Keeping the integrity of the financial markets should be taken serious. I think accounting firms should operate similar to the military, specifically the infantry. Haze the new associates and firewatch through the night. The new associates take turns staying up through the night to monitor the offshore team. If you fall asleep we have to call in the firing squad.
I have on multiple occasions, and I never want to again.
Not because I give a fuck about the company, but because I don’t want to fill out the lawyer paper crap and then have to deal with everyone asking me crap.
I feel like these fraudsters don’t even consider the accountant who has to be at work a dozen hours extra to figure their stupid scheme out.
I’m fairly sure I’m underpaid but here goes…
Started out at local council with apprenticeship. Moved onto AAT and role that had a salary of like 11k haha. This is around 2008
Left for private sector (capita) and they paid for my quals. Got amazing experience etc there. Started at 19l when I left was 32k
Lots of restructuring so left and moved to owner managed firm. Loved it totally diff but shit systems; salary 35k and 20% bonus:
Had to leave here almost a year in as partner at the time bad accident left paralysed so took year out;
Came back to a shite job similar salary but not much to do, then got a job at a start up 45k. Then Covid hit and we were asked to drop a day and 20% salary to avoid redundancies, all agreed. Then my probation ended, expected meeting to be formality as no issues. Fired on the spot as I’m shit apparently.
Got FTC at new balance, went ok but didn’t enjoy. Then moved to TalkTalk. Again was ok, stayed for two years then went on mat leave.
As I was due to go on mat leave PWC approached me, had to decline as Mat leave: they did again later on, this time I went on with the process got the job and been there since 2023. Started at 45k now 49k.
I’m ACCA qualified have been since 2017 and almost 20 years experience in the industry. Am I way underpaid? How can I change it if so?
Hi everyone:
I wanted to hear the opinions of people working in the field because, honestly, I'm very confused about this.
I work in accounting, and recently a recruiter contacted me about a senior director role at a fairly well-known and respected company.
The base salary would be about 45k higher, and quarterly bonuses would bring the total increase to around 60k. I'm currently at 110k and have a smaller bonus structure.
I'm 41 years old and have a family of five. I'm also very involved in my kids' activities, practices, games, and all that. So honestly, I'm not sure how to balance it. It's an excellent opportunity, and in reality my current company won't be able to match or even come close to an offer like this in the near future.
The commute would be about 70 minutes by train. I could technically drive, but the train seems like the better and less annoying option.
I'd really appreciate hearing from anyone who has been through a similar decision. Was the salary difference worth the longer commute and the time away from home, or did it wear you down after a while?
Thanks in advance!
Hey, I have been a lurker for a while but this is my first post. The other day I applied for an internship position at my university's auditing department. I am genuinely interested in audit, and I thought the position was pretty cool as I could learn about my school's finances. The position was posted on the school's job board, where the only stuff to send was my resume, cover letter, and transcript. No separate application anywhere.
The posting said that US work authorization was required, but I didn't think it applied to me. I am Indian, with an Indian name, but I am an American citizen. I was born and raised in the US and have lived here my whole life. I sent the application and moved on with my day.
Less than a day later, I get a message from the hiring manager. They write, "Hello (my name), We do not provide visa sponsorship. Thank you for your interest, and best of luck to you." I had to reread it a few times because I couldn't process the message. Why would I need sponsorship? I sent a reply, (in a respectful way) clarifying that I wouldn't need sponsorship and I hoped I could still be considered for the role. It has been 2 days, and the application closes tomorrow.
At this point, I know I'm not getting an interview. I never believed that I 100% deserved the role. I thought I had a decent shot but knew there is always a chance of rejection. I have had applications rejected in the past, but never for this reason. I usually move on from rejections pretty well, but this one really frustrates me. Should I be putting my citizenship on my resume from now on? I don't know anyone who does that. I've been trying to give them the benefit of the doubt, telling myself that they made a mistake. I don't think they had any bad intentions, but the mistake of assuming someone isn't a citizen is pretty crazy. They never asked me to provide my citizenship status, and never followed up to ask either.
