Everything you wanted to know or should know about accounting

College Majors Business Major
361

<p>Let me emphasize something I said in post number one,but it might need repeating.</p>

<p>Accounting is still "in-demand." As a starting job, it pays quite well and can be very, very well if you are good at what you do and stick with it.</p>

<p>HOWEVER, it does take a "special kind of cat" to be a good accountant. You have to be numbers oriented. You have to be fairly careful and be able to pay attention to detail. You have to have good reading and interpretation skills. Finally, you really need to be driven and hardworking! Having decent people skills, common sense, and decent writing skills are all a plus too in order to have any chance of making partner.</p>

<p>In addition, contrary to what folks have been saying about business majors, accounting is a surprisingly tough major. I don't care if you got all 800s on your SATs, you will find accounting challenging. The schools really try to weed kids out of it ; thus, the grading isn't that great and is akin to that of engineering as to grading, yet you will be expected to achieve a high GPA in accounting if you want to work for the top firms. You, therefore, should really like the subject. Don't go into accounting solely because parents want you do, or because it is very employable or because you simply want to make money. You reallty have to like the work and are willing to have a professional demeanor. This means that you will be willing to keep up with all the changes that occur in the profession. You will dress and act very professionally and are willing to meet deadlines regardless of the time constraints of the work. It is NOT an easy profession nor is the work simple. However, for the right kind of person, it can be very rewarding in many ways.</p>

<p>Finally, when you check out firms, be aware that all firms have slightly different cultures. Some are very family oriented and don't require an inordinate amount of time. My younger son works for one of these that give a lot of time off after tax season and has a lot of parties and events to help the staff bond among each other. Find out what kind of training the firm provides? Do they pay for CPA review or give time off to study for the exam.</p>

<p>Some firms, aren't as family or time off oriented. Instead they believe in having staff work whatever hours the work requires but are willing to compensate the staff for this extra work. My elder son works for this type of firm. Many of the big 4 firms have this culture. </p>

<p>Some firms make it easy to transfer to different departments such as audit, tax, management consulting etc. and some don't . Find out about this. Also check out the types of services the firms provide. For example, the big national firms don't normally do basic accounting services (such as write up work, bank reconciliations etc.) and financial planning. If you are interested in these areas,the big 4 might not be right for you.</p>

<p>Some of the bigger local firms might offer a plethora of accounting services such as management consulting, fringe benefit consulting, mergers and acquisitions, tax , audit, accounting services, computer consulting etc. and some may not offer as many services. Some may focus on government or bank work and some may have lots of tax exempt clients while others have many public companies. You would be wise to check out the types of work and clients that are serviced by any firm that you are interviewing with.</p>

<p>Some firms have great open door policies by the partners and senior managers for you to get questions answered and some don't.
Again, the bottom line, check out the culture of the firm that you are considering.It could make a HUGE difference to your well being and success.</p>

362

<p>Well I'm not sure if I want to be a CPA or not...the company I work for now doesn't require a CPA license to move up...I kind of just wanted to take the CPA exam for fun and get it out of the way kind of as an insurance policy in the future....I was also planning to pass the CMA exam for fun too...you know if you pass the CMA if you can get certified right away or do you need a CMA to sign for you?</p>

363

<p>msl2008,</p>

<p>I highly recommend you get CPA license ASAP. As for moving the in the job ladder, you really want CPA under your belt. Small firms may not require you to obtain CPA to move up in a ladder, but there's only so much you can do without CPA license. Basically, your going to hit dead end. The sad truth is that small firm usually does not promote their own employee, rather they try to employ ex-Big4 employees. As a result, you may work there for 20 years to to find out that someone from Big4 is going to be your manager/partner. </p>

<p>Take the CPA exam before CMA because CPA will open more doors for you in the future compared to CMA. Yes, CMA is interesting but many firms are more interested in CPA. Remember, CPA exam is really hard and it takes a lot of dedication and efforts on your part to pass all four tests. Study while you can because it gets harder and harder to pass the tests as time goes by.</p>

