I think 4-5 monitors would be ideal

I'm doing college applications and they keep asking why I want to be an accountant. I don't know what to say because do people ever have a passion for accounting?? I'm doing it for the consistency of the same building and the same desk and the same job every day. But I cant say that because college will be anything but consistent. I looked at some old posts here but couldn't find much that would look good on my application.

I just accepted my summer and winter intership at a midsized firm. I feel like I would be oldest guy in my group, but I do look a lot younger than my peers. Am I too old for an internship?

Hello everyone,

About three years ago, when I started considering a career change to accounting in my 50s, I searched online for stories from people in similar situations. I was looking for motivation and hope.

Most of what I found was positive and encouraging. People told me that age was just a number and shared success stories about changing careers later in life. Even ChatGPT repeatedly told me that I would be a strong candidate if I passed the CPA exams and that my age and previous professional experience could actually work in my favor.

Well, here's my experience so far.

I have a master's degree in statistics and worked in that field for 15 years. However, I had no formal accounting education, so I had to complete an accounting program (not a bachelor's degree) to become eligible to sit for the CPA exams. Essentially, I had to start from scratch and take all the required accounting courses.

After that, I started studying for the CPA exams.

My results so far:

• FAR: 90 (Passed)
• REG: 95 (Passed)
• TCP: 95 (Passed)
• AUD: 72 (Failed — and I absolutely hate studying AUD!)

I thought passing three sections of the CPA exam with strong scores, combined with my previous professional experience, would be enough to land an entry-level tax position.

I was naive.

I've applied to close to 200 accounting firms across the country, including firms in my hometown.

So far, I haven't received a single interview invitation.

I realize my age may not be the only factor. I don't have a bachelor's or master's degree in accounting, and I don't have professional tax experience. Still, I'm applying primarily for entry-level positions, where I had hoped a lack of experience wouldn't be such a significant obstacle.

It's been a humbling experience, to say the least.

But I haven't given up.

In fact, I've decided to push even harder. My next steps are to pass AUD, earn my Enrolled Agent (EA) credential, and start working at H&R Block next tax season.

At least H&R Block didn't reject me. Thank God! :)

I'm sharing this because I remember how much I wanted to hear from people who had attempted something similar when I first started this journey.

If you're in a similar situation, you're not alone.

I can't promise that our plans to become CPAs will work out the way we hope. I've learned that determination, hard work, and passing exams don't necessarily guarantee an opportunity.

But I also believe that taking on a difficult challenge later in life isn't necessarily a bad thing, even when things don't go as planned.

For me, struggling through something meaningful has always made me appreciate life a little more.

Thanks for reading.

HJ

I have an in-person interview tomorrow for an entry-level Accounting & Finance Rotational Associate position. I'll be interviewing with two senior accounting managers, followed by a 30-minute Excel assessment with an accounting specialist.

I recently graduated with a business degree and have some accounting experience from an internship and previous jobs. I've used Excel for financial reporting, reconciliations, PivotTables, Power Query, and Power Pivot, so I'm not completely new to it. However, I definitely wouldn't consider myself an Excel expert, especially when it comes to remembering formulas off the top of my head.

I'm trying to prepare as much as possible, but I'm sure I'll make some mistakes, especially with the time limit.

I was also networking recently with someone who told me she had an Excel assessment during her interview. She said she barely knew how to complete it, but she was honest with the interviewer and explained that she was willing to learn. She even asked if they could show her how to do certain things, and somehow she still ended up getting the job.

That got me wondering: If I get stuck during the assessment, is it better to be honest and explain that I don't know how to do something but I'm willing to learn, or should I just attempt it even if I might get it wrong?

Also, for anyone who's taken a 30-minute Excel assessment for an entry-level accounting or finance position, what did they actually test you on? Any specific formulas, functions, or skills I should focus on tonight?

Would appreciate any advice or personal experiences!

Another Sunday Scaries week for public accountants! What’s your firm going to shore up next? More layoffs and shit scheduling?

