<p>Having worked in the tax division of a large company and in a Big Four (Big Eight when I was there) accounting firm, I can tell you about my experiences with careers in international taxation.</p>
<p>My first job out of college was in the tax division of Fortune 50 Company. I was fresh out of college with a BBA and was thrilled to get the position. The tax division consisted of about 40 professionals and was subdivided into groups that specialized in the following three tax disciplines - Federal, State and Local (income, sales, excise, payroll and property) and International. Entry level employees like me were rotated through each of these disciplines over the course of about 6 years. At the end of this time (and if you were showing the requisite progress), you were sent to Brussels to work for three or four years in the European headquarters on issues such as transfer pricing, currency translation and other international tax matters effecting U.S. operations. Then you returned to the US and generally settled into the management of a particular tax discipline for the balance of your career. This particular company believed in “growing their own” and purely promoted from within, so their philosophy was to hire undergrads with accounting degrees, not attorneys, MBA’s or MS’s. </p>
<p>One interesting side note. The IRS had an office down the hall from our division staffed full time by three IRS auditors. When I was there they were auditing the federal income tax return filed 7 years previous. Yes, the statute of limitations was three years but they would “ask” us to sign a waiver of that SOL. Everyone implicitly knew that if we failed to sign the waiver, the IRS would merely disallow all deductions in order to make the assessment in a timely manner, so the SOL meant nothing.</p>
<p>After ten years I went from that job to the tax department of a Big Eight firm. At this firm, undergrads were not hired directly into the tax department. As an undergrad you could get to the tax department after spending 3-4 years on the audit side. They would hire directly into the tax department only if you had a law degree with an accounting undergrad or you had prior tax experience.</p>
<p>At our office, there were no international tax experts. If we needed that expertise, we called in associates from major city offices. So if you want to work in international taxation at a Big Four firm in the U.S., you are generally looking at working in a major city. I also found that a much higher percentage of international tax personnel had law degrees than the general population of the tax practice. At least in my experience, international taxation was the most complex and challenging area tax practice, by far.</p>
<p>even though an MBA seems “broader”, if you are still in undergrad (ie: no experience), i would suggest stay away from the MBA. most people that have an MBA without experience have a hard time finding a job that reflects that degree. This leads to waste of time/money. in my opinion, it’s much wiser to get the credit needed for the CPA by getting a MAcc. That way, you will have more options and flexibilities later on to make your MBA investment worthwhile.</p>
<p>is it true that with an accounting degree you can get any finance job, but with a finance degree you can’t get any accounting job. I was planning on double majoring in the two, but I heard it is redundant. I am not sure. I just would like to major in accounting and adding another discipline to broaden my opportunities for jobs when I graduate.</p>
<p>^i think acctg and finance IS redundant. I’d go for accounting and econ, accounting and info systems/CS if you want a double major. Either that or do a completely different degree and sit for a Macc</p>
<p>^either. AIS is generally a major and from what I’ve seen, you generally can’t major in AIS and Accounting, so I’d just do AIS and call it good. BIS is seperate from business and is generally much more technical, but still slightly less technical than CS in most cases. I’d say that if you can, do BIS and Accounting, or else just do AIS if you can’t handle it, but ask some other people too.</p>
<p>To anyone: What issues are handled in international tax, and how exactly does a law degree help, especially since tax laws are so WILDLY different from nation to nation?</p>
<p>Maybe this doesn’t belong here but I’d thought I’d ask to see if anyone can help me.</p>
<p>In my Intermediate Accounting 1 class the professor is requiring everyone to write a five page paper on the financial statements of a company. I have a company picked out and printed the financial statements and the accompying notes.</p>
<p>But I look at this stuff and can’t even write five sentances, let alone five pages. If this was your assignment, how would you go about writing a five page paper on the financial statements of a company (Income Statement, Balance Sheet, Statement of Cash Flows).</p>
<p>Skooby,
You might try to comment on the quality of earnings issues for your company. Here’s a link to a recent Business Week article that might help you think in this vein:</p>
<p>you can first give some background about the company and the industry it’s in. it’s mission, strategy, business environment, current challenge and major competitors…etc. that’s one page right there already</p>
<p>any accounting issues…the way they define items, methods they choose?</p>
<p>is this about financial statement analysis? u can write a lot about that…liquidity, leverage…with lots of ratios, how they are compared to industry avg, anything that jumps out, going concern…how are those numbers related to the company’s strategy and policy…how the numbers on SCF related to numbers on BS/ability to generate cash…etc…talking about each of them may not give you the most interesting paper but would definitely fill good chunk of space.</p>
<p>After I finish my B.S in Accounting would it be a good idea to get a masters in information systems or something else? I would like to get hired by a Big 4.</p>
<p>Wow, that is such an easy assignment. Is there no guidelines on what you can write about? All the good stuff are in the notes, you can pretty much just paraphrase how certain things are accounted for. Do some ratio analysis. Look at trends in the numbers and explain the movement. Talk about why certain accounts are so high (Industry standards). This must be the easiest assignment ever.</p>
<p>Hello. I have a dilemma and hopefully someone can help me!!!
