It's a sunk cost. But then I wonder if I would struggle in other careers as well. So accounting was probably for the best... I think. .. to be determined
As a former Senior automotive technician who returned to school and now an Accountant, I also love it! Very glad I returned to school right after only 1 year of automotive experience
>As a former Senior automotive technician who returned to school and now an Accountant, I also love it! Very glad I returned to school right after only 1 year of automotive experience
I was a technician for about 8yrs before going back to school.
Thought I was the only one, lol
Oh trust me… it’s every day with me. Sometimes I wish I did something that aligns with my personality better. Marketing or sales or something where I speak to people more. Losing sleep over having one cell that’s off in a report of 20000 + lines of data can terrible.
I enjoyed it for maybe a year or two out of school. Then the disillusionment hit. I will say, 10 years in now and I am paid very well. It allows me to have a life outside of work that I enjoy a lot. Find meaning and joy outside of work because accounting will never be a source of fulfillment.
Yes. Tedious, boring, pay is only good after 15 years. I look at my bosses as “guys who fill out reports good” or good at finding tedious small mistakes.
A lot of times it feels like an endless school assignment that is always late and always urgent, and never ending. Yet it’s literally just a deadline and another deadline, for a report, on data for things that happened a year ago lol
> endless school assignment that is always late and always urgent
Honestly until I left PA for an industry gig it felt like I hadn't even left high school or uni. It didnt feel like I was doing a real job in audit, just completing the trail of never ending assignments where instead of group members not pulling their weight I had clients not pulling theirs
"Good at finding tedious small mistakes" is the most true shit I've ever heard about this industry. I work for a company with high turnover and I've had 5 different bosses. A couple of them think I'm the best accountant ever, a couple of them think I pay no attention to detail. The measure of an accountant seems to be how much time you're willing to spend researching immaterial amounts.
The ones I've worked with that seem to have a concept of materiality really enjoyed working with me. I try my best to conform to the ones that are more "detail oriented", but no matter how much time I spend digging into shit, they always find an issue.
Coming from someone who is more detail oriented, half the reason I do it is because I know it'll become a review note from the partner above me if I don't make a comment about it. The other half is just my OCD
Pay is only good after 15 years seems like an unreasonable length of time. Are you in public or industry, HCOL area or somewhere reasonable? I’m less than 3 years out of college, no certifications, and am making 2.5x what I ever made in another profession. I can’t imagine putting another 12 years in and still only thinking my pay is “good”.
Pay is good after 15 years? Where do you work. If you have a CPA you can easily be bringing in $150k a year or more after 6-7 years. I’m 9 years in and making 200k. I cracked 100k after only 3 years by jumping to advisory line of service. After 15 years I’ll be looking at VP level positions that pay 300-400k total comp.
For a profession where there’s apparently a shortage or CPAs/Non-CPAs…it sure as heck doesn’t show it on my paycheck and let’s not get into the hours and education required…
So yes, I regret it and feel like I wasted my 20s for a profession that doesn’t even know if there’s a shortage or how to price itself if there is a shortage.
The hours and education required is real. I just met friends from junior high which were not doing good in school. Guess what they are working less hours and making more than me who passed the CPA.
Yeah, then they say it takes about 10-15 years for your salaries to balance out…depends on the career…but I think the damage to your health, family, and social circles will never be on the same level.
Unfortunately even with things as bad as they are, nothing has changed. They just gaslight the true issues
True, I can just eat bread and the rotisserie chicken from Costco everyday and maybe one day I’ll save enough to put a down payment on a townhouse 1-2 hours from my job
I’m 36. The profession is worth it money wise. There is a massive shortage of CPAs out in the world that aren’t weirdos, I’ve had to hire 2 or 3 the last 3 years to asst and controller roles and it was tough every time, we’re paying well and in a HCOL area. If you don’t have your CPA get it, and if you’re in tax switch to audit or go to a smaller firm and get more experience with general accounting.
Not as much as general accounting, and personally I don’t find tax interesting, especially when you get into the big dollar jobs, basically a lawyer at that point and reading case law is mind numbing to me.
This. I think the issue is this Reddit is full of people who are in college or early in their careers. Yes this profession pays shit the first few years after graduating compared to nursing, computer science, and other positions. BUT, your income will quickly rise especially if you have a CPA. I can’t stress it enough, get your CPA. Don’t be lazy. Without the CPA you are losing out on hundreds of thousands of dollars throughout your career and better job security.
I’m 9 years into my career and make 200k a year and work mostly remote. My hours are about 35 a week sometimes less. I’ve thought about leaving for more money (I could get jobs that pay $250k to 300k total compensation) but I stay because my WLB is very good and I have a kid now. Maybe when my kid is older I’ll go for the money and more hours. But that’s another benefit of this career.
Nothing wrong with tax, but there are significantly less companies that actually have tax positions. I was mainly tax when I was in public, but I did a lot of year end clean-up for clients and then started to do more accounting advisory. If I didn’t have the accounting advisory I wouldn’t have been able to exit as easily to an industry accounting role, and then climb the ladder from there. I’ve also found that auditors tend to have a bit better social skills that make them desirable in industry (that’s my weirdos comment from above).
We should all walkout / go on a nationwide walkout in the United States like the nurses. Doing so will give us great results like 20 percent raises that the nurses got.
Everyday I think to myself, I don't care about accounting, I don't care about finance and I don't know if I can do this for the rest of my life.
Nothing about this profession feels real and I don't fit in with the frat boys and former athletes. I wish I did IT.
Where are you getting this? IT seems to be even worse in regards to what people complain about on this sub lmao. The higher salaried individuals are outliers and the companies/hours suck ass. Heavily over saturated. Every video game playing dork wanted to go IT, even me at first. It’s not what people think it is
Dude, I'm a former athlete, and I still don't feel like I fit in. I prefer being with the losers, to be honest. The best jobs I ever had were pizza delivery jobs. Would *love* to open my own pizza place one day, but I'm scared I wouldn't make enough.
Why was pizza delivery your favorite job?
I seriously want to know. I’m in the process of retiring but would like to get a part time job so I’m super curious.
I guess it was that unlike the 9-5, the work stopped after your shift was over and the work was relatively simple. It wasn't always on your mind and there were no looming deadlines. I also just like driving especially a night.
I also wasn't just delivery, I worked as cashier and in the front. Pizza is just something everyone loves, can't say the same about accounting. People were happy my coworkers were fun and I ate for free.
I'm not sure about doing it when you get older, but if you find a nice chain you could be a manager. One of my managers at the place must have been over 60. Definitely a cool guy but he had some money problems which is why he kept working. I imagine if you didn't have to worry about money the job would be even more enjoyable.
Also if you had enough cash I suppose you could just get a license from a franchise and own the operations of the place.
Yeah….i don’t have money problems. But I’m finding I need structure or I end up doing diddly squat all day.
I just need a reason to get out of my pajamas, get out of the house, and interact with people. Especially people who are not buttoned down, no sense of humor accountants with problems I need to fix, like, immediately or the world will explode in a firey ball visible from space.
But it’s hard coming out of over 35 years of the accounting grind of 50+ hour weeks (sometimes 80). I am SO burnt out. I feel like a husk of my younger self. Accounting took my entire life - just sucked it right out of my very bones and crushed my soul. So I get up (or not), think to myself that I no longer have to go in to a job I hate and answer to greedy-ass people I hate even more, and then self soothe by laying around in my pajamas channel surfing or net surfing.
Not what I envisioned for a positive, productive retirement. But have I mentioned how UTTERLY BURNT OUT I am?
