If it were 5-10 years ago I would have 100% chosen Computer Science and gone the SWE route when internships and jobs were far easier to get with just a degree and some basic projects under your belt. Nowadays I would 100% stick with accounting -> CPA route.
The reason I'm an accountant is that I wasn't smart enough to survive the higher level math courses in my engineering program. Debits and credits make way more sense than differential equations and that BS.
Fascinating! I definitely hear alot of computer science and how oversaturated it is.
What was your college experience like for accounting? Did you go to a state school or the top state university?
I was a computer science major and switched to accounting because calculus 2 and discrete math was way too hard for me lol. And I knew I couldn’t compete with geniuses who could code in their sleep. And now that AI can code, I do not regret switching to accounting at all.
Personally it’s just the same cycle every month. The company doesn’t have many changes so it gets kinda boring doing the exact same thing for the same company every month. I also am the type of person who likes to be very busy almost all the time.
Hell yeah. It’s been nothing but good to me. There aren’t many other careers where you can go to a very average state school and be, more or less, have an 80% chance at a 6 figure job in 5-7 years.
I only visit this sub every few weeks and every time I do, it mainly consists of interns or people with 2 years of experience who are looking to complain.
Nobody comes to this sub to tell others how great things are for them.
We have multiple people at my firm who have made a career switch from teaching to accounting. I have personally never seen someone make a career switch from accounting to teaching (K-12).
That is great to hear! I am currently trying to decide between state school and large university. Any opinions? For reference I live in Minnesota, the state school costs 25k, and the large university is obviously the University of Minnesota and costs me about 60k if I commute, or 99k if I live on campus.
Do you think the school drastically matters, the small state school that costs 25k is not a big 4 target school. So I know earning potential might be lower. But I am a little more interested in my own accounting practice than I am interested in CEO, CFO, Partner or what ever else. These positions are very limited and I’m unlikely to get them to begin with.
What is the small state school? You can send me a chat if you’d prefer. Also, I presume these are total costs for 4 years and not per year.
I am not familiar with UMN (not from the region) but I have almost no doubt the “big” firms recruit at the largest state schools primarily, and the smaller ones secondarily to fill out their intern and new hire classes.
I think it’s a little early to give you advice on the career path to start your own firm, so I won’t. But I will say this: if in three years you decide you want to be a CFO of a large corporation, UMN will not preclude that assuming you go B4. If you go to a small school, this might be more difficult to achieve. Even if you are set in this, the best experience you’ll get is from mid market firms (RSM, BDO, Crowe, GT, FORVIS), or even smaller. If the B4 recruit there, these firms will too. If you have your own accounting practice, you’ll be a “partner” in the sense you have all of the responsibilities of a partner.
To summarize, I’d go with UMN. The difference of 75-100k over 4 years is well worth it because of the options it provides. If you decide in your junior year you hate accounting, you can pivot to supply chain or whatever they’re calling the IT degree in the business school, or whatever.
Thank you for your help. The school is Bemidji state. It has like 3,000 students and is about 5 hours from the metro area in Minnesota. So definitely not a target school, but it does offer Deloitte scholarships and uses Handshake. So it has the typical resources, just not the networking.
And yes I probably shouldn’t limit my self to my own practice rather than being higher in a company.
I did a quick google and my first impression is not good at all. 3k students divided by 4 years = 750 per year. Let’s be generous and say 10% of them are accounting majors. No large firm is coming to campus to recruit there - just shooting you straight. It’s not worth their time when they can get 75 resumes in a single day at UMN. Deloitte might have a program there but if the other 3 don’t, it’s going to be extremely competitive and they can pull the plug at any time after a bad few intern classes.
I am no expert in terms of recruiting software but I don’t think handshake matters much in the sense of… firms choose which campus to advertise jobs on. So, just because KPMG advertises jobs on the handshake for Minnesota State or St John’s, you’ll never see them @ the campus you mentioned.
Being so far from a metro area greatly hurts your internship prospects as well if you want to gain experience prior to your B4 internship. Being in a metro area, I was able to have multiple internships which helped me ID the practice area I wanted to focus in (and cross some off my list).
If your financial situation isn’t flexible, perhaps consider community college for a year or two and then transfer to UMN.
I have already got my associates degree so it’s really time for me to hunker down and make my final decesion.
I think I am leaning towards commuting to the University of Minnesota, it’s a 45 minute drive but it will save me 39 thousand dollars in room and board fees. It’s a longer drive but I can make it work. I can always stay in a hotel during finals week too if I want to be close to the campus. Thank you for all your help. I think I have my school narrowed down. Now just got to decide if I want to become an accountant. Or take over the family business of plumbing, or be a 5th generation teacher. Yes 5th, teaching runs deep in my family.
I got my bachelors online from Bemidji. However, I graduated at 42yo. I was already working a job that was closer to an AR position, and I was promoted to staff accountant about 6 months before graduating. I would have absolutely done accounting again, only earlier in life. Bemidji's online program was ok, but I found I learned a LOT more getting my associates in accounting from the community college. The only issue was that Bemidji made me retake a lot of those classes because "those were 200 level classes, and these are 300-400 level classes". They used the exact same books, same online programs, same tests.
Graduating in 2018, wages around the cities looked like around $60k for staff jobs. I was looking for $70k/year for senior - ended up at $80k, now pushing $90k. This seems to be the top end for senior accountants. To get more than that I need to move to a manager or controller position. I've only worked in higher ed and industry, and have no plans to get my CPA. In this area, I've had no issues with not having my CPA.
I would say to try to get some sort of accounting related job just to get a bit of experience before graduating. Use Accountemps/Robert Half even for temp job experience, if you don't get an internship. Then don't listen to the people on here complaining about recruiters. Use them to your advantage.
Ironically I was looking at getting an education minor for something to fall back upon (aka switch from accounting to teaching). I can't even really explain a motive behind it, but I was just worried about hating accounting so much that I'd rather teach to a bunch of kids for 55k (which in retrospect is crazy lol)
NO! I chose accounting because I thought it was safer from layoffs. Went for job security instead of something I enjoy. Also I was good at it and didn’t have to do much studying. But if I could do it again I would pick something I would enjoy.
I really enjoy teaching but the salary outlook is not as strong as accounting. I volunteer weekly in a classroom. I really am just uncertain on whether to prioritize money or happiness. Have to provide for a future family, but also don’t want to be miserable.
It’s a tough decision that I won’t know if I did right until it is too late.
I’m an accountant and my first thought was “chose teaching”. Ha.
The moral seems to be: grass is always going to be greener, a couple of decades into any career will have you questioning your life choices, there will be regret and you will wonder why you even went to college.
But that’s just “work” my friend. You will be fine with whatever choice you make (assuming your degree is not in like Art Theory or something).
I second a bunch of other folks, I went into accounting bc I wasn’t smart enough for “real math”.
I was a history teacher at the high school and college level before moving to accounting. I love history, liked writing lectures, enjoyed grading most of the time, liked doing academic research, and enjoyed most of the job. But I absolutely hated dealing with parents and struggled after a while trying to engage kids who didn’t give a shit and really didn’t want to be there. It is (of was for me, at least) demoralizing to put your heart into trying to reach kids and maybe you reach a few of them, but a lot you simply can’t. And it’s hard when you see year after year of kids making the same terrible life choices. I couldn’t deal with it. Granted, I taught high school and community college. I’m sure it’s different with younger kids. Not going to lie, it also got to be pretty hard when the people I went to college with who didn’t work nearly as hard as me and did worse in school than me were all making 2 or 3 times what I was making.
Nothing says you can’t study both accounting and education in college. It will probably take you an extra year or so to do it (particularly if your education program includes student teaching and licensure), but you need 150 hours for CPA eligibility, so the extra year wouldn’t be wasted.
