Need accounting career advice

Parents Forum
21

There is some very good advice on this thread, particularly in regards to public accounting. Based on my experience working at a then Big Six firm, some additional comments:

1 - Outside of IB or consulting, public accounting is one of the most lucrative careers for an undergraduate business major. Like someone upthread said, go with the biggest company you can get hired by. The Big Four should be your target. They may not pay much more out of school than other employers, but they offer the best networking opportunities.

2 - Undergraduate GPA is of significant importance to accounting companies. Firms will have hard minimum GPA’s to qualify for interviews, and that will vary based on the school, the season and the hiring demand. A firm that has a minimum GPA requirement of 3.4 for U Michigan might require a 3.6 from Michigan State or a 3.8 from Grand Valley State.

3 - GPA also matters after you have been hired. The better qualified new hires get typically assigned to partners with profitable practices in growing industries, while the less qualified new hires get assigned to non-growth industries. Since most new hires at end up working in the industry they specialize in, try to get into a growth industry.

4 - Once you start working, the school and GPA get tossed out the door, and future advancement is generally based on performance only. There is also is alot of turnover at public accounting firms. We expected new staff to stay with the company for three years max before they moved on. This is by design as many of the new staff that leave end up working for clients who then refer work back to the firm that first hired them.

5 - The most successful accountants have developed business skills outside of accounting. The CPA that makes partner or CFO has strong sales, management and people skills. I would push my kids to try and develop those as much as possible at a young age.

6 - Look for other professional designations like the CFA to boost your career. These are easier to earn when you are younger and fresh out of school than in middle age juggling a career and family.

7 - Use the 150 hour requirement to work on your masters. If you attended a lower ranked school, try to move to a higher ranked school for the post graduate degree. Admissions to a masters program is frequently easier than attending an undergraduate business program, and you significant increase your hire-ability by moving up a tier or two of school.

22

Regarding post #20, bullet point 7, if you are already at a highly regarded undergraduate business school (i.e., Notre Dame, Univ. of Texas, MIchigan, etc.,) and you want get the 30 semester/45 quarter units beyond the normal bachelors, consider getting the Masters in Accounting/Tax from your school or an similar ranked school that offers the degree. An MBA from a high ranked school may be an overkill to try to meet this requirment.

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^^^I don’t think post #20 is suggesting a MBA. But it is suggesting that if a person can get into a higher ranked MS in Accounting program than their undergrad school that it could be a way to upgrade a resume and can be helpful when it comes time to interview for a full time job.

As one example my S went to Fordham undergrad (which he loved) and then wen to Notre Dame for their one year MS in accounting program. He thinks being at ND when he interviewed for full time jobs was helpful. Now that he is working, he finds that it is nice to be considered an alumni of both of these schools. And a personal bonus for my S was that ND was a different experience as compared to Fordham (Midwest location, big time sports) so it was a nice year and he still goes back to a football game once a year to meet up with friends from his program.

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I have been a CPA in public accounting for 30 years and D is a rising jr. accounting major. There is some good advice in this thread.

D will have her 150 hours at graduation through a combination of high school dual credits classes, summer school, etc. I would advise all accounting majors to take this requirement into consideration asap when starting college. D has been active in accounting club functions, public accounting PR events, etc. and says all firms with whom she has spoken require the 150 hours before hiring.

I will agree with the other posters and say passing the exam is a very nice lifetime ticket. It’s intense and time consuming–commit to it before life and babies and mortgages get in the way.

I would advise accounting majors to start in public accounting. One gains a breadth and depth of experience with a wide variety of clients very quickly. Training is good at regional and national firms. The Big 4 isn’t for everyone and I think there are some distinct advantages with growing regional firms. Public accounting has always had turnover expected and many leave within a few years for jobs in industry.

Public accounting hours and work load compression January - May can be brutal, but the profession pays well and unemployment is low. The skill set transfers to many business opportunities. I really enjoy working with my clients and have decades-long relationships with many of them. I have found it to be a great career.

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@sryrstress THIS!!

[QUOTE]
I will agree with the other posters and say passing the exam is a very nice lifetime ticket. It’s intense and time consuming–commit to it before life and babies and mortgages get in the way.
[/QUOTE]

For all our other students, we agreed to pay for 4 years of school (we have 5 kids) and with our accounting major e agreed to pay for the 5th year (right away not later) and she was all like why can’t I do it and work too? I explained to her life as an accountant and trying to work and THEN having to take the exam. We said TAKE THE GIFT OF YEAR 5!!! And honestly for her it only ends up being a semester because of AP credits.

I CANNOT FIGURE OUT HOW TO DO A QUOTE --sorry everyone

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I share this with accounting majors / potential CPA:

During the 1980’s horrible oil-driven economic crash in Texas, my DH and his boss in cost accounting were the last two employees in their subsidiary of a major oil field service company. They prepared the last financial statement and mailed the keys back to corporate. The next Tuesday, he was working somewhere else. He has ALWAYS worked and every company needs an accountant.

I wish I could get my children into accounting. I’d never worry about them being financially independent.

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That was the intent of post #20. Many schools offer a one year masters in accounting degree. Like @happy1 discussed, attending a school other than your undergrad can open up opportunities. When I was at a Big Six, our department might budget taking one kid a season from DePaul compared to 10 each from UIUC and Indiana. If a DePaul graduate went to UIUC for a masters, the chance of getting hired was much greater.

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Great thread btw, I have an acctg major that interned and hired at Big 4. Everything here is spot on. Thanks to all the experienced and wise accountants posting! In my student’s case, he got 150 credit by doing summer online classes of random classes, that was the most efficient time wise for him (finished 150 summer right after graduation). That was the fastest way to get it done and move on to CPA.