I feel like I'm going crazy. I was considering complaining to the university, but I think they would just assume I was pissed I didn't get the role. This really got me thinking about others who had similar experiences to me. If my name was Jake Thomas would they have made the same mistake? There probably isn't anything I can do at this point. I just wrote this to maybe get some advice from others and to vent a little.
"Abbatiello was described as an accounting major on the dean’s list with a “passion for numbers and financial storytelling,” according to now-deleted pages on the Penn State site."
Hey! So I’m a third year accounting student, and I just started actually taking my major courses this semester. AI is huge in the business world already, and it is only growing. Professors constantly promote it, and so many of my classmates use it. I do not like AI. It’s cool, but I worry strongly about the environmental impacts on our planet, and I feel like it kind of makes it easier to cheat and just not use our brains/think critically. When I bring up my qualms with it, people often preach the technological advancements and productivity benefits. While I do worry about not getting a job when I get out of college, I care less about AI taking jobs, and care more about our water sources, increased heat/wildfire risks, etc.
I’ve been struggling with this ethical dilemma since I started college, but more so in the past two years. As I have gotten more into the business classes, the more AI gets brought up and promoted. I really don’t want to get into a profession that goes against my morals, and I also feel like I’m not even that good at or interested in accounting. But I’m also pretty far into my education already, and if I quit or switch now I don’t know what I would switch to, and I know it will be financially difficult.
I used AI to write this , much more concise
Looking for some outside perspective from other CPAs because I’m about to make probably the biggest career move I’ve made so far.
I’m a CPA in my mid-30s with 7 tax seasons of public accounting experience. I spent 2 seasons at CBIZ and another 5 in boutique/smaller-firm environments, including about a year working within a wealth management/RIA environment. That wealth management experience taught me a lot and gave me exposure to HNW clients, investments, equity comp, and more complex individual tax situations.
My background now is primarily HNW individuals, partnerships, S corps, closely held businesses, real estate, multi-state work, equity comp, notices, and client management/review.
Current situation
I’m currently a Tax Manager at a small boutique CPA firm in a county next to LA, making roughly $110k base plus bonus.
There are actually a lot of things I like about the job.
My commute is literally about 5 minutes. The partners are good people. They trust me with clients. I’m comfortable there and have a lot of autonomy.
The problem is that I feel like I’m reaching the ceiling.
It’s basically a two-partner boutique, so there’s no obvious Manager → Senior Manager → Director progression. Partnership could theoretically happen years down the road, but there’s nothing concrete and realistically I’d be waiting quite a while.
The other major frustration is utilization. 18 months here and while I did get a good bonus on dec no talk of evaluation . I think they’re happy with me giving Senior manager product as long as they can.
The expectation is roughly 7 billable hours every working day, including outside busy season. I’m at the point where I genuinely enjoy tax, reviewing returns, working with clients, solving technical issues, etc., but I’m tired of feeling like my professional value ultimately comes down to what went on the timesheet every day.
I’ve also increasingly realized I’m underpaid.
Other recruiters and CPAs I’ve spoken with have basically told me my current comp is closer to experienced senior territory than what someone with my experience should be making as a CPA Tax Manager.
One CPA I respect who has actually evaluated me technically told me flat-out that I need to leave and get paid substantially more. He was making $165k remotely as a Tax Manager and said $110k was basically what he made as a senior associate years ago.
The new job
I went through multiple interviews with a rapidly growing, PE-backed accounting/advisory platform and got the job.
I’m expecting the formal written offer this week. Based on my conversations throughout the process, I’m expecting approximately:
$175k base + 10% bonus
So roughly $192k total target comp if everything comes through as expected.
The job is Tax Manager in Downtown LA.
The company is growing aggressively through acquisitions, so there appears to be considerably more organizational mobility than at my current two-partner firm.
The specific practice I’d be joining was recently acquired and is VERY old school.
I went onsite for one of the interviews and actually asked to look at some of their workpapers.