My school didn’t offer a track for business education (to be able to teach marketing, accounting, entrepreneurship, etc at the high school level). If yours does, that might be a good way to combine your interests. Depending on the course numbers used in the education program (if the courses are taught by the business school or the Ed school, basically) a lot of those hours toward your Ed degree might count toward a business degree and/or CPA requirements.
One good thing about accounting and teaching—there are pretty much always more jobs than there are people willing to teach them.
Doing accounting and education would also potentially open up some opportunities for corporate training, business education content development, and other things if you don’t want to be an accountant or teacher for your whole career.
Having said all that, I was really good at science but it was too easy and was boring because of that. I was pre-med for my first two years but was bored and not really challenged by it, so I changed to something that was interesting and challenging—history!
Are you sure pay is bad in teaching in your area? That's largely a geographic thing. What they don't tell you is you can go teacher than administration is and make alot more than teaching.
OP, you can become a teacher with any degree. But you only be an accountant with an accounting degree. Get the accounting degree, and if for some reason you hate it, transition into teaching.
It feels unfulfilling. At the end of the day accounting is overhead and I’m just feeling stuck in a meaningless job. I also just turned 40 and that might be it. Also a 26 year old just got promoted above me and that really upset me. 6 years of public accounting and 9 years in industry and my experience doesn’t feel valued.
I am 36 and I 100% agree with you. Journal entries, month end close, QoQ analysis, etc. Same crap every month. I do not hate it but just don't really care. I started learning python couple weeks ago and may consider a career change to be a programmer. Good luck my fellow accountant ✌️
If I could do it all over again I’d pick a different mentor. Love what I do but I hate the fucker who taught me to be good at it. What I’ve learned professionally is if they’ll treat you like family they’ll treat you like shit or not have enough resources for you.
In my early career I definitely hated my job and I imagined all sorts of alternative paths I could have taken. But as I move forward, the more I think about it, the more I realize that if I had to do it all again, I’d probably choose accounting. There are some things I’d definitely do differently, but largely I’m content with how my career has turned out.
You will probably hate your life when you’re first starting out though.
I can see that. With the studying for the CPA and being an absolute workhorse with lower pay compared to many, I can definitely see why you would dislike it at first.
I’d choose computer engineering or something that’s pays a large chunk more that requires less hours. That would also involve getting my younger self to be more disciplined. Content with where I ended up.
No I wouldn't. It's worked out really great, but I don't really find much purpose in it. I'd probably have been better at engineering or something more interesting. And yes tax can be "interesting" I just mean something more tangible than numbers in a spreadsheet or on a return.
If you want an easy life I would recommend going goverment preferably feds. They love hiring new grads. Work life balance pension no chance outsourcing.
Hahaha I’m sure you’re fine man! Gotta be confident and comfortable in your own body. At the end of the day, I know when I’m on my death bed I’m not gonna be wishing I rejected that cupcake or ice cream, ima be wishing I had more of both deserts.
100% - If I could turn back time I would have chosen a state school right out of high school to get a running start at this career but I would stay. I was a part time adult student who graduated with a bachelors @30 and a MACC @45. This career had provided me and my family stability. Plus, I don’t hate what I do
How is the state school education treating you?
I am a little uncertain on my major as I noted above. However, I am REALLY uncertain on my school. I got into a small state school 25k total cost with no big 4 recurring, but I also got into the top business school within Mn but it costs 100k total, and I would have to commute 45 minutes daily.
Do you think school matters, would you do a state school even if you had the money to go to a university. (I don’t, but I am willing to act as if I do if it is worth it lol)
I went private - only 6k left on that loan (the interest is so small I don’t rush paying it off) masters I took out 25k while paying some cash along the way. I wish I could have opted for a state school but as an alternative student, I think I did well. I didn’t do big 4 - mix of government & industry. Would have loved that option though!
My honest answer: no.
Here’s why:
Accounting is a decent job on paper. Stable, decent pay, clear promotion track, etc. But it doesn’t pay amazing well like Investment Banking or Consulting, and you can still end up getting laid off. It’s also extremely boring work, and the hours can be bad unless you’re in government.
Like you, I wanted a career with good pay. My dad was a lawyer, so I saw the benefits of hard work and a high-paying job. However, that was my main reason for going into accounting. I was just chasing money.
I’m miserable most days. The work itself is mind-numbing, the people I work with are either straight-up assholes or have the personality of a stale saltine cracker, and the job tends to be pretty stressful. Add to that the fact that most people don’t see a lot of value in accounting, and you have a recipe for a miserable career.
Here’s my advice: find something you enjoy and pursue that. If you like teaching and/or plumbing, please consider those career paths. In all honesty, you could make a similar amount of money owning your own plumbing business as you could being an accountant. My sister is a teacher and she loves teaching. My brother is a software engineer and he really enjoys the work he does.
College is a good thing, and I’d recommend getting a degree if you can. But don’t just get an accounting degree unless you’re sure it’s what you really want to do. Money isn’t everything, and you will be *far* happier in life doing something you enjoy than just grinding for your next paycheck.
Feel free to dm me if you have any questions or would like a more detailed summary of what my day-to-day job is like. I’ve worked in both audit and tax, and I’d be more than happy to answer your questions or give you “day in the life” info.
You need to pursue your passion and do what you like to do. Otherwise you will find yourself depressed and hating your life. After high school you have time to figure things out before committing to something serious. Take a year or two and try some professions that interest you. Nice part about accounting is that you can study it and become an accountant at any point in your life
Nope, would have gone fully into CS and statistics all those years ago. Accounting was a mistake. In the long-run I was looking into doing an AIS PhD for the stability of teaching and the scarcity of Accounting professors back then.
Accounting can be the right choice for someone in a low paying job, as it offers a low-investment high return option out of poverty (since cheap community college credits count equally to Wharton MBA credits, toward sitting for the CPA).
I dreamed of being a news anchor my whole childhood. I had very practical parents who told me college wasn’t worth it unless I majored in something that would pay well and would be a job not greatly affected by a recession. I don’t hate being an accountant. But I still day dream about being a news anchor.
Ironically, I now have a daughter who is a junior in high school and wants to major in marine biology. I find myself thinking like my parents and wanting her to major in something that is more practical. But I feel like I’m crushing her dream.
Then why not actually work in a field where talking to the client actually matters? like a service industry or sales? I rarely ever see the client needing help over accounting matters, like what someone working in public who visits at most a few months is going to actually no more than the person who works in that company for years at a time? If that isn't hubris I dont know what is.
Definitely my number one job when I was younger. I know a lot of small cities are hiring with two years college experience and at only 18 years old. Never too late to look into it.
I’d probably go in IT, the salary is extremely high for what they do. When I share my screen with an IT technician, it feels like my 16 year-old self solving issues. Very basic, but for a boomer it looks insane.
Probably not.
Given the money, robust compensation packages, wfh capability, and freelancing/contract possibilities I would have become a software engineer.
If that didn't pan out I would gotten into construction or supply chain management.
Teaching sucks ass. Don’t do it. Your mom is comfortable doing it because she’s a veteran. Teachers tell you the first 3 years are complete hell. Most quit. We can no longer fail students. No accountability for anyone but the teacher. If you think this sub hates their job, go check the teaching sub.
Also, volunteering in a class is nothing like being a teacher.
Also, depends on your state, but most states only require a bachelors to teach, and it doesn’t matter the subject. So you can always try teaching later.
Can you tell I tried teaching first… Going back to school for accounting. Either way, do what’s right for you. Best of luck, friend.
I mean ontop of volunteering once a day weekly I also work at a daycare the other days of the week. So I feel like I have somewhat of an idea of teaching. Not anywhere near a licensed teacher, but I have the idea.
But thank you, I will probably do accounting just a little unsure if that is something i want to do, and if I can handle the classes that come with it. But thank you truly! Best of luck on finishing up your accounting degree.
I’ve worked daycares and community youth centers; it’s still a walk in the park compared to teaching. Please try subbing, especially long term subbing.