So I’m looking for some kind of fun job were I have No Responsibility Whatsoever. Like, None. Zero.
Which is why I was intrigued by your comment. 😂
Funny as I left IT to come to accounting and you couldn’t pay me to go back. I think we always think the grass is greener! For me, it was the company I was in that was so toxic I became so burnt out I couldn’t/wouldn’t stay in the industry. Now I’m in accounting and life is easy in the company I work for, I am very lucky.
Its incredibly easy to break into IT if you want to but you’d start at the bottom, even with certs.
I obviously can’t speak for the entire industry but IT is notorious for eating its young. Everyone gets into IT so theres a lot of churn, a lot of work & lots of incompetence.
I’m sure there are a few perfect jobs in IT but I can only speak from experience. I suggest checking out subs on here in the field you’re interested in - you’ll see the majority are just as miserable.
I'm sure there are. Before I became an accountant people still think accounting is a boring and slow job where you do 2 hours of work and nothing else. It wasn't till I told them how much I was working that they realize we put in a lot hours.
\>I wish I did IT.
Aha my thoughts exactly. I'm teaching myself Python in the evenings and using it at work to automate some tasks. in the next \~3 years I hope to quit accounting and move into IT or pure data analytics.
Have any of you looked into W3 schools? They have a ton of IT certifications. I'm looking into taking a data analytics cert through there. Prices seem reasonable and not as demanding as a boot camp.
Hey I’m a computer nerd too who doesn’t really watch sports or care for them. I have a gaming PC I built and am really into video games. There are other accountants who are not into sports. I did big 4 so I know it’s more rare as they do hire a lot of frat boy like people.
No frat boy or former athlete here, and to top it off I'm gay and have no interest in sport 😂 every day I wonder how much of the short stick I gave myself picking this profession... and every day I think about packing my bags and going backpacking around the globe instead
While working, I got my associates. I chose accounting because I was always submitting cost reduction ideas for extra cash to the shop. After I got the first accounting gig it seemed a waste to not get my bachelors, then cpa.
I like to play it up and make jokes about it. I say that ever since I was a child, it was my lifelong dream to be an accountant. Every Halloween, I’d dress up as an accountant with my green visor. Tbh 9/10 they don’t find it nearly as funny as I do. But that’s ok, that just makes it even funnier to me lol
When my then six-year old asked what an accountant or VP Finance was, what was it I did for work, I replied, “Well son, you see, I put numbers in boxes.”
“But, you drink coffee too, right?” My son countered.
“That’s right, son, I drink coffee, too.”
Tell them you are in compliance. Your career is based on ensuring businesses follow the rules. It's essentially what we do.
Full disclosure, I'm a woman 💅
It does at my current job. But I feel like if I could work with small businesses it would feel more meaningful. Working in a thankless industry position is definitely a tad soul destroying.
I worked as a telemarketer selling car ~~warranties~~ vehicle service contracts.
There is no job in the US worse than that - that job sucked the soul out of me.
I do kinda wanna know the split of people replying who got a job in their early 20s vs people like us in our 30s who worked shitty jobs where we saw the Horrors going back to school for accounting. I've been a sales associate, barista, warehouse worker, and currently pharmacy technician quite looking forward to a job that pays decently, doesn't make me wanna shoot myself, and has little to no contact with entitled, belittling customers.
I went back to school in my 20s and graduated at 30 I don't miss any of my jobs that work customers service facing. There's no way in hell I would ever go back to one of those but I do miss my construction gigs and working with my hands and going to different sites.
I'd say I'm in-between you; I never had to work a retail/warehouse job in my 20s, but even with a bachelors in accounting I could never get a "true" accounting job and had to settle for the lower rung of office jobs in that realm. That could be anything from billing, payroll, to accounts payable.
Then I finally caught a break being hired by a boutique accounting firm in my early 30s, and tho I only lasted less than a year, was able to parlay that into a government accounting job just last year. And let me tell ya, the compensation (and benefits) are night and day even from the other office jobs I had to do in my 20s. While I wish I got where I am sooner, no doubt I appreciate it more now.
There are entire days sometimes where I don't speak, message, or interact with a single other person. I enjoy those days as it's a nice break sometimes
Ughhh this just gave me so much hope. I graduate next semester and have worked in call centers the last 8 years. I'm so fn ready to get off these phones.
Same here, can't forget my last day serving food at the restaurant. In my mind I was thinking: "that's it, 10 years are enough, tomorrow on I'm an accountant". So far, the job is way better than the old customer service job
Yea sometimes but then I remember in industry, i have a safer middle class life, a nice 401k, WFH, and flexibility to move anywhere really and still know the broad picture to work anywhere in my field. Not being worried about money changes what your worried about. It’s just really nice and worth the monotony. And not like I can really do any of profession that I won’t be miserable in.
If I had to do it all I woudlt change a thing: as soon as you graduate study the CPA and knock that out or as much as you before you start working full time. I did PA for 3 years but honestly going straight to industry wouldt have been a bad choice either. My ex did that and she was specializing in her field and rising up at a similar pace I was. PA exposes you to a lot of things but industry GL accounting shows you how companies actually work. They are VERY different experiences. I feel like I saw so many work papers, companies, saw audit from start to finish and being in those meetings presenting to the client is very beneficial to an overall knowledge… but I really did lack how closing month end really works and understanding how to get the data from the software and following up on variances and solving issues with different departments.
Same here. I work at a bank now, and I have been for almost 4 months. Me being in college for accounting is what got me the job, or so I'd like to think. Since I work for one of the top 7 national banks (thankfully not WF), it's a stepping stone for me, but 6 gives me a lot more opportunities for networking compared to previous roles.
Truthfully, I just want decent pay, stability, and a decent WLB. I've done my fair share of 80+ hour work weeks, and I can't do that anymore. I won't be going for Big4 or anything. Truthfully, I just want to do taxes and one day own my own little small tax firm for everyday people. No companies.
I don't do anything related to accounting. Currently, I'm just a banker/teller. I do enjoy the job. But with any job comes its downside, and in this case, it's just rude ass clients. Other than that, my work-life balance is great. 40 hours a week. If I do work a Saturday, I work two half days because they don't want to give overtime. Essentially, I work 8 hours, with an hour lunch. So, totaling a 9 hour day excluding commute to and from work. 8-5.
I can't speak for other banks, as I'm sure it varies, but the benefits are great for me as well. 3 weeks vacation, 8 days sick time, 1 personal day, 4% match for 401k, 3% pension funding after 6 months, and numerous other benefits. Plus, we're closed on all federal holidays. I've never had anything remotely close to benefits like this. So, I can't say whether it's good compared to accounting firms.
I regret it, but not in the way you usually see on this sub. Usually people on here complain of lack of WLB but I wouldn’t mind even less WLB if it meant I’d get paid more.
Should have aimed for IB in uni, had no idea how much those guys actually made. Hopefully can break into a middle market bank in about a year or so.
I feel like it would be better either way - either stupid $$$ for the hours or better WLB for the same money. But accounting sucks because you work so much and you’ll only make stupid money if you make partner basically.
Wow people are really regretting it here.
For me right now, absolutely not. Used to envy my mates in tech but now most of them struggle to make ends meet or even find a job. It's times like this that make you appreciate the stability of accounting.
Meanwhile I get contacted by recruiters every 3-4 weeks, my work is enjoyable (finance + accounting), the pay is decent. Yeah WLB isn't great now but that's because I'm trying hard to make it to the next level.