We’re talking old-school ledgers/manual processes where it’s immediately obvious that a lot eventually needs to be brought into a more modern accounting environment.
The client base, however, is really interesting.
Lots of:
HNW individuals
real estate
partnerships
TICs
1031 exchanges
closely held businesses
complicated multi-entity structures
Real estate is an area where I already have a solid foundation, but there’s also a lot for me to learn.
For example, I was completely transparent during the interview that although I understand real estate taxation, partnerships, basis, etc., I’ve only personally worked through one 1031 exchange.
They didn’t seem concerned at all. They liked my overall technical background and apparently see the deeper real estate work as something I’ll learn.
There’s also already a Director above me responsible for the broader integration/modernization side, so I wouldn’t personally be expected to single-handedly fix the acquired firm.
My lane sounds much more like technical tax leadership: complex prep/review, real estate, managing several staff, working with clients, and making sure the tax work gets out correctly.
Interestingly, they’re apparently still about a year away from fully implementing billable-hour tracking.
I’m not naive. It’s PE-backed. Eventually somebody is going to care about utilization, realization, margins, EBITDA, etc.
But after years of staring at a 7-hour billable target every single day, even having a period where the focus is more on getting the work done sounds refreshing.
The major downside: Downtown LA
It took me about 1.5 hours to get there for my onsite interview.
The expectation is roughly 3 days onsite initially, with supposedly greater remote flexibility once I’m established.
Fortunately, I have a good friend in LA who has offered to let me stay at his place during the workweek for around $500/month.
So instead of doing a 3-hour round-trip commute three times a week, my tentative plan would be to stay there a few nights during the week for the first year.
Then after a year I can reassess:
Do I want to move closer to LA?
Has the position actually become more remote?
Do I love the job?
Do I hate it?
At least I’d have real information at that point.
Long-term goal
Ultimately, I want my own CPA practice.
That’s actually one of the biggest reasons this move appeals to me.
Going from ~$110k to ~$175k + bonus would allow me to keep my lifestyle relatively similar and stack a lot more cash.
Rather than trying to jump into entrepreneurship without enough runway, I could spend the next couple of years building savings, continuing to develop technically, networking, and slowly building toward my own thing.
I’d also get to watch firsthand how a PE-backed accounting company:
acquires CPA practices
integrates them
modernizes old firms
manages staffing
standardizes workflows
handles client transitions
scales across offices
That seems like incredibly useful experience if I eventually want to build or acquire a practice myself.
The bear case
The promised remote flexibility never really happens.
I’m going to Downtown LA three days a week indefinitely.
The former owner keeps bringing in work.
Legacy employees don’t want to change how they’ve done things for 20 years.
PE starts squeezing margins.
Acquisitions keep coming.
I’m good at solving problems, so eventually every difficult problem becomes:
“Give it to him.”
Suddenly I’m making great money but working constantly and becoming the human shock absorber between PE, legacy partners, clients, and staff.
The bull case
I make roughly $190k+ total comp.
I learn a ton.
I become much stronger in real estate, TICs and 1031s.
I manage people and larger client relationships.
The initial three onsite days eventually decrease.
The company keeps acquiring firms and I move toward Director.
I save a significant portion of the additional ~$70k+ of annual compensation.
And after a few years I have substantially more money, experience, connections, and confidence to launch or acquire my own CPA practice.
The emotional part
The weirdest thing is that I don’t hate my current firm.
I’m actually loyal to my current boss. He’s a good guy, I’ve learned a lot from him, and he’s increasingly trusted me with his clients.
That’s making leaving harder than it probably should be.
But I’m also starting to realize that staying somewhere because it’s comfortable and I like the people could cost me $60k–$80k+ per year and years of career growth.
At some point I have to separate gratitude from career decisions.
Assuming the written offer comes through around $175k + 10% as expected, what would you guys do?
Would you give up the 5-minute commute and comfortable boutique environment for the money, learning opportunity, and career upside?
And I’d especially love to hear from anyone who’s worked inside one of these PE-backed accounting roll-ups.
