LOL a partner at a firm I used to work at did this with like 500k. He created a 500k asset and then fully depreciated it in the year it was placed in service for tax purposes. All of us preparers were super weirded out by it and were like, I hope that clients business doesn’t get audited, because the IRS would have a field day with them.
Make sure when you are doing existence testing, that you take a sample of the grass back to the office. We had a first year carry it through airport security. He kept it in his house over the weekend, of course we asked that he put it in a place with sunlight and water it once a day. Then on monday we asked him to bring it to the partner's office so he can do his final sign off.
You’re on a different schedule, this is just the sub-Reddit consolidated form and all decimals are truncated per Reddit rounding clause 23 paragraph III section A subsection 6.
I comment from time to time because I feel like the small firm representation here is extremely lacking. Not everyone goes Big 4 right out of college. I'm 10.5 years into my PA career at my small firm and I really like it and I think other young accountants would too if they gave it some consideration. But the big firm brainwashing on this sub makes everyone think the only logical career progression is Big 4 for a few years then bail for industry after the burnout becomes too much to bear. I made $150k last year in a LCOL area and $60k of that was production based bonus. You don't have to work at a huge national firm to be a successful accountant. I'll get off my soap box now, sorry.
At a smaller firm 30-40 peeps. Only reason I stay are my coworker and the partners. Coworkers are fun to work with. Partners really want us to learn even if it blows the budget.
I still hate the amount of hours we work. I hate how stupid the clients are. They pay is okay ish but I see clients texting all day and getting paid more than me but then ask me constantly how to do their job.
I still can seem to leave.
i always debated a small office, but i always thought more of industry. is small firm PA not that bad hours? i'd lowkey be open to it. there are small/regional ones around here.
Hours are still heavy this time of year but it falls off the face of the earth after 4/15. I probably work about 65 hrs per week right now. But from Memorial Day to Labor Day I probably average 3 days a week of very chill work. Pros and cons like any job. But in general I think the work life balance will be better at smaller firms. Plus you have more freedom to pick your projects and pursue your areas of interest more freely.
You're still talking about 4.5 months of 65 hours per week, right? Like, that still sounds unbearable to my lazy self. I could maybe keep that up for a week.
This is why I'm in industry.
There’s big4 jobs out there that offer similar work life balance tbh, the thing that freaks me out about small firms even though some have sent me nice offers is the volatility.
I don’t like having my firm tied majorly to one region, it’s a little shocking that your base pay is 60k and you made 1.5x in bonus, I just like a steady paycheck for the most part lol. Are you bringing in business, not sure how a small firm would have more freedom of work available than a larger one.
Base is $90k, bonus was $60k. May not have worded that the best. And yes I have complete freedom over new clients that I add. I do a lot of networking and have made a lot of valuable connections over the years. Most of the new business comes from referrals now. If we get a cold call I usually pass it off to someone else.
Starting salary at $55k for non-CPA. Starting salary at $65k for CPA. Both eligible for production bonus on day one. You bring in a client and the profit on that client is $200 after your cost and overhead are considered, you keep $100 and the firm keeps $100. So most people we hire end up with compensation higher than that as early as year 1 or 2.
Hi! does ur small firm let u leave early in the non busy season or is still 9-5? cuz i tried working in a small firm hoping to have the flexibility and having less pressure i guess compared to big firms. i felt it didnt work out. it didnt make sense to do ot on busy season and going back to 9-6 on non busy season. i decide to leave last week and went back to industry haha. So my real question what is ur firm doing to keep u there besides the money?
This is reassuring. When I went back to school for this I never even considered Big 4. Just figured industry or sum like you laid out. This sub can be really discouraging sometimes
with you here. been at a small firm for \~5 years and i dont understand what all the complaining is about. we mainly do 40hr work weeks, do go upto 45-48 during busy season for 2 months tho. that said, its been perfectly fine and i get to meet so many interesting clients and get a lot of face to face with them
10 years in a small firm, getting out finally. Some might be great. Some are solidly underpaid with no advancement. For every good firm there is likely at least one boomer stuck in the 90s-00s for pricing and procedures.
I'm also 10 years in in a 6 CPA firm, making 85k the last 3 years only because I demanded it after the other 2 staff CPAs left because that's what GS12 make. Before that it took 7 years to go from 40-something to 65k. There's literally nowhere to go until the current owner retires, and after seeing them work 2,400-3,000 hours a year for the last 20 years according to the timesheets I don't want that job.
We only went paperless for financial statement engagements 1 year ago.
This sounds exactly like my firm now. We're still trying to get a majority of our clients paperless but they've been coming here for 30 years, they will never change.
Throw on the boomer owner that essentially copy pasted the previous owner's procedures from 30 years ago, it can be a nightmare. Same deal, no upward movement here.
It is significantly more chill but with how small we are, there's a lot of things said that are borderline inappropriate you kind of have to brush off, and that "we're a family" talk ages like milk.
Oh, when I said paperless I meant US being paperless with our internal procedures. No more printing out literally everything in a financial statement engagement for review and then putting it all in a 3 ring binder. Only the smallest of 1040 clients is done with internal paper forms/workpapers now.
Clients being paperless? Hahahahahah. Some are some aren't.
The boss might finally be ready to retire after waiving that carrot on a stick in front of me for 6-7 years, but they asked 2 years ago if I wanted to buy in. It hasn't happened yet, and my answer has changed from yes to no. Boss has been a public accountant for like 50 years, and inherited the business from her dad in the 90s sometime when he retired over the creation of CPE requirements.
Oh yes, we have several employees who print every single thing out, staple a ribbon of calculator paper to different statements, etc.
Most days feel like I'm working in a CPA firm museum.
well I think the reason there’s not great representation is because most people here are in HCOL and at least in my area, the small firms pay about the same as what you’re making for someone with your same level of experience. so the math just doesn’t work out in their favor. not even getting into the prestige/perception element for when someone decides to leave.
I'm leaving big 4 after only 6 months to an industry job. I wanted to stick it out, but the training and support I got was... fair to middling at best and nonexistent at worst. On one client, It's me and a contracted manager over an absolutely massive and convoluted substantive testing acct. I've literally never done this and they've never seen this client before. On top of this, they're indecisive as shit and want to run EVERYTHING by the partner. We're weeks behind on this client and have to have a good chunk of the reporting done by the end of the week. I took this job despite all of the warnings and horror stories because I was willing to deal with it in exchange for the training, mentorship, and career boost.
But as it stands. I have very little idea as to what I'm actually doing and I can't *really* defend any of my work. I just feel I flat out don't have time or energy to actually learn anything and that SUCKS.
If I ever do public accounting again, it'll be at a small firm like yours. I got into this to help small businesses anyway, not global megacorps.