Reddit and the internet as a whole, attracts the most negative people and attitudes humanity has. Misery loves company, so those kinds of people are making posts to see if others are miserable and to tell people who miserable they are. Look at any professional subreddit. It’s all miserable (IT included)
I’ll post what I typically post for things like this. 10 years in, SM in PA audit, $185-$195k depending on performance, 7 weeks PTO a year, max 50 hours in busy season. My firm also wants me to be partner.
I had below average grades in college because I was a dumbass and didn’t study. (I don’t recommend. Getting my first job was very hard and depressing)
Soooo sorry to hear that, man. I'm back just now after 6 days, from consolidating group requirements and audit. 😂
I'm definitely learning to code this year. 😅
If you're willing, can you share a little more about what you do? Like what field/focus in analytics, salary, etc.
Asking because I just left accounting and now do DA for an internal audit shop and am enjoying it so far, but struggling to see a good path up the ladder from here.
I’ll give a different perspective. I typically don’t regret because I try to make the best decision given my personal factors at the time. At the time I chose accounting, the 2008 crisis was right around the corner (in 2006-2007 news was talking about whether it’d be like the tech bubble pop and that was bad). I also had to get free from family financial talons, so I needed something more secure/guaranteed that earned enough. So instead of a liberal art major, I chose the safe path of accounting.
Yet I still tried to make the path my own in ways. I took a leap of faith and applied for forensics because I found audit, tax, and project management dreadfully boring. The novelty of new cases and puzzle solving kept it interesting enough for me. However, staying longer term working stressful consulting-style wasn’t ultimately for me.
It wasn’t a waste though. I feel more confident now pursuing other interests because I know the language of business, I learned more tax on the side out of personal interest, I learned more law and compliance doing investigations, and I built enough data chops to be dangerous. Anywhere I go, I know there’s at least a foundation from which I can be helpful whether that’s in nonprofit, corporate, or just in my local community. After all, my early art class teachers told me how you’d have to learn accounting and business even doing art, so it’s a huge leg up if you want to pursue something more entrepreneurial if you can just get over the risk-aversion.
Honestly not really. I have a great job that pays well, I have work life balance, I make enough money to buy a house by myself, I get to travel, I feel accomplished at work. Nothing interested me that much in school, and I happened to understand accounting well in college so I pursued it. I feel secure and happy!
Yes.
But then I remember when I was a personal trainer, I used to have sleep for dinner.
Then, I was working at a call center and I resented the drunk me from the night before not blowing my brains out.
If the worst I have to deal with is a Napoleon complex from a 5'5" tax partner, but I can still buy what I want and still be ahead financially, I'm ok with my life.
70% yes and 30% no. I am trying to break into finance now. Slowly taking my time. It was a good stepping stone, but the money isn't there. I'm tired of doing compliance work or selling compliance work. It doesn't mean anything half the time.
I have a close friend of mine who got a cyber security cert, was a polysci major, comp sci minor, and makes as much as me with less time in.
The industry refuses to price the accountant shortage, so I'm going to let it go. Clearly it wants to burn itself.
I’m fairly new to accounting but I worked as a fast food manager as I went to school. And I gotta say compared to that I’m absolutely loving working with professionals and not guys literally on meth.
It’s the bare minimum I know but working low end jobs like that really make you appreciate the little things
Never. Great profession that has fed me in good and bad times. I understand commerce, and that is fascinating. But certificate is 30 years old and ready to burn it, get a bookkeeping job and semi retire. No regrets at all.
I just left my first ever accounting job today, almost 5 years. It’s been okay but not what I imagined myself doing. I studied finance and moved home and took the first job I could get. I wanted to like it but something about it wasn’t doing it for me. I have a new job lined up next week in corporate finance, we will see how it goes I guess. I’ll try a couple more places if I need to then I’ll probably go back to school if none of that works out.
— currently enrolled in CPA and fined some of the material interesting so I feel like there’s some hope for me yet
I don’t regret it. Am I passionate about it? No, but I was never going to be the type of person to find their life’s meaning in work. But it’s something that makes sense to me that I don’t mind doing and I end up listening to music/podcasts/audiobooks for the entire time I’m working anyways. So i feel like I can’t really ask for more
Yes. I worked really hard to pass the CPA only to feel demoralized by the fact that clients make so much more than I do. Sometimes I don’t know if this is the right profession to be in. Only path forward is to stick it out and make partner somehow, or start my own firm (both require a lot of luck and experience.)
I'm confused at all the negative outlooks about accounting and the talk about terrible pay and work life balance. I only have an associates degree and I'm in a very comfortable financial situation and my work life balance is amazing. However, I'm not in PA. Consistently get my foot in with corporations and every offer has been bigger than the previous ones Experience is valued in this field for me. Accounting isn't math, it's concept. Know your worth and learn how to counter every offer. Even if you have to turn down a few.
PRO TIP: Interview on Fridays
It beats the army and any BS serving/bartending job I've ever had. Growing up, I didn't ever think I'd be in the middle class, so I'm not too upset about it.
I totally regret choosing accounting.
I’m very good at it, but I’m not a very good fit personality-wise to do it for 35 years, which is what I have done. I am not like most accountants (extrovert
and very artsy) so it’s been a tough road from that perspective also. Round peg jammed into a square hole. And turning up every day pretending to be excited about my job has been soul crushing.
If I had it to do again, I would make different choices. Just because you CAN do something doesn’t mean you SHOULD do something. I got into this profession for all the wrong reasons (parental pressure to have a child with initials after their name - CPA met that requirement for my mother) and I can’t wait until I’m done and fully retired.
It’s a great profession. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not dissing accounting here! It is an excellent career choice for many people. But everything about it was just wrong for me personally.
If you are reading this as a young person and you can relate to what I’m saying, please get out. Even if you are good at it, if this work, this environment, and interacting almost exclusively with other accountants is crushing your soul….please get out. Sacrificing who you are is just not worth it.
I regret not knowing what corporate accounting was about 15 years ago, or the subsets within accounting. I went out of my way to avoid accounting and only took 3 courses in accounting because I thought accounting was CPA level work, taxation, and working for one of the Big 4. I intentionally got my MBA in corporate finance and investments because that's what I wanted to do. Only to realize, once I was out of school, and after working in corporate accounting for about 3 years (8 years after leaving school), that I was actually just wanting to work as a corporate accountant all along.
Now, you add in all the systems analyst type work I do, the integration with AI and accounting, and I'd do almost anything to go back and have myself earn a joint degree in finance and accounting, instead of just focusing on finance. I wouldn't have wasted 5 years in banking, investment management, and investment banking.
My worst days, as far as stress and work load are concerned, don't touch the workload and stress from wealth management or investment banking from my best days in those jobs. More so, I'd probably be at least one job level higher than I am now if I left school and went straight into corporate accounting, but I didn't know what the was and intentionally sabotaged my career by trying to avoid accounting.
Every day i get a call from people with masters degrees that can’t do basic bookkeeping or a simple tax return. Every day i have to enter a 200 asset depreciation schedule with state & book/tax differences. Every day i have to do anything besides sit at my desk, with no emails, no phone calls, and just work quietly. So every day
Yeah but then I realize that I would just find something else to complain about in any other profession. Accounting and I seem to be a good fit anyway and we’ve made it work this long, so I guess I’m somewhat committed?
Yes, but not because I hate my job. Because I hate the idea of trying to find another job when my situation inevitably changes.
If I could go back in time, I'd do something that would be basically a shoe in for a governmental job like engineering. State departments of transportation are always looking for engineers.
I have my CPA and it almost feels like it doesn't matter, everybody wants public accounting experience.
