Didn't know what I wanted to do back in high school, and when it was time to start my college applications I had no idea what to major in lol. I did some research on different careers but nothing seemed interesting. On my first college application, I saw accounting listed at the very top in the major dropdown menu and it sounded interesting. Did a low effort, 2 minute Google search on accounting and audit seemed cool to my highschool self. Eventually found myself to liking tax more since my tax internship was more intriguing.

Why did it take so long for them to reach their adjusted gross income?

I (24m) am about to enter my final semester of my Bachelors of Accounting, Audit & IT. While I have gotten fairly good grades throughout all of school, ultimately I feel like I barely know anything related to accounting and feel incredibly unprepared for the real world ahead of me.

I have completed 3 Co-op terms doing accounts payable at a food manufacturing company and while I really enjoyed my time there, I felt that it did not prepare me for what I really want to do which is Cost Accounting, or Audit & Assurance.

I guess what Im trying to ask is, is it normal to feel like you don't know anything? Everyone tells me I need to get my CPA and I told myself I would but the thought of it is so overwhelming that it feels impossible for someone like me to achieve.

Would really appreciate some honest advice/feedback.

EDIT: I live in Ontario, Canada

Every year gets worse. especially when your superior is single and log in late log off late.

I always thought if the overtime was removed it would be better....

But there's the asshat manager who nitpicks on everything

There's the tiny constant switching of tasks

The bullshit of never understanding everything fully but expected to do it well

The neverending anxiety 🫪

I need to get a new job

I made a post about this earlier after seeing some b4 ‘27 internships pop up and now I’m seeing more pop up for mid sized firms. Am I tweaking?

I got cited for possession of drug paraphernalia for a blunt. It’s a class C misdemeanor in Texas. I’ve already signed an internship offer with a big 4 firm. Could this hurt my chances of full-time employment or affect my internship?

For context Im 32F and currently employed within industry after working at Big 4 and getting my accountancy qualification. I've been in my job for 4.5 years, my team and manager are lovely and the job is fine. The thing is my manager has tried to promote me to senior accountant over the last year and says that HR keep blocking the request. The company isnt doing well financially so I think this is the main reason.

Because this is my first job out of Big 4 I have enjoyed it so much more and have a good work life balance. The thing is if I stay any longer I think this "easy" job will damage my career down the line and make me unemployable when I do decide to leave.

People have told me that staying too long in a job without promotion looks bad on your CV.

I dont want to be a CFO or anything but I dont want to not set myself up for the future by being comfortable now. Should I leave?

I posted my resume on there and now just have a constant stream of Indian scammers messaging me fake jobs 24/7. Avoid that site like the plague. Never been an issue with Indeed or LinkedIn

I'm 32 and I have been a Revenue Agent in SB/SE (auditor) for 2 years. Things have been rough at the IRS for the past couple years. So, I've been sending out job applications, just in case.

My long term goal is to eventually get into FP&A.

My understanding is the longer you stay in tax, the harder it is to leave tax. Which, to me, sounds like it'll also make getting into FP&A more difficult the longer I stay at the IRS. And largely, it sounds like it's because I've been working within Tax accounting and not GAAP, not traditional accounting (like managing ledgers) and not improving any processes, since I just audit.

But, the IRS is also a dream job for a lot of people with stable working hours and although I make 50k now, the intended pay progression they listed for my current role was 50k on year 1 --> 90k on year 2 ----> 120k on year 3, if I met expectations. Which they said I haven't been. And they've kept me at 50k this entire time. This is difficult to live on in HCOL Silicon Valley and I'm not sure if they're just kind of dangling it in front of my face at this point.

Anyway, I've been sending out resumes and got a callback for an interview with a car dealership group for a staff accountant role that pays between 60 - 76k before tax. If it's relevant, I do have a BA in Economics and Associates in Accounting. And the IRS is my only accounting job experience.

Do you think it's worth the switch for me?

I should also mention my experience is mostly on private equity/fund of funds/VC work - which means my focus was on partnerships (barely any corporations, and if there were, no provision work as they were only part of the structure - blockers, etc). Is anyone else on the same boat and if so have you managed to secure a job? I have applied to so many but still haven’t gotten any luck even getting interviews. Even staff accounting positions require 1-2 years in progressive accounting. How does one become successful after leaving Big 4 Tax as a manager or above?

As title mentions, I am heavily considering taking a high level finance role leaving a large corporation for a small company (high growth ~5 years old, with limited SOPs/processes). Curious what others have experienced making a transition like this.

I currently live in a MCOL area and make $55,000 a year as a staff accountant for a real estate company. Some of my responsibilities include

Handling accounting for 23 properties: including keeping track , and posting over 200 accruals a month, allowance entries, amortization tables for prepaid expenses, mortgage and principal reconciliation for over 40 mortgage statements I keep track of each month, cash journal entries at times ranging up to 70 a day, over 70 bank reconciliations a month, income statement and balance sheet reconciliations for all 23 properties. I keep track of owner payouts and expense/ revenue activity for several vacation rental properties and occupancy rates, and finally I send out 13 monthly financial reports each month.

I recently obtained my CPA, and I have 1.5 years of experience. While my work is manageable as I have built several automation tools through excel, I still question if I’m fairly compensated?