I just worked at a school where a first grader spits in the principal’s face, kicks and hits the teachers, and you’re not allowed to do anything. At all. The mother was invited in and did nothing. If you do work in schools, pick a good one if you can find one. Daycares and any center you can kick out bad students. You can’t with school.
If I could go back, I’d keep my pharmacy GPA above a 3.5 and keep my full ride scholarship. I had a 3.43 after my first 3 semesters and lost the full ride.
If I had to go back to college post-change, I’d have taken my job offer from the university as a project analyst.
If I had to stay in accounting, I wouldn’t have done tax and probably would’ve skipped PA in general.
If I were to do it again and this is from the POV of a young CFO with experience touching a lot of things really quickly and growing up poor, I would be an accountant to start my career again BUT I would study engineering (which I am doing now) and accounting.
We solve problems with imperfect or missing facts and is expected to fill in the blanks quickly. I concluded that while my intuition has taken me really really far in life there’s a clear gap and having sat down with different types of engineers that are friendly enough to explain me why I am wrong… I need to learn their tools of thought and their process of solving the same problem but non-financially
If I could have a redo I would not go into accounting. All the years of long hours sitting in a chair staring at ledger papers and now screens and just more long hours and screen time to look forward to, no thanks.
I always wanted to be either a fire tower ranger or national park ranger or anything with lots of nature. I deeply regret. Or following my dreams and listening to the net sayers who said I need a profession in an office to make enough to live on. I would rather have all my unpaid hours over 40 a week back and less money in the bank with an amazing view of nature to wake up to every day. I am 15 years from SS retirement age and we are now looking into leaving our current “making a good living jobs” and finding our dream jobs in nature to take us to retirement.
Yes, I think becoming an accountant is up there with the best decisions I’ve ever made. None of my family had any money or connections, so my time in PA served as the network I needed to launch my career. Now I work as a consultant and love what I do, whom I do it with, and my compensation structure.
I would also add, you can redo your life at any point. It’s never too late. You never have to resign yourself to a position that you’re not happy with. You could go to school, get your CPA and PA experience, realize you don’t like it, and go be a plumber. The opposite is true too. Plenty of blue collar folk transition into accounting. Your future is ALWAYS yours to shape.
“‘What is the world’s greatest lie?’ The little boy asks. The old man replies ‘It is this: that at a certain point in our lives, we lose control of what’s happening to us, and our lives become controlled by fate. That is the worlds greatest lie’”
- The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
Hell no. Probably something Health Science/Medicine.
I switched majors from Math and accounting/finance was the closest in credits to get me to graduate in a reasonable time that was still “math-y”. Second up was actuarial science but longer time to graduate.
But knowing I would be in school for Medicine anyway I should have thought about it harder for a semester and gone down that route. Still kick myself sometimes.
I need you to hold the F for 10 seconds and repeat after me: “Fuck no”
I was in the last graduating class at my school to not have internet, so I didn’t know about things like forensic anthropology.
And to add to that, I got a D first quarter of freshman year, so my ever supportive mother said I’d never get into med or flight school and I listened.
If my parents weren't so persistent/only supporting me in accounting, like they were, if I went back in time I would've probably chosen nursing and would've studied/read more about my own interests and hobbies
Yeah, it gave me the head start I needed regarding money. Work a few years in public, save well, don’t spend lavishly and then switch to something else more chill and coast.
It’s also nice to have as a backup. Like I’m pretty confident I could get a staff role in public again if I absolutely had to. Can’t say the same for many other fields.
I would've gone to uni 3 years earlier and potentially gone the comp Sci route, but accounting is also a good fit for me. I didn't know how to go into uni and I had no support from family to do it so I was a bit late to the party
Yes, it has provided a reliable source of employment for 40+ years, no matter where I have lived. I am not a CPA, but worked for numerous CPA’s and in industry. I figure the low pay and long hours I worked as a staff accountant was a good trade off for the experience and knowledge I received, allowing me to be self employed for the last decade+. Accounting was a good choice for me.
Absolutely not and this comes from someone with 10 YOE making 400k+ in one of the two highest COL areas in the country. Accounting isn’t sexy, it’s boring but it pays the bills and some and I’m half decent at it. However if I had a crystal ball 14 years ago, I woulda picked CS and went to a tech company or a quant fund. If I had a crystal ball 9 years ago, I woulda picked some PHD track that will land me a job in AI. But, I don’t have a crystal ball, and so I can’t tell you what to do.
When you’re making 400k+ with only 10 years in, say you’re idk 35? You could probably retire by the time you turn 45 if you downsize your lifestyle, definitely by 50.
I feel like that is the most interesting part of accounting to me, hopefully make the big dollars, and retire early with some investment properties on the side of it.
Yes, I agree with you. Accounting/Tax pay is definitely not as bad as some people think, especially if you go to the right industry/company (as far as I know it’s tech and finance but could be more than just these two) (one of my friends thought I make less than 100k a year by comparing me to an accounting professional at a bodega they know and because I told them I don’t really have someone to manage below me and they thought I’m still some low level employee processing AR/AP). But you have to be ok with the grind - more than half of the people who started with me have already left the industry. A recruiter my age who made 600k last year (and really not much in 2020) told me over drinks that, he turns out to be fine now but if he knew how much money he coulda made by staying in accounting, he may not have left big four after just a couple years. Second, Accounting/in house legal counsel/compliance is always a cost to a company, unless you stay in public accounting/law firm. This is a mentality thing that matters a lot to some. On the other hand, being a profit center doesn’t mean you’ll make more than being a cost center, but it almost always means a lot more work. I know that because a big four partner has confided once to me that after auditing payroll for his clients, he thought about why he didn’t leave for the industry for more money and better WLB. Last but not least, it depends on how smart you are / what resources that are available to you, you can make more doing something other than accounting and it doesn’t mean more work - and then the question becomes, why don’t you go to school for that type of work?
Love my job. My boss. My coworkers. My hours.
Of course I've encountered people I'm not a fan of but that will be every job.
I work from home most days , I don't miss any of my kids events ever.
Did an internship in college and have been with the same company ever since. Just did some movement internally. Never did. PA .
Yes. I loved being an Auditor. Now as an Accountant it's easy and I work from home.
I've had other careers though so know the trade offs...big tech, insurance, entrepreneurship, real estate, doing nothing for years.
For what it’s worth, I love my job. It’s hard some days depending on my caseload or the issue I’m working, but I don’t have the stress or dread going into my workday that I had with my previous jobs. And it’ll be like that no matter what field you go into- it’ll take some time to find the right workplace that fits your needs.
What I find to be great about accounting is that it hasn’t been difficult to find a job. People go into marketing, or general business, and then they can’t find a job. I can find a job easily, and I can replace my job easily if it isn’t working for me. You can’t say that with every field.
No, I would have done CS because obvious reasons. Also many of my friends are in CS.
That said, accounting is a good career. I just realized too late I probably could have done a lot better. Not saying much though, I am after all still too lazy to actually prove what I'm saying.
I definitely would. I was in my 30's when I realized accounting was what I wanted to do. If I went back I would be sure to initiate myself earlier in life to get a better footing than what I have now.
Would have tried harder to get into a top school for finance. I didn’t take enough AP courses in high school, GPA could have been better and would have spent more time and effort studying for the ACT
I would have gone into the Airforce to be a pilot. Then I would have become a commercial pilot they make so much more money.
Otherwise I’d still be a CPA. Instead of going into audit I would have done tax. Why? Well tax gets paid more in general and it’s SOOO easy to go do tax work on your own one day and start your own firm. I’m actually thinking about doing this. You could fairly easily make $200k a year and even more from there. You don’t even need an office. Just run your practice out of your house or remotely. Charge an average of $1000 per return and only have around 200 clients and there you go. The only way to have job security and feel like you’re being paid fairly is to have your own firm. Otherwise you’re always busting your ass making someone above you a lot of money while you get paid a fraction of what your true value is.
