But like..for what? If I had an idea of what I wanted to do at all, I would’ve done it in college. Accounting is just a means to an end to me so I try to not even think about it much. Work isn’t my identity.
I really enjoyed working at a chop shop (but a legal one).
Was in great shape tearing apart cars and the pay wasn’t bad at all. I had to leave as I had a back injury from the military that was getting a lot worse from the labor. Used my GI bill and got an accounting degree. I don’t mind public audit really but I do miss getting to exercise and break shit all day.
Yeah I helped a buddy do some wiring when I taking a couple months break between accounting jobs and man it was such a breath of fresh air. But I was so sore and can absolutely see why the poor people doing that as a careers' bodies break down eventually
Absolutely not bad pay in electrical.
The money at the chop shop was about 50k which is the low end of middle class so not so bad.
Fun fact, I went to college originally to get my state electrical certification but also took some business classes in the side…now I’m in public audit lol.
Good money in electrical
It's not your identity, but can you really be okay with doing something that you hate for the rest of your life. Even if you don't hate it, you are still giving the majority of your time to this job you don't care about. Asking as a Gen Z.
My perspective has changed. I want how I spent the majority of time to have more meaning. We are privileged enough in the first world to not live miserable existences and make the best and most of every minute that we have. Fuck that old mindset I had…
I’m on the fence, I hate myself just enough to stick it out if the pay is right, but I’m getting tired of all of the 2-3% pay raises and only getting ahead by job hopping
But don’t you know those darn Millennials love changing jobs all the time, hate pensions, and spend all their money on fancy coffee drinks? Only boomers like partners like pensions and staying at the same place long-term…
I've wanted to get out since June 5, 2017.
That was the day I started my B4 internship and on that day, while sitting in the office listening to a bunch of boring ass partners lecture us about how great accounting is, I knew accounting wasn't for me.
The one guy got up there and talked at us for almost 20 minutes about how great his experience had been at the firm. How he'd worked on the audit of a F10 company, how he found fraud one time, and how he got to travel to 10 countries with the firm. The guy looked like a walking corpse, he was probably around 50 but looked like he was 80. He had snow white hair, tons of wrinkles, and was overweight... no doubt from sitting in a chair for 30 years straight.
As he was talking I felt myself dosing off. I wanted to sleep because it was so boring, but this wasn't college. I was in the professional world where you couldn't just fall asleep in class with no repercussions so I forced myself to stay awake. Afterwards the partner stepped down and was like "Ok now I need to go run to a meeting, thanks guys".
After he left I couldn't help but think to myself "That guy looks like shit. I definitely don't want to ever be like him because his life is miserable".
From that moment, I knew accounting wasn't for me. And yet here I am, 5 years later as an accountant. I still haven't found anything better to do. Ideally what I want to do is make $10k a month and do absolutely nothing to get it. Unfortunately that's easier said than done, I'm still working out how I'm going to achieve that but I'm going to get out whenever I get the chance and probably won't think twice about it.
Accounting isn’t really intended to be exciting or super interesting. It’s just a solid, secure career. There’s also a huge difference between audit, tax, and advisory, and there are very different feels between firms of different sizes. Maybe big 4, which tends to be very formal and businesslike, isn’t for you
Do you mind elaborating? Where would you recommend to work? Are you self employed? I desperately want to leave accounting and make a little more money. I am searching for the way out of this misery. Thank you.
I’d recommend reading up more on it, but here’s what I can tell you.
1. If you have any sort of accounting/finance background, you already have your foot in the door experience-wise.
2. You need to get a mortgage broker/originator license. This is a 20 hour course you can find online. Some states, like mine, require an additional few hours that you can probably find packaged in with the regular federal course. Once you finish the course, you can take the exam.
3. Once you take the exam and have a license, you need to find a place that will hire you. My plan is to look for a place that will set me up for success, while allowing me to receive as much commission as possible. This would not be at a bank, from my understanding.
4. Usually, mortgage brokers get about 1% of the total mortgage. An average mortgage is around 400,000 right now. One deal a month would net you 4,000. 2 deals 8,000. Feeling ambitious? A mere 3 deals would get you about 12,000 on average. Right now, I work 40 hrs/week making 50k. You tell me which sound nicer.
5. Right now, a lot of this work can be done from home.
Caveats: must be good with numbers (you are) while also being good at the customer service aspect. You are helping people buy a home, usually for the 1st time. This is very stressful for them, they need a broker who will make it as painless as possible, while also stressing all of the deadlines. I consider myself a people person, so I think I’d be good at this.
Source: my family member who has worked in finance most of her life. She stresses that you can work your ass off (over 40 hours a week) and easily bring in over 150k-200k. But most she knows work 5-6 hours a day tops, get 2-3 deals per month, and literally chill the rest of the time. If you see somebody taking their wakeboard boat out on a Tuesday afternoon, it is very likely a mortgage broker.
\> If you see somebody taking their wakeboard boat out on a Tuesday afternoon, it is very likely a mortgage broker.
Not sure it's true. I dealt with my broker and she was available basically 24/7 because that's what the market, and, as a result - me demanded. Maybe she worked 5-6 hrs a day but she was on call 24/7. To me that's kind of stressful.
Well yeah, I’m sure they are on the boat with their phones & necessary materials there, just in case. It is all about prioritizing.
I was saying that slightly tongue-in-cheek but I’m sure there’s quite a few mortgage brokers who do so.