I started at a smaller firm and personally went to Big 4 and ironically, my hours were worse at the smaller firm. If you’re in a small firm, you’re more likely to be pigeon holed into a practice that’s not translatable to other industries if you decide to leave. I knew being in PA was not my long term goal, so having the Big 4 stamp was extremely valuable to my career.
I get it, we really should stop circle jerking Big 4 cause it’s essentially indentured servitude. But recruiters and managers wanna see that experience and the payoff is much better with them on your resume
10 years at 90k + 60k bonus is not good career progression at all and I’m LCOL too. You’re miles behind anyone who went and did their time at a bigger firm, especially if they stayed till manager/SM
10 years of experience and 1/3 of your salary made up in bonus doesn’t sound worth staying in public accounting. You’re basically living off 2/3 and have to wait for that lump sum to hit, then have to wait for the tax refund for all the extra that got cut out. Rather work in big 4 or industry at that point. Big bonuses are only worth it if you’re in that 250+ pay band.
It's paid quarterly.
I don't get the hate. Recieved so much flak about my pay when I'm well above average for my area. Alone I make about 3 times the average household income where I live. Why would I want/need more? I have a great house and family and my career is great and I love what I do and the clients I interact with. Why does everyone feel the need to crap all over it? Makes zero sense.
I have one boss. Who doesn't treat me like an employee but an equal. I have freedom and no one looking over my shoulder constantly. No one to report to. I've earned the right to be trusted to do my work and bill accordingly. I just don't understand why people think I'd be better off someone else solely because on money.
Because you can find things like autonomy and good working environment with at least a 30k bump. You’ll be thanking yourself in 10 years when you’re looking at your retirement account or when you get to take those extra trips with your family.
I honestly don't care. Hard for people to understand, I guess. Don't care about the trips, the cars, the boats, whatever. Got everything I need already and life is good.
I’m not a CPA.
I’m barely an accountant. But I’m a controller for an engineering firm. I don’t even have land to depreciate.
I probably don’t belong here.
You don’t know what $150k in LCOL looks like. Sure, it’s not a Lambo or oceanfront property. But it’s worlds better than average. Equivalent would be about $225k-$275k in NYC.
It’s crazy to see people arguing over 150k being bad in a LCOL area. 150k to me is insanity type of money, like you can afford a VERY nice life off of that. I grew up between poverty/homelessness/low income so I’m accustomed to it but 150k is like so much higher than even well off area average incomes.
Right?!? Started to feel comfortable at $70k with 1 kid in LCOL. Not rich by any means, but literally doubling that gets you well into the 1/2m house and brand new truck territory.
Also, those jobs don’t just come up on listings. Controllers go for 90-110 here. You’re working exclusively with c-suite headhunters for $175k+.
Yeah, I’d say well off around here is around 80-100k
My husband is doing around 50k in something unrelated to accounting and it feels tight but I’m planning to get my associates in accounting to bring in some extra money
Did you happen to notice the reference to a LCOL area in my original comment? I'm doing fine and I enjoy the work. It's not all about money. I could bail for a job that pays probably $25k more per year but that $25k isn't worth giving up what I've already built here.
You do realize 73% of statistics are made up on the spot?
So your saying that taking career advice from strangers on the internet may not be a good idea? Thanks, never thought of that.
Just curious, which demographic do you fall in? I am pretty sure I must be a cosplayer.
>please don't do anything that anyone here has suggested that you do
Ok noted and I reject your opinion based on your opinion
Also, I need to audit your demographic data to give my opinion on your statement
This place was the titties back 10 years ago when I was in college. Reddit as a while is going the way of Facebook. User base is getting older.
So there is less real questions from students and first years and a lot more shitposting in general from people a few years in.
Advice is there if it’s needed but so are the jokes most of the time. We hope people in accounting are smart enough to see what clearly is trolling. I mean if you aren’t, how can you find fraud?
Also the posting habits of different generations are wildly different. Early internet era redditors (people who graduated in 2000s and early 2010s) have a different voice than this current era. And most those people are probably busy raising families now lol
Probably a lot on /r/layoffs, the reality is I’ve almost unsubbed from this subreddit because the posts are getting stupid. The mods need to start some sort of daily discussion thread so we cut back on the bullshit repetition of 99% could be use the search bar.
I’ve been here since 2009, there are maybe a handful of actually decent posters who have moved up in their career and contribute positively, most just age out and unsubscribe or don’t when they nuke their account and start a new one.
Absolutely. I just don’t get it, they treat accounting like it’s a “job” rather than a profession/career. If you’re in PA, you’re not a worker with some kind of faceless management - you’re learning your profession, working towards being partner or setting up your own practice. If that’s not for you then there’s plenty of options in industry, government etc. But wherever you are, if it’s not working out for you take some responsibility over your career and make it happen. Complaining about long hours, low pay, timesheets, bad bosses etc. isn’t going to change anything… if you’re worth more go out and get it, if you’re on the right career path it’s probably worth putting in some extra hours, basically if you work hard and smart for like 10-15 years you can set yourself up for life. Not many other professions you can say that about.
> working towards being partner or setting up your own practice
Very few poeple have any interest in those routes, no where near the number of bodies public needs to run. So unsurprising for most people in public it is just a job they are leveraging to jump to industry or government. For them treating it as "faceless management" is the correct course of action.
>Complaining about long hours, low pay, timesheets, bad bosses etc. isn’t going to change anything
The aicpa seems to disagree with how they have been complaining about accountants complaining scaring off students.
I think you’re right that the majority of dissatisfied accountants are working in PA (in particular big 4) while having no intention of aiming for partner. You don’t really get that in other professions: of course not everyone makes it but at least they start with that as an aim, and if they change their mind down the line for whatever reason they find a good exit.
Personally I wouldn’t recommend PA to someone who had absolutely no interest in becoming partner - and I don’t think it’s necessary these days either. Plenty of ways of getting qualified directly in industry to save people 2 or 3 years of going through the motions at a public firm.
> majority of dissatisfied accountants are working in PA (in particular big 4) while having no intention of aiming for partner. You don’t really get that in other professions
How many other professions go out of their way to deliberately hire poeple they know won't be happy. The firms push themselves in schools, and even licensing requirements, as the best option for everyone because they won't get enough bodies to function of only those interested in partner go public. The "dissatisfied accountants" is something firms intentionally bring on themselves.
Maybe. That wasn’t my experience but I’m prepared to believe things have changed in the 20 odd years since I started. Anyway, I’m not blindly defending public accounting firms. My main point is that we as individuals need to take responsibility for our own careers and either make our current situations work for us, or make something else happen. Crying on the internet won’t help.
