Going straight to private accounting?

UCantTouch9Feet
Sun, 01 Dec 2013 03:29:42 +0000

Would it be advisable for an accounting grad to simply skip working in public accounting and go straight to working as an in-house accountant for a company? What would be the pros and cons of this decision? I’m an accounting major and I’m trying to weigh my options, but regardless of what path I take, I still plan on getting a CPA license. Would the private accounting experience still count towards CPA license requirements? Also, what would be the long-term salary potential? I’m not looking to be rich, I’d be okay with just 70-80k a year by the time I have an established career, so is this achievable without the public accounting experience? I’ve heard it’s harder to get promoted if you’ve never worked in public, but I’m talking about just making senior accountant or some middle management position. Also, do graduates who go straight to private accounting choose it on purpose, or is it because they didn’t get any offers from accounting firms?