Intermediate Accounting: Are Bs Bad?

College Majors Business Major
1

So I am an accounting major and I have just completed intermediate accounting 1 & 2. My grades for both courses is a B+. I was pretty happy with these grades until I started reading a couple of posts by other accounting majors who claim that if you’re not getting As in your accounting courses, you’re doomed.

Well, as far as working for a big 4 firm, which honestly, I’m not sure if that’s what I want to do. Still, I can’t help but feel as though I am not performing well enough in accounting. I know this sounds ridiculous and I feel silly even writing this, but people have me feeling pretty nervous.

The B+ is above average for both courses as told by my two professors. One made the comment, however, that those getting As are the ones who will go places. Completely killed my vibe. There are different factors that go into the outcome of my grade (I have a life outside of accounting), but now I am concerned that I am not doing well enough? At least for the big 4?

Idk why people freak out about accounting and working at a big 4 firm… it’s as if their lives will come to an end if one doesn’t hire them. I really don’t feel this way, but hey, why not aim big and if it doesn’t workout, something will.

I guess here is my overall question: If I want to work for a big 4 firm, is a B+ just not cutting it?

2

A B+ is generally considered to be a good grade in intermediate. In any event there is nothing you can do about it now. In terms of the Big 4, the GPA they usually look for will vary based on the school. When the time comes apply for a Big 4 job and see what happens. If you get one that is great, if not there are other paths to take to a successful career (ex. working for a good company, a mid-sized accounting firm etc.).

3

Yeah, the big 4 just seems way too stressful. People get really caught up in getting a job with one of them and fail to realize there’s other places to work.
Regarding the b+, I can’t imagine that someone would consider it a bad grade but a lot of people have me second guessing it now. Guess it’s just the world we live in now; apparently anything less than an A makes you unintelligent

4

Suny JMM, are you kidding me? A B+ is a very good grade in intermediate 1 and 2. Do not second guess yourself. Those two courses are the weed out courses in Accounting. I

5

Sorry, I got cut off. Do you realize how many students fail or get a C in intermediate? In fact, I would say that if you are getting even B’S not B+ in intermediate that is a solid performance and you understand the material. My CPA who does my taxes went to St Johns. He never worked for a big 4 firm, never wanted to. In fact he failed a few parts of the cpa exam the first go around. He took the tests years ago while he was working. He is extremely successful.

Here is the bottom line. Just work hard, and get that CPA. Getting into the Big 4 is nice, but it is akin to getting into an ivy league school. If you do not get into an ivy, does it mean you are not bright or cannot be a success? Of course not. Yes, all of the schools like to brag about how the big 4 recruit all the time yada yada, however, there are tons of mid size firms, corporations, govt jobs etc. Do not let the big 4 define your existence trust me!! Is is nice to get in there, sure, but there are only 4 big 4 firms obviously, not 100 big 4 firms so to me, it is like not getting into Harvard, Yale, Princeton or Columbia. Big deal??

The one thing I am a big believer in is getting that CPA. There is where you will make the good money. If you try and cannot pass the CPA exam, there are still many many accountants who have nice careers without the CPA designation, however, you will not earn nearly as much. That is the key, just get your cpa, do not obsess about the big 4. Once you get that cpa, everything will work out. Even if you do not get the cpa, you will still get a job, but I am not going to lie to you, without the cpa designation, you will not make the 150k or 250k per year that many cpa’s earn.

In general, big 4 firms want to see a gpa of 3.5 and up. Do you know how many cpa’s are walking around out there that had 3.2 and 3.0 gpa’s? I can tell you, many!! Yes, you will always get the wiz kid with a 3.8 or a 4.0 gpa in college and he or she will be a partner at EY and go on to earn 800k or what have you, but do not think you cannot be a success just because you did not get into the big 4. Someday the big 4 will become the big 2 anyways, mark my words.

Good Luck

6

Bs in intermediate are just fine. Stick with it and get your CPA and you will have plenty of job opportunities. Few CPAs pass all the parts of the exam on the first try. Many take it while they are working since you cannot get your license without experience. A Big 4 experience looks good on your resume but lots of other jobs do as well.

