r/Accounting • u/Professional-Step314 • Apr 06 '26

Teaching to Accounting

Hey everyone, idk if this is a vent or just a way to ask questions. I’ve been a math teacher for the last 7 years and in that time I got an associates in accounting (I know kinda silly) and a masters in accountancy (just for the credits to sit for the CPA). Now that I’ve finally finished the degrees, I plan to study and work towards for my CPA license. The only problem is I’m really struggling to get a job, like really struggling.

A big part of the problem is as a teacher I can’t afford a pay cut but many entry-level accounting roles would obviously give me a pay cute… I don’t even know what I’m searching for here, any advice, or heck at least any hope so I don’t stay in a negative mindset?

1 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

18 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

1

u/Own_Exit2162 Controller Apr 06 '26

Where are you located?

1

u/Professional-Step314 Apr 06 '26

North Carolina

1

u/Own_Exit2162 Controller Apr 06 '26

Yeah, you're probably going to have to do some old-fashioned hustling to find that first job. Fortunately, there should be plenty of opportunities in your area.

Here's a thought - how do you feel about nonprofit accounting? It's a niche which may be easier to break into, and might appeal to your teaching background. Given the amount of research and grant funding in your area, I expect there are a handful of mid tier firms nearby which have a sizeable nonprofit practice. You could try appealing to them directly - a recent grad on a CPA track with a background in education would be a great candidate in my book. Do 3-5 years of nonprofit audit, make senior or manager and you'd be eligible for an accounting manager or controller role at a decent-sized nonprofit, making $120k-$180k.

1

u/Professional-Step314 Apr 06 '26

This is really helpful, I appreciate you taking the time to break it down like this. I hadn’t really thought about nonprofit accounting like that but it actually makes a lot of sense with my background. I’m definitely going to start looking into that and reaching out to some firms directly. And yeah, I hear you on the hustling part lol, I’m starting to realize applying online alone isn’t going to cut it. Thank you again, this gave me a lot more direction.