Hi- I'm a CPA who spent 10+ years in Fortune 500 accounting/finance/audit roles. I started my own (non accounting) business, while employed as an accountant.....it took off and I've been out of corporate America for a few years now (thank God).
Looking back, the most important piece of advice I would give to any student, new grad or fresh accountant: It is extremely easy to get pigeonholed into an undesirable career path in this field. Usually, you are stuck in a path you don't want long before you realize it.

In my experience, the best way to prevent this is to do the right research and ask the right questions when interviewing. Not just that- find ex-employees on Linkedin and get their opinion. I've worked for companies with good reputations, but were incentivized to make deadend jobs seem like they offered growth and opportunities. This is not uncommon. In my experience, the best sign you are interviewing for a good company is to see the career/job trajectory of people who worked a similar or same job at the same company. Also easily found on Linkedin. The company will promise anything to get you in the door to work a deadend job. Don't trust them. Verify.

I just got fired today from my first Accounting job that I’ve been at for a year and I didn’t feel any type of emotions when they did it. I was placed on a PIP earlier this month and I did everything I could to work my way off of it. I would check in with my managers and supervisors when work got done going the extra mile. I would show up to work very early and stay late to get work done. I would even help other peers with their work just to show I’m improving and they still fired me. I cleaned my cubicle out and when I got to my car I just started laughing because at the end of the day these job do not care about you and I came to that realization lol.

My best was four pages taped together because the client didn’t know how to format, but the part that had me literally laughing out loud was the adding machine tape stapled to each column. Totals were not in the spreadsheet. I introduced the client to AutoSum and blew their mind.

Currently working in corporate accounting as in-house Senior Accountant, but the same applied when I worked in Public Accounting for small and medium businesses. I spend so much of my time having to explain to people why they can't commit financial fraud. No, you can't create fake invoices. No, you can't pay your workers late. No, you can't bypass our internal controls or policies. No, you can't do X illegal thing because it makes your life easier. It's so exhausting and the worst part is that people will argue will me forever about "but why can't I do it???!!". I'm tired y'all.

That is all.

Call me crazy but I miss public… I left public after a year in tax b/c I received an offer for 40k more, better benefits and is at a cheaper cost to me and obviously way more WLB to be home more with my wife and kid but I still miss tax so much. Obviously I will never go back unless salaries drastically improve so I’m in the process of getting my CPA and opening my own tax shop on the side until I can replace my current income.

Do any of you miss public?

Hi everyone, I'm currently a Junior in college and I'm in my Intermediate Financial Accounting course.

I just got the second (of three) exam back and I got a 98, and I got a 100 on the first exam. With how much I've had to study for this course I'm very proud of how it's gone and how well I'm doing (hence I just wanted to brag). The second exam especially was hard, so many in class didn't finish.

I also have a busy season tax internship next semester with a top 10 firm that I'm really looking forward to as well!

Lock in and good things will come to you! Make sure you understand the material - practice and if you get it wrong, understand why you get it wrong, fix it for next time!

Just wanted to brag. Y'all are awesome :)

Been a Controller for 6 years. 3 PE backed portfolio companies. A mix of headaches and cleanups and moving at a fast pace for the LP's and a higher than average salary. I want to do more than being stuck in this seat.

In my personal experience, the people that are moving up faster are the finance folks, not the CPA folks like myself. I have a ton on my plate at all times and I don't have the bandwidth to build out fancy models or learn cool AI agent stuff. But I want to.

Anyone else hit this plateau? I want to break through to VP of F or CFO but super hard to gain the skills when you don't have a seat directly at the FP&A table.

Thoughts?!

Has anybody started their own accounting firms? How long did it take and was it worth it? How much do you make now? and hows your work life balance?

I wonder what the industry ramifications of this will be? I imagine clients will take a much harder review over any submissions and other work performed by accounting firms before just blindly accepting

‘Extremely disappointed’: WA government seeks reimbursement from Deloitte over flawed university report | Western Australian politics | The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/oct/26/deloitte-report-wa-university-mergers-260m-discrepancy-ai

I'm 22 and I've spent the last four years in post-secondary pursuing a degree that I don't even like.

I started in accounting, switched majors a few times during second and third year, and eventually came back to accounting because it seemed like the most practical option. The problem is that I've only recently started to understand the material after 4 goddamn years, and even now it's by far my weakest and most difficult subject. Since I've already used up most of my electives, my semesters are now almost entirely accounting courses. Every term just reinforces the feeling that the thing I've chosen as a career is the subject I'm worst at.

My real passion has always been art and design. Hell, I even found law more interesting than anything I've learned in business school.