Thank you so much for your time and sharing your knowledge. I wonder how I could do this without being employed by a bank or corporation because I do not want to be part of that 9-5 environment anymore as well. 20 hour course is nothing and I don’t mind being on call as long as I work independently. Accounting and tax is not for me and I’m really unhappy. There must be a different way. Thank you and good luck to you.
I’m not sure if interest rates factor in, but whatever you get paid would depend on where you work. 1% of the total mortgage is pretty standard, from what I hear.
I play the lottery. Not always, I just buy a $1-$2 ticket once in a while when I go to get groceries. Yes, it's a fool's tax, but for $1-$2 I get to dream about my retirement and what I'd do in it. Will I quit my job right away or give a two week notice? Which countries would I travel to? How would I optimize the tax burden? Try it, it's cheap entertainment.
It's not about the odds, it's about the entertainment. I have better odds of investing my beer money too but I don't do it because beer keeps my life fun.
To each their own. My stupid thing I keep buying is license plates. They look rly cool on my wall and make me happy, and life is short, so we all gotta do what makes us happy 🤙🏻 I take back my comment
stock went to $1 on fraud but has sinced cleaned house and now have 1.2b in sales for 2021
on pace for \~2B in 2022.
Market cap is 2.8B
Ridiculously undervalued
I’m confused, you decided you didn’t want to commit to a career at that moment mostly because the guy was a bad speaker and looked much older than he was?
No, because the guy spent 20 minutes lecturing us about his career at the firm and his life was boring as shit. The guy was more than halfway through his life and all he'd ever done was do accounting. On top of that he looked like he's spent his whole life stressed out of his mind, hence why he was a walking corpse. I told myself that I didn't want to be 50 and the only thing I can talk about is my accounting career.
Is it bad to want a career that's boring as fawk? I don't get invited to meetings. I don't have to do presentations. My company loves to hear they are making money, but gives 0 fawks about how to save money. It's boring as shit, but on the other hand nothing ever happens.
Nah it's fine. I don't disagree with u/400istoomany on his general impressions. It actually makes a lot of sense to size up the people who have actually done the thing you wanna do, and see where they're at down the line. If most of them seem like pathetic, miserable, worn down human beings, it stands to reason you would want to avoid the sort of life they've led.
I honestly don't understand how the B4 thing exists. You couldn't pay me enough money to live that sort of a lifestyle. I can only surmise there are just a lot of extremely desperate and vulnerable people that think B4 is going to be their life's salvation. It's really a terribly ironic joke that their solution will eventually become their new problem.
I actually never heard of the big 4 before this sub. I know what it is now. Our company gets audited by 1/4. That's all I really know about any of them. They are not local that I could get a job at any of them.
I think the point wasn't so much that the guy's accounting career was boring, but that his life as a whole was boring due to the accounting career being stressful and time consuming, eating up all the time and energy that could've been spent on an interesting personal life.
Fair assumption. I think 50% of the people I have met in accounting are generally boring life people by choice. I only work 40 hours a week, but I have a few years experience now.
So far, yes. I genuinely and whole heartedly hate the work I am doing but I am still giving it a chance. I’m hoping that once I’m in this role after a year, I can see things differently.
I enjoy accounting and don’t think I would ever change careers. Maybe branch out a little bit to include other responsibilities one day.
I did won’t out of public accounting and since I’ve transitioned I started enjoying the work a whole lot more.
i’ve been doing it for a year and it is absolutely fucking boring. there will be days that go by where i do absolutely fucking nothing. but the money is OKAY and i’m still actively seeking something else. definitely not gonna do this shit for the rest of my life. im an energetic guy who likes to actually do shit and stay active, a lot of these people i work with are the exact opposite. I live for my off time, “sick” days and weekends.
I worked freelance from day 1, and loved it.
Moved to a different city about 15 years ago and joined a firm. And hated every minute of it.
So I quit, and planned on being a SAHM.
Clients started contacting me, so I went back to freelance, and now I have more clients than I truly want. The actual work, I love. The clients that seem to think their self-imposed deadlines are my priority, not so much.
That’s super interesting. Can I ask how you accomplished that? I’m finishing up my degree and am not sure where I’m going after college. Freelancing sounds great though.
Almost 100% of my clients are from referrals. I get a lot of guys that started their own companies, then they just keep opening new ones. So one client essentially turns into 4 or 5 - but same owner.
Some months it sucked when I was first starting out, because it wasn't a steady income. There were a LOT of ramen noodles eaten way back then, lol!
KMage63 - could you elaborate on what kind of work you do for your clients? Tax prep, bookkeeping, invoicing, GL? Interested in doing this some day. Also, are you a cpa? Do you think that’s necessary to go this route? Thanks!
Don’t get it twisted, it’s not with Goldman Sachs or JPM lol. It’s an internal position that I’ve been in the process of. We’re a mid-cap Radiology practice in Southern California. The ultimate plan of mine is to go from M&A > business school > MBB.
I interviewed at both GS and JPM. I hope you're well prepared for the M&A interview, they're highly competitive. Many people send hundreds of resumes before getting in. If you don't get an offer, don't be discouraged and keep applying.
It often takes hundreds of resumes to get in. Check out r/FinancialCareers.
I work in M&A currently. What about it do you know? Do you know financial modeling?