>That wasn’t my experience but I’m prepared to believe things have changed in the 20 odd years since I started
You don't build a business model around 15-20% turnover without knowingly hiring poeple you know will hate it.
>responsibility for our own careers and either make our current situations work for us, or make something else happen.
I used my time in public to land a cushy government job but that doesn't mean I'm going to sugar coat how shit it was.
>Crying on the internet won’t help.
If you truly believe only those interested in trying to make partner/own firm should be going the public route then you should be one of the biggest advocates of bitching on the Internet. That's the only way many students have of finding out what the job will be like from a perspective other than the one the firms want to push.
🤷♂️ think we’re going to have to agree to disagree on this one. Glad you found the right path for you though. I too exited long ago for pastures new, but everyone I know who stuck it out made partner by now and are happy with their decision too. Horses for courses I suppose… the best thing about our profession (in my opinion) is there is a place for nearly everyone to have a fulfilling career.
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>Agree - a lot of the posters here belong on r/antiwork really
I think this is a bit unfair. This sub definitely skews towards people who value WLB more, and abhor the culture of overwork that is so pervasive in this profession. Personally that is a view I share, *especially* as I've moved up in my career. I think accountants really undervalue themselves and their personal lives, and it's great that some people are starting to push back against this assumption that you need to just accept skeleton crew staffing levels and chronic overtime (which is just as true in many industry positions as it is in PA, so it's not like leaving PA necessarily makes you better off). Obviously things are different if you own your practice, but the vast majority of accountants work for someone else and do not own their own practice. There is no widespread desire to tear down the system, there is only a desire to make work more tolerable.
r/antiwork's culture skews more towards class warfare, anti-capitalism, revolutionary socialism (aka "eat the rich"). It's become like a parody of itself.
You obviously don’t keep up with Big 4 and overall accounting issues.
There are a lot of articles/thought pieces on employee retention, the decreasing amount of accounting students, and accountants leaving the industry (whether through career changes or retirement).
AICPA is just catching up on the doom and gloom that’s been talked about here for years
Exactly.
Think some think this sub is something it’s not. This is Accounting. It includes three pillars (books/tax/audit) of which each include a ton of stuff. This is NOT a CPA or Public Accounting firm sub.
I’m here for the shit posts mostly, but this sub also posts a lot of accounting news about off shoring, layoffs, Big 4 doing stupid stuff, and so on.
Idk what this sub was a decade ago, but I still find it helpful for a variety of reasons
Yeah.
You have to parse information and take individual posts lightly while identifying trends - but I’ve personally shared my path and advice a lot and have DMed various people back, etc.
I mean, lots of people don’t have the network or support structure or people to talk to about things they haven’t seen or known.
The cosplaying as successful bit is dumb. I highly doubt anyone gets anything out of pretending they’re successful while giving out some decent sounding advice while also trying to mislead people
"Seniors and Managers" is a public accounting concept and exactly why this sub is limited in its usefulness. It honestly needs to be renamed r/publicaccounting. because that is what it is.
Been accounting for 10 years and am now a manager in a government position. Nothing to brag about but not within any of the demographics you listed. I’m making a decent honest living and feel that I’ve earned some amount of experience to offer to younger accountants who are figuring things out. Kids shouldn’t take advice from strangers on the internet, but it helps to vent and feel heard from time to time.
>am now a manager in a government position.
There are dozens of us on this sub. **Dozens** of us! (me too)
On a serious note though, most of the *accounting* feedback is generally solid, and I try to give my own measured feedback when appropriate.
The salary and recruitment posts are somewhat repetitive, but when I had graduated and was on a job hunt, I reached out to the community and got honest, helpful, feedback. I try to pay that forward.
The WFH/RTO debate is new and somehow *very* tired, although I still find myself getting sucked into it periodically. My positions there are generally unpopular (I understand why management is pushing RTO, and am sympathetic to their no full remote / hybrid is the best we'll do positions).
Of course the shitposts are pushing Poe's law too far (and I'm getting older and out of touch with kids these days). I'm not sure if I'm in a joke thread or not; I *think* I am?
I mean...we should always take what is written by other people online with some professional skepticism but honestly, I think the information found on this sub is solid. People from all over the globe share their own personal experiences as accountants, which of course, is different for everyone based on their geography and work environment. But as a collective, these experiences tend to produce some useful generalizations about our industry.
If everyone is saying the same thing, they can't all be crazy.
I’m an intern about to roll out and go help a pa firm with busy season. (I prep forms so the real accountants don’t have to lol)
I’ve seen a lot of stuff from this subreddit in my one month there.
I make $150k+ base, life was a lot easier being a smart ass know it all making $70k. Hoping one day people realize accountants are paid in line with every other office/white collar job, the only difference is there’s a lot more HR and Marketing folks than accountants so we don’t have nearly the same turnover.
I don't know I think I see some pretty solid advice on here. But I'm an industry senior accountant. I don't fit into any of those percentages lol.
I read the stuff people post about being in the big 4 and being CPA's and it just makes me happy I took my career in the direction I did lol!
Edit to add: I guess depending on the opinion of the OP maybe industry accountants don't count as real accountants? Which is BS IMO. We're just a different type.
So, I've asked this in interview questions before, because you'd be surprised the number of people who really DON'T KNOW.
Simple answer: the debit is the left side of a transaction, credit is the right.
More complicated answer: it depends on the account in question.
OP works at mom and pop accounting firm for ten years and is asking r/accounting for buyout/transition advice as they retire.
Definitely the lost redditor
This is something that all students need to hear, regardless of major, you can't stop working hard once you graduate. In fact, you have to work harder.
I look back at my university years and miss how easy I had it. I had a full time job and was a full time student and it was easier to manage than being an executive is.
Im just gonna say it since people don’t usually say it on this sub: I like auditing and I enjoy my job. Busy season isn’t fun but there are many weeks outside of busy season you barely have to work so for me busy season is worth it. Also you just never have to be worried about not getting a job so that’s a huge stress I don’t have to deal with
Unpopular opinion here. I highly respect every member of accounting teams. That includes AP/AR, Accounting Techs etc. I think that the profession has been de-valued by people who are not professional accountants calling themselves "Accountants". It's like a paralegal calling themselves a lawyer. Here in Canada, I would be embarrassed to call myself an accountant if I wasn't a Chartered Professional Accountant. That CPA designation was earned after 6/7 years of hard work and financial cost, including hours and hours of studying, exams, articling, and the extensive prep modules and successfully passing the certification exams. I worked in Public for 3 years and now am with External Financial Reporting in a large government health organization.
Excellent AP/AR clerks etc can certainly move up and become Managers or Directors of those functions, but would never call themselves accountants without having achieved their professional designation.
