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Question for Accounting vets -

I work in Accounts Receivable right now and just finished 1/4 the CPA exam. My plan was to try and find work at a public firm starting with the big 4 once I passed the second section. However, I just got a job offer for 65k plus full benefits and equity (up-and-coming company) as an AR Analyst. I was always under the impression that people following the CPA career path should do time in public accounting and then make the decision to stay in public or go private. People are telling me that I need to do public while others are saying the AR Analyst position is a golden opportunity to leapfrog the whole public accounting thing. But of course half of these people are not CPAā€™s themselves. Anyway, I strongly feel that despite the horror stories, public accounting will maximize my earning potential but perhaps Iā€™ve been brainwashed and thatā€™s not true? My ultimate goal is to be making $150k+ in 10 years.

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[quote]RRibber wrote:
Question for Accounting vets -

I work in Accounts Receivable right now and just finished 1/4 the CPA exam. My plan was to try and find work at a public firm starting with the big 4 once I passed the second section. [/quote]

I was told by a PWC rep last year during fall recruiting the big 4 only look at you if you have your 150, and are going to start only hiring people who have passed the exam.

This chick may be talking out of her ass. I donā€™t know.

Neither option is wrong.

In todays world you need to be certain the company doesnā€™t have a going concern, and choose your path based on security of earnings. IE:

ā€œIf I go public am I secure in the fact I will be employed in 18 months, 36 months, 48 months?ā€

ā€œIf I take the AR job am I secure in the fact I will be employed and MOVING UP for the nextā€¦ā€

Thing with private is you have to look for advancement options. Public will always have room for more seniors, managers and principles (although the title is irrelevant, but that is a whole other post.) If the company is log jammed at the middle or top, you will stay at 65k for a long time. Fighting politics and senority for more pay and responsibity is a bitch.

If you like public, you are leapfrogging over something you would enjoyā€¦

public will give you opportunity and broader knowledge base. There is no hard fast rule that you will end up making more if you go public first.

I will also say, and good HR person is going to see right through to your true reason for wanting to work in public. This may not stop them for taking you on during busy season, but youā€™ll be the first on the block if you arenā€™t a superstar and things slow down.

Donā€™t go into public for a disingenuous reason, do it because you are interested in public.

Please pardon any spelling errors

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Headhunter for placing accountants for the last 16 years here. First, do you have an accounting degree? If so go into public. If not, get a masters in accounting and then go into public. Yes, the hours are brutal, and itā€™s hard work. But the payoff is enormous. Donā€™t get caught up on the quick money. A/R people max out 95 tops where I live. Revenue Analysts are a different story.

Also the higher up the ladder you get, the more important people look for that CPA pedigree. Iā€™ve known a few great high level guys, who had trouble finding their next role because they got screened out based on not having the technical (CPA) skills.

So here are some strategies for you.

  1. Try and get in the Big 4
  2. if that doesnā€™t work go to a good size regional 50+ people or a smaller national firm ala Grant Thornton/BDO etc.
  3. Do a strong 2-3 years there, get your CPA, get promoted to senior. Then go to the Big 4 for at least a year. Why? Youā€™ll have the Big 4 on your resume.
  4. When picking a regional firm, itā€™s important on what industry they focus on. You donā€™t want to be auditing gas stations and car dealerships.

Hope this helps.

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Itā€™s June already - audit time is upcoming for most companies. Fark. Good luck everyone!

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[quote]swimmer2500 wrote:
Itā€™s June already - audit time is upcoming for most companies. Fark. Good luck everyone![/quote]

Those dirty, dirty auditors! Act like the damn Gestapo some days.

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[quote]therajraj wrote:

[quote]Samir wrote:
Forensic Accountant + CPA, checking in. [/quote]

Arenā€™t you also from Canada?

If so, how useful is your american designation in Canada?[/quote]

Bro, donā€™t you know, the Quebec CA order (I grew up in Montreal) merged with the Quebec CGA and CMA orders. All of us are CPAs now, though in the rest of Canada, Iā€™d be a CA.

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[quote]swimmer2500 wrote:
Itā€™s June already - audit time is upcoming for most companies. Fark. Good luck everyone![/quote]

Get out of audit ASAP, unless you love it.

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[quote]Samir wrote:

[quote]therajraj wrote:

[quote]Samir wrote:
Forensic Accountant + CPA, checking in. [/quote]

Arenā€™t you also from Canada?

