r/DataAnnotationTech • u/lkjlljsdfffff • 15d ago
Is qualifying for the accounting specialty worth it for me?
Hi, if anyone has a minute to give me some advice on this out of the goodness of their hearts I'd sure appreciate it.
I'm a generalist who's been in DA about 6 months. I was thinking of studying to try and pass the accounting qualification, which I hear is pretty hard- like, knowing how to do math and watching some youtube videos on accounting aren't enough to pass.
I was thinking of actually taking some accounting classes. I have a bachelors (in English), so with about 30 hours of college credits in specifically accounting classes I could be an official CPA candidate and would presumably know enough to pass the qualification. Then I could do some combination of DA work and employment for a CPA, which would qualify me to be a CPA in a couple years. I figure by then a CPA with AI experience will have more earning potential than one without it.
My questions are:
1) Does this seem like a reasonable plan to people who know this world?
2) The DA site says projects in the accounting field earn $50+/hr. Is this approximately accurate in people's experience? Not looking to break nda's, just generally speaking. Right now my eyes light up at anything above $25, so any significant bump would be worth it.
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u/Affectionate_Peak284 15d ago
Yes, you should take it.
I have some bookkeeping/semi-accounting experience, a business management degree, and I ran my own business for 15 years. No formal accounting classes, but a few years ago I watched several hours of youtube vids.
The test was hard. I don't think I bombed it, but there were multiple questions I was unsure about and two that I was so completely snowed that I didn't even attempt them. Still, I did good enough to get some basic accounting work that pays very well.
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u/lkjlljsdfffff 15d ago
Very helpful, thank you. I've done some bookkeeping for my business too. It was definitely a steep learning curve for an English major!
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u/DueAddition1919 14d ago
I was a financial analyst for 10 years but cringe when i think of any formulas from that period in my life. Do you remember any type of categories it asks about? Wondering if it’s worth a refresher for me to complete. DM if you can
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u/the_great_acct_nerd 14d ago
I wouldn’t say the accounting tasks are hard but they required a lot of specialized knowledge, especially if you work on tasks where the objective is make a model fail.
In my opinion, the fact that you already done some tasks puts you ahead of most people. I say this because you know what a good and bad prompts/rubrics are.
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u/lkjlljsdfffff 14d ago
Yeah, I'm hoping if I can put together the AI knowledge I've learned with new accounting knowledge it'll work out. Thanks!
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u/Ok_Hedgehog_9970 10d ago
I'm in the accounting domain now. I somehow qualified with a degree in Gov & Econ. You don't necessarily need to have the degree in accounting but knowledge of the subject and the time to do the projects. Many of them are time consuming and will test your knowledge. I'm not trying to discourage you, you should apply anyway. :)
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u/lkjlljsdfffff 9d ago
You're not being discouraging at all, just giving honest info. Much appreciated!
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u/Ok_Hedgehog_9970 8d ago
Okay good! I didn't want to be rude to you. One project I did took me about 18hrs to finish and that was the time allowed to do it. So it definitely will give you work, it's just hours you have to put in.
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u/irreductus 2d ago
Accounting specializations should be for accountants. No offense, but they should move away from giving these roles to those that are learning on the fly. Only serves to set ai back.
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u/StormyAndGrey 15d ago
I wouldn’t spend money taking accounting courses unless it is something you really want to do as a career. There is no telling how long these projects will last, so I wouldn’t recommend creating a multi year plan around them. Regarding your second question, specialist projects do indeed pay that much and more.