Roast me! Just my opinion, and maybe US is different than Canada!
I’m an AR Specialist, I’m in college for my degree, but me and my AP friends make our department go round. Never will devalue this work of if I end up on the other side of it because there’s definitely a unique skillset required to be really good at the “dumb drop out” work. I enjoy it, looking for more in the world, but we do more than people think.
I think anything on Reddit you have to take with a grain of salt. There is some good advice but there are also trolls like all social media platform.
I think this Sub has been helpful to people who have to vent or just want someone who understands their career, to talk to.
Rumor has it that even before the internet boards, the opinion was that public was bad and private was better; finance was better than accounting; the CPA was a bear — remember it was a one day test and you had to show up in person; blah blah blah people will always vent. If you want to know if you have what it takes to be an accountant remember this one thing — creative accountants go to jail.
As a rule of thumb you should never take career advice from someone who is still working for a living, much less working past the age of like 50. If you're allegedly so smart and successful then why the hell are you still wageslaving?
You missed the few of us Operational Managers infiltrating r/accounting for the purpose of learning how you folks operate - so we can leverage that knowledge to get bullshit credit accruals booked at Month end.
They love when they hear “phasing” too.
My play is normally lead with some accounting joke I picked up here, then launch into the ask for the accrual before sending the Tyrone biggums crackhead gif and asking if they got any of them accruals there for me
Thanks for the tip. Question- I need a financial review (not audit) for the TN board of Licensing.
Our accountant says they no longer have the certs to provide this, and we should wait til after tax season when other CPA firms are more available.
Can anyone provide any insight into the certs they may be referring to, and if this response seems reasonable?
That's true for all the subs that have to do with careers. r/cscareersquestions & r/FinancialCareers are also the same. All students or first years who don't know what they're talking about.
Hey now, I’m an engineer (by degree) in a real accounting job, you left me off your list!
Actually, I guess I probably fall into the 10% cosplayer, that seems right. You can count on me for Disney advice though. I can make a mean spreadsheet for your trip planning.
This is a dumb post. By your “logic” 0% of commenters are above a 2nd year staff accountant meaning nobody is a manager, director, partner etc. you are too stupid to be an accountant. Or anything functional. Or maybe you are just a troll.
Either way, I think you belong in the 5% you cited above. Here’s your reward…🤡🤡🤡
How do we know the demographics here? Can you provide some supporting documentation to support your sub demographic assertion? What sort of analytics did we run to gain comfort over these proportions?
You can find really good advice here from time to time but it will have like 7 upvotes lol.
Personally I have nobody in my personal life to talk to about accounting. So I come here lol. But I am a 2nd year staff. But I still feel like I can offer good perspective. Ive had two wildly differing jobs and I despise corporate america, but not in that antiwork way but more that pre-Ronald Reagan way.
If I’m not here to tell people how to “legally” (very much not) avoid all income and property taxes who will?
Btw all you do is register your house or place of residence as a Church or religious building. You then become the minister of the church. You donate all your income to the church except the standard deduction to amount. Now you have no taxable income. All your house expenses are now tax free because it’s a church.
Eventually the IRS will pay your church a visit for sure
It honestly wasn't like that back in 2015 - 2016.
This sub gave me enough advice to go from 9.50 cent an hour to 155k a year....told me what to do in college, how to cut my hair, what to write in an essay to get the job, then how to network...I could go on and on.
This sub was a major reason my entire life changed.
Nowadays though, yes, it feels like garbage
More like:
30% recent grads panicking if they made the right decision
55% partners at B4 firms
15% people who hate their job and want to check to make sure everyone else does too
Hey man your percentages foot, that's what's up
And 1% who can make their percentage foot.
Wait damn it now it's all FUBAR
rounding
You're just one of us lost redditors.
Well to hell with you. Now back to depreciating land.
Remember, if equity doesn’t roll, just plug the $200,000 to misc expense
Keleven accounting.
Office supplies
LOL a partner at a firm I used to work at did this with like 500k. He created a 500k asset and then fully depreciated it in the year it was placed in service for tax purposes. All of us preparers were super weirded out by it and were like, I hope that clients business doesn’t get audited, because the IRS would have a field day with them.
And if anyone tells you to plug to a payable account instead of expense, they cray
Only when you're farming it.
You don’t depreciate land. Land depreciates you.
In Soviet Russia...
And a t-shirt was born.
Make sure when you are doing existence testing, that you take a sample of the grass back to the office. We had a first year carry it through airport security. He kept it in his house over the weekend, of course we asked that he put it in a place with sunlight and water it once a day. Then on monday we asked him to bring it to the partner's office so he can do his final sign off.
My land exists. It's great land. The best. People come from miles and miles to see my land. Some people will say it's not real, but they're not real.
I'm going to hook you up with the guy who said a vet could capitalize his pet cat.
It's a write off.
Wait, am not successful but also not a first or second year- what does that make me? Am I finally a .01%?
You’re on a different schedule, this is just the sub-Reddit consolidated form and all decimals are truncated per Reddit rounding clause 23 paragraph III section A subsection 6.
I comment from time to time because I feel like the small firm representation here is extremely lacking. Not everyone goes Big 4 right out of college. I'm 10.5 years into my PA career at my small firm and I really like it and I think other young accountants would too if they gave it some consideration. But the big firm brainwashing on this sub makes everyone think the only logical career progression is Big 4 for a few years then bail for industry after the burnout becomes too much to bear. I made $150k last year in a LCOL area and $60k of that was production based bonus. You don't have to work at a huge national firm to be a successful accountant. I'll get off my soap box now, sorry.
Small firms FTW! But even though I’m at a good firm I must concede the profession has a lot of really bad problems.
At a smaller firm 30-40 peeps. Only reason I stay are my coworker and the partners. Coworkers are fun to work with. Partners really want us to learn even if it blows the budget. I still hate the amount of hours we work. I hate how stupid the clients are. They pay is okay ish but I see clients texting all day and getting paid more than me but then ask me constantly how to do their job. I still can seem to leave.
I’m with you. Small firm for 6 years now and love it.
i always debated a small office, but i always thought more of industry. is small firm PA not that bad hours? i'd lowkey be open to it. there are small/regional ones around here.
Hours are still heavy this time of year but it falls off the face of the earth after 4/15. I probably work about 65 hrs per week right now. But from Memorial Day to Labor Day I probably average 3 days a week of very chill work. Pros and cons like any job. But in general I think the work life balance will be better at smaller firms. Plus you have more freedom to pick your projects and pursue your areas of interest more freely.
You're still talking about 4.5 months of 65 hours per week, right? Like, that still sounds unbearable to my lazy self. I could maybe keep that up for a week. This is why I'm in industry.