But I've always been terrified of the "starving artist" reality. I'm aware that I'm not some exceptionally talented artist who can effortlessly make a living doing creative work. When I was choosing a major in high school, accounting felt like the safer option. I wanted stability, decent job prospects, and a career where I could clock in, clock out, pay my bills, and still feel somewhat fulfilled.

Now I'm not sure I've found any of that.

My college offers a Business Administration Accounting diploma, and I'm only one semester away from completing it. Part of me wants to take the diploma and run. It feels like my ticket out. At the same time, I know how important a bachelor's degree can be. If I ever want to pursue a CPA, I need to keep going. I also recognize that I'm in a really privileged position. I'm still young, I live with my parents, and I don't have major financial responsibilities. Logically, it probably makes sense to stick it out and finish the degree while I have the opportunity.

But mentally, I'm exhausted.

I feel trapped between finishing a degree I don't enjoy because it's the smart thing to do, and walking away because I genuinely can't see myself doing this forever.

What the hell do I do?

TL;DR: 22, four years into an accounting degree (will take me 6 to complete) that I don't enjoy and struggle with. I'm one semester away from an accounting diploma and tempted to leave, but finishing the bachelor's would open more doors and allow me to pursue a CPA. I feel stuck between doing what's practical and doing what I'd actually enjoy. What would you do?

I've reached full and complete burnout of working for companies. I just hate the idea of reporting to somebody every day and working with other teams that constantly make my job hell.

For the past 2 years I've been doing fractional work on the side and have scaled it to about $90k of annual recurring revenue. I've been doing a lot of networking lately and have about another $30k of annual recurring revenue that I think will convert in about 2-3 months.

I'm still a bit away from what I earn with my full time job and I keep having the same conversation with myself that both incomes right now are great. But the burnout is real. It would be ideal to quit and then just go all in on the fractional. It would likely be another year before I can match the income of what I'm earning now with both.

Curious to hear advice or feedback from anyone that has been in the same position and how it played out for you.

I recently finished a MAcc in taxation and left an accounting clerk job to start a new job as a staff accountant for a small industry company (in June).

I did VITA last year and got my EA so I am interested in tax, but got (what seemed like) a good offer for my current job so I accepted it to learn and make more.

This new job is not turning out to be what I expected at all, even though I tried my best to vet the company and position before starting. It feels like I’m doing everything but accounting, including payroll, HR, sales admin, operations, financial analysis, and the accounting work is mostly limited to AP/AR so far.

The person previously doing this work quit right after I started, and they didn’t replace her. I’m worried about bringing this up because they have been doing layoffs and are still doing some. (The company stays afloat by the owner personally investing money)

There are other issues and concerns I have about the company as well, and overall I’m just feeling exhausted. I definitely wouldn’t have taken this job if I knew what I’d be getting into.

I’m studying for the CPA right now, and am considering reaching out to firms for busy season. I’d honestly consider leaving this job even for a temporary tax job (permanent/FT would be the goal). That would leave me with roughly a 6 month stint at this job (previous jobs were 8 months then 2 years) but it shows progression in title.

Anyone been in a similar situation or have any advice?

Senior accountant resigned and I got the promotion. Boss requested a six month probation period then we would revisit comp, job title and other benefits. I requested it in writing and I was told no. Plus no comp until we revisit.

thoughts?

I graduated this spring with an Econ degree and I’ve struggled to land a job in the finance and Econ fields as I don’t have any internships and my GPA was mediocre.

I’ve thought about going back to school for accounting as it looks like getting a CPA opens a lot of doors. Would you guys say that it’s worth it for someone like me? Or is there more I should do to get into the accounting field?

Hi friends,

I recently moved from a boutique CPA firm making $50k doing what my understanding of CAAs/ CAS is plus a high volume 1040s to a mid-size regional firm doing CAS/CAAS at $82k as a Staff. As a solo parent studying for the CPA exam, taking a $32k pay increase was an instant yes.
The new firm seems great and I'm told I'll only do a small amount of tax work compared to the full tax department. However, I keep falling down online rabbit holes about CAS having "no prestige," lower salary ceilings, and being a "lower tier" line of service.
The new firm has multiple CAS partners and managers and the department has about 15 staff members in total. I'm struggling to find actual facts to back up the negativity but unfortunately I’m already bummed out about the position and feel quite insecure about it.
For anyone in CAS/CAAS:
What is the real salary trajectory compared to Tax/Audit?
I Know the CPA will open doors for me. But am I over thinking this too much. I only have three years of PA experience. I have only worked in PA
I Would love to hear your opinions.

I don’t mind working hard, but I’d like for it to be reasonable. Meaning a normal 9-5, and I understand if closes take a while and can run late on occasion.

