ferryboat10

You can find CPAs in many roles of accounting, auditing or otherwise, public or private. The controller of a small company I worked for had an active CPA license.

MattsMomFL

Just a side note. I found getting the degree about a million times harder than any job I ever had in accounting. The toughest thing I found to reconcile while an accountant was the lack of meaning in the everyday work. I reconciled it by becoming an Investigative Accountant for a State Attorney within 7 years of getting my degree. Fraud/Forensic accounting is awesome. Of course it doesn't pay as well as other areas unless you go private, but at least it gives you something to think about if you have an imagination...

southpasdena

i have always wondered, taxguy, what is your background and professional history?

AJWl3

I'm a rising junior- economics major- at the University of Michigan, and I have a few questions. I'm planning on taking intro to financial and managerial accounting at my local community college- a total of 6 credits, and then take 18 credits of accounting classes at an AACSB school. Would this allow me to take be eligible for the CPA exam? I'm mainly concerned about the two classes I would take at community college, since it is not an AACSB accredited school.

taxguy

AACSB accreditation is NOT required for the CPA qualification. Now, the college that you are attending may not take their credits, however.

MattsMomFL

Something to add - for anyone interested in forensic accounting, a CFE (Certified Fraud Examiner) is the union card, which you can get in addition to a CPA or just on its own. Btw, because I started early in this field (1989), I did not have or need a CPA or a CFE, and now despite 11 years experience and an 8 year break to be a stay at home Mom, I am finding it difficult to get another job in this field *without* either, and may end up having to figure out how to get one at this stage...

kh892

Hello,
My younger brother is a rising junior in high school who is seriously considering accounting.
What are some good programs in CA that he should consider and what should his stats look like in order to be accepted to these programs?

pebbles4562

I'm a CPA, but I didn't major in accounting. I went to graduate school immediately after I received my bachelor's degree in music. I didn't finish my MBA because I passed the CPA exam before I finished grad school. I sure wish that I had that MBA now. I spent many years working part time while my kids were growing up just to keep my hand in it. Now I work full time and long hours, especially during tax season. After 20+ years in public accounting I don't make $100,000 per year and probably never will. It is a steady living however and definately keeps your mind active!

jk_91

Do you have to move to New York to work for the Big Four? And what is the best thing to do so that you DO move up the corporate ladder and aren't stuck with the same job and steady pay for 20 years? My dream is to be a CFO one day, and I believe most CFOs were at one point accountants, correct?

taxguy

You do NOT have to move to NY to work for the Big 4. They have offices in almost any state and in most big cities.

As to moving up the corporate ladder: Work hard+ do competent work+ bring in some clients+ Play the political game well= partner

As for corporations, the equation is the same except you don't need to bring in clients.

taxguy

Southpasdena asks,"i have always wondered, taxguy, what is your background and professional history?"

Response: I will give you the brief Dun and Bradstreet version. I graduated with almost a 3.7 GPA in accounting. I then went to law school specializing in tax....hence my screen name...lol.

I worked my way through law school working for a national accounting firm and attended law school at night while taking and passing the CPA exam.

I then worked for the IRS as an attorney. Finally, I left the IRS to both teach accounting and write books and articles. I have several books, one of which was a business best-seller...

Now I am a lurker on CC and spend vastly too much time on these boards.

melon390

tax guy, i know for public accounting you jsut need to major in accounting and local partners will recruit at your schools. Now, if you are an accounting+finance major at a top 50 school. Hypothetically, if Deloitte recruits you for auditing, after a year or two how hard would it be to make the switch to the consulting branch of deloitte? Would that be hard to get, and would you have to be from a "target school?"

taxguy

Melon, frankly, I don't think it would be that difficult,but I don't know. You need to ask Deloitte that question.

thejoker0909

how would I know if I would like accounting? (Gonna be a college freshman at a top-20 school, wondering if I should take accounting classes) Does anybody actually like accounting or is it just for the stability of the career? Would working at a big 4 company be considered top work experience to get to a top MBA program? Would MBA programs look down upon an accounting major?

I know I'm getting too far ahead of myself, but I feel as though my willingness to study accounting would diminish considerably if I knew it would be a detriment to me. Which leads me to another question. What's the future of accounting? I hear its all going to be outsourced.

Dawgie

pebbles: Ouch, 20 years and not 100k?

thejoker: You won't know unless you work in it. Studying accounting is quite boring.