Starting with some prereq accounting classes in about a week with the eventual goal of getting my masters/CPA. Any accountants/CPAs here? How do you enjoy the career? Good work/life balance? Flexible schedule? And obviously most importantly does it afford you a modest equine hobby? Thanks!!
I am a retired MBA/CPA. I enjoyed working in finance/accounting and worked in both public accounting and in industry. There are so many different potential career paths with an accounting degree that its hard to answer your question. If you work in public accounting you can expect long hours in the beginning and probably travel – but again it all depends on what kind of firm you are with (big? small? in a city?) and what kind of work you do (audit? tax?). If you work for a company there are also many many variables … big company? small company? public? private? And what kind of accounting work you do … cost or project accounting? financial accounting? Since you’re just getting started with accounting courses don’t worry about all this now … focus on the courses and figure out whether you like the discipline. If you like your accounting courses and do well then you can start to think about longer term career issues. If you do anything in business its always helpful to know something about accounting and financial reporting so hard to go wrong at this point.
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have a minor in accounting, major in finance … gave me a leg up when working for a large privately held corporation (7,000 plus employees) …
I’m in corporate accounting (Accounts Payable), I don’t have my CPA just a bachelors. I have great pay, have had a horse since college and now have more $$ for showing/lessons. I did funnel a good bit of my salary into purchasing a townhouse first and just upgraded to a house on a few acres though I still board. I do have to live close to a big metropolitan area to find the company headquarters who need someone with my skills but I have strong job security I can basically throw a penny and hit another job. When I was laid off I found a new position starting the day after my last day at the old company fairly easily and I was pretty picky. I have a very flexible schedule in terms of coming in and leaving whenever I want, I can come in at 7 leave at 3:30 etc. Some jobs do offer remote work but I haven’t had one of those yet. I can easily take off for the vet/take a half day because it’s gorgeous outside to ride etc. There are times of the year or month where I have to work later and I frequently sign on at night to also work to keep up with the workload.
I’m not a CPA but I have a Bachelor’s. I make enough money to afford my horse and I have a good work/life balance. My job is relatively flexible but I don’t have the option to work remote unless I have a random emergency (like waiting for the repairman or something similar). My busiest time of year is January-April. But it’s rarely so busy that I need to work much, if any, overtime unless there is a big acquisition during the year. I work at a private company so the only really big filing period is for year end.
What you can expect from an accounting job largely depends on the position, the business sector and the specific company / company size you work for. It’s not unusual to be expected to work lots of overtime at publicly traded companies, especially if you’re involved with quarterly filings. And you’ll be working tons of overtime in the audit field (though you’re usually comped with extra PTO for it at less busy times of the year from what I’ve heard).
The pay is going to depend on a lot of things. Doing basic AP work at a small company isn’t going to pay that great but there are tons of positions available. Senior Accounting positions can pay anywhere from mediocre to outstanding depending on the company. Knowing specific accounting ERP packages and MS Excel also makes a big difference.
I really enjoy accounting but I’m a detail oriented perfectionist. I think it’s one of the few fields where you get a decent, hands-on understanding in college. But I still find times where I need to do draw out my T accounts to figure out the random things that happen in day-to-day business that an accounting textbook author can’t possibly dream up. It’s usually because people in Operations get creative and the Accountants get to clean up the mess in a way that meets GAAP after the fact.
Retired CPA/CMA/MBA, with experience in both public accounting (CPA firm) and private industry (big Fortune 500 company). It was fun and rewarding, but you have to be willing to put in long hours when needed. Most of the time I could adjust my schedule to fit in lessons and horse shows, but some times the job has to come first.
Yep…left public accounting for financial planning 10 years ago and am much happier…done with 60-70 hour weeks Jan-April…sure they make up for it through out the rest of the year but you had to survive those 4 months. Times have changed since then so there may be a little better work life balance and ability to work from home which just was not practical back then but one thing will never change…people go see the accountant when they HAVE to not because they WANT to and usually the answers you give them are not happy ones and dead lines have to be met.
One thing to keep in mind is that the role of the Accountant of the future is going to change drastically as Artificial Intelligence comes into the picture. I’m sure the college curriculums are being revised to reflect this, but I am already finding the constant updates and changes in software very annoying. It seems like half of my job is implementing or learning another new software. Public accounting is changing to an emphasis on consulting and analytics for clients, and not so much performing accounting work. Audit is being dumbed down so much that the new staff don’t even have to think, they just fill out the same spreadsheets over and over again at each audit.
I don’t think corporate accounting will change as rapidly as public, but I don’t think public is going to be much “fun” anymore, unless you choose a specialty niche (for example, forensic accounting or the cannabis industry) and learn to consult. But the good part of public will be that you will probably be able to do most work remotely and at clients’ offices and not have to go to the office much. Also in public accounting, part of the job is marketing and trying to bring in new
business and not everyone enjoys doing that.