The jobs I’ve interviewed for in industry seem like it’s 9-9 and the dept is all depressed or I’m 1 of 2 accountants in a shitty situation. I didn’t leave public to have 9pm and 8am calls with some offshore team in Bangalore.

Tons of red flags and lots of awful situations. The worst part is that some of these jobs are for well known highly profitable companies too.

I don’t think it’s unreasonable to want reasonable hours and respectful environment. When I hint towards those things you can see the interviewers eyes widen.

“But but but you worked in big 4!!!” Is the vibe I get.

Like yes, I’m a strong CPA, I can work 65 billable a week in nyc and manage 10 clients at once under 4 hard ass boomer partners.

But I wouldn’t be talking to you if I wanted to keep doing that forever? Especially since you can’t match the pay?

Like how we do we find a reasonable role in industry nowadays. Are they all taken and the only ones left are just trash?

And yes I’ve used my network, everyone’s on hiring freeze (either officially or unofficially) and the ones who do have openings will warn you it’s for a complete shitshow that will make you miss public accounting.

…. So how do we do it? ☹️

Im a senior Accountant and have been corporate accounting since i graduated college 9 years ago. Im CPA eligible but never pursued it cause I learned after a few years this field isnt my forever career. I have been with my current company for 5 years and in my role for 4, but the burnout is starting to hit me hard. I've been doing the same thing for all this time and it got boring three years ago. Ive tried laterally transferring to another role but this company has great benefits and our team is mostly remote so turnover is basically non existent. I don't think finding a new job in accounting will fix the burn out, it might be a bandaid depending on the role, but would really love to switch to a finance/FP&A role (which ive applied for dozens of them).

How do you help the burnout when your doing the same thing every week and month?

Those of you that switched fields, what did you change to and how do you like it?

Edit. I said 4 hours in the title but meant 4 years. Pre coffee brain

Well I've had a crazy year.

After an injury that left me partially disabled, I was unable to continue the structure of my corporate job. In September, I quit that job and went into working for myself.

First 30 days and I got a 5 figure cleanup contract. Behind the scenes, for the last year, I've been in talks with another bookkeeper about her exit plan. Well she's selling her business, and I brought the idea to the president of the firm I joined. After a lot of conversations, modeling, and one final really anxiety inducing call, we came to an agreement on price and timeline.

I'll be buying my first book with the president of my firm at the ripe age of 26. Holy fuck.

I'm not worried about maintaining the level of service these clients are receiving, I'm worried they won't trust me. I'm wondering if anyone else has ever bought a book of business, how that went for you, what you did to prove yourself to your new clients, etc?

I currently have a very big dilemma as I am deciding between two mutually exclusive options of a tax internship or resident advisor position. I'm a sophomore accounting major and I just received an offer to join as a Tax intern for Busy Season 2028 (my junior year). However, I have already accepted an offer for a Deloitte Summer 2028 audit internship. Thus, I am trying to discern whether or not to accept this tax internship for the experience or apply to be a resident advisor instead.

I would save about $15,000 if I were to be an RA (housing, food, etc.) compared to the $11,500 I would make as the Tax Intern. In addition, I wouldn't find out the RA results until March which could throw a wrench in upperclassmen housing if rejected (~30% acceptance rate). What do I do? Do I accept the tax internship or reject it and apply to become an RA? I could also accept the internship AND apply to be an RA...then renege the offer in March if given the RA position.

I'm so conflicted because I obviously want to work at Deloitte post-grad (not this other firm), so this decision is just a matter of finances and personal development. Please help!!!

I see a lot of people worried on this sub on their job potentially being taken by AI in the next AI or so. I spent some time thinking about this and came to the conclusion that people are worried too much for a number of reasons.

1 - Accounting was already highly automated

ERPs have already taken over almost all transactional accounting, memorized journal entries and specifically designed contracts workflows already automate the vast majority of all revenue recognition tasks, all amortization tasks, and inventory. Excel with the usage of macros and Powerquery already could do the vast majority of adhoc analysis with a few clicks.

Accounting is already in a state where it can be compared to piloting a plane or being a pharmacist, fields where autopilot and drug interaction databases perform like 95% of the work if not more. Think about it. What exactly does AI add here that traditional automation did not already do to this field? Which brings me to the second point.

2 - Human accountability

Ultimately our profession is largely automated. The reason we hire people and have them sign off on workflows, workpapers, audits, approve outlier journal entries, produce and review the support for said journal entries is because the accounting professional provides assurance and accountability. Someone needs to be responsible for the numbers, someone has to provide the quality check, and someone has to exist to point fingers at when things are wrong.