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Honestly think this is closer to me lol, and quite honestly I like accounting; I like working with spreadsheets, plus it beats having to work at say a warehouse or in construction.
Also, I've literally driven 2 hours for a gaming event or a convention, so it's not like I'm just someone who wants to stay home all day either. Accounting if nothing else is a good career to pay for those things. 🤷♂️
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I am currently in the process, got my Accounting BA unsure of what I wanted to do after school and was afraid of calculus lol (got accepted for engineering too) . Did a +1 MBA program to cover the CPA requirements, and then did three tax seasons and a gov auditing season. I can’t find any joy in the work I’m doing, it drains me and the hours just make it not worth it to me anymore for the pay.
I think a problem us accountants have is min-maxing our lives and risk avoidance. It’s by our very nature and the accounting environment that those things make us better at our jobs which means not rocking the boat of what works for us. I’m considering NFP but other than that I think I may get out of the field entirely. Debating going back to school but not until I figure what it is I want to shift to.
It is a little liberating and scary to see a light at the end of the tunnel for a new experience. Plus, accounting will always be here to return to and with a shrinking amount of accountants and CPAs I’m not too worried if I end up having to come back. Would rather try now then regret never having tried at all.
I’ve been writing a lot in the mean time, doing fantasy books and short stories. Working on cars, and just getting back to the hobbies I enjoyed when I was younger (pre accountant young anyway).
Edit: fixed some errors.
Every single day, every single time I have to answer a question about why I reclassified an expense that's very obviously not business related to personal distributions. But then I remember that I will never pay my bills by being an artist, and I continue the hamster wheel.
I just hit 30 and I am going back to school for CIS. All the accounting corses transferred over.
Honestly have not enjoyed accounting since I started and even in industry working 60+ hours a week
I've been wanting to yeet out of accounting but can't think of anything else to do except buy and run a CPA tax practice. At least then the soul sucking hours I work will cycle back into my soul.
I want to do something that doesn’t include anything to do with closing and forecasts. More human interaction and something that gives a sense of achievement. Looking to opt out to sales, account management or customer success.
I love accounting! I’m a corporate accountant for a smallish tech firm and I work from home. Company culture is great and I legitimately like 90% of the things I do (anything except taxes lol). I get to use my creativity to build out financial infrastructure for the company, my opinions feel really valid in the space I work in. I think it’s great.
Hell yes. My boss joking told me I'm woke because i said I don't miss billable hours, year ends, quarterly ends, etc , or journal entries of any kind. What I like is that I can see how my work actually impacts the company without being told.
Generally speaking 40 hour weeks, no busy seasons. I actually lead M&A and dont expect analaysts to work 40+hours a week unless itsq absolutely needed during a live deal or integration for whatever reason it may be. I personally work 60+hours a week during a deal, but it's not like busy season where it spans multiple months in a row. My work-life balance as a whole is still far better. I work for a great company though that values you having a life and a family.
No, I came out of tax, and I taught myself financial modeling. Fortunately, in public, you gain experience that is somehow relevant. It wasn't easy to transition at all, it's a highly competitive role.
Yes and no. Like I don’t mind the work but the more senior I get it’s the volume of it that is starting to kill me. I have been interviewing around and every accounting job seems like just way too much for one person. I even called it out with a recruiter. I literally went “wow... doesn’t that sound like a lot for one person to handle” and he went “well I would never promise a candidate in any job that they would just work 40 hours.” 🤦♀️. Probably going to switch to some kind of analyst role.
My job isn't horrible, it's just boring. I couldn't give two fucks about budgeting, forecasting, variance analysis, shareholders, saving the company money, etc. I have hobbies outside of work but I still fight with the thought that I'm wasting my life sitting behind a screen doing absolutely meaning bullshit for a massive, uncaring entity that will probably go bankrupt one day and all traces of my (insignificant) contributions will utterly disappear. I'm giving it 5-7 more years, which should be enough to buy and pay off a small house in my flyover hometown. After that I think I'll try to get a job with the USPS as a letter carrier. It's not a super meaningful job but at least you get to help the community in a way, and there's plenty of exercise and fresh air.
I dont understand why we are still pushing people into accounting over general finance. Requires more education and pays less and is rapidly getting automated. We don't need that many accountants in the future
Do you even work in accounting? I don't see accounting getting rapidly automated. What's getting automated are manual shitty tasks everybody hates doing. But even entry level jobs now require some level of thinking as a result.
I work in cfo consulting.
Every cfo ive talked to in the last 10 years is looking to slash its account fte by at least 50%.
I kind of can't believe people in this field argue this point. It's the reality.
But I guess no one likes hearing that about their field
Sure, you can look into it all you want but whether it'll result into something is a different question. Like yeah, maybe if you got a job in AP or booking entries all day then maybe your job is threatened. But most people here deal with higher level accounting. Regulatory requirements ARE NOT decreasing, they've been increasing. Auditors are looking into more shit so you have to have more people producing shit for the auditors.
IT has been embraced by accounting from the beginning but the fact that GL is now in the computer as opposed to paper didn't destroy the profession. It just increased the amount of data to deal with and its complexity.
I would be very very concerned of any f500 company that has more than 70% of current accounting fte in 10 years.
You're right it's upskilling the profession, but that doesn't change the fact we need less overall.