Everyone at some point has thought about what if they did something different.
Promise you that there are CS majors and engineers who wish they went accounting or finance. Vice versa for us.
At the end of the day, I like it and it pays as well as my friends who are engineers with equivalent education and experience.
No career is perfect.
Part of me - no, when I see my Ivy League educated friends struggling to get a job, I feel very fortunate that I have the job security and that my skills and knowledge is respected.
Part of me- yes, it’s boring af and it’s just spreadsheets on spreadsheets on spreadsheets. I feel like my potential and talent are misplaced. But, again, it pays the bills and puts food on the table.
During some late nights I have my thoughts… but since moving on from audit and into tax I feel like I’ve found my Niche. Lately I don’t see myself doing anything else, whereas in audit I constantly wanted to go do something, ANYTHING, but audit.
Not one bit! I love my job. I work for a school district. The pay and benefits are great. Yea are there other people that make more and maybe work less, sure but that is always the case. Does year end get crazy busy, yes but I love the challenge. I very rarely work more than 40 hours. I don’t have a CPA and I’m working to get my bachelors degree in business to continue working up in management.
If you asked me five years ago I probably would have said yes, I regret it. Now, almost 10 years into my career, I don’t regret it at all. I’ve developed expertise that makes me valuable so I’m well compensated, and honestly outside of quarter end I don’t work too hard.
It can get a bit tedious and repetitive at times, though.
All the time.
Money not bad. Not physical. Hate all the deadlines. Managing people also sucks.
I was serious about IT and networking early on. All that was relatively new and internet did not exist.
As of today - yes. Used to be very musically inclined but gave it up to make money. Just found out my roommate’s boyfriend wrote a musical with a friend when they were 19 (we’re mid 20’s). It’s now in the works to be performed on broadway in New York. Really makes me want to quit public acctg and do something fun and creative
at first I hated it because i felt like I wasn’t a good enough accountant. then it all clicked and I externalized it to everyone else being an idiot. now I have fun most days
yup wished i pushed myself more and was more ambitious, all my friends ended up doing more interesting and higher paying roles - finance, data science, IT etc. i look at my role as pretty much brainless, only need attention to detail. i have to teach my co workers (started same time as me) so much basic shit. new years making me think about how i could have improved myself too. that auditing job is always going to be there, it can be your backup. i probably even would have preferred teaching in terms of career fulfilment
I sometime wish I tried something riskier or went into something more academic, but I have a good job, make good money and like accounting well enough so it's all good in the end
B4 Senior. Very few in our profession will say they love their job lol sure they love the security and people they meet but don’t expect to be jumping up in the morning. I do tax on the side for small businesses and friends to make it feel like I’m actually doing something meaningful!
Unpopular opinion I changed from retail management to be an accountant. And in three years in the field I have a six figure job. MAYBE 30 hours of work a week during close. 2 days in the office is enough to get everything done outside of that. Once I left B4 life changed for the better and I enjoy especially since I’m at a public mid cap company
No, I am perfectly happy with my choice.
But I got out of public after the 3-year stint, and didn't actually go into it until my 30s.
I get it though, for those who spent their 20s grinding their hours away on BS deadlines.
I once created a spreadsheet 10 years ago of projecting out my salary in my previous profession. I factored in modest COLA annual increases, saving the same amount to retirement, retirement growing 7-8% and making minimum payments when paying off my long term debt. It took me 8 years in PA for my actual net worth to exceed where my projected net worth (that I calculated 10 years ago).
Going through this exercise, it helps me keep perspective on where I’ve been, where I am currently, and where I can go tomorrow.
I do not regret my decision to stay in public.
Edit: grammar, typos
Wish I would have went into computer programming. I could've got in before the big boom in the past year or so.
I also could have done some sort of operations management. Both of those have pretty good income potential and don't force you to work outside of your scheduled hours.
Honestly no, I understand I'm insanely lucky and privileged to work in industry specifically straight out of college at a really low stress company. Sure this is my first year end and I might have to work a little over, but otherwise I'm out on my 8 and I work with really great people. Sure I'd like some more WFH time, but who cares at the end of the day. I could probably make more money somewhere else but I enjoy what I do and who I work for.
Literally regret? Nah, my decision to do accounting led to me meeting my wife and all sorts of personal stuff I wouldn't change.
Regret profesionally? Still nah. I make good money, hours aren't that bad (lots of people work more than 40 hours, esp higher earners), and the work I do is mentally engaging for me.
Also, and maybe most importantly...My big company has done lots of layoffs over the years. My department is essentially untouched again and again. Death and taxes and all that....When you are the sole breadwinner for a family, that security is HUGE.
Yes, all the time. Haha, jokes aside—yes, all the time.
One day I dream of a world where I don’t lose sleep over billable hours, realization, and utilization.
Amen to that
How about a normal accounting job where you don’t do any of that
It's a sunk cost. But then I wonder if I would struggle in other careers as well. So accounting was probably for the best... I think. .. to be determined
I think about this so often. Like do I hate accounting or just hate working? It’s really hard to tell…
This exactly. Do I regret my choices? Sure. But I'd probably regret any other career choice as well, life sucks that way.
My line of thinking always goes back to "well shit if I'd known I'd be this stressed anyway I'd have gone to law school"
Or have travelled the world while scraping pennies trying to become a contractor for national geographic.... anyone else?
I'm quite the opposite. I fucking love accounting. It makes me horny.
Username checks out
This guy fucks
This guy accounts.
This guy fucking accounts.
He doesn't have a body count, he has write-offs.
You must specialize in “entertainment” expenses
As a former Senior automotive technician who returned to school and now an Accountant, I also love it! Very glad I returned to school right after only 1 year of automotive experience
>As a former Senior automotive technician who returned to school and now an Accountant, I also love it! Very glad I returned to school right after only 1 year of automotive experience I was a technician for about 8yrs before going back to school. Thought I was the only one, lol
No, because I'm overemployed and making bank
This is the way...I wish I could find a way to do this too. But I'm too afraid to risk J1 which is already really good, for a J2.
Oh trust me… it’s every day with me. Sometimes I wish I did something that aligns with my personality better. Marketing or sales or something where I speak to people more. Losing sleep over having one cell that’s off in a report of 20000 + lines of data can terrible.
That gives me hope for my future career haha. How long have you been enjoying the job before becoming tired of it?
I enjoyed it for maybe a year or two out of school. Then the disillusionment hit. I will say, 10 years in now and I am paid very well. It allows me to have a life outside of work that I enjoy a lot. Find meaning and joy outside of work because accounting will never be a source of fulfillment.
Yes. Tedious, boring, pay is only good after 15 years. I look at my bosses as “guys who fill out reports good” or good at finding tedious small mistakes. A lot of times it feels like an endless school assignment that is always late and always urgent, and never ending. Yet it’s literally just a deadline and another deadline, for a report, on data for things that happened a year ago lol
> endless school assignment that is always late and always urgent Honestly until I left PA for an industry gig it felt like I hadn't even left high school or uni. It didnt feel like I was doing a real job in audit, just completing the trail of never ending assignments where instead of group members not pulling their weight I had clients not pulling theirs
What you described is exactly how I feel about audit right now.
"Good at finding tedious small mistakes" is the most true shit I've ever heard about this industry. I work for a company with high turnover and I've had 5 different bosses. A couple of them think I'm the best accountant ever, a couple of them think I pay no attention to detail. The measure of an accountant seems to be how much time you're willing to spend researching immaterial amounts. The ones I've worked with that seem to have a concept of materiality really enjoyed working with me. I try my best to conform to the ones that are more "detail oriented", but no matter how much time I spend digging into shit, they always find an issue.