I went from tax to audit. Tax makes a little more than audit, but not much. And the work is BORING af. Doing 1040s day in and day out sucked the life out of me.
Definitely, but if I knew what I knew now; I’d have started my career in governmental accounting. I probably could have retired in my 50s with a pension. Had a rough time starting in a small cpa firm and looking for industry jobs as everyone wants Big Four years.
I've been at this for 27 years. FIve of those were in corporate, then I came back to public. It's much better to be a profit center than a cost center.
Yes, I would do it again. I swore off the partner path and am a permanent manager. When I walk out the door, I walk out the door. I don't have my work email on my phone. I make $190K in a LCOL area. Busy season is 60 - 64 billables per week. The rest of the year is like play time. This is in a 20 person firm. It's a pretty good life.
Accounting is the best bang for the buck degree. Great upward mobile career, and it takes a lot less time and is less difficult compared to engineering or law.
Given my desperate life circumstances of needing to crawl out of an abusive childhood/home life with relatively little debt, I would 100% do it again.
Although I would've tried much harder in school to get those high paying internships and then try to get my CPA through a fortune 500 development program instead of destroying my physical and mental health in public accounting.
Yes, I would definitely do it again. I enjoy what I do most days. What I would change is I would have gotten my CPA right away, instead of deciding I didn’t need it since I wasn’t going into public accounting.
I also wish I’d known that forensic accounting was a thing - by the time I learned about it, I had a small child at home and didn’t want to travel.
I picked accounting thinking I’d be in a secure field. How wrong I was, I’ve been fired a few times, laid off and quite a few roles. Offices that have women are extremely toxic, thankfully I found a place that is 100% men, and these people are serious, collected and to the point. No one brings their dogs, or personal problems here. We work and go home. I was able to buy my own place, but was stagnant for years into small roles not even junior roles, but now I’ve been growing finally. If you’re a natural with numbers this will flow easily for you and you’ll grow - or you might have to climb a few mountains in order to grow in the industry. I’d be a blue collar - my bf is a locksmith and makes over double what I make. I’m making 70K now.
I’d probably do it sooner. I didn’t go back to school until I was 25. I like the work I do despite how much I might complain about tax, and it would have been awesome to be making this salary back when buying a house wasn’t a pipe dream.
I wouldn't call a teacher as low stress. Just go to the teacher sub and check it out. And plumbing has its own hardships. Maybe your parents just never told you their complaints. Truth is life is hard for most people. For me, I would still be an accountant. I am not smart enough to do STEM so this is the way for me to break out of poverty without doing hard or dangerous physical labor.
If I could redo life I wouldn't even go to college right out of the gate. I'd go military, then maybe college, or trade school. USMC OCS is my next step.
I don't even have a shitty job. I'm in public right now. Work 40 hours a week in busy season and maybe 10 hours a week outside of that. Then couple weeks back at 40 at the extension deadline.
I just feel like I was made for more than this. Maybe one day I'll go back to accounting, but for now I'm chasing the dreams that child me had.
LOL hell no...I wished I didn't fuck off in college and applied myself to get a medical field degree. 25 more years of this shit...I'm not sure I can do it. If I didn't have kids and people that depend on me, I would probably just give up.
I would absolutely still be an accountant.
Social media draws out the worst. People are natural complainers, so we default to sharing the bad and not sharing a good stuff. It's human nature.
This career is definitely not easy, but it is super fulfilling IMO. I make good money and serve my clients well. I'm working on the work life harmony bit, ever improving.
Would do it again. I went to a mid tier unheard of school. Didn’t go into public accounting even though my university shoved it down our throats. Now I’m 29 with 7 YOE, owning a house and not worrying about money the way my parents did. Accounting will always be viable. You may have to adapt to different tools as technologies evolve but it’s doable. Good luck on whatever you choose!
Yes, began my career at 40 as i didn't want to waste my 20s and 30s behind a desk. Nice to have a career where i no longer worry about money and get to work 6-2 and leave everything at work after 2.......
Would definitely try to push hard to become a pilot. There is a pilot shortage right now and most captain with 20 years experience got pay 400k for working half a year. The perks of hooking up with FA and travel the world while getting discount for hotel and buddy pass are cherry on top. - Not easy and require a lot of investment upfront but worth it - Also no outsource and all aviation workers are unionize!! - Think about it!!
Nah, too boring and monotonous. What got a CPA and did public accounting just to make as much a little more then others while expecting to work crazy amount of hours? The expectation to look "professional" everyday while your entire company is in casual clothes, just because your boss wants to see you dress as a monkey? Almost the entire work can be done from home around 5days a week yet you are still force to come into the office even though the rest of the departments are wfh? Everyone trying to lie to you about how you need to be "smart" and "creative" in this field, nah man follow the rules and dont go against accounting philosphy. I worked in a major city and even then if you didnt act "white" you aint alright. Do analytics? for what no one in the entire company uses our analysis we are literally not trained to do analysis that is either finance or data or stats, but not us, we record that is our job and yet so many of us likes to play dress up and say akshually i can analyize the accounts cuz me smart smart. When your managers doesn't realize no one cares about our department, there is literally no need for a super serious work environment stop trying to bring that PA stuff into private. Anecdotal, The best accountants I've ever know all say similar stuff, no need for creativity or critical thinking this is not the field for it, you grind for years then you get to retire this is the industry. The degree and CPA is pretty easy dont let people trick you into thinking its not , but the grind is something you are going to have to decide if you can put up with.
I probably wouldn't to be honest. It's not physically demanding or dangerous. I don't find it particularly stressful but having no life 5-6 months out of the year is getting old.
Veterinarian or firefighter sounded like cool jobs but my parents heavily pressured me into working in some office role even though they both worked office jobs but complained about them constantly lol
Trying to figure out how to leverage my experience into a position with better hours.
If it were 5-10 years ago I would have 100% chosen Computer Science and gone the SWE route when internships and jobs were far easier to get with just a degree and some basic projects under your belt. Nowadays I would 100% stick with accounting -> CPA route.
IThere's no guarantee you wouldve survived anyways. CS is ridiculously brutal.
The reason I'm an accountant is that I wasn't smart enough to survive the higher level math courses in my engineering program. Debits and credits make way more sense than differential equations and that BS.
Same here. Diff eq and linear algebra did it to me.
Amen! That was my experience too.
we are all gluttons for punishment here
No seriously
Cs is easier than accounting and finance
Not everyone can understand the programming languages. I got an A in intro programming back in college but it took way too much brain cells.
Learning cs is equivalent to learning a new language. Accounting is just being good with excel and software lol
Fascinating! I definitely hear alot of computer science and how oversaturated it is. What was your college experience like for accounting? Did you go to a state school or the top state university?
I was a computer science major and switched to accounting because calculus 2 and discrete math was way too hard for me lol. And I knew I couldn’t compete with geniuses who could code in their sleep. And now that AI can code, I do not regret switching to accounting at all.
No id buy bitcoin at $1
Wouldn’t we all. But realistically, would you still do accounting?
No, i think id try harder at engineering and not change majors cuz it was taking too long. But my current gig is chill. I travel and work remote
Go over the engineering subs. The grass ain’t greener over there either.
I think all professional subs are full of people bitching
That's a terrible idea, why not at like 2 cents
Omg I remember the offer at 10 cents. I kick myself all the time. I was thinking about putting in $100 at the time. 🤮
I would still be an accountant but I would have gotten out of PA years earlier
How many years did you do
I'm still in, 17 years but looking to get out soon
I bailed at 17, DO IT
Trying brother, I'm sending out resumes this weekend
Tax? Send me one.
why if I may ask?
Because it is pointless and soul-sucking
That’s how I feel about industry
Why?
Personally it’s just the same cycle every month. The company doesn’t have many changes so it gets kinda boring doing the exact same thing for the same company every month. I also am the type of person who likes to be very busy almost all the time.