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@euve69 thanks for the comment! I am definitely going for the CPA; I can’t really see why someone would major in accounting without the intention of taking the exam, but I guess everyone has a different career path in mind. I was just reading a different thread and it was a bunch of different accounting majors (I assume) who were talking about how a grade of anything less than an A in intermediate accounting will pretty much destroy all chances at a big 4 career. First, I was under the impression that grades DO matter, however, they like to also see work experience and ECs to see that you were doing more than just going to class. Second, I am not sure why everyone thinks that if you do not work for a big 4 firm, your accounting career is over… I mean come on.

It is difficult to feel alright about everything though when I am constantly hearing how As are the only way to making it in the accounting profession and seeing how people are so crazy about the big 4. Some of these kids must be driving themselves insane.

@Cheeringsection I had no idea that you needed work experience in order to take the CPA… I know that sounds crazy of me to not have known this information, but I really did not! I’ll have to look into it. Do you know off the top of your head how much experience is necessary? I’ll be doing an internship next spring semeser as I will be part-time and also during the summer following it (I’ll graduate in the fall 2016 semester). Then, I was going to take a semester off, study for the GMAT and apply to grad schools for the fall 2017 semester. I wonder if I can do an internship during that time though I will not be a student anymore… Anyways, thanks again!

8

YOU DO NOT NEED WORK EXPERIENCE TO TAKE THE CPA EXAM (I usually don’t put things in all caps but this is impt.). But you do need work experience to get the CPA license. You can take the test either when getting a masters degree or when you start work. Then after you have passed all four parts and get the required work experience you can file the papers and get your license.

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^^^ FYI I am a CPA and my S became a CPA in NY this past year so I’m familiar with the process. The requirements vary a bit state to state so you can always check with your state board.

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CPA requirements do vary by state but they are fairly uniform. As Happy1 mentioned, you do not need work experience to sit for the exam. You do need, however, 1 year experience under a CPA to get the license. The test scores do expire after a certain amount of time in some states, which is why people work during or before taking some exams. Again, the experience is for license not sit in.

As for your grades, to be honest, I wouldn’t stress it out too much. B+ by no means is a bad grade at all. I am in the same boat as you. Last semester I took Intermediate I and it was a ridiculously hard class. There is a big jump in terms of difficulty and volume of material between introductory and intermediate. I ended up with a B- and I actually scored a bit higher than the average on all tests. I am currently taking Intermediate II a bit more serious, but it is still a difficult class.

11

I don’t believe that the test scores expire once all parts have been passed but again that is something to be confirmed with each state board. A friend on mine recently got certified over 10 years after she passed the exam when the regulations about what counts as experience were loosened to include (something like) financial statement type of work done in private accounting under the supervision of a CPA (she didn’t go into public accounting).

However (at least in NY) you do need to pass all four parts within 18 months or parts will start to drop off. My advice is to take the exam during/soon after your formal education. Review classes (my S was very happy with Becker’s online course which he got for free from his employer-to-be) can help a great deal.

12

Here in Florida, test scores do expire 3 years (36 months) after passing your last exam.You must meet all license requirements by then, including working under supervision of a CPA, or you will need to retake all exams. As for the test-taking, it is similar to NY; you do have a 18-month rolling window after passing your first test. For some reason Florida has some of the most restrictive requirements in the US =/.

13

Thanks everyone for all of the informarion! I am actually a NY resident so the information applies to my situation. I will definitely take a look at the requirements myself though just to review and make sure I fully understand. Again, thanks guys! This was all really helpful.

Wish me luck in advanced accounting; I hear that it is harder than intermediate :confused: However, I really did not find intermediate to be all that challenging. You just have to put in the effort!

Oh, side note: what do you guys think about taking audit and tax during the same semester, and those being the only two classes I take? I already know that I am going for an extra semester in addition to my 4 years (just to keep the workload down and GPA high), and the extra semester will be part-time. So, I am thinking of taking these two courses together, but I heard both is difficult. I feel like it’s manageable though if it’s the only two courses I’m taking. Thoughts?

14

How hard a course is can be dependent on the prof. Auditing is generally not considered to be one of the tough accounting courses. You should be fine taking tax and audit together even if you had a full courseload.