What am I underestimating?
This is common knowledge everywhere in corporate but some people choose accounting early in school picturing an introverted bookkeeping job, but get shoved into PA.
There’s no better skill to develop and train than likability. You can get away with so much if you’re not annoying, you’re a good conversationalist, and you’re overwhelmingly polite. You don’t even need to be funny or particularly charming. Just a fun presence to be around. Greet all your coworkers.
Also introduce yourself to new people as early as possible. It’s so awkward when you neglect to formally introduce yourself but occasionally bump into that person- and every additional time you nod at them in passing, it makes the time when you finally introduce yourself that much more painful
Edit: extrovert / introvert is probably not the most accurate distinction for what I’m trying to describe. See replies
Just shows you this sub is not a good source for experience or knowledge of the future.
You should take everything you read on here with a grain of salt. The loudest voices are usually the most wrong.
Inb4 someone mentions how their backwoods firm is still 5 days remote.
40F, bachelor's degree in accounting and about 15 years of bookkeeping experience.
I was happily working at ABC CPA firm as bookkeeper but left the job due to relocating for a relationship. When that relationship went south, I moved home and had a difficult time finding a decent mid-level accounting/bookkeeping job, so I took a position with the school board as bookkeeper at a high school. I LOVED it, but the pay was SO BAD (I was bringing home $1,500/month with only me on insurance) so I was looking and found a bookkeeper position at a construction/oilfield type company. The accounting office is about 12 hours away from operations. Pay is good, health, dental, vision 100% paid by company for employees. I have been absolutely disgusted with the lack of communication from operations. They hate "paperwork", but I can't do my job without information from them. It's like they all expect to have a personal secretary?!?!? No one is held accountable. I've been at this job for 6 months.
Last week a childhood sports team acquaintance I've kept up with over the years, who is a partner and team leader at DEF CPA firm, invited me to interview for a staff audit position. Same pay, same benefits, same commute, but working with smart women.
I put in my notice with the construction/oilfield type company (gave them 1 month) & accepted position at DEF CPA firm. I feel bad because I very much like the ladies I work with but we just share an office space, we are all far to busy drowning in computer & paperwork to collaborate on much. I feel like the audit staff position would be a nice change of pace from bookkeeping.
Thoughts?
Good day everyone . Hopefully someone can help . My wife and I make also exact salaries yet her take home is higher than mine . We have the same allowances which is zero, married but tax as single etc . Ive also noticed my bonus is heavily taxed . I only receive like 52% of the actual bonus . When I ran my bonus estimate through paycheck city , salary, websites they all say it should be like 1,000 more than what I'm receiving. How do I make sure im not getting over taxed or worse HR is screwing me over ?
Hello everyone,
I am a CPA in Canada and had been working in various industries since the last 9 years. I have worked my way up all the way from a temp. to junior accountant and now I am a senior accountant. The natural progression in my field and industry at the moment is to become an accounting manager. Over the last 2 years I've had numerous chances to get promoted and enter the managerial level in the company.
But here is the problem and I don't even know if I can present it with clarity.
I had been bored with accounting for quite some time and not motivated at all in this field or department. Just naturally lost interest.
Everyday is pretty much a drag and grind.
I am losing my touch with attention to detail, excel, and other skills. Like I am feeling, seeing, and even getting one-on-one sessions with my manager in shock on why my quality of work is declining.
This is why I never accepted a job offer to level up in the past 2 years because I know what Accounting Managers do and I know right now I would be the worst manager. And the crux of all of this is because I just can't care or be excited about this career anymore. And because of the time and money I spent in my bachelors, CPA, and work experience, I really don't have other skills and too tired to learn any new ones. I tried learning LLM, C++ and tried other ventures like writing a novel. But in a few months got bored and also didn't have the mental capacity to finish through. So I don't even know if I can change my career and even if I do, the learning curve, time and money required will be tiresome.
