Now that I work for a fully remote firm I feel like I actually enjoy my job. My experience has been that in every office job I've had there was just zero reason for me to even be in office. For every single accounting position I've held, 100% of my responsibilities could be done from home and the idea of having to commute to a sterile office to do them just annoyed me.

Even when I was in office practically all of the meetings we held were over Zoom sitting at our own computers so there was literally 0 point.

Training? I've heard people say training is easier in office. My experience is that all my trainings were over Zoom anyway.

When I worked in audit all of my engagements were with teams from other offices, so I would go in every day just to be in Zoom calls all day with people I never met.

As the title states, the path to partner for the top 10 firms is gone.

Looking at our economic outlook, the neo partnership models of forced attrition and off shoring, lack of graduates entering the field, etc makes the path extremely challenging.

Would love to hear why people agree or disagree.

We have Copilot embedded into excel at work and it’s constantly trying to predict my formulas. I feel stressed trying to quickly type in my formula before copilot overtakes and if I don’t make it in time it often merges the two resulting in an error. GO AWAY

Edit: and yes I know you can turn it off, which I’ve done now. Just wanted to vent about how useless copilot is.

I spent a lot of time going through the federal filings in the Rita Crundwell case, and one thing that surprised me wasn't the $53.7 million theft itself. It was what happened after she went to prison.

Dixon eventually sued the auditors and Fifth Third Bank, and in 2013 they agreed to pay the city $40 million without admitting liability.

The really interesting part is how the money moved, who had access to the account, and what the audits actually covered.

I put together a source-by-source breakdown of the case. Curious what people in accounting think about the controls that were in place.

They know I know how to do stuff (most things, not all things) and they just give me more stuff. They want me to manage the engagement and do every little detail because that’s my job and I can but I hate it. Clean up messes, the bulk of the work, from the most complex tasks to the tiniest house keeping, engagement management and all the other crap. I turn the report at 6pm, engagement partner calls me at 10 to go over it, and asks me to fix it tonight, I finish at midnight. The report wasn’t finalized for 3 more weeks. Like what’s the point. The partner said it was one of the most complex deals he’s seen and complimented my work but who gives a shit. I’m not validated by some fossil who thinks I need to wear a suit everyday to show I’m serious about the job.

I miss being a junior, being too stupid to do certain things, not being given the real bs to deal with, being able to be like “oops my bad I’m a junior tee hee” when I made a mistake.

They told me I’m up for promotion for manager, and they want to see me do certain things to show I’m ready, but I don’t want to do those things. Not at all. I’m a CPA and they want me to do more studying/licensing. I don’t care about the client, my firm, my colleagues or any of that.

Might be time to go to industry. Posting from the shitter. Advisory at top 10 public

Interested to hear some stories. Anyone here just never interested in climbing the corporate ladder and felt like you earned enough as a staff/senior so never tried to advance?

I see post over and over from people about how this is boring or they want to quit or just in general about how they are not passionate or would rather do something else. Me I find it very interesting so I wanted to hear from the people who actually enjoy this field and why. And trust I understand there is going to be a decent amount of people who like because it’s stable and pays bills( I also fall in category😂, better than having to find another job all time or not having security, I know people in other majors like marketing and computer science ,struggling and thinking about moving to the field).

I have been in public practice for about 10 years. I have had angry clients, fee disputes, and some genuinely unpleasant conversations.

Never had anything quite like this.

I sent a returning client our engagement agreement and the same time, emailed him explaining that it was for his 2025 tax return services, payment was scheduled for 10/15 after completion, and we needed the agreement approved before filing.

He responds:

“You have not even prepared our returns for 2025 yet. What is this?”

I explain that it is our fixed-price engagement agreement and payment occurs after the service is complete.

I end with, “Let me know if that still is not clear.”

In hindsight, I can see how that could sound condescending. I genuinely meant, “If this still does not make sense, let me know and I will explain.”

He calls me.

I explain again that this is simply the engagement agreement and that he is not being charged for work we have not done.

He gets testy almost immediately. Somehow this escalates into him getting extremely angry and repeatedly dropping F-bombs at me.

Afterward, I actually send him an apology. I tell him I clearly came across differently than I intended, that I was not trying to anger him, and that I would simply mark him down as not engaging us.

I figured that was the end of it.

Nope.

He sends me a long email saying I sounded like “someone’s Midwest mother,” that I went on a “Midwest accented Ned Flanders sounding condescending rant,” and then concludes:

“I assume you are autistic.”

At that point the whole thing was so absurd that I was no longer even mad.