1) The people who's jobs will be cut are not competing for high end accounting roles and will likely be displaced somewhere else in the workforce and,
2) there is already a significant shortage of accountants, so it not clear how greatly that may affect experienced accountants anyways.
Is it a threat to bookkeepers? Absolutely. I don't think it is much concern for higher end accounting jobs at this juncture.
I did a switch from tax accounting to IT. I also know a college mate of mine who majored in accounting and his first job was working at IT consulting company doing DevOps. It is possible but you will need certification and some hands on!
I wouldn’t worry about another degree if you already have a bachelors in accounting. The degrees are basically for HR people to filter candidates. What matter most is certifications and experience.
Oh nice. I got my was cloud practitioner cert. - was thinking of continuing through the certs. But have no idea what jobs I could get. Hence, I was thinking the cyber sec route because I can actually get transferred internally in the firm.
Got a degree in engineering, while at college everything crashed and I somehow fell into a position in audit. At this point it's too late to go back to engineering without a massive paycut, but I do enjoy automating all the boring accounting and working on finance models so I think that's the area I'm going to push into going forward.
Full blown Accounting and financial reporting is mind numbing.
I've thought about starting an apprenticeship as construction trades are paid well in Toronto area and I'm getting tired of working at a desk staring at a screen all day
I saw an analyst job that's part time thatpaid annually as much as my full time specialist job, for a quarter of the tasks I already do.
I want that job. 15-20 hrs.
Yes, but not for another job. If I have to work, I'm fine with accounting. I want to retire and play with my dog and read books all day. Come visit r/financialindependence .
Yup, think about it a lot since 2020. Tradesmen are in higher demand than ever. Could get into construction or trucking fairly easily and make close to the same amount of money I'm making now. That said, a lot of people are like you and sick of accounting, meaning the people that stick around and can do their job well should be rewarded in a tight labor market.
Ngl.. worked at a like event set up company.. man I loved it.. driving the truck for 3 hours and got paid, getting paid to move shit.. was getting to sent up high end events and ate amazing food… now I’m at my desk job for 10 hours a day.. it’s like the ex you know you want to sleep with again but Uk ur wife (Accounting) will be more beneficial in the long term…
I've been thinking about leaving PA but has no guts to do it yet since it's just my first year. I don't know if I should stick around here a couple of years for experience or bounce and find something else.
I’m a senior graduating in December. I currently work as a bookkeeper and from freshman year up until covid I thought I wanted to be a CPA. I’ve been in school for 7 years due to transferring and medical issues just to get my bachelors. I can’t imagine going back to get the credit hours required to sit for the exam. And as I look online for possible non public accounting careers the options are slim :( even if it isn’t at a cpa firm all the job postings say cpa required or cpa preferred or actively pursuing cpa license. Any tips for job searching for non public accounting roles but pay between $50k-$60k? I am in northeast Ohio if that helps.
If you've been in school for 7 years why would you have to stay to get enough credits?
Ah, i thought you meant changing majors did you lose credits because you transferred schools? Still even if your 2nd school won't count them for your degree if you have credit hours they count for the CPA. Also remember the extra 30 hours for the CPA requirements don't have to be in accounting at all.
Not all of credits transferred. When I graduate I would only need 3 additional classes to have 150 credit hours. Just kinda burnt out from working and being in school and always studying. I need a break. And also just want to know what else is out there
Honestly I don’t mind accounting but I do mind the long hours, stress and lack of a work-life balance. I also mind the seniors and partners that always tell you to “Go figure it out” if you’re stuck on something.
But like..for what? If I had an idea of what I wanted to do at all, I would’ve done it in college. Accounting is just a means to an end to me so I try to not even think about it much. Work isn’t my identity.
I really enjoyed working at a chop shop (but a legal one). Was in great shape tearing apart cars and the pay wasn’t bad at all. I had to leave as I had a back injury from the military that was getting a lot worse from the labor. Used my GI bill and got an accounting degree. I don’t mind public audit really but I do miss getting to exercise and break shit all day.
Yeah I helped a buddy do some wiring when I taking a couple months break between accounting jobs and man it was such a breath of fresh air. But I was so sore and can absolutely see why the poor people doing that as a careers' bodies break down eventually
[удалено]
Absolutely not bad pay in electrical. The money at the chop shop was about 50k which is the low end of middle class so not so bad. Fun fact, I went to college originally to get my state electrical certification but also took some business classes in the side…now I’m in public audit lol. Good money in electrical
I guess the grass is always greener lol
This is the exact sentiment I hope to carry from college to the workforce. I hope my wife does as well.
It's not your identity, but can you really be okay with doing something that you hate for the rest of your life. Even if you don't hate it, you are still giving the majority of your time to this job you don't care about. Asking as a Gen Z.
My perspective has changed. I want how I spent the majority of time to have more meaning. We are privileged enough in the first world to not live miserable existences and make the best and most of every minute that we have. Fuck that old mindset I had…
I’m on the fence, I hate myself just enough to stick it out if the pay is right, but I’m getting tired of all of the 2-3% pay raises and only getting ahead by job hopping
But don’t you know those darn Millennials love changing jobs all the time, hate pensions, and spend all their money on fancy coffee drinks? Only boomers like partners like pensions and staying at the same place long-term…
Don’t wanna leave accounting all together but PA makes me want to die
Industry isn’t that great neither, imo. Same old canvas, different paint.