Just 5 years ago I was a new CPA, wearing suits in downtown office and grinding the life with excitement. But over the years with working in various companies, I just lost interest because the pay has always been less than my desired salary and the grind just isn't worth it because of the bad economy. Not to mention, I have FAILED to develop any meaningful connections with anyone at my workplace. 🤦
Please don't misunderstand my rant as a sign of depression because I got that checked with my therapist too. It's just that I didn't expect that accounting/CPA life would end up being like this. Does anyone have any advice?
I’m CPA eligible but have had a really hard time getting into public accounting. I have a degree from an online school, and I’m getting passed over for pretty much every public accounting application I submit.
Right now I’m working as a $23/hr junior accountant on contract through Robert Half. I’m getting some experience, but I’m not sure what my best next move is.
Would taking the time to pass the CPA exams significantly improve my chances of getting into public accounting, or should I focus more on building experience first?
For those who work in public accounting, what would you do in my position? Is the online degree a major disadvantage, and would passing the exams help overcome that?
I'm considering a career change into Accounting and I think people like me and new kids on the block (high school students and people in general trying to figure out their path) would benefit from hearing from you guys.
I didn't personally know any accountants growing up so I had no idea what this career entailed. Ended up going a different career path out of fear of the unknown, fear of studying it and dreading it. I wish I had a better guidance growing up, but here we are.
Bonus points for sharing any interesting stories from your career (idk, randomly ended up meeting and befriending a celebrity through a coworker, or something)
I recently started an Assistant Controller role, and I’m trying to figure out the best way to accelerate my learning while also building a strong foundation.
The role has been a big step up for me. I’m dealing with areas like consolidations, financial reporting, IFRS, intercompany activity, internal controls, and processes that are much broader and more complex than what I was responsible for in previous accounting roles. On top of that, there are a lot of company-specific processes, systems, and historical knowledge that you can only really learn over time.
One thing that has helped me tremendously is AI. I use it to help break down concepts, explain accounting topics in simpler terms, brainstorm questions to ask, analyze processes, and even help me understand the “why” behind certain things. Honestly, I feel like I've learned a great deal faster because of it.
At the same time, I worry about becoming too dependent on AI. I don't want to get into the habit of asking AI every time I encounter something unfamiliar instead of developing my own judgment, technical knowledge, and problem-solving skills. Eventually, I want to be able to look at an issue, understand what matters, know where to research, and form my own conclusions.
For those of you who have moved into Controller, Assistant Controller, or other senior accounting roles:
How did you get up to speed when you first started?
What did you focus on learning during your first 6–12 months?
How did you build confidence in areas you initially didn't understand?
How do you use AI or other resources without becoming overly reliant on them?
What habits helped you transition from being someone who completes accounting tasks to someone who understands the bigger picture and can exercise judgment?
I'm willing to put in the work, take notes, study, and ask questions. I just want to make sure I'm learning in a way that will make me genuinely better—not just better at finding answers.
Would really appreciate any advice from people who have been through a similar transition. (Yes, I did use AI to write this post lol)
Agree or disagree?
Who prepares the income statement, balance sheet? We do
Who pays vendor invoices/generates vendor invoices? Who generates GL codes/compiles a chart of accounts? We do
Ignore the haters, they’re just salty at the fact every single company needs an accounting team (not every company needs an investment banker)
The investment bankers, stock analysts, etc rely on the information we compile to make their decisions
I'm about to enter my second year of college, and I am still trying to decide on a major. I've really considered accounting since I've heard they make good money and the job itself isn't too hard. But I'm really worried about whether AI is going to take over. I've already heard that AI has taken entry-level jobs, and AI hasn't even been around for long at all. I imagine it will only be worse by the time I graduate. This worry is probably the only thing holding me back from choosing accounting as my major, to be honest.
I'm mainly hoping for answers from people who actually work in accounting, not just answering general questions about AI.
How worried do you think someone starting an accounting degree in 2026 should be about AI? Do you think AI will mostly change accounting jobs or actually eliminate a significant number of them?
Love that shit. Fuck you I'm Dream now.