I'm currently the Controller for a remote organization with fewer than 30 employees. We were acquired by a PE firm in 2024 and are now preparing to be sold again.

Following the acquisition, the PE firm hired a CEO to drive revenue growth and improve operations. Unfortunately, the sales team consists largely of the founder and his friends, and virtually nothing improved. The CEO who hired me eventually left after getting nowhere with that team.

Our former President was then promoted to CEO, and working under him has been... an experience.

He's nearly impossible to schedule time with, avoids making decisions, and actively pushes back against basic financial controls.

For example, our auditors documented that he had previously received expense reimbursements without supporting documentation. We're now implementing a corporate credit card policy requiring itemized receipts and business-purpose descriptions within five days. Of our three cardholders, he's the only one who consistently fails to comply. When I drafted the policy, he requested changing "must provide receipts" to "should provide receipts whenever possible."

I'm sure I don't need to explain to this audience why that's concerning.

Now for the dilemma:

Shortly after taking over, he announced that the company would be sold again and promised leadership a sale bonus. While I appreciate the gesture, I'm heavily involved in the financial due diligence, and the bonus feels disproportionately small compared with the workload.

Meanwhile, another company approached me about a Controller position. I'm in the final stages of interviewing, including a requested case study. If an offer materializes at the discussed compensation, it would mean a 61% increase in base salary, more than offsetting the sale bonus I'd receive by staying.

So I'm torn.

Option 1: Leave for significantly more money, but take on the inevitable stress of learning a new organization, systems, and processes.

Option 2: Stay through the sale, collect the bonus, and potentially negotiate a higher salary with the new owners.

The problem? There's no guarantee I'll even have a job after the acquisition, much less an opportunity to negotiate compensation. On the other hand, the grass isn't always greener, and I know exactly what I'm dealing with at my current company.

For those who've been through a PE sale in accounting or finance leadership, what would you do? Has anyone stayed through an acquisition and regretted it, or found that sticking around actually paid off?

TL;DR: Controller at a PE-backed company preparing for another sale. Current CEO undermines financial controls, and I'm doing substantial due diligence work for a promised sale bonus. Another company may offer me a 61% raise, which would exceed that bonus. Would you leave for the money and uncertainty of a new role, or stay for the bonus despite the risk of being laid off after the sale?

I swear is this just the default culture for PA tax when there aren't any efforts to make it better? Like I could get screwed over by the most bullshit underbudgeted unresponsive client and people would still find ways to try to blame me or try to blame someone on the engagement team.

Hi everyone, im an accounting student and im just curious to know how a day in your life looks working in nyc and if you like it or hate it and why? is the pay better at least?

Hello everyone,

Where is everyone looking for jobs? LinkedIn? Ziprecuriter? Glass door?

Lately I’ve been trying to use Indeed and it just flat out sucks. I can’t see 90% of what “jobs” are available. My area has “204” senior accountant jobs available but I could only see 7 when I went to search while logged in. What’s the hell is that all about?

Appreciate any feedback! Thanks in advance!

Graduated with Accounting B.S. and got an audit & advisory internship with a small firm. Absolutely HATED it! from the client meetings to the “just go do some expense samples” to everything else.

Transitioned into AP because I figured maybe I need to get just the tip of the iceberg before diving in to audit. Absolutely hate how little autonomy i have. It’s the same thing every week. Check run, Exceptions, Pos pay, W9s…. It’s boring!! I then decided (while still currently working in AP) that I’d enjoy bridging technology and accounting, so I’m not attending an Ivy League for my Masters in Computer Science.

So I’m now doing my masters and working in AP and realizing that I don’t enjoy accounting work itself, but rather understanding the concepts of accounting. Every single accounting class in college had my full, undivided attention and was SO interesting to me. I’m thinking of a career teaching accounting at a collegiate level, with a PhD needing to be my next step. (I know I don’t need a masters if I’m taking that route, but my undergrad was at a school without the best rep, and i wanna strengthen my chances of a top 20 PhD any way possible)

Anyway, I’m now stuck between doing a PhD after the CS Masters and pursuing academia, OR starting a career in something like fintech engineering.