If so, how useful is your american designation in Canada?[/quote]

Bro, donā€™t you know, the Quebec CA order (I grew up in Montreal) merged with the Quebec CGA and CMA orders. All of us are CPAs now, though in the rest of Canada, Iā€™d be a CA.

[/quote]

I did know that. For some reason i was under the impression you were from the US and moved to Canada.

The CMA-CA merger fell apart (yet again) in the rest of Canada.

Iā€™ll be getting my CMA designation this summer though.

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Thanks Countingbeans and BCFlynn. I also spoke to a recruiter, currently an inactive CPA, who said the same thingā€¦ That at least a few years in public accounting will prove to be invaluable. I was 50/50 on the job before but now Iā€™m definitely going to turn it down and go get my ass kicked in the public arena. Now back to studying FAR. LIGHT WEIGHT

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[quote]RRibber wrote:
I also spoke to a recruiter, currently an inactive CPA, who said the same thingā€¦ That at least a few years in public accounting will prove to be invaluable. [/quote]

He is your first lesson in accounting, sorta audit related:

How does a recruiter make money?

How much will the recruiter make if you take the AR job?

Would it be reasonable, just even slightly possible, his/her advice might just be biased?

Getting your letters is a must. Working in public is not some magic forumula, AAS if you will. You very well may end up in the audit department working exclusively on AR sectionsā€¦

Think about that.

The bigger the firm the more specialized your experience will be. Best anaolgy Iā€™ve heard is: in big 4 you will get a knowledge base 100 feet (meters) deep, but only 2 feet (meters) wide. A small firm will give you a knowledge base only 2 feet deep but 100 feet wide.

What Iā€™m getting at is you may end up, in 3 years, over qualified and looking at the same AR job you have offered to you now.

Do NOT go into public purely to pad your resume, do it because YOU WANT to. Will it look good on your resume? Sure. Is that the reason you should choose it? Fuck no.

No offense, Iā€™m saying this for the benefit of the people you are going to work for. Staff that are here to pad their resume suck, a lot, and it is obvious. Someone who likes public, is a joy to have on your team.

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[quote]Teledin wrote:

[quote]swimmer2500 wrote:
Itā€™s June already - audit time is upcoming for most companies. Fark. Good luck everyone![/quote]

Those dirty, dirty auditors! Act like the damn Gestapo some days.[/quote]

HAHA!

We have deadlines man.

Plus if you canā€™t provide the info we needā€¦ When we need itā€¦ BAM Scope limitation

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[quote]countingbeans wrote:

[quote]RRibber wrote:
I also spoke to a recruiter, currently an inactive CPA, who said the same thingā€¦ That at least a few years in public accounting will prove to be invaluable. [/quote]

He is your first lesson in accounting, sorta audit related:

How does a recruiter make money?

How much will the recruiter make if you take the AR job?

Would it be reasonable, just even slightly possible, his/her advice might just be biased?

Getting your letters is a must. Working in public is not some magic forumula, AAS if you will. You very well may end up in the audit department working exclusively on AR sectionsā€¦

Think about that.

The bigger the firm the more specialized your experience will be. Best anaolgy Iā€™ve heard is: in big 4 you will get a knowledge base 100 feet (meters) deep, but only 2 feet (meters) wide. A small firm will give you a knowledge base only 2 feet deep but 100 feet wide.

What Iā€™m getting at is you may end up, in 3 years, over qualified and looking at the same AR job you have offered to you now.

Do NOT go into public purely to pad your resume, do it because YOU WANT to. Will it look good on your resume? Sure. Is that the reason you should choose it? Fuck no.

No offense, Iā€™m saying this for the benefit of the people you are going to work for. Staff that are here to pad their resume suck, a lot, and it is obvious. Someone who likes public, is a joy to have on your team.[/quote]

Yes a recruiter makes money placing people. But one placement isnā€™t going to make or break your year. The advice he received from the other recruiter he knows is good advice. You max out in A/R. I tell candidates, look at the next 3 - 5 years when you take a job. Where it will place you strategically from a career standpoint. And every role is a resume padder. I hate the stigma of recruiting that weā€™re a bunch of used car salesman. That couldnā€™t be further from the truth. We get roles that arenā€™t listed on the boards. We can get inside information about the people you are interviewing with. We can meet you in person to coach you and see if there is anything you need to work on from an interview standpoint. We prepare the person for the interview. We also prepare the client. We get feedback from the client. Iā€™m in the business of generating placements, not offers. I tell my candidates, if itā€™s not for you, weā€™ll move on.

