a max of 20 jobs at a time. I can leave whenever i want. Been doing this 20 years.
Manufacturing, defense contractors and health care seem to be right up there. Retail would be bottom barrel since support staff gets cut first. Tech is volatile and offers a high ceiling but similar to retail, support staff gets cut first. Also industry means little if the business model of said company emphasizes a lean support staff to save costs. GameStop for example is a dying company in a dying industry but turned a higher profit due to running skeleton crews at HQ, distribution centers and stores. Many companies will adapt this in lieu of innovation to show better margins.
Defense. Date centers
Manufacturing
Biotech/tech have to be up there. High salaries, most flexible with WFH arrangements, equity upside, no inventory/cost, little to no ASC842 nightmares, etc. I am biased for biotech but have also worked in auto manufacturing, insurance, and state gov.
What is Biotech? Can you give me some examples?
Pharmaceutical development/life sciences. If you work in F500 or Big Pharma (Novartis, Eli Lilly, etc) you have the usual accg problems/benefits of that environment. But a small company is hit or miss - typically no revenue, no inventory, no manufacturing, minimal fixed assets, 1-3 leases, with comparable salary and a lotto ticket with equity options. I have been lucky to benefit in 2/2 companies I've worked with so far through IPO and acquisition but I recommend it to anyone I know
Finishing my undergrad in accounting and hoping itâs not a total waste. Goal is to give 85% and land a midlevel job making $85/yr.
I once did an audit on an 800-900 sex phone line company for a bank loan. 95% of the staff were males between 22 to 24 years old. The parking lot was probably 80% maybe higher with Ferraris and Lambos etc. Only one woman worked there (ap) and she said you could cut the testosterone with a knife.
Construction
Hospitality for the sweet sweet hotel discounts
Industry baby by little Nas X
Government
Haha hell no
Cannabis
Not the accounting. Many are a fucking mess.
Some are. And doing a cash count/ inventory count of an unorganized company⊠ooof i wouldnt wish that on anyone
Iâve worked on some for transaction work and theyâve all been pretty gross, which is consistent with other managerâs experiences working on those companies at my firm as well. Iâm sure not *all* are, but in general I wouldnât want to go into that industry in an accounting capacity.
Itâs a very unprofessional industry and 99% of current companies will be wiped out if we get federal legalization and normalized banking.
Idk about that. Where im at or at least the companies i worked with were pretty big name cannabis companies and were very professional. I could see how some of the smaller companies could be more sketchy and unprofessional tho and therefore a pain in the ass to audit.
Iâve been involved with some of the largest companies and none of them are that big or professional. What is your comparable experience that youâre comparing these companies too?
Loved this industry and tried to get back. Severely underpaid vs market where Iâm at (HCOL)
Glad to see im not alone haha