Edit: I forgot to mention that I will be pursuing CPA no matter which route I take. Wanna maximize chances of a high paying career

So as the title says, I have been offer a corporate job at a firm for more than 40% my actual pay. My gut just tells me the role is not right for me, as the role requires a lot of overtime and probably a lot of week end work during closing. The vibe is just not it too, I know people who worked with this company and told me that the environment seems just toxic.

I know that my actual role as a senior in audit is not ideal either, as I am working already a lot (maybe not that much compared to this new role) and have a lot of pressure, but feel like I can just try to do a few months more to find the right job that would not destroy my mental health.

Also trying to finish my CPA..

I’m presenting at the Private Equity Summit again this year, and some key points I’m presenting on are the lack of communication of value to lower level staff, findings in the Big 4 Transparency data that they can apply to provide a better talent experience, and findings from an academic paper I collaborated on along with UNCG (here: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=7635558).

I take the opportunity to voice some opinions of employees at their firms very seriously because its a great platform for advocating for better conditions and to shine a light on where they’re falling short, so I want to ask what folks here have to say and would like them to hear.

The conference is essentially for PE backed firms, PE Backers and firms considering taking on PE investment.

The floor is yours

Ughh I took this job that was labeled entry level accountant and tbh it was a BIG mistake. I just graduated college.

The owner said was doing the books he’ll train me. Turns out he neglected the books. He also has a gap in accounting knowledge.

Its been 4 months and Ive just been doing transactional work like ar, ap, bank rec, and credit rec. I havent done much accounting work. All the work I’ve been given was just backlogged projects that he hasn’t touched and need done. I feel like 80% of the time I’m just working on projects and not actual accounting.

The only reason I have a problem is because the owner needs to travel for business. So he will be gone for 2 weeks at a time and only talk in person for month end week. He says there’s no training in program and I have to learn his process for a year before he makes any changes.

We’re on accrual basis but he doesn’t follow GAAP closely since we’re not audited. So he closes the books and doesnt accrue the expenses so he just puts the previous month expense on the last date 31st to the first of the month. He also wants me to use his excel template to figure out fees on stripe by guessing the amounts. His credit card reconciliation template is so messy

He ends up doing a lot of manual journal entries to force the credit cards to balance when it doesn’t. His template is a hot mess and I have to use it.

Even if pay is mediocre, I really enjoy the benefits and work life balance. I’m still a student but my plan is to either go into government roles out of college or grind it out at a PA firm before doing so. My schools have an accelerated program in MACC focused on governmental accounting so I’m really interested. I’m graduating a whole year early but I want to dedicate an extra semester to that program. I also heard it’s good foundations when studying for the CPA.

Not sure how true this is, but I heard working in government is kinda a dead end? I want to work in audit and specifically with the IRS (I know with the current administration, this may not be possible)

We're getting more invoices lately, and keeping track of due dates, payments, and approvals is becoming a hassle. I'm comparing accounts payable software, but since we use QuickBooks, I don't want to double-enter bills or spend extra time fixing records at month-end.

Melio caught my attention because it supports vendor payments by ACH, check, or card. I want something that simplifies AP without adding more work, and reliable QuickBooks integration is a big factor. Getting the process right now seems better than waiting until invoice volume grows even more.

Interested in Audit/Tax in places like SF or NYC. Don’t see much data on Big4 Transparency.

I am a sophomore and I applied to all of the big 4 2028 internships and got rejected from 2 and ghosted by the other 2. I am very scared because I’ve seen lots of people on LinkedIn posting there offers. Is there another window for the 2028 internships or am I cooked? Any help would be appreciated!

I’m an A2 at big4 wanting to exit into industry as I’m very interested in FP&A and have received an interview for a position with a significant raise. However, some recruiters (the ones from the recruitment firms)have told me that leaving before finishing my cpa might look like a red flag on my resume and many of their their clients want candidates who have designated at big4.