As far as being biased, no public firm will pay a fee for a public candidate with zero years experience in public accounting. If the other recruiter was biased and he had the a/r role, heā€™d be pushing him toward that. yes, the Big 4 is specialized, but the only industry Iā€™ve seen difficult transition for people leaving the big 4 into private industry is from financial services into another industry. Medical devcies, for exampleā€¦

I agree with you that he should want to do it.

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[quote]BCFlynn wrote:

Yes a recruiter makes money placing people. But one placement isnā€™t going to make or break your year. The advice he received from the other recruiter he knows is good advice. You max out in A/R. I tell candidates, look at the next 3 - 5 years when you take a job. Where it will place you strategically from a career standpoint. And every role is a resume padder. [/quote]

You would be amazed at the fact we donā€™t disagree with too much in this thread.

Ha. Just like anything man, there are people in your field that are the reason that stigma is there.

No, but when this kid is done irritating his bosses because he is just in public to pad his resume, who is he gonna call to get him his new job?

I get calls and emails from recruters all the time. I get calls from partners at other firms, lol. If I was to ever leave where I am, I would go with a head hunter to get a job. So Iā€™m not bashing your profession at all.

Iā€™ve seen people from big 4 that donā€™t know what a WTB is. There are morons everywhere.

That is all Iā€™m trying to tell the kid.

Do what is right for YOU not just your resume.

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[quote]countingbeans wrote:

[quote]Teledin wrote:

[quote]swimmer2500 wrote:
Itā€™s June already - audit time is upcoming for most companies. Fark. Good luck everyone![/quote]

Those dirty, dirty auditors! Act like the damn Gestapo some days.[/quote]

HAHA!

We have deadlines man.

Plus if you canā€™t provide the info we needā€¦ When we need itā€¦ BAM Scope limitation

[/quote]

Ultimately my beef is with our siteā€™s business practices. Some are a freakinā€™ joke so when an auditor asks for, say a purchase order or quotation documents (obvious ones to hold onto) for projects past, sometimes the site just canā€™t deliver because of some incompetent d-bag. Guess who gets their ass kicked? lol

I did exaggerate a little though. Our external auditors are pretty cool for the most part despite some of the ā€˜handicapsā€™ of poor on site management.

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To countingbeans and BCFlynn, thanks again for the advice. Yeah, I want to pad my resume, but thatā€™s not my sole reason for wanting to go into public.

Anyway lost an entire day of studying on Saturday. GF suggested I study at her place and then decided to do yoga within my view and then walk around naked and then yepā€¦ entire day gone. Not like I did not know that was going to happen so it was my own fault.

156

Well sending away my CPA documents today to get this shit started next month for semester 2.

$980 later I feel like Iā€™ve been violated. Had to have a shower after sealing the envelope.

Strategic management accounting is first off the ranks. A nice an easy one to get me started. Should smoke it.

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Good luck. Sounds like Strategic Management Accounting is the equivalent to BEC in the USA. I passed that 2 months ago. All of these tests are hard but this one is definitely the least hard.

I have FAR on the 9th and it has been a beast for me. I am definitely overwhelmed and even ask myself, ā€œWhy didnā€™t I just become a doctor?ā€ at times.

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[quote]RRibber wrote:
Good luck. Sounds like Strategic Management Accounting is the equivalent to BEC in the USA. I passed that 2 months ago. All of these tests are hard but this one is definitely the least hard.

I have FAR on the 9th and it has been a beast for me. I am definitely overwhelmed and even ask myself, ā€œWhy didnā€™t I just become a doctor?ā€ at times. [/quote]

Good luckā€¦Iā€™ve got FAR tomorrow and I feel the exact same way.

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[quote]RRibber wrote:
Good luck. Sounds like Strategic Management Accounting is the equivalent to BEC in the USA. I passed that 2 months ago. All of these tests are hard but this one is definitely the least hard.

I have FAR on the 9th and it has been a beast for me. I am definitely overwhelmed and even ask myself, ā€œWhy didnā€™t I just become a doctor?ā€ at times. [/quote]

Similar but there may be subtle differences. This covers investment analysis, risk analysis, ethics and governance, management and advanced audit with the whole emphasis on providing long term informational needs to top management (which i guess is just a fancy way of pointing out the obvious lol).

Looking forward to it. Should smoke it.

All the best with FAR. Iā€™m looking at that for next year. Here itā€™s called simply ā€˜financial reportingā€™.

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Canadian Accountant checking in!