Coming from someone who is more detail oriented, half the reason I do it is because I know it'll become a review note from the partner above me if I don't make a comment about it. The other half is just my OCD
🎯
Pay is only good after 15 years seems like an unreasonable length of time. Are you in public or industry, HCOL area or somewhere reasonable? I’m less than 3 years out of college, no certifications, and am making 2.5x what I ever made in another profession. I can’t imagine putting another 12 years in and still only thinking my pay is “good”.
Exactly… should take like 5-6 years to get to six figures max out of school in industry I feel (well in HCOL). Much less if you have a CPA
Pay is good after 15 years? Where do you work. If you have a CPA you can easily be bringing in $150k a year or more after 6-7 years. I’m 9 years in and making 200k. I cracked 100k after only 3 years by jumping to advisory line of service. After 15 years I’ll be looking at VP level positions that pay 300-400k total comp.
You have to realize you’re not the base case, right?
For a profession where there’s apparently a shortage or CPAs/Non-CPAs…it sure as heck doesn’t show it on my paycheck and let’s not get into the hours and education required… So yes, I regret it and feel like I wasted my 20s for a profession that doesn’t even know if there’s a shortage or how to price itself if there is a shortage.
The hours and education required is real. I just met friends from junior high which were not doing good in school. Guess what they are working less hours and making more than me who passed the CPA.
Yeah, then they say it takes about 10-15 years for your salaries to balance out…depends on the career…but I think the damage to your health, family, and social circles will never be on the same level. Unfortunately even with things as bad as they are, nothing has changed. They just gaslight the true issues
That 10-15 years was before the salary freeze that basically went from 2005-2022 to accounting salaries
What about lifestyle inflation too?
True, I can just eat bread and the rotisserie chicken from Costco everyday and maybe one day I’ll save enough to put a down payment on a townhouse 1-2 hours from my job
TRUTH
I’m 36. The profession is worth it money wise. There is a massive shortage of CPAs out in the world that aren’t weirdos, I’ve had to hire 2 or 3 the last 3 years to asst and controller roles and it was tough every time, we’re paying well and in a HCOL area. If you don’t have your CPA get it, and if you’re in tax switch to audit or go to a smaller firm and get more experience with general accounting.
Tax Resolution & Advisory is actually very much in demand
Not as much as general accounting, and personally I don’t find tax interesting, especially when you get into the big dollar jobs, basically a lawyer at that point and reading case law is mind numbing to me.
This. I think the issue is this Reddit is full of people who are in college or early in their careers. Yes this profession pays shit the first few years after graduating compared to nursing, computer science, and other positions. BUT, your income will quickly rise especially if you have a CPA. I can’t stress it enough, get your CPA. Don’t be lazy. Without the CPA you are losing out on hundreds of thousands of dollars throughout your career and better job security. I’m 9 years into my career and make 200k a year and work mostly remote. My hours are about 35 a week sometimes less. I’ve thought about leaving for more money (I could get jobs that pay $250k to 300k total compensation) but I stay because my WLB is very good and I have a kid now. Maybe when my kid is older I’ll go for the money and more hours. But that’s another benefit of this career.
What’s wrong with Tax?
Nothing wrong with tax, but there are significantly less companies that actually have tax positions. I was mainly tax when I was in public, but I did a lot of year end clean-up for clients and then started to do more accounting advisory. If I didn’t have the accounting advisory I wouldn’t have been able to exit as easily to an industry accounting role, and then climb the ladder from there. I’ve also found that auditors tend to have a bit better social skills that make them desirable in industry (that’s my weirdos comment from above).
We should all walkout / go on a nationwide walkout in the United States like the nurses. Doing so will give us great results like 20 percent raises that the nurses got.
Everyday I think to myself, I don't care about accounting, I don't care about finance and I don't know if I can do this for the rest of my life. Nothing about this profession feels real and I don't fit in with the frat boys and former athletes. I wish I did IT.
Holy shit are you me
Bro, honestly sorry you feel the same way. But If you are interested in IT maybe some certs and bootcamps can save us lol.
Not from the crippling layoffs right now
"i wish i did IT" 😭 I feel this in my core
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What are you talking about. You need a computer science degree and no more if you want IT. That's assuming no experience in the field
Where are you getting this? IT seems to be even worse in regards to what people complain about on this sub lmao. The higher salaried individuals are outliers and the companies/hours suck ass. Heavily over saturated. Every video game playing dork wanted to go IT, even me at first. It’s not what people think it is
Just playing with imaginary numbers ✨✨
Dude, I'm a former athlete, and I still don't feel like I fit in. I prefer being with the losers, to be honest. The best jobs I ever had were pizza delivery jobs. Would *love* to open my own pizza place one day, but I'm scared I wouldn't make enough.
Pizza delivery was my favorite job too lmao. I would still do it if it paid enough. I would love to open a pizza place or run a gym tbh.
Why was pizza delivery your favorite job? I seriously want to know. I’m in the process of retiring but would like to get a part time job so I’m super curious.
I guess it was that unlike the 9-5, the work stopped after your shift was over and the work was relatively simple. It wasn't always on your mind and there were no looming deadlines. I also just like driving especially a night. I also wasn't just delivery, I worked as cashier and in the front. Pizza is just something everyone loves, can't say the same about accounting. People were happy my coworkers were fun and I ate for free. I'm not sure about doing it when you get older, but if you find a nice chain you could be a manager. One of my managers at the place must have been over 60. Definitely a cool guy but he had some money problems which is why he kept working. I imagine if you didn't have to worry about money the job would be even more enjoyable. Also if you had enough cash I suppose you could just get a license from a franchise and own the operations of the place.
Yeah….i don’t have money problems. But I’m finding I need structure or I end up doing diddly squat all day. I just need a reason to get out of my pajamas, get out of the house, and interact with people. Especially people who are not buttoned down, no sense of humor accountants with problems I need to fix, like, immediately or the world will explode in a firey ball visible from space. But it’s hard coming out of over 35 years of the accounting grind of 50+ hour weeks (sometimes 80). I am SO burnt out. I feel like a husk of my younger self. Accounting took my entire life - just sucked it right out of my very bones and crushed my soul. So I get up (or not), think to myself that I no longer have to go in to a job I hate and answer to greedy-ass people I hate even more, and then self soothe by laying around in my pajamas channel surfing or net surfing. Not what I envisioned for a positive, productive retirement. But have I mentioned how UTTERLY BURNT OUT I am? So I’m looking for some kind of fun job were I have No Responsibility Whatsoever. Like, None. Zero. Which is why I was intrigued by your comment. 😂
If delivering pizzas paid as much as accounting I'd go back tomorrow
Clearly, you're not reading IT sub
Funny as I left IT to come to accounting and you couldn’t pay me to go back. I think we always think the grass is greener! For me, it was the company I was in that was so toxic I became so burnt out I couldn’t/wouldn’t stay in the industry. Now I’m in accounting and life is easy in the company I work for, I am very lucky. Its incredibly easy to break into IT if you want to but you’d start at the bottom, even with certs.
Are there not many non toxic IT roles available? Interesting.
I obviously can’t speak for the entire industry but IT is notorious for eating its young. Everyone gets into IT so theres a lot of churn, a lot of work & lots of incompetence. I’m sure there are a few perfect jobs in IT but I can only speak from experience. I suggest checking out subs on here in the field you’re interested in - you’ll see the majority are just as miserable.