Why not go public then
That’s in the works. I am currently working industry until my internship starts. Then I’m going public
Curious, what do you do with your free time? Are you into music? Do you have hobbies? Concerts etc
I have school. Otherwise it’s music and video games
Same!! I love video games! Love shuffling (dance), playing drums and weight lifting. Always curious what accountants do in their free time Lolol
The hours and workload are crazy, don't want to do it forever
Hell yeah. It’s been nothing but good to me. There aren’t many other careers where you can go to a very average state school and be, more or less, have an 80% chance at a 6 figure job in 5-7 years. I only visit this sub every few weeks and every time I do, it mainly consists of interns or people with 2 years of experience who are looking to complain. Nobody comes to this sub to tell others how great things are for them. We have multiple people at my firm who have made a career switch from teaching to accounting. I have personally never seen someone make a career switch from accounting to teaching (K-12).
That is great to hear! I am currently trying to decide between state school and large university. Any opinions? For reference I live in Minnesota, the state school costs 25k, and the large university is obviously the University of Minnesota and costs me about 60k if I commute, or 99k if I live on campus. Do you think the school drastically matters, the small state school that costs 25k is not a big 4 target school. So I know earning potential might be lower. But I am a little more interested in my own accounting practice than I am interested in CEO, CFO, Partner or what ever else. These positions are very limited and I’m unlikely to get them to begin with.
What is the small state school? You can send me a chat if you’d prefer. Also, I presume these are total costs for 4 years and not per year. I am not familiar with UMN (not from the region) but I have almost no doubt the “big” firms recruit at the largest state schools primarily, and the smaller ones secondarily to fill out their intern and new hire classes. I think it’s a little early to give you advice on the career path to start your own firm, so I won’t. But I will say this: if in three years you decide you want to be a CFO of a large corporation, UMN will not preclude that assuming you go B4. If you go to a small school, this might be more difficult to achieve. Even if you are set in this, the best experience you’ll get is from mid market firms (RSM, BDO, Crowe, GT, FORVIS), or even smaller. If the B4 recruit there, these firms will too. If you have your own accounting practice, you’ll be a “partner” in the sense you have all of the responsibilities of a partner. To summarize, I’d go with UMN. The difference of 75-100k over 4 years is well worth it because of the options it provides. If you decide in your junior year you hate accounting, you can pivot to supply chain or whatever they’re calling the IT degree in the business school, or whatever.
Thank you for your help. The school is Bemidji state. It has like 3,000 students and is about 5 hours from the metro area in Minnesota. So definitely not a target school, but it does offer Deloitte scholarships and uses Handshake. So it has the typical resources, just not the networking. And yes I probably shouldn’t limit my self to my own practice rather than being higher in a company.
I did a quick google and my first impression is not good at all. 3k students divided by 4 years = 750 per year. Let’s be generous and say 10% of them are accounting majors. No large firm is coming to campus to recruit there - just shooting you straight. It’s not worth their time when they can get 75 resumes in a single day at UMN. Deloitte might have a program there but if the other 3 don’t, it’s going to be extremely competitive and they can pull the plug at any time after a bad few intern classes. I am no expert in terms of recruiting software but I don’t think handshake matters much in the sense of… firms choose which campus to advertise jobs on. So, just because KPMG advertises jobs on the handshake for Minnesota State or St John’s, you’ll never see them @ the campus you mentioned. Being so far from a metro area greatly hurts your internship prospects as well if you want to gain experience prior to your B4 internship. Being in a metro area, I was able to have multiple internships which helped me ID the practice area I wanted to focus in (and cross some off my list). If your financial situation isn’t flexible, perhaps consider community college for a year or two and then transfer to UMN.
I have already got my associates degree so it’s really time for me to hunker down and make my final decesion. I think I am leaning towards commuting to the University of Minnesota, it’s a 45 minute drive but it will save me 39 thousand dollars in room and board fees. It’s a longer drive but I can make it work. I can always stay in a hotel during finals week too if I want to be close to the campus. Thank you for all your help. I think I have my school narrowed down. Now just got to decide if I want to become an accountant. Or take over the family business of plumbing, or be a 5th generation teacher. Yes 5th, teaching runs deep in my family.
Sounds like you’re on the right track! Best of luck.
Thanks brother.
I got my bachelors online from Bemidji. However, I graduated at 42yo. I was already working a job that was closer to an AR position, and I was promoted to staff accountant about 6 months before graduating. I would have absolutely done accounting again, only earlier in life. Bemidji's online program was ok, but I found I learned a LOT more getting my associates in accounting from the community college. The only issue was that Bemidji made me retake a lot of those classes because "those were 200 level classes, and these are 300-400 level classes". They used the exact same books, same online programs, same tests. Graduating in 2018, wages around the cities looked like around $60k for staff jobs. I was looking for $70k/year for senior - ended up at $80k, now pushing $90k. This seems to be the top end for senior accountants. To get more than that I need to move to a manager or controller position. I've only worked in higher ed and industry, and have no plans to get my CPA. In this area, I've had no issues with not having my CPA. I would say to try to get some sort of accounting related job just to get a bit of experience before graduating. Use Accountemps/Robert Half even for temp job experience, if you don't get an internship. Then don't listen to the people on here complaining about recruiters. Use them to your advantage.
Supply chain doesn’t pay that well in most places. I’d stick with IT if you aren’t really interested in SC.
I chose the cheaper school and it did not affect my prospects. The important thing is to make sure your school is accredited for your degree.
Ironically I was looking at getting an education minor for something to fall back upon (aka switch from accounting to teaching). I can't even really explain a motive behind it, but I was just worried about hating accounting so much that I'd rather teach to a bunch of kids for 55k (which in retrospect is crazy lol)
NO! I chose accounting because I thought it was safer from layoffs. Went for job security instead of something I enjoy. Also I was good at it and didn’t have to do much studying. But if I could do it again I would pick something I would enjoy.
I really enjoy teaching but the salary outlook is not as strong as accounting. I volunteer weekly in a classroom. I really am just uncertain on whether to prioritize money or happiness. Have to provide for a future family, but also don’t want to be miserable. It’s a tough decision that I won’t know if I did right until it is too late.
I’m a teacher. Choose accounting.
I’m an accountant and my first thought was “chose teaching”. Ha. The moral seems to be: grass is always going to be greener, a couple of decades into any career will have you questioning your life choices, there will be regret and you will wonder why you even went to college. But that’s just “work” my friend. You will be fine with whatever choice you make (assuming your degree is not in like Art Theory or something). I second a bunch of other folks, I went into accounting bc I wasn’t smart enough for “real math”.
I was a history teacher at the high school and college level before moving to accounting. I love history, liked writing lectures, enjoyed grading most of the time, liked doing academic research, and enjoyed most of the job. But I absolutely hated dealing with parents and struggled after a while trying to engage kids who didn’t give a shit and really didn’t want to be there. It is (of was for me, at least) demoralizing to put your heart into trying to reach kids and maybe you reach a few of them, but a lot you simply can’t. And it’s hard when you see year after year of kids making the same terrible life choices. I couldn’t deal with it. Granted, I taught high school and community college. I’m sure it’s different with younger kids. Not going to lie, it also got to be pretty hard when the people I went to college with who didn’t work nearly as hard as me and did worse in school than me were all making 2 or 3 times what I was making. Nothing says you can’t study both accounting and education in college. It will probably take you an extra year or so to do it (particularly if your education program includes student teaching and licensure), but you need 150 hours for CPA eligibility, so the extra year wouldn’t be wasted. My school didn’t offer a track for business education (to be able to teach marketing, accounting, entrepreneurship, etc at the high school level). If yours does, that might be a good way to combine your interests. Depending on the course numbers used in the education program (if the courses are taught by the business school or the Ed school, basically) a lot of those hours toward your Ed degree might count toward a business degree and/or CPA requirements. One good thing about accounting and teaching—there are pretty much always more jobs than there are people willing to teach them. Doing accounting and education would also potentially open up some opportunities for corporate training, business education content development, and other things if you don’t want to be an accountant or teacher for your whole career. Having said all that, I was really good at science but it was too easy and was boring because of that. I was pre-med for my first two years but was bored and not really challenged by it, so I changed to something that was interesting and challenging—history!