Machines in the short term future cannot and will not be held accountable for their decisions. The skeleton crew of humans who did accounting work likely will not meaningfully change.

3 - Long term knowledge

AI does not continually learn or keep context over a very long period. Your specific business that you work at has little quirks and little changes every month that add up over years. Why is the invoice from that one vendor intercompany allocated to a subsidiary in Malaysia? Why do we trawl the GL months after some transactions are made to see if project coding should be swapped out? At the warehouse, we noticed some spare parts exist, where are they on our GL? These are easy tasks for humans who keep business context indefinitely in their heads, but very hard for AI.

You could scale up context windows to billions or even trillions of tokens, but it's inherently lossy and scales up the cost to an obscene level. A very high context window (10s of millions of tokens) for say Claude Opus 5.5 costs 90+ USD a query. Without continual learning, its quite likely AI will need a copilot for context since scaling up tokens infinitely doesn't work.

4 - The real world

AI can't call up city clerks for you, it can't show up to city hall for you, it can't go to a warehouse or factory for real world inspections, it cannot open bank accounts on your behalf, it cannot observe business operations in person to see if controls are being met, it obviously cannot represent you in a tax court, it can't wine and dine clients for your firm... In the meat space, AI is inherently not embodied and cannot do a lot of the soft people work you don't even think about.

5 - ROI

This partially circles back to my first point. Companies don't have armies of accountants anymore, we have a handful of people in skeleton crews overseeing mostly automated reporting. Doing mostly standardized audits and tax filings.

Professional judgement on say technical IFRS and deeper financial analysis are a tiny subset of accountants who are at risk of displacement. The vast majority of accountants are doing meat proxy work for automation already. Most organizations don't get much ROI from cutting down on the few accountants they have remaining, this isn't a focus point for them. Developers are getting hit cause they cost 200k a year and tech companies hired armies of them.

Anyway I am not particularly worried in the short term that AI will take our jobs for these reasons. In the long term I am sure it will. Feel free to weigh in.

This has got to be a joke at this point.

I'm graduating in about a month with my MAcc after a BS in accounting and getting my AA in high school, yes, I am quite young compared to the average grad with a 3.9ish GPA. I've worked at a small family business and have taken care of the accounting there since I was about 17 - I have been *the* accountant there so I've done a bit of everything. I don't really get paid much at all though and need a new job.

Fast forward and naturally, I've sent out exactly 212 applications, 56 denials, 6 failed interviews - I keep a spreadsheet so I don't send multiple resumes into one place. My resume has been reviewed by a couple managers I know who said it's "good". I made a few connections to firms in my area - they all have been in the tune (and one outright said) "I would sooner hire someone out of McDonald's" because why? They're cheaper?

I hate to say it but I don't think I can do anything more. My interview skills are decent and definitely better than the competition in my area. I prepare proof and descriptions of all the projects I've done from taxes to budgeting to automation - it's not as if I even get that far in the interview process however to show it. I network to the point that just about every firm in the area personally knows and recognizes me. They all know that I need a job but very few of them will even give me a chance at an interview. They would rather hire someone who doesn't know what they're doing, stays around for a couple weeks, quits and then the firms want to complain about how they can't find qualified candidates.

Pardon? I'm not sure if I'm a "qualified candidate" and all but it's not like I'll ever know without a chance. At the very least, you can't complain *to me* about how you can't find prospective employees when I can see the resume I gave you in the trashcan over there. I still think my header design looks pretty, even with it sticking out of the can there FYI.

I've also been applying to every industry job I can find information about. The only one to contact me back was a business that instead wanted me to work as a forklift operator - I'm not sure how they got that from my education but oh well. It's not really worth discussing that side of this with how much I just get ghosted there.

I feel like the only chance I have left is Robert Half. I have no idea how this works and I've always heard bad stuff from recruitment agencies. I've also seen a lot of good stuff on here about Robert Half specifically so I have no idea what to think. They have something like 14 active postings in my area last I checked but I have no idea what that really means. I guess I just contact them and ask for a handler? Does anyone have any other ideas or any advice on how to handle the Robert Half pathway? Will they likely assign me to a firm or an industry job? Because I would theoretically like to get my CPA but the firms in this area seem to be far too elitist to actually offer positions to fulfill work hours to people who are eligible.

Is this a canon event or do I switch majors

Hey all! So I’ve been interviewing for audit with a couple mid tier firms and BDO was on the list. Decided to check out the subreddit and after seeing the bad PR the firm has received, it’s giving me second thoughts. Can anyone give me reasons why I SHOULD go with BDO compared to the other mid tiers?