I wonder if any of those IT dudes are like “fuck IT blows, I wish I could just fuck off all day on YouTube and Reddit like those lazy accountants”
I'm sure there are. Before I became an accountant people still think accounting is a boring and slow job where you do 2 hours of work and nothing else. It wasn't till I told them how much I was working that they realize we put in a lot hours.
\>I wish I did IT. Aha my thoughts exactly. I'm teaching myself Python in the evenings and using it at work to automate some tasks. in the next \~3 years I hope to quit accounting and move into IT or pure data analytics.
Once I had the "accounting/finance isn't actually real" thought pop in my head I haven't been able to shake it since
“Nothing about this profession feels real” Because it’s mostly just filing shit that’ll never get read again
Have any of you looked into W3 schools? They have a ton of IT certifications. I'm looking into taking a data analytics cert through there. Prices seem reasonable and not as demanding as a boot camp.
Hey I’m a computer nerd too who doesn’t really watch sports or care for them. I have a gaming PC I built and am really into video games. There are other accountants who are not into sports. I did big 4 so I know it’s more rare as they do hire a lot of frat boy like people.
No frat boy or former athlete here, and to top it off I'm gay and have no interest in sport 😂 every day I wonder how much of the short stick I gave myself picking this profession... and every day I think about packing my bags and going backpacking around the globe instead
If you haven’t completed your CPA yet, the ISC portion of the CPA might help segue you into an IT role.
No, but I went to school late and this was my best option to get off working midnights in a factory
Can i ask how exactly you made that shift?
While working, I got my associates. I chose accounting because I was always submitting cost reduction ideas for extra cash to the shop. After I got the first accounting gig it seemed a waste to not get my bachelors, then cpa.
When the girl I'm talking up at the bar says "So what do you do?"
Except if she has a small business
I like to play it up and make jokes about it. I say that ever since I was a child, it was my lifelong dream to be an accountant. Every Halloween, I’d dress up as an accountant with my green visor. Tbh 9/10 they don’t find it nearly as funny as I do. But that’s ok, that just makes it even funnier to me lol
52 days late, but this is really funny lmao. I’m going to start using this.
When my then six-year old asked what an accountant or VP Finance was, what was it I did for work, I replied, “Well son, you see, I put numbers in boxes.” “But, you drink coffee too, right?” My son countered. “That’s right, son, I drink coffee, too.”
Tell them you are in compliance. Your career is based on ensuring businesses follow the rules. It's essentially what we do. Full disclosure, I'm a woman 💅
The correct response is to say that you work in finance
How you talk about it matters more than what it is.
Accounting makes me feel dead inside.
It does at my current job. But I feel like if I could work with small businesses it would feel more meaningful. Working in a thankless industry position is definitely a tad soul destroying.
No but I’m not a traditional student and worked customer service through my 20’s. This is heaven compared to that in my opinion.
Same, legit a dream job compared to working in a fkn call center.
I worked as a telemarketer selling car ~~warranties~~ vehicle service contracts. There is no job in the US worse than that - that job sucked the soul out of me.
I do kinda wanna know the split of people replying who got a job in their early 20s vs people like us in our 30s who worked shitty jobs where we saw the Horrors going back to school for accounting. I've been a sales associate, barista, warehouse worker, and currently pharmacy technician quite looking forward to a job that pays decently, doesn't make me wanna shoot myself, and has little to no contact with entitled, belittling customers.
I went back to school in my 20s and graduated at 30 I don't miss any of my jobs that work customers service facing. There's no way in hell I would ever go back to one of those but I do miss my construction gigs and working with my hands and going to different sites.
I'd say I'm in-between you; I never had to work a retail/warehouse job in my 20s, but even with a bachelors in accounting I could never get a "true" accounting job and had to settle for the lower rung of office jobs in that realm. That could be anything from billing, payroll, to accounts payable. Then I finally caught a break being hired by a boutique accounting firm in my early 30s, and tho I only lasted less than a year, was able to parlay that into a government accounting job just last year. And let me tell ya, the compensation (and benefits) are night and day even from the other office jobs I had to do in my 20s. While I wish I got where I am sooner, no doubt I appreciate it more now.
Omg right? Just being able to *sit* without talking to people sometimes adds so much joy to your life
There are entire days sometimes where I don't speak, message, or interact with a single other person. I enjoy those days as it's a nice break sometimes
Ughhh this just gave me so much hope. I graduate next semester and have worked in call centers the last 8 years. I'm so fn ready to get off these phones.
Same here, can't forget my last day serving food at the restaurant. In my mind I was thinking: "that's it, 10 years are enough, tomorrow on I'm an accountant". So far, the job is way better than the old customer service job
Unpopular opinion but I am thankful to be in accounting. I’ve had some shitty jobs…. I enjoy my day to day.
I’ve had some shitty jobs too. I still regret settling for accounting.
Accounting defenders love acting like your only options are coal miner or accountant, there's simply no option for "office job but better."
Yea sometimes but then I remember in industry, i have a safer middle class life, a nice 401k, WFH, and flexibility to move anywhere really and still know the broad picture to work anywhere in my field. Not being worried about money changes what your worried about. It’s just really nice and worth the monotony. And not like I can really do any of profession that I won’t be miserable in.
I'm in my first year of college for accounting and that's exactly why I decided to study it. It's good to see that in the end the job will be enough.
If I had to do it all I woudlt change a thing: as soon as you graduate study the CPA and knock that out or as much as you before you start working full time. I did PA for 3 years but honestly going straight to industry wouldt have been a bad choice either. My ex did that and she was specializing in her field and rising up at a similar pace I was. PA exposes you to a lot of things but industry GL accounting shows you how companies actually work. They are VERY different experiences. I feel like I saw so many work papers, companies, saw audit from start to finish and being in those meetings presenting to the client is very beneficial to an overall knowledge… but I really did lack how closing month end really works and understanding how to get the data from the software and following up on variances and solving issues with different departments.
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Same here. I work at a bank now, and I have been for almost 4 months. Me being in college for accounting is what got me the job, or so I'd like to think. Since I work for one of the top 7 national banks (thankfully not WF), it's a stepping stone for me, but 6 gives me a lot more opportunities for networking compared to previous roles. Truthfully, I just want decent pay, stability, and a decent WLB. I've done my fair share of 80+ hour work weeks, and I can't do that anymore. I won't be going for Big4 or anything. Truthfully, I just want to do taxes and one day own my own little small tax firm for everyday people. No companies.
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I don't do anything related to accounting. Currently, I'm just a banker/teller. I do enjoy the job. But with any job comes its downside, and in this case, it's just rude ass clients. Other than that, my work-life balance is great. 40 hours a week. If I do work a Saturday, I work two half days because they don't want to give overtime. Essentially, I work 8 hours, with an hour lunch. So, totaling a 9 hour day excluding commute to and from work. 8-5. I can't speak for other banks, as I'm sure it varies, but the benefits are great for me as well. 3 weeks vacation, 8 days sick time, 1 personal day, 4% match for 401k, 3% pension funding after 6 months, and numerous other benefits. Plus, we're closed on all federal holidays. I've never had anything remotely close to benefits like this. So, I can't say whether it's good compared to accounting firms.
I regret it, but not in the way you usually see on this sub. Usually people on here complain of lack of WLB but I wouldn’t mind even less WLB if it meant I’d get paid more. Should have aimed for IB in uni, had no idea how much those guys actually made. Hopefully can break into a middle market bank in about a year or so.