Are you sure pay is bad in teaching in your area? That's largely a geographic thing. What they don't tell you is you can go teacher than administration is and make alot more than teaching.
OP, you can become a teacher with any degree. But you only be an accountant with an accounting degree. Get the accounting degree, and if for some reason you hate it, transition into teaching.
Why not do both? Teach accounting. A number of opportunities exist with just a Masters at the college level with good pay and work life balance.
That is definitely a good point. Would be a little more interested in early education like K-3 than I would be college. But it’s better than nothing.
I hope it all works out for you.
Thank you brother. You as well.
No. 40 and thinking about going another direction.
How come
It feels unfulfilling. At the end of the day accounting is overhead and I’m just feeling stuck in a meaningless job. I also just turned 40 and that might be it. Also a 26 year old just got promoted above me and that really upset me. 6 years of public accounting and 9 years in industry and my experience doesn’t feel valued.
I am 36 and I 100% agree with you. Journal entries, month end close, QoQ analysis, etc. Same crap every month. I do not hate it but just don't really care. I started learning python couple weeks ago and may consider a career change to be a programmer. Good luck my fellow accountant ✌️
At first I wanted to say yes, but I also think consulting would be fun
also I don’t hate my job, I don’t love it but I work in industry and it’s pretty chill and reliable, I never actually work for 40 hours a week
If I could do it all over again I’d pick a different mentor. Love what I do but I hate the fucker who taught me to be good at it. What I’ve learned professionally is if they’ll treat you like family they’ll treat you like shit or not have enough resources for you.
In my early career I definitely hated my job and I imagined all sorts of alternative paths I could have taken. But as I move forward, the more I think about it, the more I realize that if I had to do it all again, I’d probably choose accounting. There are some things I’d definitely do differently, but largely I’m content with how my career has turned out. You will probably hate your life when you’re first starting out though.
I can see that. With the studying for the CPA and being an absolute workhorse with lower pay compared to many, I can definitely see why you would dislike it at first.
I’d choose computer engineering or something that’s pays a large chunk more that requires less hours. That would also involve getting my younger self to be more disciplined. Content with where I ended up.
Yeah I’m good at this and not much else
No I wouldn't. It's worked out really great, but I don't really find much purpose in it. I'd probably have been better at engineering or something more interesting. And yes tax can be "interesting" I just mean something more tangible than numbers in a spreadsheet or on a return.
If you want an easy life I would recommend going goverment preferably feds. They love hiring new grads. Work life balance pension no chance outsourcing.
Great point, name recognition of the college probably doesn’t matter either.
The only thing I would do differently is start accounting earlier instead of waiting till my 30s. And also not let myself gain so much weight lol.
Hahaha I’m sure you’re fine man! Gotta be confident and comfortable in your own body. At the end of the day, I know when I’m on my death bed I’m not gonna be wishing I rejected that cupcake or ice cream, ima be wishing I had more of both deserts.
100% - If I could turn back time I would have chosen a state school right out of high school to get a running start at this career but I would stay. I was a part time adult student who graduated with a bachelors @30 and a MACC @45. This career had provided me and my family stability. Plus, I don’t hate what I do
How is the state school education treating you? I am a little uncertain on my major as I noted above. However, I am REALLY uncertain on my school. I got into a small state school 25k total cost with no big 4 recurring, but I also got into the top business school within Mn but it costs 100k total, and I would have to commute 45 minutes daily. Do you think school matters, would you do a state school even if you had the money to go to a university. (I don’t, but I am willing to act as if I do if it is worth it lol)
I went private - only 6k left on that loan (the interest is so small I don’t rush paying it off) masters I took out 25k while paying some cash along the way. I wish I could have opted for a state school but as an alternative student, I think I did well. I didn’t do big 4 - mix of government & industry. Would have loved that option though!
No, finance. Easier, people think it’s harder, make more money, get to be an asshole and everything thinks it’s part of the game.
My honest answer: no. Here’s why: Accounting is a decent job on paper. Stable, decent pay, clear promotion track, etc. But it doesn’t pay amazing well like Investment Banking or Consulting, and you can still end up getting laid off. It’s also extremely boring work, and the hours can be bad unless you’re in government. Like you, I wanted a career with good pay. My dad was a lawyer, so I saw the benefits of hard work and a high-paying job. However, that was my main reason for going into accounting. I was just chasing money. I’m miserable most days. The work itself is mind-numbing, the people I work with are either straight-up assholes or have the personality of a stale saltine cracker, and the job tends to be pretty stressful. Add to that the fact that most people don’t see a lot of value in accounting, and you have a recipe for a miserable career. Here’s my advice: find something you enjoy and pursue that. If you like teaching and/or plumbing, please consider those career paths. In all honesty, you could make a similar amount of money owning your own plumbing business as you could being an accountant. My sister is a teacher and she loves teaching. My brother is a software engineer and he really enjoys the work he does. College is a good thing, and I’d recommend getting a degree if you can. But don’t just get an accounting degree unless you’re sure it’s what you really want to do. Money isn’t everything, and you will be *far* happier in life doing something you enjoy than just grinding for your next paycheck. Feel free to dm me if you have any questions or would like a more detailed summary of what my day-to-day job is like. I’ve worked in both audit and tax, and I’d be more than happy to answer your questions or give you “day in the life” info.
You need to pursue your passion and do what you like to do. Otherwise you will find yourself depressed and hating your life. After high school you have time to figure things out before committing to something serious. Take a year or two and try some professions that interest you. Nice part about accounting is that you can study it and become an accountant at any point in your life
Nope, would have gone fully into CS and statistics all those years ago. Accounting was a mistake. In the long-run I was looking into doing an AIS PhD for the stability of teaching and the scarcity of Accounting professors back then. Accounting can be the right choice for someone in a low paying job, as it offers a low-investment high return option out of poverty (since cheap community college credits count equally to Wharton MBA credits, toward sitting for the CPA).
I dreamed of being a news anchor my whole childhood. I had very practical parents who told me college wasn’t worth it unless I majored in something that would pay well and would be a job not greatly affected by a recession. I don’t hate being an accountant. But I still day dream about being a news anchor. Ironically, I now have a daughter who is a junior in high school and wants to major in marine biology. I find myself thinking like my parents and wanting her to major in something that is more practical. But I feel like I’m crushing her dream.
Fuck no, what a shitshow of an industry to be in. NEVER BECOME AN ACCOUNTANT!
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Then why not actually work in a field where talking to the client actually matters? like a service industry or sales? I rarely ever see the client needing help over accounting matters, like what someone working in public who visits at most a few months is going to actually no more than the person who works in that company for years at a time? If that isn't hubris I dont know what is.
Nah
What would you change too?
Firefighting / police
Definitely my number one job when I was younger. I know a lot of small cities are hiring with two years college experience and at only 18 years old. Never too late to look into it.
I am honestly looking into ff, i wouldnt pass the police polygraph
Good for you man! Taking that initiative to enjoy life!
I’d probably go in IT, the salary is extremely high for what they do. When I share my screen with an IT technician, it feels like my 16 year-old self solving issues. Very basic, but for a boomer it looks insane.
Probably not. Given the money, robust compensation packages, wfh capability, and freelancing/contract possibilities I would have become a software engineer. If that didn't pan out I would gotten into construction or supply chain management.
Teaching sucks ass. Don’t do it. Your mom is comfortable doing it because she’s a veteran. Teachers tell you the first 3 years are complete hell. Most quit. We can no longer fail students. No accountability for anyone but the teacher. If you think this sub hates their job, go check the teaching sub. Also, volunteering in a class is nothing like being a teacher. Also, depends on your state, but most states only require a bachelors to teach, and it doesn’t matter the subject. So you can always try teaching later. Can you tell I tried teaching first… Going back to school for accounting. Either way, do what’s right for you. Best of luck, friend.