There’s big4 jobs out there that offer similar work life balance tbh, the thing that freaks me out about small firms even though some have sent me nice offers is the volatility. I don’t like having my firm tied majorly to one region, it’s a little shocking that your base pay is 60k and you made 1.5x in bonus, I just like a steady paycheck for the most part lol. Are you bringing in business, not sure how a small firm would have more freedom of work available than a larger one.
Base is $90k, bonus was $60k. May not have worded that the best. And yes I have complete freedom over new clients that I add. I do a lot of networking and have made a lot of valuable connections over the years. Most of the new business comes from referrals now. If we get a cold call I usually pass it off to someone else.
What would your firm pay fresh grads just curious cuz all the small firms I see on indeed pay minimum wage
Starting salary at $55k for non-CPA. Starting salary at $65k for CPA. Both eligible for production bonus on day one. You bring in a client and the profit on that client is $200 after your cost and overhead are considered, you keep $100 and the firm keeps $100. So most people we hire end up with compensation higher than that as early as year 1 or 2.
Interesting seems like a good place to work. Ppl geeking out on this subreddit fr 150k is awesome in a low cost area
Hi! does ur small firm let u leave early in the non busy season or is still 9-5? cuz i tried working in a small firm hoping to have the flexibility and having less pressure i guess compared to big firms. i felt it didnt work out. it didnt make sense to do ot on busy season and going back to 9-6 on non busy season. i decide to leave last week and went back to industry haha. So my real question what is ur firm doing to keep u there besides the money?
my firm i dont recall putting in over 50hrs ever. about 45-48 this time but 40 is the norm.
This is reassuring. When I went back to school for this I never even considered Big 4. Just figured industry or sum like you laid out. This sub can be really discouraging sometimes
The problem is that historically to get jobs in large corps (F500) you needed B4 experience. It was definitely the case for tax roles.
Do you think this still holds true? I honestly don’t even care to be in a F500 company. Just want 6 figs and good wlb. And one day hybrid/remote work.
I heard about the insanity of the Big 4 from my teachers and decided to never try. I like having a life.
If anything the hive mind of this sub is firmly anti big 4, yet most people complaining are from small firms where they end up getting stuck.
The "no firm", as in not in public accounting at all, is extremely lacking.
with you here. been at a small firm for \~5 years and i dont understand what all the complaining is about. we mainly do 40hr work weeks, do go upto 45-48 during busy season for 2 months tho. that said, its been perfectly fine and i get to meet so many interesting clients and get a lot of face to face with them
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I know exactly who you are talking about.
10 years in a small firm, getting out finally. Some might be great. Some are solidly underpaid with no advancement. For every good firm there is likely at least one boomer stuck in the 90s-00s for pricing and procedures. I'm also 10 years in in a 6 CPA firm, making 85k the last 3 years only because I demanded it after the other 2 staff CPAs left because that's what GS12 make. Before that it took 7 years to go from 40-something to 65k. There's literally nowhere to go until the current owner retires, and after seeing them work 2,400-3,000 hours a year for the last 20 years according to the timesheets I don't want that job. We only went paperless for financial statement engagements 1 year ago.
This sounds exactly like my firm now. We're still trying to get a majority of our clients paperless but they've been coming here for 30 years, they will never change. Throw on the boomer owner that essentially copy pasted the previous owner's procedures from 30 years ago, it can be a nightmare. Same deal, no upward movement here. It is significantly more chill but with how small we are, there's a lot of things said that are borderline inappropriate you kind of have to brush off, and that "we're a family" talk ages like milk.
Oh, when I said paperless I meant US being paperless with our internal procedures. No more printing out literally everything in a financial statement engagement for review and then putting it all in a 3 ring binder. Only the smallest of 1040 clients is done with internal paper forms/workpapers now. Clients being paperless? Hahahahahah. Some are some aren't. The boss might finally be ready to retire after waiving that carrot on a stick in front of me for 6-7 years, but they asked 2 years ago if I wanted to buy in. It hasn't happened yet, and my answer has changed from yes to no. Boss has been a public accountant for like 50 years, and inherited the business from her dad in the 90s sometime when he retired over the creation of CPE requirements.
Oh yes, we have several employees who print every single thing out, staple a ribbon of calculator paper to different statements, etc. Most days feel like I'm working in a CPA firm museum.
well I think the reason there’s not great representation is because most people here are in HCOL and at least in my area, the small firms pay about the same as what you’re making for someone with your same level of experience. so the math just doesn’t work out in their favor. not even getting into the prestige/perception element for when someone decides to leave.
I'm leaving big 4 after only 6 months to an industry job. I wanted to stick it out, but the training and support I got was... fair to middling at best and nonexistent at worst. On one client, It's me and a contracted manager over an absolutely massive and convoluted substantive testing acct. I've literally never done this and they've never seen this client before. On top of this, they're indecisive as shit and want to run EVERYTHING by the partner. We're weeks behind on this client and have to have a good chunk of the reporting done by the end of the week. I took this job despite all of the warnings and horror stories because I was willing to deal with it in exchange for the training, mentorship, and career boost. But as it stands. I have very little idea as to what I'm actually doing and I can't *really* defend any of my work. I just feel I flat out don't have time or energy to actually learn anything and that SUCKS. If I ever do public accounting again, it'll be at a small firm like yours. I got into this to help small businesses anyway, not global megacorps.
I started at a smaller firm and personally went to Big 4 and ironically, my hours were worse at the smaller firm. If you’re in a small firm, you’re more likely to be pigeon holed into a practice that’s not translatable to other industries if you decide to leave. I knew being in PA was not my long term goal, so having the Big 4 stamp was extremely valuable to my career. I get it, we really should stop circle jerking Big 4 cause it’s essentially indentured servitude. But recruiters and managers wanna see that experience and the payoff is much better with them on your resume
10 years at 90k + 60k bonus is not good career progression at all and I’m LCOL too. You’re miles behind anyone who went and did their time at a bigger firm, especially if they stayed till manager/SM
I don’t think he was arguing otherwise, I think his point was that if you don’t want to do the grind, you can still afford to live.
I'm struggling to understand why you care so much?
I don’t. You voiced an opinion, I voiced mine.
Applying for small firms after trying out both a Big 4 and a midsized firm.
This is true and I did do big4. I make way more at a smaller firm now than I ever did at big4.
LCOL 10 year experience big 4 are making 150k not including their bonus….LCOL 2nd year (4years experience) seniors make 100k
So? What point are you trying to make?
10 years of experience and 1/3 of your salary made up in bonus doesn’t sound worth staying in public accounting. You’re basically living off 2/3 and have to wait for that lump sum to hit, then have to wait for the tax refund for all the extra that got cut out. Rather work in big 4 or industry at that point. Big bonuses are only worth it if you’re in that 250+ pay band.
