Everything you wanted to know or should know about accounting - Page 53

jonahrubin · 09-22-2009, 06:19 PM

I read CFO magazine recently which said their stats showed them that Big Four experience and CPA licenses were waning in terms of requirements for CFO's these days. Essentially I think their idea was that right after SOX and all the scandals companies were mostly concerned with compliance and not looking like fraudsters and whatnot, whereas in the current climate the issue is dealing more with coping with the credit crisis and banker type things. That said, if your goal in life is to be a CFO and you are a college freshman you'd be nuts to to go the conventional route of Big Four/CPA while you have the chance...rather than try to tailor the perfect career to overcome that deficit.

pugfug90 · 09-22-2009, 07:42 PM

Accounting junior, 3.98 GPA, 4.15 accounting gpa, Americorps and tutoring, learned I'm not going to be interviewed for 2/8 -_- ??? This major is so hard, and for what o_O

Dawgie · 09-22-2009, 10:04 PM

What do you mean you learned you aren't interviewing for 2/8? That doesn't even make sense.

him88002 · 09-24-2009, 01:37 PM

I needed some advice on how I should go about internships.

I'm an Junior class Accounting Major at an accredited State School
On a full ride Leadership Scholarship
3.89 Cumulative GPA 4.0 in Accounting
Have earned A's in Managerial, Finnancial, Intermediate Financial I, and Cost Accounting.
Am currently taking Intermediate Financial II and Tax I
Am currently working as a Co-op (Student Trainee Accounting Position for the Department of Defense) work 26 hours a week. I work three days a week and go to class the other 2. This position is pernament in that I can occupy it till I am done with my college education.
I also am a member ALPFA, Beta Alpha Psi, and on our universities tennis club team.

I recently went to a career fair and was offered an interview at one of the Big 4 for an internship.

I respectfully declined because I really like my Co-op job. The pay is good and it fits my school schedule perfectly.

At what point do I have to leave my Co-op position and intern at a large firm if I want to go into the public world?

I am saying this because I'll probaly end up working for a big firm, but the government Co-op I have right now almost gurantees me a government accounting position after I graduate if i want it. Also, how do large firms even look at my government experience? I don't really want to work as a government accountant my whole life but with the current job market, it might be an appropriate option.

Dawgie · 09-24-2009, 01:46 PM

Haha, you just turned down a Big 4 internship that guarantees a full time offer for a government job? Wow. I don't know what to say.

him88002 · 09-24-2009, 02:00 PM

It was an interview. They interviewed alot of students. I need that constant flow of income while I'm in school. I'm asking at what point must I intern (i'm a junior undergrad) at a big firm if I want to go non-government? because it looked like most of the firms I talked to were only looking for seniors to intern anyway, and the guranteed full time offer is for the government job not the big 4 intern lol.

Dawgie · 09-24-2009, 02:15 PM

Hey genius, I said if you do a Big 4 internship (25 an hour at least), you are guaranteed a full time offer. So you pretty much rejected a chance to get an internship that gives you a full time job. They look for Juniors to intern the summer transitioning to senior year, and then giving them an a full time offer after completion.

jdnely · 09-24-2009, 03:14 PM

@ThetaxDad

Oh, public accounting hasn't scared me and I haven't fully written off the Big4. I was already aiming for a mid-size firm, but If I do get recruited to a big4 then I most definitely wouldn't be bothered, just am not gonna fret if I don't get it. Might allow me to be myself more in an interview.

I have only been to 1 Student Accounting Society (S.A.S) meeting where PwC was present. I want to work for Ernst & Young. E&Y, PWC, KPMG, Deloitte, in that order, but beggars can't be choosers.

him88002 · 09-24-2009, 03:20 PM

Dawgie,

That's not how this recruitment season is going. Almost all firms are only giving college graduates interns. Most firms I talked to won't even give a graduate a position full time only an intern. There was only one firm that was signing up Juniors for interviews. I talked to the recruiter she said there was only one spot for that particular intern, and believe me the interview list was massive. This is the worst recruiting season in years. I know you probably won't believe me though because I am new on this forum, and I don't appreciate your attacking mentality to such a new member of this forum. I just wanted some advice not to get ridiculed.

Dawgie · 09-24-2009, 03:23 PM

My advice is, give the interview a stab. I can guarantee that you will have a good shot at getting a full time offer after completing an internship. Completely turning it down is just stupid.

AnyColour · 09-25-2009, 03:40 PM

From the first post:

"Also, in order to take the CPA, you must have 150 credits. This means that you need 5 years as an undergrad or you can get a masters after you finish your undergraduate degree. Interestingly, the extra thirty credits can be in anything. They don't have to be accounting related. Thus, if you want to double major in sign language, economics, finance, you can for these extra credits."

The extra 30 credits can be in anything, but can they be from a community college?

Dawgie · 09-25-2009, 05:24 PM

Not in MA they can't be. I called em and said it has to be from a 4 year accredited college.

zub88 · 09-26-2009, 09:00 PM

im getting my bachelors accounting information systems.

do big 4 frims hire AIS majors to do auditing or is it just plan accounting major?

Dawgie · 09-26-2009, 10:00 PM

They can do both zub88.

creamgethamoney · 09-26-2009, 10:28 PM

Quote:

I read CFO magazine recently which said their stats showed them that Big Four experience and CPA licenses were waning in terms of requirements for CFO's these days. Essentially I think their idea was that right after SOX and all the scandals companies were mostly concerned with compliance and not looking like fraudsters and whatnot, whereas in the current climate the issue is dealing more with coping with the credit crisis and banker type things. That said, if your goal in life is to be a CFO and you are a college freshman you'd be nuts to to go the conventional route of Big Four/CPA while you have the chance...rather than try to tailor the perfect career to overcome that deficit.

Care to elaborte on that some more? If not accounting, then what would you want to do to become a CFO?