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Diplomat posted:This x100 I'm just getting halfway through Becker and I feel like there is already enough information for a test  I felt the same way about REG I guess, so hopefully by the end I'll have a handle on everything.
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Jun 19, 2014 20:04
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The firm I'm interning with uses ProSystem Engagement software. Is that common in the industry?
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Jun 22, 2014 11:09
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Euphoriaphone posted:The firm I'm interning with uses ProSystem Engagement software. Is that common in the industry? Yeah. PROFESSIONAL ADVICE: remember to check out your workpaper before you start on it, or else ten hours later when you go to save it you will feel like the biggest moron in the universe
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Jun 22, 2014 15:29
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And so the month of CPA exams begins. Two days until REG. Nine days later is FAR. Two weeks after that is BEC. Finished AUD in May. Good times
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Jun 30, 2014 20:21
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Good Citizen posted:And so the month of CPA exams begins. Two days until REG. Nine days later is FAR. Two weeks after that is BEC. Finished AUD in May. Did you piss someone off?
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Jun 30, 2014 20:24
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Good Citizen posted:And so the month of CPA exams begins. Two days until REG. Nine days later is FAR. Two weeks after that is BEC. Finished AUD in May. Sheesh and I thought my 3 month plan (turned into 6 months recently due to transcript delays) was nuts. Good luck on those.
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Jul 1, 2014 05:45
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Just had my year end review. With one year full time, top rating, early promotion. Really happy but next busy season is going to suck!
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Jul 2, 2014 04:08
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Curious as to what Big 4 auditors are generally doing as a junior/mid level auditor for financial statement audits. Is it tying out accruals and sales numbers all day? Revenue recognition tests, cost testing and the like? I do Asset based lending audits (4 years), which I imagine are a bit different than the CPA audits. I wasn't able to get into an accounting firm when I graduated from college with my B.S. in accounting and ended up in auditing at a bank. Zarfol fucked around with this message at 04:59 on Jul 2, 2014 |
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Jul 2, 2014 04:55
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I'm going to start my CPA studies soon. I think I've asked about it before in the thread but wanted to ask again now that I'm actually about to start. Does anyone have any opinions on the quality of Gleim or a different alternative? I can't afford Becker so I need something cheaper but will still prepare me. If it matters I graduated a year ago so I'm a little rusty but not super so.
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Jul 2, 2014 16:42
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SarutosZero posted:I'm going to start my CPA studies soon. I think I've asked about it before in the thread but wanted to ask again now that I'm actually about to start. Does anyone have any opinions on the quality of Gleim or a different alternative? I can't afford Becker so I need something cheaper but will still prepare me. If it matters I graduated a year ago so I'm a little rusty but not super so. Gleim does an okay job, one benefit is that they have a question/answer service you can bother about things you don't understand. Also you'll be assigned a personal counselor that generally keeps up with you and makes a study plan with you. There's about 2000 questions per section. Currently they are rolling out Becker style human videos whereas previously they only had crappy "audiovisuals" that read the outline to you in an abbreviated format. Gleim also breaks out more subunits than Becker, meaning the material is more segmented. Basically if you can't afford Becker, Gleim will probably be fine, but there's a reason Becker is incredibly popular whereas Gleim is an also-ran at this point.
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Jul 2, 2014 18:27
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Hurt Whitey Maybe posted:Gleim does an okay job, one benefit is that they have a question/answer service you can bother about things you don't understand. Also you'll be assigned a personal counselor that generally keeps up with you and makes a study plan with you. Ok thanks that is really helpful. Becker is just way more than I can afford unless I want to save for 6 months. My work doesn't provide any kind of assistance so I just have to go with what I can afford.
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Jul 2, 2014 18:52
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Would I be crazy to try to pass all 4 sections within a two-month period? I will be finished with my educational requirements by mid-September, and I'm considering taking the exam sections this October and November. I see Good Citizen is planning on doing something similar, but I am guessing this is far from normal. I am not currently working in accounting, but hope to get a full-time job at a CPA firm before next busy season (if not, I guess I'll do another internship) and I'm trying to figure out whether it would be worth it to try to get everything passed while I am not working as many hours, or if I should spread it out over more time. Any advice?
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Jul 2, 2014 22:17
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JohnnyPalace posted:Would I be crazy to try to pass all 4 sections within a two-month period? I will be finished with my educational requirements by mid-September, and I'm considering taking the exam sections this October and November. I see Good Citizen is planning on doing something similar, but I am guessing this is far from normal. I am not currently working in accounting, but hope to get a full-time job at a CPA firm before next busy season (if not, I guess I'll do another internship) and I'm trying to figure out whether it would be worth it to try to get everything passed while I am not working as many hours, or if I should spread it out over more time. Any advice? Two months is doable if you're doing literally nothing else and have good study tools. I know someone who did 2 weeks for each exam and passed them all on the first try, so it can happen. It all depends how you plan for REG and FAR, really. Two weeks of study time for REG and three for FAR should probably be seen as the minimum, so you can take a day off here and there when you start yearning for the release of death. So yeah, doable, but you will hate yourself for it. Just got out of REG an hour ago. Don't feel so great about it. If I passed it was probably pretty close. I never noticed a jump in difficulty between testlets but it can be hard to tell sometimes. Sims were easy of course. Worst part was after finishing the test and survey my screen went blank and I sat around for 20 minutes while the people at the testing center kept resetting the system to try to get the results to submit. I thought they were going to tell me it hosed up and I'd need to reschedule. Thankfully it seems to have gone through eventually.