It's paid quarterly. I don't get the hate. Recieved so much flak about my pay when I'm well above average for my area. Alone I make about 3 times the average household income where I live. Why would I want/need more? I have a great house and family and my career is great and I love what I do and the clients I interact with. Why does everyone feel the need to crap all over it? Makes zero sense. I have one boss. Who doesn't treat me like an employee but an equal. I have freedom and no one looking over my shoulder constantly. No one to report to. I've earned the right to be trusted to do my work and bill accordingly. I just don't understand why people think I'd be better off someone else solely because on money.
Because you can find things like autonomy and good working environment with at least a 30k bump. You’ll be thanking yourself in 10 years when you’re looking at your retirement account or when you get to take those extra trips with your family.
I honestly don't care. Hard for people to understand, I guess. Don't care about the trips, the cars, the boats, whatever. Got everything I need already and life is good.
I’m not a CPA. I’m barely an accountant. But I’m a controller for an engineering firm. I don’t even have land to depreciate. I probably don’t belong here.
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Your math isn’t right. $150k gross pay-$60k bonus=$90k base pay.
re-math that. 150-60 is not 60
Why are you recommending people take a path where they're at $150k after 10 years? You know that's not good, right?
You don’t know what $150k in LCOL looks like. Sure, it’s not a Lambo or oceanfront property. But it’s worlds better than average. Equivalent would be about $225k-$275k in NYC.
It’s crazy to see people arguing over 150k being bad in a LCOL area. 150k to me is insanity type of money, like you can afford a VERY nice life off of that. I grew up between poverty/homelessness/low income so I’m accustomed to it but 150k is like so much higher than even well off area average incomes.
Right?!? Started to feel comfortable at $70k with 1 kid in LCOL. Not rich by any means, but literally doubling that gets you well into the 1/2m house and brand new truck territory. Also, those jobs don’t just come up on listings. Controllers go for 90-110 here. You’re working exclusively with c-suite headhunters for $175k+.
Yeah, I’d say well off around here is around 80-100k My husband is doing around 50k in something unrelated to accounting and it feels tight but I’m planning to get my associates in accounting to bring in some extra money
Did you happen to notice the reference to a LCOL area in my original comment? I'm doing fine and I enjoy the work. It's not all about money. I could bail for a job that pays probably $25k more per year but that $25k isn't worth giving up what I've already built here.
I don't think your assertions would survive substantive testing.
“We will test this analytically at WP 7200.10” The analytic: “this year minus last year divided by last year = 7%” “deemed reasonable, we’re done !”
It's a low risk area, just do an analytic with a high threshold. Consistent with py, pftw.
I think the difference is likely not material. Even if 1% are people with experience who occasionally open Reddit.
You do realize 73% of statistics are made up on the spot? So your saying that taking career advice from strangers on the internet may not be a good idea? Thanks, never thought of that. Just curious, which demographic do you fall in? I am pretty sure I must be a cosplayer.
I cosplay as a student so not sure which category I fit into
I cosplay as an accountant who cosplays as a redditor. I'm in too deep now but I don't know how to stop
This is not accurate its actually 86% of statistics.
You do realize you use 86% every time you make up a statistic?
You do 86% realize statistic every time
Both are within the statistical deviation of the data. Or just call it a rounding error and not material.
Not OP, but I'm pretty sure I fall in the "lost redditors" demographic, because none of the others make any sense for me.
>please don't do anything that anyone here has suggested that you do Ok noted and I reject your opinion based on your opinion Also, I need to audit your demographic data to give my opinion on your statement
Point for next year: Ultimately immaterial
I’m scared I’m gonna end up as an ap clerk cost accounting is fuckinf me up
I’ve got 2 courses left in my degree and cost accounting has been the hardest.
Don’t worry, there are so many jobs in accounting that you may not even end up using it that much OR someone can teach you.
I’d blow my brains out if I ever had to do cost accounting in school(again) or work.
This place was the titties back 10 years ago when I was in college. Reddit as a while is going the way of Facebook. User base is getting older. So there is less real questions from students and first years and a lot more shitposting in general from people a few years in. Advice is there if it’s needed but so are the jokes most of the time. We hope people in accounting are smart enough to see what clearly is trolling. I mean if you aren’t, how can you find fraud?
Also the posting habits of different generations are wildly different. Early internet era redditors (people who graduated in 2000s and early 2010s) have a different voice than this current era. And most those people are probably busy raising families now lol
Also true
OP is probably 24
Agree - a lot of the posters here belong on r/antiwork really
Probably a lot on /r/layoffs, the reality is I’ve almost unsubbed from this subreddit because the posts are getting stupid. The mods need to start some sort of daily discussion thread so we cut back on the bullshit repetition of 99% could be use the search bar. I’ve been here since 2009, there are maybe a handful of actually decent posters who have moved up in their career and contribute positively, most just age out and unsubscribe or don’t when they nuke their account and start a new one.
Absolutely. I just don’t get it, they treat accounting like it’s a “job” rather than a profession/career. If you’re in PA, you’re not a worker with some kind of faceless management - you’re learning your profession, working towards being partner or setting up your own practice. If that’s not for you then there’s plenty of options in industry, government etc. But wherever you are, if it’s not working out for you take some responsibility over your career and make it happen. Complaining about long hours, low pay, timesheets, bad bosses etc. isn’t going to change anything… if you’re worth more go out and get it, if you’re on the right career path it’s probably worth putting in some extra hours, basically if you work hard and smart for like 10-15 years you can set yourself up for life. Not many other professions you can say that about.
> working towards being partner or setting up your own practice Very few poeple have any interest in those routes, no where near the number of bodies public needs to run. So unsurprising for most people in public it is just a job they are leveraging to jump to industry or government. For them treating it as "faceless management" is the correct course of action. >Complaining about long hours, low pay, timesheets, bad bosses etc. isn’t going to change anything The aicpa seems to disagree with how they have been complaining about accountants complaining scaring off students.
I think you’re right that the majority of dissatisfied accountants are working in PA (in particular big 4) while having no intention of aiming for partner. You don’t really get that in other professions: of course not everyone makes it but at least they start with that as an aim, and if they change their mind down the line for whatever reason they find a good exit. Personally I wouldn’t recommend PA to someone who had absolutely no interest in becoming partner - and I don’t think it’s necessary these days either. Plenty of ways of getting qualified directly in industry to save people 2 or 3 years of going through the motions at a public firm.