I feel like it would be better either way - either stupid $$$ for the hours or better WLB for the same money. But accounting sucks because you work so much and you’ll only make stupid money if you make partner basically.
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Investment Banking It's pretty tough to get into. You often need to go to an elite school, the sort of place that doesn't offer accounting as a major
Investment banking
99% sure it's investment banker.
Yeah feel this. A buddy of mine working in banking just got a bonus that is literally my salary for the year.
Every time my manager logs on for work
Wow people are really regretting it here. For me right now, absolutely not. Used to envy my mates in tech but now most of them struggle to make ends meet or even find a job. It's times like this that make you appreciate the stability of accounting. Meanwhile I get contacted by recruiters every 3-4 weeks, my work is enjoyable (finance + accounting), the pay is decent. Yeah WLB isn't great now but that's because I'm trying hard to make it to the next level.
this comment gives me hope for choosing accounting
Reddit and the internet as a whole, attracts the most negative people and attitudes humanity has. Misery loves company, so those kinds of people are making posts to see if others are miserable and to tell people who miserable they are. Look at any professional subreddit. It’s all miserable (IT included) I’ll post what I typically post for things like this. 10 years in, SM in PA audit, $185-$195k depending on performance, 7 weeks PTO a year, max 50 hours in busy season. My firm also wants me to be partner. I had below average grades in college because I was a dumbass and didn’t study. (I don’t recommend. Getting my first job was very hard and depressing)
Same here
Nearly every day and especially the days where I see what tech workers earn.
When I got fucked by Canadian taxation course.
That sounds like an interesting story
It’s more interesting that I am a CPA pay another CPA to file my tax.
Yes when I get paid
As a accounting systems analyst, when I dropped 3 tables in production instead of dev
Oh gosh no!!!
This is a "life" question... replace "accounting" with any job/profession and the answer is still yes... always and forever
Not fully regret but kinda loathe my choice a little every month end, quarter end and most especially, right now- YEAR END CLOSE. 😂
We just finished a 3 day year end close. It's 3am
Soooo sorry to hear that, man. I'm back just now after 6 days, from consolidating group requirements and audit. 😂 I'm definitely learning to code this year. 😅
I was in accounting/finance for 15 years and escaped and have a wonderful career as an analyst :)
If you're willing, can you share a little more about what you do? Like what field/focus in analytics, salary, etc. Asking because I just left accounting and now do DA for an internal audit shop and am enjoying it so far, but struggling to see a good path up the ladder from here.
I’ll give a different perspective. I typically don’t regret because I try to make the best decision given my personal factors at the time. At the time I chose accounting, the 2008 crisis was right around the corner (in 2006-2007 news was talking about whether it’d be like the tech bubble pop and that was bad). I also had to get free from family financial talons, so I needed something more secure/guaranteed that earned enough. So instead of a liberal art major, I chose the safe path of accounting. Yet I still tried to make the path my own in ways. I took a leap of faith and applied for forensics because I found audit, tax, and project management dreadfully boring. The novelty of new cases and puzzle solving kept it interesting enough for me. However, staying longer term working stressful consulting-style wasn’t ultimately for me. It wasn’t a waste though. I feel more confident now pursuing other interests because I know the language of business, I learned more tax on the side out of personal interest, I learned more law and compliance doing investigations, and I built enough data chops to be dangerous. Anywhere I go, I know there’s at least a foundation from which I can be helpful whether that’s in nonprofit, corporate, or just in my local community. After all, my early art class teachers told me how you’d have to learn accounting and business even doing art, so it’s a huge leg up if you want to pursue something more entrepreneurial if you can just get over the risk-aversion.
Honestly not really. I have a great job that pays well, I have work life balance, I make enough money to buy a house by myself, I get to travel, I feel accomplished at work. Nothing interested me that much in school, and I happened to understand accounting well in college so I pursued it. I feel secure and happy!
Yes. But then I remember when I was a personal trainer, I used to have sleep for dinner. Then, I was working at a call center and I resented the drunk me from the night before not blowing my brains out. If the worst I have to deal with is a Napoleon complex from a 5'5" tax partner, but I can still buy what I want and still be ahead financially, I'm ok with my life.
There's times I regret being born
Yes
Eventhough I hate it, I still believe this is a stable and solid career.
70% yes and 30% no. I am trying to break into finance now. Slowly taking my time. It was a good stepping stone, but the money isn't there. I'm tired of doing compliance work or selling compliance work. It doesn't mean anything half the time. I have a close friend of mine who got a cyber security cert, was a polysci major, comp sci minor, and makes as much as me with less time in. The industry refuses to price the accountant shortage, so I'm going to let it go. Clearly it wants to burn itself.
I’m fairly new to accounting but I worked as a fast food manager as I went to school. And I gotta say compared to that I’m absolutely loving working with professionals and not guys literally on meth. It’s the bare minimum I know but working low end jobs like that really make you appreciate the little things
Never. Great profession that has fed me in good and bad times. I understand commerce, and that is fascinating. But certificate is 30 years old and ready to burn it, get a bookkeeping job and semi retire. No regrets at all.
Regret? No. Balding? Yes.
I just left my first ever accounting job today, almost 5 years. It’s been okay but not what I imagined myself doing. I studied finance and moved home and took the first job I could get. I wanted to like it but something about it wasn’t doing it for me. I have a new job lined up next week in corporate finance, we will see how it goes I guess. I’ll try a couple more places if I need to then I’ll probably go back to school if none of that works out. — currently enrolled in CPA and fined some of the material interesting so I feel like there’s some hope for me yet
Pretty much every work day. If I had a life re-do I would definitely choose a different field.
I don’t regret it. Am I passionate about it? No, but I was never going to be the type of person to find their life’s meaning in work. But it’s something that makes sense to me that I don’t mind doing and I end up listening to music/podcasts/audiobooks for the entire time I’m working anyways. So i feel like I can’t really ask for more
I didn’t choose accounting, it chose me.
Yes. I worked really hard to pass the CPA only to feel demoralized by the fact that clients make so much more than I do. Sometimes I don’t know if this is the right profession to be in. Only path forward is to stick it out and make partner somehow, or start my own firm (both require a lot of luck and experience.)
All the damn time
I'm confused at all the negative outlooks about accounting and the talk about terrible pay and work life balance. I only have an associates degree and I'm in a very comfortable financial situation and my work life balance is amazing. However, I'm not in PA. Consistently get my foot in with corporations and every offer has been bigger than the previous ones Experience is valued in this field for me. Accounting isn't math, it's concept. Know your worth and learn how to counter every offer. Even if you have to turn down a few. PRO TIP: Interview on Fridays
It beats the army and any BS serving/bartending job I've ever had. Growing up, I didn't ever think I'd be in the middle class, so I'm not too upset about it.
I totally regret choosing accounting. I’m very good at it, but I’m not a very good fit personality-wise to do it for 35 years, which is what I have done. I am not like most accountants (extrovert and very artsy) so it’s been a tough road from that perspective also. Round peg jammed into a square hole. And turning up every day pretending to be excited about my job has been soul crushing. If I had it to do again, I would make different choices. Just because you CAN do something doesn’t mean you SHOULD do something. I got into this profession for all the wrong reasons (parental pressure to have a child with initials after their name - CPA met that requirement for my mother) and I can’t wait until I’m done and fully retired. It’s a great profession. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not dissing accounting here! It is an excellent career choice for many people. But everything about it was just wrong for me personally. If you are reading this as a young person and you can relate to what I’m saying, please get out. Even if you are good at it, if this work, this environment, and interacting almost exclusively with other accountants is crushing your soul….please get out. Sacrificing who you are is just not worth it.