364

<p>Years ago those holding the CPA were exempt from one section of the CMA test. I assume this is still true. Does anyone know for sure?</p>

365

<p>Ok. clarifications</p>

<p>None of the larger firms make it easy to transfer between audit/tax and management consulting. It is actually rather difficult to transfer to the consulting arm, M&A, etc. However, at times you can help and cross train, especially w/ departments such as forensics, IA, and obviously audit or tax</p>

<p>Accounting classes are not that difficult. There are certain basics you need to know such as journal entries, how such an action will effect financial statements, etc. Otherwise it will be a lot of memorizing and considering intermediate is a full year, than it is not bad at all. Perhaps it could be because I am quarter system.</p>

<p>The work is simple for the first few years.......very simple. There are obviously certain procedures that must be learned, forms, learn how to effectively set up a work paper, use your audit/tax software, etc, but it is otherwise simple....and rather boring. </p>

<p>Communication is very important, you will probably at least 50 emails a day you need to actually answer, so communication is important in that respect. But you will also be writing memos, forms, analysis, etc, so learn proper biz writing</p>

<p>This is a business and partners come first. They will not be loyal to you when their profits are on the line.....thus the large number of layoffs that have happened lately. The big 4 are sneaky with layoffs and will try their best to conceal them and D&T in particular is been rather unprofessional with layoffs. BDO has actually rescinded offers and some firms have pushed dates back...this is a fair warning. Revenue reports were good for the last year...however, that is because most fiscal years end around may</p>

366

<p>I am a CMA so I can answer the questions regarding this certification you guys have. You do not need anyone to sign for you to gain CMA certification. You do need a bachelor's degree and two continuous years of full-time financial management or accounting experience. You have to fill out an experience verification form after you pass all of the exam parts to become certified. They will randomly check a certain percentage of these verification forms.</p>

<p>If you are already a CPA, you do not have to take part three of the CMA exam. This part of the exam relates mainly to external reporting, with a few other topics thrown in. However, you do still have to take parts one, two, and four. Part four of the exam does cover all topics from the first three parts plus additional information so you still have to know the information that you would need to pass part three.</p>

<p>There is ongoing debate as to whether or not the CMA is as difficult to pass as the CPA. They have similar pass rates, and personally I think they are similar in difficulty. The first three parts of the CMA exam are entriely multiple choice, but they make up for the lack of simulations with part four, which is entirely essay-based and covers all topics from all of the first three tests and then some.</p>

<p>I took the CMA first and am completing my CPA testing now. I did this because the CMA is far more useful in my line of work (corporate accounting with heavy financial analysis), however the CPA is still more recognized. I personally think that all accounting majors should get their CPA license because it is so universally recognized.</p>

367

<p>Taxguy, My s transferred into the business school after taking an econ class. I had him read this thread last semester because I thought it would inform him re: accounting and the language of business. He's taking an Honors intro to accounting at the moment and is really loving it. Thanks for all the useful information on the subject.</p>

368

<p>Maximus001, glad I can be of help. Most firms I know are desparate in trying to find hard working, competant folks in specfic areas of accounting. So I am glad for him and for the profession.</p>

369

<p>guys familiar with this blog: <a href="http://www.ReTheAuditors.com%5B/url%5D"&gt;www.ReTheAuditors.com&lt;/a&gt;?&lt;/p>

<p>It covers Big4 accounting and from what I've read, it seems like the Big4 are laying off employees left and right while trying to hide it.</p>

370

<p>They are, but they are still hiring and it will continue as they prep for IFRS just like they did for sox and internal audit/co-sourcing. It will be the next big push for revenue. Big 4 continue to repackage services so they can try to present some benefit to their clients - even if that service really has no tangible benefit. They are salesman, well the partners are. Very large assurance clients have been lost, IA work is now a commodity, clients are looking for lower fees and more work, especially tax is being sent to India. What else would you expect?</p>