Another good thing about public is you can get time off in the summer unless you do audits of non-for-profits or schools.
Which is good for summer horse shows! My schedule is super flexible, except from the end of January through April 15th. Tax accountants in public are busy Jan-April 15th, and also at various other tax deadlines throughout the year, and during December for tax planning. They can take alot of time off in the summer.
Many new graduates feel that sitting for the CPA exam is no longer necessary. An MBA on top of a BS in Accounting will probably be a better bet, or a minor in data mining or similar computer stuff. You can read many articles about this online. Although at the midsize public accounting firm I work at, the CPA certificate is still important to them.
The best thing about a corporate accounting career is that you can choose to work for an industry that interests you. But you probably won’t get much vacation or flexibility in your schedule for some years.
Good luck!
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Thanks for the feedback! Lots of different perspectives, which is great although slightly overwelming :lol:. I have a very general BA in Business Admin… and then took a 5+ year detour in a completely different field. Trying to get back into the business field… but I REALLY dont like selling and not all that keen on managing people either. I was hoping accounting would keep me in the mathy/numbers things I like while mostly skirting around those two things. Am I being unrealistic?
Schedules: in corporate accounting, there are tight/unforgiving deadlines to close the monthly and annual books. At the companies I’ve worked at, people in Accounting could not (easily) take any time off in the few days just before/after the 1st of each month. This affected their holiday plans, since a lot of US holidays fall at the end of the month). Not like this was some terrible burden or anything–every job has busy times where you can’t take time off-- just something to consider.
It’s good to know your strengths and affinities, but I would not rule out “managing people” since that is a component of nearly every long career, regardless what function/department you focus on. Forever limiting yourself to a front-line, non-managerial position will put a serious cap on your career earnings, as well as flexibility in choosing schedule and work assignments. If you’ve done it and hated supervisory roles, it could be that you’ve been thrown into that supervisory role without enough training, which happens all too often. Managing others is not some innate “talent” that you’re good/bad at-- it’s a set of skills you have to learn, and as you get better at it, it’s more enjoyable. It can be very satisfying to help others’ careers grow. And, well, it pays a lot more. And unlike worker bees, managers get direct input in strategic decisions / initiatives that make you more valuable to this company, and more desirable to your next one.
But if you really don’t like it, consider looking for positions in a government/state university type environment. Unlike corporations, there’s not as much expectation for upward mobility over the course of a career. I’ve worked in both pvt sector and state, and with the latter, there’s less stigma to viewing your employment as “just a job”. Lots of those people put in 15-20 years without much upward mobility; they do good work, care about quality, but their chair is empty at 4:59p and they don’t give the job a moment’s thought once they leave for the day. Salaries are lower than private sector, but they usually have good benefits and decent job stability. Wasn’t my cup of tea at all --more accurately, I found public sector work to be absolutely stifling and maddening :lol:-- but I can see how it fits with other lifestyles / career goals.
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It all depends on where you end up in a career. I have friends who are CPAs or work for accounting firms - they dont’ have a life Mid Jan - April 15th and then another crush when those who filed extensions are due etc. I have friends that work in accounting firms and tax season doesn’t affect them at all, some have to travel a lot for work as their clients are all over the place.
and then many with financial backgrounds can work as financial analysts, or finance departments of business, corporate and nonprofit etc.
you can certainly play in the numbers game without having to sell or manage people.
There is almost always some management of people. If you’re in a CPA firm, and are an audit supervisor, you may have to manage and do a first-level review of the work of the staff accountants on the job. If you’re in private industry you may have responsibility over a department, or more than one department. I had a job where I was supervisor over Accounts Payable, General Ledger, Payroll and Fixed Assets. It was a wonderful job overall, and the staff was excellent, but if that’s not your thing…
The replies above are great feedback. HungarianHippo’s discussion of managing people is spot on. Managing people is no picnic and definitely takes practice–after proper training. It helps to have a supervisor, HR, or other mentor to help learn.
IRIS2006 is also spot on with where the accounting industry is headed. Simple bookkeeping and other roles will be phased out in favor of AI. Accounting is not about numbers or math–really–it’s add, subract, multiply, and divide. It’s about understanding what those numbers mean to the business.
Salary levels range widely. Flexibility depends on the employer and the type of work done. In my 35 years as a CPA, CMA, I have always had a busy season, whether in industry or public accounting. It’s the nature of the work. And there are other busy times.
An accounting degree together with experience can open many different career paths. Starting out at one of the big accounting firms will provide a great foundation of experience. IRIS mentions that certification may not be necessary, but it does help to have it on your resume.