I mean ontop of volunteering once a day weekly I also work at a daycare the other days of the week. So I feel like I have somewhat of an idea of teaching. Not anywhere near a licensed teacher, but I have the idea. But thank you, I will probably do accounting just a little unsure if that is something i want to do, and if I can handle the classes that come with it. But thank you truly! Best of luck on finishing up your accounting degree.
I’ve worked daycares and community youth centers; it’s still a walk in the park compared to teaching. Please try subbing, especially long term subbing. I just worked at a school where a first grader spits in the principal’s face, kicks and hits the teachers, and you’re not allowed to do anything. At all. The mother was invited in and did nothing. If you do work in schools, pick a good one if you can find one. Daycares and any center you can kick out bad students. You can’t with school.
If I could go back, I’d keep my pharmacy GPA above a 3.5 and keep my full ride scholarship. I had a 3.43 after my first 3 semesters and lost the full ride. If I had to go back to college post-change, I’d have taken my job offer from the university as a project analyst. If I had to stay in accounting, I wouldn’t have done tax and probably would’ve skipped PA in general.
I am redoing life to be an accountant after a long time as a civil servant. I hope I like it- I feel like I will be too old to change again.
If I were to do it again and this is from the POV of a young CFO with experience touching a lot of things really quickly and growing up poor, I would be an accountant to start my career again BUT I would study engineering (which I am doing now) and accounting. We solve problems with imperfect or missing facts and is expected to fill in the blanks quickly. I concluded that while my intuition has taken me really really far in life there’s a clear gap and having sat down with different types of engineers that are friendly enough to explain me why I am wrong… I need to learn their tools of thought and their process of solving the same problem but non-financially
If I could have a redo I would not go into accounting. All the years of long hours sitting in a chair staring at ledger papers and now screens and just more long hours and screen time to look forward to, no thanks. I always wanted to be either a fire tower ranger or national park ranger or anything with lots of nature. I deeply regret. Or following my dreams and listening to the net sayers who said I need a profession in an office to make enough to live on. I would rather have all my unpaid hours over 40 a week back and less money in the bank with an amazing view of nature to wake up to every day. I am 15 years from SS retirement age and we are now looking into leaving our current “making a good living jobs” and finding our dream jobs in nature to take us to retirement.
Yes, I think becoming an accountant is up there with the best decisions I’ve ever made. None of my family had any money or connections, so my time in PA served as the network I needed to launch my career. Now I work as a consultant and love what I do, whom I do it with, and my compensation structure. I would also add, you can redo your life at any point. It’s never too late. You never have to resign yourself to a position that you’re not happy with. You could go to school, get your CPA and PA experience, realize you don’t like it, and go be a plumber. The opposite is true too. Plenty of blue collar folk transition into accounting. Your future is ALWAYS yours to shape. “‘What is the world’s greatest lie?’ The little boy asks. The old man replies ‘It is this: that at a certain point in our lives, we lose control of what’s happening to us, and our lives become controlled by fate. That is the worlds greatest lie’” - The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
Hell no. Probably something Health Science/Medicine. I switched majors from Math and accounting/finance was the closest in credits to get me to graduate in a reasonable time that was still “math-y”. Second up was actuarial science but longer time to graduate. But knowing I would be in school for Medicine anyway I should have thought about it harder for a semester and gone down that route. Still kick myself sometimes.
I need you to hold the F for 10 seconds and repeat after me: “Fuck no” I was in the last graduating class at my school to not have internet, so I didn’t know about things like forensic anthropology. And to add to that, I got a D first quarter of freshman year, so my ever supportive mother said I’d never get into med or flight school and I listened.
If my parents weren't so persistent/only supporting me in accounting, like they were, if I went back in time I would've probably chosen nursing and would've studied/read more about my own interests and hobbies
Yeah, it gave me the head start I needed regarding money. Work a few years in public, save well, don’t spend lavishly and then switch to something else more chill and coast. It’s also nice to have as a backup. Like I’m pretty confident I could get a staff role in public again if I absolutely had to. Can’t say the same for many other fields.
nope
No
I would've gone to uni 3 years earlier and potentially gone the comp Sci route, but accounting is also a good fit for me. I didn't know how to go into uni and I had no support from family to do it so I was a bit late to the party
Yes, it has provided a reliable source of employment for 40+ years, no matter where I have lived. I am not a CPA, but worked for numerous CPA’s and in industry. I figure the low pay and long hours I worked as a staff accountant was a good trade off for the experience and knowledge I received, allowing me to be self employed for the last decade+. Accounting was a good choice for me.
Absolutely not and this comes from someone with 10 YOE making 400k+ in one of the two highest COL areas in the country. Accounting isn’t sexy, it’s boring but it pays the bills and some and I’m half decent at it. However if I had a crystal ball 14 years ago, I woulda picked CS and went to a tech company or a quant fund. If I had a crystal ball 9 years ago, I woulda picked some PHD track that will land me a job in AI. But, I don’t have a crystal ball, and so I can’t tell you what to do.
When you’re making 400k+ with only 10 years in, say you’re idk 35? You could probably retire by the time you turn 45 if you downsize your lifestyle, definitely by 50. I feel like that is the most interesting part of accounting to me, hopefully make the big dollars, and retire early with some investment properties on the side of it.
Yes, I agree with you. Accounting/Tax pay is definitely not as bad as some people think, especially if you go to the right industry/company (as far as I know it’s tech and finance but could be more than just these two) (one of my friends thought I make less than 100k a year by comparing me to an accounting professional at a bodega they know and because I told them I don’t really have someone to manage below me and they thought I’m still some low level employee processing AR/AP). But you have to be ok with the grind - more than half of the people who started with me have already left the industry. A recruiter my age who made 600k last year (and really not much in 2020) told me over drinks that, he turns out to be fine now but if he knew how much money he coulda made by staying in accounting, he may not have left big four after just a couple years. Second, Accounting/in house legal counsel/compliance is always a cost to a company, unless you stay in public accounting/law firm. This is a mentality thing that matters a lot to some. On the other hand, being a profit center doesn’t mean you’ll make more than being a cost center, but it almost always means a lot more work. I know that because a big four partner has confided once to me that after auditing payroll for his clients, he thought about why he didn’t leave for the industry for more money and better WLB. Last but not least, it depends on how smart you are / what resources that are available to you, you can make more doing something other than accounting and it doesn’t mean more work - and then the question becomes, why don’t you go to school for that type of work?
I'd try to be an HR business partner
Fuck no
Love my job. My boss. My coworkers. My hours. Of course I've encountered people I'm not a fan of but that will be every job. I work from home most days , I don't miss any of my kids events ever. Did an internship in college and have been with the same company ever since. Just did some movement internally. Never did. PA .
Yes. I loved being an Auditor. Now as an Accountant it's easy and I work from home. I've had other careers though so know the trade offs...big tech, insurance, entrepreneurship, real estate, doing nothing for years.
For what it’s worth, I love my job. It’s hard some days depending on my caseload or the issue I’m working, but I don’t have the stress or dread going into my workday that I had with my previous jobs. And it’ll be like that no matter what field you go into- it’ll take some time to find the right workplace that fits your needs. What I find to be great about accounting is that it hasn’t been difficult to find a job. People go into marketing, or general business, and then they can’t find a job. I can find a job easily, and I can replace my job easily if it isn’t working for me. You can’t say that with every field.
No, I would have done CS because obvious reasons. Also many of my friends are in CS. That said, accounting is a good career. I just realized too late I probably could have done a lot better. Not saying much though, I am after all still too lazy to actually prove what I'm saying.
Yes, just would've gotten out of PA before I burned out completely.
I definitely would have gone the project management route instead.
Absolutely not
I definitely would. I was in my 30's when I realized accounting was what I wanted to do. If I went back I would be sure to initiate myself earlier in life to get a better footing than what I have now.