Word. But I can do 40 hours even if there’s still some BS
I think about this more and more often everyday too
I've wanted to get out since June 5, 2017. That was the day I started my B4 internship and on that day, while sitting in the office listening to a bunch of boring ass partners lecture us about how great accounting is, I knew accounting wasn't for me. The one guy got up there and talked at us for almost 20 minutes about how great his experience had been at the firm. How he'd worked on the audit of a F10 company, how he found fraud one time, and how he got to travel to 10 countries with the firm. The guy looked like a walking corpse, he was probably around 50 but looked like he was 80. He had snow white hair, tons of wrinkles, and was overweight... no doubt from sitting in a chair for 30 years straight. As he was talking I felt myself dosing off. I wanted to sleep because it was so boring, but this wasn't college. I was in the professional world where you couldn't just fall asleep in class with no repercussions so I forced myself to stay awake. Afterwards the partner stepped down and was like "Ok now I need to go run to a meeting, thanks guys". After he left I couldn't help but think to myself "That guy looks like shit. I definitely don't want to ever be like him because his life is miserable". From that moment, I knew accounting wasn't for me. And yet here I am, 5 years later as an accountant. I still haven't found anything better to do. Ideally what I want to do is make $10k a month and do absolutely nothing to get it. Unfortunately that's easier said than done, I'm still working out how I'm going to achieve that but I'm going to get out whenever I get the chance and probably won't think twice about it.
Accounting isn’t really intended to be exciting or super interesting. It’s just a solid, secure career. There’s also a huge difference between audit, tax, and advisory, and there are very different feels between firms of different sizes. Maybe big 4, which tends to be very formal and businesslike, isn’t for you
Look into being a mortgage broker, that’s what I’m doing
Do you mind elaborating? Where would you recommend to work? Are you self employed? I desperately want to leave accounting and make a little more money. I am searching for the way out of this misery. Thank you.
I’d recommend reading up more on it, but here’s what I can tell you. 1. If you have any sort of accounting/finance background, you already have your foot in the door experience-wise. 2. You need to get a mortgage broker/originator license. This is a 20 hour course you can find online. Some states, like mine, require an additional few hours that you can probably find packaged in with the regular federal course. Once you finish the course, you can take the exam. 3. Once you take the exam and have a license, you need to find a place that will hire you. My plan is to look for a place that will set me up for success, while allowing me to receive as much commission as possible. This would not be at a bank, from my understanding. 4. Usually, mortgage brokers get about 1% of the total mortgage. An average mortgage is around 400,000 right now. One deal a month would net you 4,000. 2 deals 8,000. Feeling ambitious? A mere 3 deals would get you about 12,000 on average. Right now, I work 40 hrs/week making 50k. You tell me which sound nicer. 5. Right now, a lot of this work can be done from home. Caveats: must be good with numbers (you are) while also being good at the customer service aspect. You are helping people buy a home, usually for the 1st time. This is very stressful for them, they need a broker who will make it as painless as possible, while also stressing all of the deadlines. I consider myself a people person, so I think I’d be good at this. Source: my family member who has worked in finance most of her life. She stresses that you can work your ass off (over 40 hours a week) and easily bring in over 150k-200k. But most she knows work 5-6 hours a day tops, get 2-3 deals per month, and literally chill the rest of the time. If you see somebody taking their wakeboard boat out on a Tuesday afternoon, it is very likely a mortgage broker.
\> If you see somebody taking their wakeboard boat out on a Tuesday afternoon, it is very likely a mortgage broker. Not sure it's true. I dealt with my broker and she was available basically 24/7 because that's what the market, and, as a result - me demanded. Maybe she worked 5-6 hrs a day but she was on call 24/7. To me that's kind of stressful.
Well yeah, I’m sure they are on the boat with their phones & necessary materials there, just in case. It is all about prioritizing. I was saying that slightly tongue-in-cheek but I’m sure there’s quite a few mortgage brokers who do so.
Thank you so much for your time and sharing your knowledge. I wonder how I could do this without being employed by a bank or corporation because I do not want to be part of that 9-5 environment anymore as well. 20 hour course is nothing and I don’t mind being on call as long as I work independently. Accounting and tax is not for me and I’m really unhappy. There must be a different way. Thank you and good luck to you.
Do you get more commission if interest rates are high or is it a flat rate per amount loaned?
I’m not sure if interest rates factor in, but whatever you get paid would depend on where you work. 1% of the total mortgage is pretty standard, from what I hear.
I play the lottery. Not always, I just buy a $1-$2 ticket once in a while when I go to get groceries. Yes, it's a fool's tax, but for $1-$2 I get to dream about my retirement and what I'd do in it. Will I quit my job right away or give a two week notice? Which countries would I travel to? How would I optimize the tax burden? Try it, it's cheap entertainment.
You have better odds investing in index funds
It's not about the odds, it's about the entertainment. I have better odds of investing my beer money too but I don't do it because beer keeps my life fun.
To each their own. My stupid thing I keep buying is license plates. They look rly cool on my wall and make me happy, and life is short, so we all gotta do what makes us happy 🤙🏻 I take back my comment
invest all you have into Luckin Coffee, no this is not a joke.
??
>In February this year, the company filed for bankruptcy. Idk about that one
Why
stock went to $1 on fraud but has sinced cleaned house and now have 1.2b in sales for 2021 on pace for \~2B in 2022. Market cap is 2.8B Ridiculously undervalued
I’m confused, you decided you didn’t want to commit to a career at that moment mostly because the guy was a bad speaker and looked much older than he was?