I told him that in 10 years nobody had ever insulted me quite like that, that it was extremely unprofessional, but that I had to give him kudos for creativity because I genuinely chuckled at being called an autistic, Midwestern-accented Ned Flanders.

Then I wished him the best and sent him on his way.

Could I have worded one sentence better? Absolutely.

Did I expect an engagement agreement to end with F-bombs and a detailed comparison of my personality and regional accent to Ned Flanders?

I did not.

Public accounting is a magical profession.

Here's the detail of the role:

Tax Manager:
- $130,000–$180,000
- 1,350 billable hours*
- Fully remote (or hybrid in Austin if you want to be)
- 5+ years total experience required
- 2+ years managing reports is preferred
- CPA or EA required.
- Bachelor's required.
- EST or CST time zones preferred

Why I think it's sat open 14 months: I think our internal P&C coordinator ran a bad search and we were slow to make decisions during the short windows for hiring in tax (typically May-Aug, Nov-Dec). I am aware that there is a shortage of qualified senior tax people, but we've never had a position open this long before.

We’ve also narrowed to specific time zones and decided not to hire in CA, NY, or NJ. Are we hurting ourselves by having these restrictions?

Coming from a larger firm where 1,600 hours was the norm, 1,350 billable hours and $180K in the same post reads like bait, but maybe I am behind the times.

Ask me the hard questions in the comments. I'd rather get destroyed here and improve the appeal of the role than waste more time running bad searches for candidates in LinkedIn.

Our next step is going to pay $5,000 to anyone, employee or not, who introduces us to the person we hire.

\the 1,350 billable hours is real, last year, the two existing managers billed 1,382 and 1,353 respectively. This isn't a "bill 1,350 but actually end up with 1,600 firm". We are growing and want people to have capacity to deliver the proactive advisory our firm has become known for.*

I'm junior year accounting student trying to land an internship and I plan on obtaining a CPA license.

Currently, I've submitted 18 internship applications to one of the big 4 accounting firms, across mainly audit and tax.

I feel silly asking this but could mass applying to one of the big 4 accounting firms - or any accounting firm - cause a recruiter to ignore my applications?

Why do posts on this sub make it seem like these are the only 2 jobs in the world?

Every post about someone wanting to pivot out of accounting mentions nursing and every student who doesn’t know what they want to do seems like they’re only considering these 2 professions.

Why? These fields are completely unrelated in just about every aspect. There are thousands of jobs why is it only nursing that’s compared to accounting lol

A week and a half till the CFE and im still regularly getting RCs and the very occasional Cs on FR AOs

I know you need at least 2-3 C’s on FR or MA to pass level 2 and i was shooting for C’s in FR as MA is too varied for me and more of a gamble

But i just wanted to know is it normal to be getting this little C’s in FR AOs for both day 2 and day 3?

I find that the feedback guide is very nitpicky on what they want for a C and it feels like missing one discussion point can hold you back from a C

I am in my last semester of college (unless I continue to my masters to get cpa credits) I unfortunately have narcolepsy. I am medicated and can work the hours I need to work but I am also realistic. I know how competitive big 4 is, and the extreme hours you need to be willing to work to make it in the industry. I always planned to go that route but with my limitations due to my narcolepsy, I know I can’t compete or work those extreme hours. I had an internship with a very big company and did very well but they don’t have entry level positions for accounting in the U.S so I did it more for the experience and to put on my resume.

Can I still become a successful accountant without big 4 path? How? I see some entry level accounting positions paying really low wages and that worries me given I wouldn’t get a lot of experience in different areas of accounting with those types of roles.

If I already have a Bachelors degree in a completely different field, do you think it's worth going back to school in order to get a 2nd Bachelors Degree in Accounting? Or do you feel it'd be a waste of money & time? For people who have done career resets, whats been your experience going into the accounting field?

Important Notes:

1. Im doing a career reset. My Bachelors Degree from College I graduated from 10+ years ago, didn't work out. I went into a few diff unstable industries. The latest one turning me off completely.
2. My main goal is to be as valuable & least replaceable as possible. To have something thats leverageable. The last industry I was in destroyed me and made me feel useless. Like a body in an oversaturated industry. I want to be in a situation where I get into a job industry> Get A Valuable Degree> Be considered useful>have access to a wide range of jobs(entry level or mid)>work my way up. I don't want to ever feel replaceable again with hard skills that don't translate well to other industries! It's why im considering a Bachelors in Accounting, since it'd open more doors for me than my old degree.
3. I have a 2.9 GPA on my Transcript(10+ years old) . Can probably raise it to a 3.0 if I take a course and pass. A professor I talked to at my old university, informed me that he estimates it'd take me a bit more than two years to get another Bachelors Degree.
4. I have 0 professional experience in Accounting aside from one college course. Nothing I professionally did throughout my life, can currently be leveraged for entry level or mid level jobs accounting jobs in relevance.