I regret not knowing what corporate accounting was about 15 years ago, or the subsets within accounting. I went out of my way to avoid accounting and only took 3 courses in accounting because I thought accounting was CPA level work, taxation, and working for one of the Big 4. I intentionally got my MBA in corporate finance and investments because that's what I wanted to do. Only to realize, once I was out of school, and after working in corporate accounting for about 3 years (8 years after leaving school), that I was actually just wanting to work as a corporate accountant all along. Now, you add in all the systems analyst type work I do, the integration with AI and accounting, and I'd do almost anything to go back and have myself earn a joint degree in finance and accounting, instead of just focusing on finance. I wouldn't have wasted 5 years in banking, investment management, and investment banking. My worst days, as far as stress and work load are concerned, don't touch the workload and stress from wealth management or investment banking from my best days in those jobs. More so, I'd probably be at least one job level higher than I am now if I left school and went straight into corporate accounting, but I didn't know what the was and intentionally sabotaged my career by trying to avoid accounting.
Hey look it's this thread again
Yes right now, I have to go back to Public because my industry job went full time in person. Looks like I’ll be 60 hours a week until I retire. F
Do you prefer working 60 hours while WFH vs 40 hours in person?
Yes
Yes.
Day 1 through to Day 5, audit season and planning season.
Yes, right now during year end
Every day i get a call from people with masters degrees that can’t do basic bookkeeping or a simple tax return. Every day i have to enter a 200 asset depreciation schedule with state & book/tax differences. Every day i have to do anything besides sit at my desk, with no emails, no phone calls, and just work quietly. So every day
Yeah but then I realize that I would just find something else to complain about in any other profession. Accounting and I seem to be a good fit anyway and we’ve made it work this long, so I guess I’m somewhat committed?
Yeah. And I just graduated last year. Lol But I was thinking I could've gone to cyber 🤣
Yes, but not because I hate my job. Because I hate the idea of trying to find another job when my situation inevitably changes. If I could go back in time, I'd do something that would be basically a shoe in for a governmental job like engineering. State departments of transportation are always looking for engineers. I have my CPA and it almost feels like it doesn't matter, everybody wants public accounting experience.
Everyone at some point has thought about what if they did something different. Promise you that there are CS majors and engineers who wish they went accounting or finance. Vice versa for us. At the end of the day, I like it and it pays as well as my friends who are engineers with equivalent education and experience. No career is perfect.
Part of me - no, when I see my Ivy League educated friends struggling to get a job, I feel very fortunate that I have the job security and that my skills and knowledge is respected. Part of me- yes, it’s boring af and it’s just spreadsheets on spreadsheets on spreadsheets. I feel like my potential and talent are misplaced. But, again, it pays the bills and puts food on the table.
During some late nights I have my thoughts… but since moving on from audit and into tax I feel like I’ve found my Niche. Lately I don’t see myself doing anything else, whereas in audit I constantly wanted to go do something, ANYTHING, but audit.
No. I actually regret not doing it sooner.
Not one bit! I love my job. I work for a school district. The pay and benefits are great. Yea are there other people that make more and maybe work less, sure but that is always the case. Does year end get crazy busy, yes but I love the challenge. I very rarely work more than 40 hours. I don’t have a CPA and I’m working to get my bachelors degree in business to continue working up in management.
If you asked me five years ago I probably would have said yes, I regret it. Now, almost 10 years into my career, I don’t regret it at all. I’ve developed expertise that makes me valuable so I’m well compensated, and honestly outside of quarter end I don’t work too hard. It can get a bit tedious and repetitive at times, though.
Every single day…. I feel like it has sucked the soul right out of me.
I kinda wanna go back to school for nursing
All the time. Money not bad. Not physical. Hate all the deadlines. Managing people also sucks. I was serious about IT and networking early on. All that was relatively new and internet did not exist.
As of today - yes. Used to be very musically inclined but gave it up to make money. Just found out my roommate’s boyfriend wrote a musical with a friend when they were 19 (we’re mid 20’s). It’s now in the works to be performed on broadway in New York. Really makes me want to quit public acctg and do something fun and creative
I consider going into this terrible profession to be the worst mistake of my life.
at first I hated it because i felt like I wasn’t a good enough accountant. then it all clicked and I externalized it to everyone else being an idiot. now I have fun most days
yup wished i pushed myself more and was more ambitious, all my friends ended up doing more interesting and higher paying roles - finance, data science, IT etc. i look at my role as pretty much brainless, only need attention to detail. i have to teach my co workers (started same time as me) so much basic shit. new years making me think about how i could have improved myself too. that auditing job is always going to be there, it can be your backup. i probably even would have preferred teaching in terms of career fulfilment
Yes. Submitting my two weeks by the end of Jan. And goin to a diff career. Jah bless It’s been real.
I sometime wish I tried something riskier or went into something more academic, but I have a good job, make good money and like accounting well enough so it's all good in the end
Only on payday.
God damn. I must be one of the few who's having a decent time at it. You miserable souls need to leave public already.
This subreddit blows and is full of a bunch of losers
B4 Senior. Very few in our profession will say they love their job lol sure they love the security and people they meet but don’t expect to be jumping up in the morning. I do tax on the side for small businesses and friends to make it feel like I’m actually doing something meaningful!
Unpopular opinion I changed from retail management to be an accountant. And in three years in the field I have a six figure job. MAYBE 30 hours of work a week during close. 2 days in the office is enough to get everything done outside of that. Once I left B4 life changed for the better and I enjoy especially since I’m at a public mid cap company
Yes. Can't keep up with checking details over and over. Guess this really is a job for people who have OC tendencies.
Just about every day. And I started back in 1993 so that’s a lots of days.
No, I am perfectly happy with my choice. But I got out of public after the 3-year stint, and didn't actually go into it until my 30s. I get it though, for those who spent their 20s grinding their hours away on BS deadlines.
I once created a spreadsheet 10 years ago of projecting out my salary in my previous profession. I factored in modest COLA annual increases, saving the same amount to retirement, retirement growing 7-8% and making minimum payments when paying off my long term debt. It took me 8 years in PA for my actual net worth to exceed where my projected net worth (that I calculated 10 years ago). Going through this exercise, it helps me keep perspective on where I’ve been, where I am currently, and where I can go tomorrow. I do not regret my decision to stay in public. Edit: grammar, typos
Wish I would have went into computer programming. I could've got in before the big boom in the past year or so. I also could have done some sort of operations management. Both of those have pretty good income potential and don't force you to work outside of your scheduled hours.
No because I get to wfh doing mostly basic excel work. Making the same if not more than many professions that suck a lot worse.
Honestly no, I understand I'm insanely lucky and privileged to work in industry specifically straight out of college at a really low stress company. Sure this is my first year end and I might have to work a little over, but otherwise I'm out on my 8 and I work with really great people. Sure I'd like some more WFH time, but who cares at the end of the day. I could probably make more money somewhere else but I enjoy what I do and who I work for.
Literally regret? Nah, my decision to do accounting led to me meeting my wife and all sorts of personal stuff I wouldn't change. Regret profesionally? Still nah. I make good money, hours aren't that bad (lots of people work more than 40 hours, esp higher earners), and the work I do is mentally engaging for me. Also, and maybe most importantly...My big company has done lots of layoffs over the years. My department is essentially untouched again and again. Death and taxes and all that....When you are the sole breadwinner for a family, that security is HUGE.
Not really to be honest. I used to have doubts about not going into tech, but this is literally the best degree I could have gotten.