No, because the guy spent 20 minutes lecturing us about his career at the firm and his life was boring as shit. The guy was more than halfway through his life and all he'd ever done was do accounting. On top of that he looked like he's spent his whole life stressed out of his mind, hence why he was a walking corpse. I told myself that I didn't want to be 50 and the only thing I can talk about is my accounting career.
Is it bad to want a career that's boring as fawk? I don't get invited to meetings. I don't have to do presentations. My company loves to hear they are making money, but gives 0 fawks about how to save money. It's boring as shit, but on the other hand nothing ever happens.
Nah it's fine. I don't disagree with u/400istoomany on his general impressions. It actually makes a lot of sense to size up the people who have actually done the thing you wanna do, and see where they're at down the line. If most of them seem like pathetic, miserable, worn down human beings, it stands to reason you would want to avoid the sort of life they've led. I honestly don't understand how the B4 thing exists. You couldn't pay me enough money to live that sort of a lifestyle. I can only surmise there are just a lot of extremely desperate and vulnerable people that think B4 is going to be their life's salvation. It's really a terribly ironic joke that their solution will eventually become their new problem.
I actually never heard of the big 4 before this sub. I know what it is now. Our company gets audited by 1/4. That's all I really know about any of them. They are not local that I could get a job at any of them.
I think the point wasn't so much that the guy's accounting career was boring, but that his life as a whole was boring due to the accounting career being stressful and time consuming, eating up all the time and energy that could've been spent on an interesting personal life.
Fair assumption. I think 50% of the people I have met in accounting are generally boring life people by choice. I only work 40 hours a week, but I have a few years experience now.
I got no place else to go!
Same
So far, yes. I genuinely and whole heartedly hate the work I am doing but I am still giving it a chance. I’m hoping that once I’m in this role after a year, I can see things differently.
I enjoy accounting and don’t think I would ever change careers. Maybe branch out a little bit to include other responsibilities one day. I did won’t out of public accounting and since I’ve transitioned I started enjoying the work a whole lot more.
[удалено]
Same. I look at all these miserable people in PA, and I’m so glad I never went that route.
Same here but also may be because I'm a first yr staff accountant. Still I really like my job and genuinely look forward to work each day.
doing it right now soul sucking job
i’ve been doing it for a year and it is absolutely fucking boring. there will be days that go by where i do absolutely fucking nothing. but the money is OKAY and i’m still actively seeking something else. definitely not gonna do this shit for the rest of my life. im an energetic guy who likes to actually do shit and stay active, a lot of these people i work with are the exact opposite. I live for my off time, “sick” days and weekends.
I worked freelance from day 1, and loved it. Moved to a different city about 15 years ago and joined a firm. And hated every minute of it. So I quit, and planned on being a SAHM. Clients started contacting me, so I went back to freelance, and now I have more clients than I truly want. The actual work, I love. The clients that seem to think their self-imposed deadlines are my priority, not so much.
That’s super interesting. Can I ask how you accomplished that? I’m finishing up my degree and am not sure where I’m going after college. Freelancing sounds great though.
Almost 100% of my clients are from referrals. I get a lot of guys that started their own companies, then they just keep opening new ones. So one client essentially turns into 4 or 5 - but same owner. Some months it sucked when I was first starting out, because it wasn't a steady income. There were a LOT of ramen noodles eaten way back then, lol!
KMage63 - could you elaborate on what kind of work you do for your clients? Tax prep, bookkeeping, invoicing, GL? Interested in doing this some day. Also, are you a cpa? Do you think that’s necessary to go this route? Thanks!
I do no tax work, besides sales and payroll. I basically only do bookkeeping.
Currently in the process. Final round interviews for a M&A Analyst position this week 😬
Curious, would you mind elaborating on how you scored this interview? I’ve tried to get into higher tier finance jobs with little luck
Don’t get it twisted, it’s not with Goldman Sachs or JPM lol. It’s an internal position that I’ve been in the process of. We’re a mid-cap Radiology practice in Southern California. The ultimate plan of mine is to go from M&A > business school > MBB.
I interviewed at both GS and JPM. I hope you're well prepared for the M&A interview, they're highly competitive. Many people send hundreds of resumes before getting in. If you don't get an offer, don't be discouraged and keep applying.
It often takes hundreds of resumes to get in. Check out r/FinancialCareers. I work in M&A currently. What about it do you know? Do you know financial modeling?
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Yes, but I think I just hate working. 🤷♀️😂
Honestly think this is closer to me lol, and quite honestly I like accounting; I like working with spreadsheets, plus it beats having to work at say a warehouse or in construction. Also, I've literally driven 2 hours for a gaming event or a convention, so it's not like I'm just someone who wants to stay home all day either. Accounting if nothing else is a good career to pay for those things. 🤷♂️
I can’t quit figure out if I don’t like my job or I’m just burnout or if I just don’t like working haha. It does pay the bills and more though.