5 . The internet has kinda corrupted me. I'm constantly hearing how X or Y industry is oversaturated. I go to diff subreddits of industries and 99% of them warn against going into the industry. The subsection of people saying that the job market is bad doesn't help. Im hearing how a lot of "Certs" are near useless because most industries value experience. Yet the solution i've been told is just typical "network" or "just keep applying to entry level jobs". But the entry level jobs want experience or specialized Bachelors! Feels like Im in a LOOP!

Part of me doesn't even know if an industry is even worth it if constantly hearing how bad the job market is. Esp jobs industries outside of health care and trades

1. Despite having no experience in accounting, I am willing to still work and acquire the knowledge and skills and take the time to do so. I am fine with working as hard as possible , even if it takes me longer than the avg person.

Doesn't seem like they are being publicly fired but on my LinkedIn I've been seeing more partners jump to mid market firms or even early retirement.

Seems like KPMG is trying to cull the partner class as revenues have not increased as much. Most seem to be in the audit practice and we all know that audit fees have not been great.

I have a BA in English, but I’m tired of admin roles and the shitty pay, so I’m pivoting my career to accounting. I’m hoping to eventually get my CPA license, ideally within the next 3 years, but I have very minimal relevant experience in the field.

My current plan is to take the minimum accounting/business classes I need at my local community college while also trying to get some exposure to actual accounting work through an entry-level position.

My question is: Should I be focusing heavily on meeting the CPA education requirements right now, or is getting my foot in the door and gaining accounting experience more important at this stage?

I’d really love to hear from people who have actually gone through this process. If you were in my position, where would you put your time and attention during the first year?

Thank you!

Just started at a Big 4 firm, and am a little apprehensive about enrolling in the mental health benefits. Can my senior/manager/partner see if I use them? Does that make me less likely to be promoted? I know that sort of thing is illegal per HIPPA, but I also know rules aren't exactly followed rigorously in most cases. I just started, so it's not because of burnout or dissatisfaction with the job, I just have some personal things I want to sort out, and am worried that doing so would make management think that I'm already cracking under the pressure less than a week in and I cannot afford to lose this job under any circumstances.

TLDR: How visible is using company provided mental health benefits? Am I good to use them or better off going through regular insurance or just paying out of pocket?

I'm an accounting student and my first Meet The Firms is coming up at my university. I just transferred from a community college so it's my first professional networking event even though I'm a junior.

How do you address recruiters, with their first name or Mr/Ms Lastname?

When researching some of the smaller firms, I found the names of recruiters who will likely be at MTF. Is it a good idea to greet them by name before they introduce themselves and maybe talk about their recent LinkedIn post or something, to show them I've done my research? Or would that come off as too forward or even creepy?

Finally, someone told me that while black suits are most common for students right now, many recruiters especially older ones dislike them and prefer navy blue suits and ties, seeing them as more professional. How true is this?

I put “looking for work” on Linkedin like two days ago and was flooded with recruiters for companies hiring, but they seem to be 3-5 days in office with limited flexibility so far

anyway I know folks have been boomers about jobs but at least from my POV there’s tons of stuff out there (entry roles probably worse now so my sympathy if you just entered the field, legitimately)

seems like these companies would have an easier time filling these roles if they didn’t have such lousy flex policies but 🤷🤷🤷

like one place sounds great but I don’t really want to go in 4 days a week to do spreadsheets. 2 is great, i’m not even looking for/expecting full remote but I’m hearing about ESOPs and tuition reimbursement and bonuses and It doesn’t move the needle nearly as much as being able to go 5 minutes down the street to my daughter’s school for lunch once a week because I have flexibility

anyway just a quick vent but it seems like i’m an attractive candidate, but no company seems to actually give me what I want

I worked for a big 4 when I finished school as an auditor. I became a mom and the 14+ hour days became highly unrealistic for my family. I moved into a local government position as an Accountant. Honestly, I heard nothing but good feedback about government accountant positions and mine has been significantly better than my position as an auditor . I do work for a small city though which means that ALL of the work gets divided among 3 accountants only. As soon as I got hired, I have been tasked with all the clean up work that consisted of YEARS of work that disgruntled employees left. I’m tired and burned out by both jobs.

What has been the most stress free accounting position that you have had and with what type of employer? I need to look for something that will allow me to focus on my mental health but still provide for my family and my future (retirement). Pls help :”(

What's the most expensive piece of software your firm bought that turned into a $50K PowerPoint slide nobody actually uses?