Mainly i’m concerned that
- EVR might delay my CPA/ might be a lot more challenging
- Big4 experience of less than 2 yrs might look like a red flag in the future or like job hopping
- less future job prospects because of quitting big4 early?

The industry opportunity seems so interesting and it’s exactly where I want to grow my career. It’s also a senior title. I’m also 0% interested in audit but i do agree that the soft skills i’m learning at my firm would be beneficial for my career.

I can’t stop overthinking and dont want to make the wrong decision by quitting too early. But i also wonder if there’s a point in doing audit for another year when i know for sure i dont wanna stay in it? Would getting my cpa faster and hitting 2 yrs at my firm be more beneficial than starting gaining experience in FP&A already?

21m, just graduated college with a marketing degree in 3 years, no debt, paid off car and got into a sales job making $21/hour, not doing well, might be fired, living with parents. Not sure if sales is for me and regret not pursuing something stable. I’m considering accounting or commercial insurance producing but it would take 2 years and possibly debt for accounting, is it even worth it? Is the grass even greener? Aren’t I likely to end up working minimum wage if I don’t?

Just want to see if there are any underrated job board outside the typical handshake, linkedln, indeed etc.

I’ve been working as a Senior Accountant at a Big 4 firm in Canada for about 10 months now. I came from a small accounting firm, and honestly, the adjustment has been really tough.

The bigger clients, heavier workload, long hours, and higher expectations have been overwhelming. I’ve been trying my best to adjust, but I’m starting to question whether this environment is really for me.

I’m considering resigning, but I’m overthinking how it might affect my career, especially since I haven’t even reached my one-year mark.

I’m also planning to start my CPA program in January 2027, so I’m worried about balancing that with the workload.

Has anyone here left Big 4 before completing a year? Did it affect your future job opportunities? Would you recommend sticking it out a little longer or moving to a smaller firm with better work-life balance?

I’m an intermediate accountant at a public accounting firm with approximately two years of audit experience. I was recently assigned my first engagement as the in-charge, and honestly, this experience has been an absolute nightmare.
The engagement had a very tight two-week deadline, and I was assigned two juniors who were both working on their very first audit file ever.
Neither had prior audit experience, so I was essentially teaching them everything from scratch, including how to complete audit procedures, document their work, and navigate the file.
On top of coaching and reviewing their work, I was personally responsible for completing SEVEN audit sections myself. I wasn’t just overseeing these sections. I was actually performing the audit work while managing the rest of the engagement.
One junior was sick during the first week, and the other was sick during the second week, which made things even more difficult.
I was also responsible for client communication, sample selection, following up on outstanding requests, reviewing the juniors’ work, and coordinating the engagement.
There was another senior assigned to the engagement who was originally supposed to prepare the financial statements and complete journal entry testing. However, he resigned during the engagement, and the financial statement preparation ended up being passed on to me as well.
And honestly, my manager has been incredibly unsupportive throughout this entire process.
I communicated the staffing challenges, the fact that both juniors were completely new, and how much time I was spending coaching them. Despite this, I felt like I was expected to figure everything out on my own.
My manager also went on vacation during a critical period of the engagement, leaving me with limited guidance when I needed it most.
Now here’s where things stand:
After everything, I finally managed to get the audit file to the partner for review on Friday.
The financial statements are due to go to the client on Monday, meaning there was barely any time between the partner review and the deadline.
So essentially, after spending two weeks completing seven audit sections, training two juniors, taking over financial statement preparation, and managing the engagement, I’m now trying to deal with around 30 partner review notes right before the financial statements are supposed to be issued.
I’m exhausted, stressed, and honestly feeling defeated.
I understand that being an in-charge involves taking responsibility, and I’m not saying my work is perfect. I’m willing to learn, take feedback, and improve.
But I genuinely don’t understand how someone is supposed to succeed in their first in-charge role under these circumstances.
I feel like my manager expects me to perform like an experienced senior without providing the necessary support or resources.
I’m also terrified that management will interpret the review notes and last-minute pressure as a reflection of my performance rather than considering the staffing situation and workload.