Sorry for the intermission on the thread, but here is how to quote:

Take out ALL of the spaces within the brackets!

[ quote = @ username ] here is the text of the quote yadda yadda yadda. [ / quote ]

You can use the return to make a line break and put name above quote, etc.

If you don’t want to use user name and just show the quote do this: (again, remove all spaces within brackets!)

[ quote ] here is the text of the quote yadda yadda yadda. [ / quote ]

Back to our regular scheduled program.

29

Just as a side note, the big 4 are of course, the biggest 4 public accounting firms, but there are many other very good and reputable regional firms, so your kid shouldn’t be discouraged if he can’t land a job at one of those “big 4” firms. If your child knows what part of the country he/she wants to be in, regional firms can be a terrific introduction to the companies in that area.

Over the last several decades, my experience with public accounting firms is that the junior members of the team generally turn over pretty quickly. They come, get their experience, and are poached by clients. And I concur with everyone here that it’s the best way to start an accounting career and that a CPA is very helpful- in fact, often a required credential for certain types of jobs.

30

Gosh, I love learning about careers I know nothing about. Always looking for careers that speak to my kid’s strengths.
Our high school just started having two accounting classes. Think I will encourage her to take the first one to see what she thinks.

Yep, a stable, decent paying career is very important! I also am thinking Actuary career.

1 Like
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My daughter just finished 11th grade. She did honors accounting 1 and 2 at high school and loved them. She decided to do dual enrollment for various reasons for 11th and 12th grade She took principles of accounting 1 and 2 this year and is primarily doing business track classes and classes she needs to graduate high school. She can’t do the business associates and graduate requirements and get an associates in years since there are a few extra classes needed to do both. When we visited some colleges she was told not to take more direct accounting classes since the aascb wants all 300 level or higher classes taken at the college the degree comes from. She may try to do a dual major with finance.

At this point my daughter has no idea if the classes taken during high school count towards the 150 hours if she graduates in 3 years so she will need to look into that. While I know she would love to work in NYC that probably isn’t realistic. We do have family in Manhattan but not family she could live with. I have no idea what the big 4 or 6 firms even are but what if you don’t live in an area where they are located?

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Does working for say, Deloitte in Dallas count?

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The Big 4 have offices located throughout the country. Here’s an example of Big 4 (and some big regional players) in Indiana: http://big4accountingfirms.org/accounting-firms/indiana-2/

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My D is an accountant at one of the Big 4. She started in their Chicago office and then asked for a transfer to another Midwestern city. Several of her coworkers have transferred to other locations (including NYC). It seems to me that this is a viable path if your D wants to eventually wind up in NYC but starts somewhere else.

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And just to add to the anecdotes: my D got her 150 hours like @sryrstress 's daughter did – through a combination of summer school, dual credit classes, and a few semesters where she took an extra class. She did not get a master’s in accounting. It had no impact on her job prospects (she’s working for the firm at which she interned after her junior year.)

She did take her CPA exam before starting work – she figured she’d spend the whole summer preparing and testing so she wouldn’t have to worry about it later. She said that her friends who took the exams while working had a much harder time passing.

And she appears to be an outlier – she’s starting her sixth year at her Big 4 firm. Most of her colleagues who entered with her have already left for other jobs. Maybe she’s a glutton for punishment.

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I know three kids that recently graduated and work in public accounting. All three graduated in four years with enough credits to sit for the CPA tests by taking extra classes (either in the summer or more than the required number of classes per semester) and using AP credits. One kid took some of the classes at a local community college. Two work at one of the top four public firms - one in NY the other in a satellite city. The NY one got an internship after junior summer and was hired, the other one got an internship after her senior year and was hired starting in January following her college graduation. The one working in NY used his summer off to study for and pass all four CPA tests before he started work. The other one took a couple of tests before starting work, but ended up having to take 2 of them while working (took vacation weeks and came to her parents home to study).

The third kid works for a smaller, but still prestigious, public firm. He did an internship and was then hired, but has had difficulty getting the CPA tests done while working. Not sure if he has passed them all yet.

All that being said, some kids are not interested in that type of accounting and my be perfectly happy going to work in the accounting department at a business. He needs to decide what his goals are. If he wants to do public accounting, getting really good grades next year and applying for an internship in the fall for next summer (if you know someone in one of these firms it can really help get a foot in the door) would be the best steps. If not, he can just get a job. But I have heard it is easier to get a good job at a company after being at a public firm than the other way around.

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My son wants to go into law enforcement and was told that the way to do that is to pass the CPA exams as quickly as possible and work for a couple of years at a public accounting firm. I hope he takes the advice seriously. One never knows with that boy.

38

The FBI and SEC love CPA’s, Zoosermom, but there are other routes to law enforcement as well…

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Back when, DH was offered his choice of five locations out of college, with initial training at the HQ in Chicago. He selected Houston because the pay was higher and the cost of living was lower.

Another good reason to do the public accounting route even if one is interested in working for a private business: you will understand what the auditors need, how financial statements are prepared, and be able to see other businesses from the inside.

40

D just finished sophomore year as an accounting major. She is getting her extra 30 hours from 10 AP classes, her advisor makes sure they are on all students’ transcripts by the end of freshman year. She interviewed with the big 4 this past semester and it was stressful! It was like a part-time job time-wise. If an accounting student gets a leadership offer that leads to an internship that leads to a job offer, said student can be completely done interviewing as a 19 year old sophomore.