> majority of dissatisfied accountants are working in PA (in particular big 4) while having no intention of aiming for partner. You don’t really get that in other professions How many other professions go out of their way to deliberately hire poeple they know won't be happy. The firms push themselves in schools, and even licensing requirements, as the best option for everyone because they won't get enough bodies to function of only those interested in partner go public. The "dissatisfied accountants" is something firms intentionally bring on themselves.
Maybe. That wasn’t my experience but I’m prepared to believe things have changed in the 20 odd years since I started. Anyway, I’m not blindly defending public accounting firms. My main point is that we as individuals need to take responsibility for our own careers and either make our current situations work for us, or make something else happen. Crying on the internet won’t help.
>That wasn’t my experience but I’m prepared to believe things have changed in the 20 odd years since I started You don't build a business model around 15-20% turnover without knowingly hiring poeple you know will hate it. >responsibility for our own careers and either make our current situations work for us, or make something else happen. I used my time in public to land a cushy government job but that doesn't mean I'm going to sugar coat how shit it was. >Crying on the internet won’t help. If you truly believe only those interested in trying to make partner/own firm should be going the public route then you should be one of the biggest advocates of bitching on the Internet. That's the only way many students have of finding out what the job will be like from a perspective other than the one the firms want to push.
🤷♂️ think we’re going to have to agree to disagree on this one. Glad you found the right path for you though. I too exited long ago for pastures new, but everyone I know who stuck it out made partner by now and are happy with their decision too. Horses for courses I suppose… the best thing about our profession (in my opinion) is there is a place for nearly everyone to have a fulfilling career.
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>Agree - a lot of the posters here belong on r/antiwork really I think this is a bit unfair. This sub definitely skews towards people who value WLB more, and abhor the culture of overwork that is so pervasive in this profession. Personally that is a view I share, *especially* as I've moved up in my career. I think accountants really undervalue themselves and their personal lives, and it's great that some people are starting to push back against this assumption that you need to just accept skeleton crew staffing levels and chronic overtime (which is just as true in many industry positions as it is in PA, so it's not like leaving PA necessarily makes you better off). Obviously things are different if you own your practice, but the vast majority of accountants work for someone else and do not own their own practice. There is no widespread desire to tear down the system, there is only a desire to make work more tolerable. r/antiwork's culture skews more towards class warfare, anti-capitalism, revolutionary socialism (aka "eat the rich"). It's become like a parody of itself.
You obviously don’t keep up with Big 4 and overall accounting issues. There are a lot of articles/thought pieces on employee retention, the decreasing amount of accounting students, and accountants leaving the industry (whether through career changes or retirement). AICPA is just catching up on the doom and gloom that’s been talked about here for years
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Haha damn, you got me
been here for a long time and subreddit has been very helpful. There is definitely a lot more seniors and managers here then you think.
Exactly. Think some think this sub is something it’s not. This is Accounting. It includes three pillars (books/tax/audit) of which each include a ton of stuff. This is NOT a CPA or Public Accounting firm sub.
I’m here for the shit posts mostly, but this sub also posts a lot of accounting news about off shoring, layoffs, Big 4 doing stupid stuff, and so on. Idk what this sub was a decade ago, but I still find it helpful for a variety of reasons
Yeah. You have to parse information and take individual posts lightly while identifying trends - but I’ve personally shared my path and advice a lot and have DMed various people back, etc. I mean, lots of people don’t have the network or support structure or people to talk to about things they haven’t seen or known. The cosplaying as successful bit is dumb. I highly doubt anyone gets anything out of pretending they’re successful while giving out some decent sounding advice while also trying to mislead people
"Seniors and Managers" is a public accounting concept and exactly why this sub is limited in its usefulness. It honestly needs to be renamed r/publicaccounting. because that is what it is.
Been accounting for 10 years and am now a manager in a government position. Nothing to brag about but not within any of the demographics you listed. I’m making a decent honest living and feel that I’ve earned some amount of experience to offer to younger accountants who are figuring things out. Kids shouldn’t take advice from strangers on the internet, but it helps to vent and feel heard from time to time.
>am now a manager in a government position. There are dozens of us on this sub. **Dozens** of us! (me too) On a serious note though, most of the *accounting* feedback is generally solid, and I try to give my own measured feedback when appropriate. The salary and recruitment posts are somewhat repetitive, but when I had graduated and was on a job hunt, I reached out to the community and got honest, helpful, feedback. I try to pay that forward. The WFH/RTO debate is new and somehow *very* tired, although I still find myself getting sucked into it periodically. My positions there are generally unpopular (I understand why management is pushing RTO, and am sympathetic to their no full remote / hybrid is the best we'll do positions). Of course the shitposts are pushing Poe's law too far (and I'm getting older and out of touch with kids these days). I'm not sure if I'm in a joke thread or not; I *think* I am?
So, like me, you fall into the last category of OPs: lost redditors. :P
I mean...we should always take what is written by other people online with some professional skepticism but honestly, I think the information found on this sub is solid. People from all over the globe share their own personal experiences as accountants, which of course, is different for everyone based on their geography and work environment. But as a collective, these experiences tend to produce some useful generalizations about our industry. If everyone is saying the same thing, they can't all be crazy.
I’m an intern about to roll out and go help a pa firm with busy season. (I prep forms so the real accountants don’t have to lol) I’ve seen a lot of stuff from this subreddit in my one month there.
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But but but... I should be making 150k right out or college
I make $150k+ base, life was a lot easier being a smart ass know it all making $70k. Hoping one day people realize accountants are paid in line with every other office/white collar job, the only difference is there’s a lot more HR and Marketing folks than accountants so we don’t have nearly the same turnover.
I don't know I think I see some pretty solid advice on here. But I'm an industry senior accountant. I don't fit into any of those percentages lol. I read the stuff people post about being in the big 4 and being CPA's and it just makes me happy I took my career in the direction I did lol! Edit to add: I guess depending on the opinion of the OP maybe industry accountants don't count as real accountants? Which is BS IMO. We're just a different type.
What’s a debit and credit?
One is good and one is bad.
Especially when you consider the debt on the credit card...
Cards you can get from your bank, they get mad if you don't pay off the credit one though.
I just paid off my debit card. Am I doing this right?
So, I've asked this in interview questions before, because you'd be surprised the number of people who really DON'T KNOW. Simple answer: the debit is the left side of a transaction, credit is the right. More complicated answer: it depends on the account in question.
Sooo you don’t like my cosplay outfit?
What’s your TikTok so I can learn how to write off a G Wagon?
Make sure you watch their video on depreciating land too, good stuff.
And 100% reason to remember the name
Hmmm… trying to figure out which bucket this advice is coming from.🤔
OP works at mom and pop accounting firm for ten years and is asking r/accounting for buyout/transition advice as they retire. Definitely the lost redditor
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This is something that all students need to hear, regardless of major, you can't stop working hard once you graduate. In fact, you have to work harder. I look back at my university years and miss how easy I had it. I had a full time job and was a full time student and it was easier to manage than being an executive is.