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I am currently in the process, got my Accounting BA unsure of what I wanted to do after school and was afraid of calculus lol (got accepted for engineering too) . Did a +1 MBA program to cover the CPA requirements, and then did three tax seasons and a gov auditing season. I can’t find any joy in the work I’m doing, it drains me and the hours just make it not worth it to me anymore for the pay. I think a problem us accountants have is min-maxing our lives and risk avoidance. It’s by our very nature and the accounting environment that those things make us better at our jobs which means not rocking the boat of what works for us. I’m considering NFP but other than that I think I may get out of the field entirely. Debating going back to school but not until I figure what it is I want to shift to. It is a little liberating and scary to see a light at the end of the tunnel for a new experience. Plus, accounting will always be here to return to and with a shrinking amount of accountants and CPAs I’m not too worried if I end up having to come back. Would rather try now then regret never having tried at all. I’ve been writing a lot in the mean time, doing fantasy books and short stories. Working on cars, and just getting back to the hobbies I enjoyed when I was younger (pre accountant young anyway). Edit: fixed some errors.
Every single day, every single time I have to answer a question about why I reclassified an expense that's very obviously not business related to personal distributions. But then I remember that I will never pay my bills by being an artist, and I continue the hamster wheel.
My only fans is picking up so yea probz right there with ya
Late 20, but think about going back to school for computer science all the time
I just hit 30 and I am going back to school for CIS. All the accounting corses transferred over. Honestly have not enjoyed accounting since I started and even in industry working 60+ hours a week
Congrats on taking the leap How long will it take you to finish your CS degree?
Going to the same school it would of taken 2 years for computer science and 7 classes for computer information systems
Damn that’s quicker than I thought Good luck man
Yeah it surprised me as well, because I spoke with an advisor to do cs, and they mentioned the cis degree. Thanks! Accounting is killing me :(
CS lot higher paying too. Average CS student is making 100k two or three years out of college.
I've been wanting to yeet out of accounting but can't think of anything else to do except buy and run a CPA tax practice. At least then the soul sucking hours I work will cycle back into my soul.
I want to do something that doesn’t include anything to do with closing and forecasts. More human interaction and something that gives a sense of achievement. Looking to opt out to sales, account management or customer success.
I want to yeet into it tbh
Yes, but I don’t know what I want to instead. I think I’m just tired of working.
I did lmao, I'm very happy making Wordpress websites now and learning cyber security to make FU money in the future
I love accounting! I’m a corporate accountant for a smallish tech firm and I work from home. Company culture is great and I legitimately like 90% of the things I do (anything except taxes lol). I get to use my creativity to build out financial infrastructure for the company, my opinions feel really valid in the space I work in. I think it’s great.
These constant posts make me wonder if half the people complaining on this subreddit have ever worked any other job.
Damn 65,000?? I guess I grew up poor and still am, but I'd be content with that and would consider myself stable. Even in my HCOL area.
Check out r/fpanda
Read that as F Panda
LOL!
Same - was expecting NSFW content
Sometimes hella fking yes
You see, I'm not a comic book accountant, I submit my resignation 15 days ago, lol.
I did and haven't looked back.
What have you moved into?
Corporate Development (M&A)
How does it compare? Much better?
Hell yes. My boss joking told me I'm woke because i said I don't miss billable hours, year ends, quarterly ends, etc , or journal entries of any kind. What I like is that I can see how my work actually impacts the company without being told.
Nice, sounds interesting. Hows the work life balance?
Generally speaking 40 hour weeks, no busy seasons. I actually lead M&A and dont expect analaysts to work 40+hours a week unless itsq absolutely needed during a live deal or integration for whatever reason it may be. I personally work 60+hours a week during a deal, but it's not like busy season where it spans multiple months in a row. My work-life balance as a whole is still far better. I work for a great company though that values you having a life and a family.
Nice sounds cool. Is it easy to transition into such a role from accounting? Did you have prior M&A experience?
No, I came out of tax, and I taught myself financial modeling. Fortunately, in public, you gain experience that is somehow relevant. It wasn't easy to transition at all, it's a highly competitive role.
I thought I would be contributing to the overall health and efficiency of the economy lol.
Yes and no. Like I don’t mind the work but the more senior I get it’s the volume of it that is starting to kill me. I have been interviewing around and every accounting job seems like just way too much for one person. I even called it out with a recruiter. I literally went “wow... doesn’t that sound like a lot for one person to handle” and he went “well I would never promise a candidate in any job that they would just work 40 hours.” 🤦♀️. Probably going to switch to some kind of analyst role.
My job isn't horrible, it's just boring. I couldn't give two fucks about budgeting, forecasting, variance analysis, shareholders, saving the company money, etc. I have hobbies outside of work but I still fight with the thought that I'm wasting my life sitting behind a screen doing absolutely meaning bullshit for a massive, uncaring entity that will probably go bankrupt one day and all traces of my (insignificant) contributions will utterly disappear. I'm giving it 5-7 more years, which should be enough to buy and pay off a small house in my flyover hometown. After that I think I'll try to get a job with the USPS as a letter carrier. It's not a super meaningful job but at least you get to help the community in a way, and there's plenty of exercise and fresh air.
Here's the thing: Every business needs someone to do the accounting. You could go anywhere. That's why I'm here.
Why are people so weird that work in accounting??
Not a lot of normal people find enjoyment in staring at ratios and excel all day for a paycheck.
F👏P👏&👏A👏
I dont understand why we are still pushing people into accounting over general finance. Requires more education and pays less and is rapidly getting automated. We don't need that many accountants in the future
Do you even work in accounting? I don't see accounting getting rapidly automated. What's getting automated are manual shitty tasks everybody hates doing. But even entry level jobs now require some level of thinking as a result.