No. Don't do it.
Would have tried harder to get into a top school for finance. I didn’t take enough AP courses in high school, GPA could have been better and would have spent more time and effort studying for the ACT
I would have gone into the Airforce to be a pilot. Then I would have become a commercial pilot they make so much more money. Otherwise I’d still be a CPA. Instead of going into audit I would have done tax. Why? Well tax gets paid more in general and it’s SOOO easy to go do tax work on your own one day and start your own firm. I’m actually thinking about doing this. You could fairly easily make $200k a year and even more from there. You don’t even need an office. Just run your practice out of your house or remotely. Charge an average of $1000 per return and only have around 200 clients and there you go. The only way to have job security and feel like you’re being paid fairly is to have your own firm. Otherwise you’re always busting your ass making someone above you a lot of money while you get paid a fraction of what your true value is.
I went from tax to audit. Tax makes a little more than audit, but not much. And the work is BORING af. Doing 1040s day in and day out sucked the life out of me.
Definitely, but if I knew what I knew now; I’d have started my career in governmental accounting. I probably could have retired in my 50s with a pension. Had a rough time starting in a small cpa firm and looking for industry jobs as everyone wants Big Four years.
Short answer yes. Long answer - I wish accounting would have been offered in high school instead of fighting with a possible education degree first. 😕
No. I would pursue something that can't easily be outsourced or heavily automated. I'm thinking of pursuing commercial aviation.
No, I would never had majored in acccounting.
I've been at this for 27 years. FIve of those were in corporate, then I came back to public. It's much better to be a profit center than a cost center. Yes, I would do it again. I swore off the partner path and am a permanent manager. When I walk out the door, I walk out the door. I don't have my work email on my phone. I make $190K in a LCOL area. Busy season is 60 - 64 billables per week. The rest of the year is like play time. This is in a 20 person firm. It's a pretty good life.
Assuming I can keep my wife and daughter I would major in math or physics in state college and get a master's or PhD.
Accounting is the best bang for the buck degree. Great upward mobile career, and it takes a lot less time and is less difficult compared to engineering or law. Given my desperate life circumstances of needing to crawl out of an abusive childhood/home life with relatively little debt, I would 100% do it again. Although I would've tried much harder in school to get those high paying internships and then try to get my CPA through a fortune 500 development program instead of destroying my physical and mental health in public accounting.
Yes, I would definitely do it again. I enjoy what I do most days. What I would change is I would have gotten my CPA right away, instead of deciding I didn’t need it since I wasn’t going into public accounting. I also wish I’d known that forensic accounting was a thing - by the time I learned about it, I had a small child at home and didn’t want to travel.
I picked accounting thinking I’d be in a secure field. How wrong I was, I’ve been fired a few times, laid off and quite a few roles. Offices that have women are extremely toxic, thankfully I found a place that is 100% men, and these people are serious, collected and to the point. No one brings their dogs, or personal problems here. We work and go home. I was able to buy my own place, but was stagnant for years into small roles not even junior roles, but now I’ve been growing finally. If you’re a natural with numbers this will flow easily for you and you’ll grow - or you might have to climb a few mountains in order to grow in the industry. I’d be a blue collar - my bf is a locksmith and makes over double what I make. I’m making 70K now.
I’d be partner by now. Know all the cheat codes. But a very lazy partner because I’d have so much stink in bitcoin. I’d be partner for flex.
No
I’d probably do it sooner. I didn’t go back to school until I was 25. I like the work I do despite how much I might complain about tax, and it would have been awesome to be making this salary back when buying a house wasn’t a pipe dream.
I wouldn't call a teacher as low stress. Just go to the teacher sub and check it out. And plumbing has its own hardships. Maybe your parents just never told you their complaints. Truth is life is hard for most people. For me, I would still be an accountant. I am not smart enough to do STEM so this is the way for me to break out of poverty without doing hard or dangerous physical labor.
If I could redo life I wouldn't even go to college right out of the gate. I'd go military, then maybe college, or trade school. USMC OCS is my next step. I don't even have a shitty job. I'm in public right now. Work 40 hours a week in busy season and maybe 10 hours a week outside of that. Then couple weeks back at 40 at the extension deadline. I just feel like I was made for more than this. Maybe one day I'll go back to accounting, but for now I'm chasing the dreams that child me had.
Hell, yes, and I would start much earlier in life.
LOL hell no...I wished I didn't fuck off in college and applied myself to get a medical field degree. 25 more years of this shit...I'm not sure I can do it. If I didn't have kids and people that depend on me, I would probably just give up.
Yes, but for different reasons than I initially thought of my career.
I would have done it sooner, rather than change careers, if I had to do it over.
no😭do anything else pls
Yes but earlier
Hell no, would rather do health care bc I rather be around people but I’m stuck in the office playing on excel, chit chatting with the office thotties
Yes, it’s worked out really well so far.
I would absolutely still be an accountant. Social media draws out the worst. People are natural complainers, so we default to sharing the bad and not sharing a good stuff. It's human nature. This career is definitely not easy, but it is super fulfilling IMO. I make good money and serve my clients well. I'm working on the work life harmony bit, ever improving.
Would do it again. I went to a mid tier unheard of school. Didn’t go into public accounting even though my university shoved it down our throats. Now I’m 29 with 7 YOE, owning a house and not worrying about money the way my parents did. Accounting will always be viable. You may have to adapt to different tools as technologies evolve but it’s doable. Good luck on whatever you choose!
Yes, began my career at 40 as i didn't want to waste my 20s and 30s behind a desk. Nice to have a career where i no longer worry about money and get to work 6-2 and leave everything at work after 2.......
No. Why would you ask that?
just be a lawyer instead.
Would definitely try to push hard to become a pilot. There is a pilot shortage right now and most captain with 20 years experience got pay 400k for working half a year. The perks of hooking up with FA and travel the world while getting discount for hotel and buddy pass are cherry on top. - Not easy and require a lot of investment upfront but worth it - Also no outsource and all aviation workers are unionize!! - Think about it!!
Pilot. Always wanted to be pilot but my nationality/passport is shit so the career projection in my opinion is bad.
No, I will for sure be software engineer.
No, not all. It doesn't pay well enough.
I would’ve probably majored in accounting sooner.
hell nno
Absolutely not.
I would have made a few different career moves / worked different jobs, but I would still have chosen the accounting path
Not a chance!
Nah, too boring and monotonous. What got a CPA and did public accounting just to make as much a little more then others while expecting to work crazy amount of hours? The expectation to look "professional" everyday while your entire company is in casual clothes, just because your boss wants to see you dress as a monkey? Almost the entire work can be done from home around 5days a week yet you are still force to come into the office even though the rest of the departments are wfh? Everyone trying to lie to you about how you need to be "smart" and "creative" in this field, nah man follow the rules and dont go against accounting philosphy. I worked in a major city and even then if you didnt act "white" you aint alright. Do analytics? for what no one in the entire company uses our analysis we are literally not trained to do analysis that is either finance or data or stats, but not us, we record that is our job and yet so many of us likes to play dress up and say akshually i can analyize the accounts cuz me smart smart. When your managers doesn't realize no one cares about our department, there is literally no need for a super serious work environment stop trying to bring that PA stuff into private. Anecdotal, The best accountants I've ever know all say similar stuff, no need for creativity or critical thinking this is not the field for it, you grind for years then you get to retire this is the industry. The degree and CPA is pretty easy dont let people trick you into thinking its not , but the grind is something you are going to have to decide if you can put up with.
No
I probably wouldn't to be honest. It's not physically demanding or dangerous. I don't find it particularly stressful but having no life 5-6 months out of the year is getting old. Veterinarian or firefighter sounded like cool jobs but my parents heavily pressured me into working in some office role even though they both worked office jobs but complained about them constantly lol Trying to figure out how to leverage my experience into a position with better hours.
Nope
Hell no.