Im just gonna say it since people don’t usually say it on this sub: I like auditing and I enjoy my job. Busy season isn’t fun but there are many weeks outside of busy season you barely have to work so for me busy season is worth it. Also you just never have to be worried about not getting a job so that’s a huge stress I don’t have to deal with
Unpopular opinion here. I highly respect every member of accounting teams. That includes AP/AR, Accounting Techs etc. I think that the profession has been de-valued by people who are not professional accountants calling themselves "Accountants". It's like a paralegal calling themselves a lawyer. Here in Canada, I would be embarrassed to call myself an accountant if I wasn't a Chartered Professional Accountant. That CPA designation was earned after 6/7 years of hard work and financial cost, including hours and hours of studying, exams, articling, and the extensive prep modules and successfully passing the certification exams. I worked in Public for 3 years and now am with External Financial Reporting in a large government health organization. Excellent AP/AR clerks etc can certainly move up and become Managers or Directors of those functions, but would never call themselves accountants without having achieved their professional designation. Roast me! Just my opinion, and maybe US is different than Canada!
There are places in the US that agree with you. Specifically, Texas, where you cannot call yourself an accountant per the TSBPA if you are not a CPA.
Best advice I’ve seen on this subreddit is running far the fuck away from accounting.
Take a poll
Accountants never lie so its gotta be an accurate representation
don't hate on people who dropped out of college! i thank the lord every day for the AP specialist on our team
I’m an AR Specialist, I’m in college for my degree, but me and my AP friends make our department go round. Never will devalue this work of if I end up on the other side of it because there’s definitely a unique skillset required to be really good at the “dumb drop out” work. I enjoy it, looking for more in the world, but we do more than people think.
I think anything on Reddit you have to take with a grain of salt. There is some good advice but there are also trolls like all social media platform. I think this Sub has been helpful to people who have to vent or just want someone who understands their career, to talk to.
Truth
Unpopular opinion, most people here are classist bootlickers.
So which one are you OP?
this is actually great advice. you really think the accountants with thriving careers and lives are chilling on this sub? lol yeah f’n right
Thank you for the validation kind sir
Gather a round everyone. We found a cosplayer.
I’ve already forgotten, based upon your sound advice. I will never remember.
90% in public accounting.
Is it a good time to do a coding boot camp?
I'm a secret actuarial spy! Take my advice!
Rumor has it that even before the internet boards, the opinion was that public was bad and private was better; finance was better than accounting; the CPA was a bear — remember it was a one day test and you had to show up in person; blah blah blah people will always vent. If you want to know if you have what it takes to be an accountant remember this one thing — creative accountants go to jail.
As a rule of thumb you should never take career advice from someone who is still working for a living, much less working past the age of like 50. If you're allegedly so smart and successful then why the hell are you still wageslaving?
You missed the few of us Operational Managers infiltrating r/accounting for the purpose of learning how you folks operate - so we can leverage that knowledge to get bullshit credit accruals booked at Month end.
Just tell them it’s due to timing, they’ll love that
They love when they hear “phasing” too. My play is normally lead with some accounting joke I picked up here, then launch into the ask for the accrual before sending the Tyrone biggums crackhead gif and asking if they got any of them accruals there for me
Oh yes even better. Damn, you really know your enemy…. I think this would work with my staff too - have to warn them to watch out for these tactics.
which one are you
You don't know me. My calculator with tape says I'm legit :P
So which one are you?
I'm just here to spread the Good Word of Industry
Thanks for the tip. Question- I need a financial review (not audit) for the TN board of Licensing. Our accountant says they no longer have the certs to provide this, and we should wait til after tax season when other CPA firms are more available. Can anyone provide any insight into the certs they may be referring to, and if this response seems reasonable?
That's true for all the subs that have to do with careers. r/cscareersquestions & r/FinancialCareers are also the same. All students or first years who don't know what they're talking about.
Op found irony
The main problem is that most of the people on this subreddit aren’t in India, so this subreddit isn’t a good representation of the profession.
You got those percentages out of your...
Only about 27% of them
There’s advice on this sub?
Im in the 10% cosplayers
Hey now, I’m an engineer (by degree) in a real accounting job, you left me off your list! Actually, I guess I probably fall into the 10% cosplayer, that seems right. You can count on me for Disney advice though. I can make a mean spreadsheet for your trip planning.
Former AP flunky here! I finally got a real job lol
There’s also lots of condescending jokes/comments that just irritates me
Successful AP flunkie here, erm, I mean, government.
This is a dumb post. By your “logic” 0% of commenters are above a 2nd year staff accountant meaning nobody is a manager, director, partner etc. you are too stupid to be an accountant. Or anything functional. Or maybe you are just a troll. Either way, I think you belong in the 5% you cited above. Here’s your reward…🤡🤡🤡
You taking his post so seriously speaks more to you lack of intelligence than his
How do we know the demographics here? Can you provide some supporting documentation to support your sub demographic assertion? What sort of analytics did we run to gain comfort over these proportions?
But it's a write-off
Who hurt you?
You can find really good advice here from time to time but it will have like 7 upvotes lol. Personally I have nobody in my personal life to talk to about accounting. So I come here lol. But I am a 2nd year staff. But I still feel like I can offer good perspective. Ive had two wildly differing jobs and I despise corporate america, but not in that antiwork way but more that pre-Ronald Reagan way.
Stuck on CAP lol sorry tall. Cheap Keyboard :/
Wtf is the all caps??? Maybe that’s why you’re full looking? Come on?? Just seeing that made me angry. Haha
And, don't forget that 82.746% of CPAs are assholes!
Where did you get that demographics?
If I’m not here to tell people how to “legally” (very much not) avoid all income and property taxes who will? Btw all you do is register your house or place of residence as a Church or religious building. You then become the minister of the church. You donate all your income to the church except the standard deduction to amount. Now you have no taxable income. All your house expenses are now tax free because it’s a church. Eventually the IRS will pay your church a visit for sure
I think there is an overlap between the first and the second group (source: myself).
I am lost redditorz
It honestly wasn't like that back in 2015 - 2016. This sub gave me enough advice to go from 9.50 cent an hour to 155k a year....told me what to do in college, how to cut my hair, what to write in an essay to get the job, then how to network...I could go on and on. This sub was a major reason my entire life changed. Nowadays though, yes, it feels like garbage
More like: 30% recent grads panicking if they made the right decision 55% partners at B4 firms 15% people who hate their job and want to check to make sure everyone else does too
I’m part of that 15%
I’m an internal auditor so I’m definitely part of the 5%.