371

<p>to anyone in the forum:
my school doesn't offer an accounting major, only a business major, so I'm majoring in business, and I'm also looking to pick up a double major because my credits allow me to complete a double major in four years. I am interested in going on to a masters of accounting program and getting a CPA. What would be a good second major in addition to business for accounting, assuming that I have narrowed down my choices to applied math, economics, or actuarial math?</p>

<p>Second question, would a masters in accounting AND a law degree really boost you when getting a job (landing a job, which company, starting salary, etc.)?</p>

<p>Thanks in advance!</p>

372

<p>Accounting and law are only beneficial for jobs IF you want to go into tax, estate planning or work for the FBI in accounting fraud in my humble opinion.</p>

373

<p>Im a freshman and I'm thinking about majoring in economics but will I still be able to get a job in accounting or will it be tough? The reason I am asking this is because there was an internship career day fair at my school the other day and I was just talking to some representatives for some companies. I first talked to pwc and they told me that they are basically looking for only accounting majors. Later, I talked to KPMG and the guy said that you don't necessarily have to be accounting major because they always hire a lot of economic majors. He told me GPA matters the most when it comes to hiring.</p>

374

<p>I just want to know something about double majoring in accounting. I'm getting interested in majoring in accounting, but what other major can I study in order to make the best out of both? Would a social science like sociology help? Besides, what are other fields for accountants??</p>

375

<p>Crust, you really want to know what major you should do that can HELP YOU? Well you should do a major that INTERESTS YOU. That is pretty much the best advice anyone can give you. If you decide to major in something purely because it looks good on a resume and you end up not doing well in a few of the classes then you will be in trouble. And you wouldn't want that to happen as an accounting major.</p>

376

<p>sp1212, thanks a lot!! You are 100% right. It is true. But to be honest with you, I am interested in both majors, but I am not 100% sure, what does an accountant does. Because I am worried that I find myself in a position in which I am stuck with a major that is not being demanded. But thanks for your reply!!!!</p>

377

<p>Have you taken any accounting classes yet?</p>

378

<p>are still hiring, but then they're also laying off employees? If you're an aspiring accountant looking to work in Big4, what's the point then? </p>

<p>This is a sign that accounting's not stable anymore. Has the supply of accountants exceeded the demand?</p>

379

<p>hampster, my younger son just got a job two weeks ago. Yes, the hiring has slowed down and accouting, as other industies, has fewer jobs than it had a year ago. HOWEVER, it is still hotter than most other industries. Businesses especially need accountants in troubled economies.</p>

380

<p>A new hire is paid less than an experienced employee. Just look at what Circuit City did last in 2007. They laid of their experienced hires and full time and kept the less experienced and part time workers because they are cheaper.</p>

<p>Secondly, university recruiting is very very important to the big 4, look at the thousands they hire each year and the 15% plus that leave each year. They do not want to sour the university relationships. With the high % of people leaving each year, they have to keep hiring.</p>

<p>Many believe that the big 4 are not loyal to their employees since they give preference to new hires. From what I have been told, they would rather keep good relations with new recruits and schools and not rescind offers if to many are handed out, rather they will layoff current employees. </p>

<p>The supply currently exceeds demand. Sox, like a said is a commodity now amongst the firms and does not provide the revenue that helped spur the huge growth for the past years. They also over hired prior the dot com bust and they will probably over hire in the future. These firms are greedy and this unfortunately is part of the business process. One must except that, but they are still hiring in the thousands and IFRS is right around the corner and they must start preparing.</p>

<p>To me, the big 4 is inefficient and has an outdated business model, it is not something I like, thus it is not for me. I urge students to look at the alternatives, especially industry. If large firms such as GE, Nestle, Home Depot, Fox, etc recruit from your school, I suggest taking a serious look at those options, they have great training programs and great leadership.</p>

<p>Find a professor that has worked in the industry and ask questions. Find someone that can tell you the truth</p>

<p>The big 4 truly is not for everyone. Seek out the dirty little secrets the recruiters will not tell you. It however is still a great place to start a career with a huge name, a huge reputation, lots of training resources, etc</p>