I did an internship this past busy season that unfortunately didn't yield a job offer. According to them, they wanted to emphasize that I did nothing wrong, but they had budget issues and only hired a few from about a dozen interns. They gave me absolutely zero negative criticism throughout the entire experience.

I chose this particular firm purely because of their internship program. Hourly pay with uncapped overtime and about 3-5 weeks longer than most other programs, so I thought it would be a good baseline to get the real public experience and make some more money than my peers while doing it. What I didn't realize is how important my internship decision would be. I graduate this semester, and firms aren't taking interns until 2028. Every firm I have checked doesn't hire directly at the staff level, at least not through applications, which means I basically have to do an internship.

I'm 25 and graduating a few years later than most of my peers because I switched majors about halfway through college and basically had to start over with prerequisites. I have been incredibly fortunate to have been living at home this whole time with little expense. However, now that means time is of the essence. I will be on my own as soon as I graduate; I will have to start paying back student loans, I have to pay off my car, handle my own living expenses, and I also need to get my own insurance.

I absolutely hated the public accounting experience and money isn't really a huge motivator for me. My ultimate goal is to just have a chill industry or government job, and I don't really need any more than 70k a year (83k is standard starting pay in public here). I also know that even just a year in public can pay dividends with long-term earning potential and getting an industry job without experience is pretty difficult. I will be located in Chicago, and I have a 4.0 GPA, which are at least 2 positive factors. If you were me what would you do? Should I focus on speaking to recruiters at school, apply directly to industry positions? I don't really have that much financial leeway, but should I focus on CPA exams? If so, do you have advice for fronting the costs without a firm paying for it?

I am seeking feedback for my resume- I am wrapping up my degree with WGU here in early 2027 and need some feedback. It’s lengthy, I am not sure what I should include/leave out and what could be relevant as I look for my post-college career.

Any and all feedback is appreciated!

Just had a breakdown about writing the CFE and going into my third attempt and not feeling confident or prepared and afraid of failing the program. Looking for advice from anyone else the was in a similar situation. First attempt failed my role. Second attempt depth in FR/MA

Hey all! I’m starting at Big 4 tomorrow and just wanted to ask what I may need to take for my first day. I’ll be getting my work laptop at the office tomorrow but should I take my personal one as well? Also, is a leather handbag okay to use for my laptop? And if there’s anything else I should consider for tomorrow? Sorry for the dumb questions 😅 thanks in advance!

When I was a frasher I was having many difficulties in finding an accounts job as no one wanted to hire a fresher and also I was not having any skills. But after so much struggle one day i got a call from a company st+art india foundation saying that we saw you in linkedin and we think that you are eligible for this junior accountant role and then I cleared the interview and got a job and I thought thank God finnally I can remove the fresher tag from my self and i started going to office everyday.

But then again challenges came to me my senior is very toxic and he treats me very badly as he has the ego of being senior.

Also I am not learning anything here and since 1 year I am recording just basic purchase entries and handling reimbursement only.

I asked them to teach me more work but he is not giving me any new work.

Also I joined this company as a intern and my internship period was for 3 months and they have said that we will do a review after 3 months and then will decide next step.

After they did my review they increased my payment from 12000₹ to 15000₹ and i thought that I am now a full time employee but I haven't asked them for my joining letter and they also haven't gave me as it was my first job and i was not aware of this things a lot.

In July 2026 my some colleague asked me that if I have my joining letter or not and he told me ask HR for that.

I did ask her but I got very shoking reply, so I asked her mam it's been almost 1 year of me in this company and we have done my review also long ago but i haven't got my joining letter can you issue that.

Then she replied me saying that when did you join as a full time employee.

I got shock and I told her that mam we had my review and you increased my salary so I thought that I am full time employee now.

And she said that yes I remember that we have increased you stipend but we decided to extend your internship till April 2026 and then we had to do your review again.

I got shock as they never told me that they have increased my internship and they haven't gave me any extension letter too.

I thought that I could remove my frasher tag in this company and not I have no growth in this company and I was planning to switch but that internship period will not counted as my experience even if they will make me a full time employee now, i don't wanna continue here, I am very frustrated 😔😔.

Just started working in public accounting at a regional firm as an associate. Right out the gate, I already know I don’t want to stay in it. My seniors lives seem like hell. Crazy hours, stress, and honestly the pay seems mid for the amount of work you’re doing. I’m really interested in governmental work, either federal, state, or local. I’m currently doing both audit and tax work and haven’t really developed a preference for either. I did 3 tax season internships at my current company while I was in college so i have had more exposure to Tax. To make matters worse, the benefits at my current firm suck which is okay for now, but good health insurance/maternity leave is a priority for me one day. Government seems like a good option, normal working hours and good benefits, even though the pay not be as much as public. I live in a very rural area, so I am really thankful to be making decent money (55k, low cost of living area) and gaining valuable experience at a larger firm, but I just know that something else will fit me better in the long run. I’m fine with staying in public for a bit to gain some experience and the pay is decent for having basically no real experience. Getting married next year and I’m just planning on grinding until then to save up while my fiance is still in college finishing his program. Long term, I would love to be a SAHM if/when we have kids, but realistically would need to work atleast part time to afford to live. Do part time jobs exist in accounting, or should I consider using my accounting degree to pivot into a different field that would offer more flexibility/WLB in the future?