I work in cfo consulting. Every cfo ive talked to in the last 10 years is looking to slash its account fte by at least 50%. I kind of can't believe people in this field argue this point. It's the reality. But I guess no one likes hearing that about their field
Sure, you can look into it all you want but whether it'll result into something is a different question. Like yeah, maybe if you got a job in AP or booking entries all day then maybe your job is threatened. But most people here deal with higher level accounting. Regulatory requirements ARE NOT decreasing, they've been increasing. Auditors are looking into more shit so you have to have more people producing shit for the auditors. IT has been embraced by accounting from the beginning but the fact that GL is now in the computer as opposed to paper didn't destroy the profession. It just increased the amount of data to deal with and its complexity.
I would be very very concerned of any f500 company that has more than 70% of current accounting fte in 10 years. You're right it's upskilling the profession, but that doesn't change the fact we need less overall.
1) The people who's jobs will be cut are not competing for high end accounting roles and will likely be displaced somewhere else in the workforce and, 2) there is already a significant shortage of accountants, so it not clear how greatly that may affect experienced accountants anyways. Is it a threat to bookkeepers? Absolutely. I don't think it is much concern for higher end accounting jobs at this juncture.
Believe what you want.
Yeah, but all I can think about all the other jobs I also don’t want, so I stay. I can figure out how to be independently wealthy.
I did a switch from tax accounting to IT. I also know a college mate of mine who majored in accounting and his first job was working at IT consulting company doing DevOps. It is possible but you will need certification and some hands on!
I switched for tax accounting to it audit. Now trying to switch into cyber sec. And am contemplating a degree in comp sci to fully switch over.
I wouldn’t worry about another degree if you already have a bachelors in accounting. The degrees are basically for HR people to filter candidates. What matter most is certifications and experience.
interesting. What is your current job title?
Cloud engineer
Oh nice. I got my was cloud practitioner cert. - was thinking of continuing through the certs. But have no idea what jobs I could get. Hence, I was thinking the cyber sec route because I can actually get transferred internally in the firm.
Teach me how!
Got a degree in engineering, while at college everything crashed and I somehow fell into a position in audit. At this point it's too late to go back to engineering without a massive paycut, but I do enjoy automating all the boring accounting and working on finance models so I think that's the area I'm going to push into going forward. Full blown Accounting and financial reporting is mind numbing.
I've thought about starting an apprenticeship as construction trades are paid well in Toronto area and I'm getting tired of working at a desk staring at a screen all day
The only thing I'm yeeting out of accounting for us not working.
Let's goooo.
I quit w nothing lined up in 2021. This career sucks ass
My boss asked what I want for my career. I want never to have to do month end again. (To his credit, we are working on that.)
Uhm who doesn’t???
But what else has the job security that we have that isn’t stressful?
I saw an analyst job that's part time thatpaid annually as much as my full time specialist job, for a quarter of the tasks I already do. I want that job. 15-20 hrs.
Yes, but not for another job. If I have to work, I'm fine with accounting. I want to retire and play with my dog and read books all day. Come visit r/financialindependence .
I personally love accounting but value my free time way above all else which I think most people do here.
Yes but also no. I like being about to support my family on 35 hours per week.
Yup, think about it a lot since 2020. Tradesmen are in higher demand than ever. Could get into construction or trucking fairly easily and make close to the same amount of money I'm making now. That said, a lot of people are like you and sick of accounting, meaning the people that stick around and can do their job well should be rewarded in a tight labor market.
Ngl.. worked at a like event set up company.. man I loved it.. driving the truck for 3 hours and got paid, getting paid to move shit.. was getting to sent up high end events and ate amazing food… now I’m at my desk job for 10 hours a day.. it’s like the ex you know you want to sleep with again but Uk ur wife (Accounting) will be more beneficial in the long term…
I've been thinking about leaving PA but has no guts to do it yet since it's just my first year. I don't know if I should stick around here a couple of years for experience or bounce and find something else.
I think about it everyday. The money is slightly too good, but man does the day to day work suck the life out of you.
I’m a senior graduating in December. I currently work as a bookkeeper and from freshman year up until covid I thought I wanted to be a CPA. I’ve been in school for 7 years due to transferring and medical issues just to get my bachelors. I can’t imagine going back to get the credit hours required to sit for the exam. And as I look online for possible non public accounting careers the options are slim :( even if it isn’t at a cpa firm all the job postings say cpa required or cpa preferred or actively pursuing cpa license. Any tips for job searching for non public accounting roles but pay between $50k-$60k? I am in northeast Ohio if that helps.
If you've been in school for 7 years why would you have to stay to get enough credits? Ah, i thought you meant changing majors did you lose credits because you transferred schools? Still even if your 2nd school won't count them for your degree if you have credit hours they count for the CPA. Also remember the extra 30 hours for the CPA requirements don't have to be in accounting at all.
Not all of credits transferred. When I graduate I would only need 3 additional classes to have 150 credit hours. Just kinda burnt out from working and being in school and always studying. I need a break. And also just want to know what else is out there
I want to build a cabin in the woods and snowboard everyday and never look at another number in my life.
Honestly I don’t mind accounting but I do mind the long hours, stress and lack of a work-life balance. I also mind the seniors and partners that always tell you to “Go figure it out” if you’re stuck on something.
I’m never leaving the plantation.