So, I graduated this past summer for University of Illinois-Chicago with a bachelor’s in Political Science. I am really interested in Accounting and as many people on this thread, would like to land a job with Big Four. So I am currently debating whether i should get my masters in accounting, or get a second bachelor’s degree in accounting. What do you guys think???</p>
<p>I’ve decided to major in accounting and I heard that Math is very important, but what kind of math do Accountants really do? I took Calc 1&2 last year and I seriously hated it. I studied my arse off and was only able to pull of a B+ both times. So what I’m wondering is, is ACC math like Calc math? Or is it like basic math?</p>
<p>New2Acct,
My undergrad degree is in political science. At graduation I had 15 hours in accounting and I then completed additional hours in order to become eligible for the CPA exam. After passing that, I followed up with an MBA and, later, additional hours required for me to become tenured at my two year college. Lots has changed through the years, but I would recommend the masters route as it is likely to open up additional job opportunities for you that won’t be there with a second bachelors degree.</p>
<p>The information on this forum has been extremely helpful and knowledgeable. However I am stuck in a dilemma and need some advice. I am currently getting my masters in accountancy at a college that is not accredited under the AACASB, but they are pending accreditation as we speak. Long story short if I knew the info I know now about accreditation then I would have opted out of this college to get a master’s at an accredited university, but since I started this college as a freshman its a bit to late to go elsewhere. So my question to you guys is;
After I complete my masters in accounting (150 hrs) should I study my butt off for the cpa and not get a job until I pass? Considering that graduating from a non-accredited school is often frowned upon the big 4.
Also if I do pass my CPA a year after I have graduated, then seek a job, will that certificate trump my college/gpa? My major gpa is a 3.2 my cumulative is a 3.4.
Thanks</p>
<p>exo989, almost every accountant that I know studies for the CPA while working at a job. It is very hard but doable. Personally, I would recommend that you first get your 150 credits finished before you look for a job. Studying for the CPA is hard enough without having to take an extra 30 credits while you are working.</p>
<p>Is anyone on here familiar with Claremont McKenna’s accounting program? I was surprised to see that a small liberal arts school would offer an accounting program. The program is slightly unique because it incorporates Economics into the Accounting major. I am currently looking to transfer next year and I’m trying to find what school will offer me the best education and best job placement after graduation, which would hopefully be at a Big 4 Accounting Firm. Would the small, intimate feel of a liberal arts college provide benefits over traditional accounting programs (USC, Austin, Illinois, etc) Below is some additional information about the program.</p>
<p>Any advice and input is greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>AACSB accreditation is not as important as many here seem to think. Ninety-nine percent of employers don’t even know what it is. There’s a particular school on the west coast (Golden Gate University) that isn’t AACSB accredited and their students are heavily recruited by the Big-4 firms. RA is most important unless you plan on pursuing a career in academia or if you plan on working internationally.</p>