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Jul 3, 2014 01:19
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I don't know how you are with studying, I don't know how your classes were and what you actually do know (I've found a lot of accounting exams are easy gimmies across different programs) but it is tough. Be ready to study nonstop. I struggled to complete 2 per testing period. You're going to need breaks. I guess if you're not working you can study all day and rest in the evenings. I know some people who study a week on an exam and pass. I know some people study for 6 weeks and barely pass. 4 exams in 8 weeks is <2 weeks per exam. There is a lot of information to learn if you don't know it yet. I guess I'm delusional - I mean 15 years ago you had to pass it all or nothing so it must be doable.
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Jul 3, 2014 01:23
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I recommend Bisk (I passed all 4 parts in the first go-around with it) as it's cheap and quite good (IMO).
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Jul 3, 2014 02:20
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ThirdPartyView posted:I recommend Bisk (I passed all 4 parts in the first go-around with it) as it's cheap and quite good (IMO).
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Jul 3, 2014 04:01
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Thanks for the replies. Maybe I'll plan on attempting 2 at the end of this year and the other 2 next summer. That way I'll only hate my life a little.
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Jul 3, 2014 06:14
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SiGmA_X posted:Which version did you use? There's multiple versions?
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Jul 3, 2014 12:26
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SarutosZero posted:I'm going to start my CPA studies soon. I think I've asked about it before in the thread but wanted to ask again now that I'm actually about to start. Does anyone have any opinions on the quality of Gleim or a different alternative? I can't afford Becker so I need something cheaper but will still prepare me. If it matters I graduated a year ago so I'm a little rusty but not super so. Yeager is pretty good and I've seen used USB drives with the videos from all four sections on eBay for $250. They use Willey books for questions so you can get a set of unused books cheap too.
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Jul 7, 2014 10:59
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I'm almost halfway through my internship and I have to say I'm really conflicted. I do amazing in my classes, and accounting seems to inherently click in my mind in a lot of ways, but I'm constantly going through cycles of feeling like I understand what's going on, then not getting it and being completely lost an hour later. They mostly threw the other interns and I into the wild. I only talk to my in-charge a few times a day. Aside from that I'm working on my own, and talking directly to the client. They put me on a 401k audit that they started earlier than expected, so the binder was practically untouched when I started it, and I've been just working on whatever parts I feel like I can do when I run out of what they told me to do/am waiting for the client to send me some documentation. I think the worst part is I don't understand what is acceptable supporting documentation, and it doesn't help that the payroll person I've been talking to to get everything from gives me stuff that doesn't have what I need on it. For example, I was doing full inclusion testing, and since employees don't sign an opt out form, I needed the hiring package that informs new employees about the 401k plan. Eventually she emails me the PDFs... for 2014. I tell her I'm testing hourly pay, and need the personnel action forms employees sign stating their rate, and half the ones she sends me don't have any hourly rate on them because they're just for a title change. It's irritating because I don't know how auditor/client interactions generally go, and I don't feel like I can keep replying when she sends me something that I need a different version of it. I also have several different reports that can help support a certain fact, but I'm not sure what's enough. I'm guessing most people feel at least a little lost when they first start in auditing, but it's incredibly frustrating. At least I'm taking solace in the fact that the other interns/new hires are as lost as I am.
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Jul 11, 2014 06:01
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Euphoriaphone posted:I'm almost halfway through my internship and I have to say I'm really conflicted. I do amazing in my classes, and accounting seems to inherently click in my mind in a lot of ways, but I'm constantly going through cycles of feeling like I understand what's going on, then not getting it and being completely lost an hour later. They mostly threw the other interns and I into the wild. I only talk to my in-charge a few times a day. Aside from that I'm working on my own, and talking directly to the client. Don't be afraid to ask the senior or experienced associate/a2 on that job for guidance. Even have him or her do a speakerphone call to the client with you. Remember: you're an intern. While in public accounting this doesn't mean you're expected to go on coffee runs, no one expects any level of competence from you. The person overseeing you is doing a lovely job if you're lost. Not you.
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Jul 11, 2014 11:27
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Yeah your senior is going to maybe be mildly annoyed if you ask questions, they'll loving hate you if you do poo poo wrong and didn't ask.
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Jul 11, 2014 12:47
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lol public accounting is so loving retarded. I'm staff 2 for a Big 4 making less than $ 40K (some weeks that represents about the same as the minimum hourly wage in my province). I feel like joining the recruiting comity just to tell students to get the gently caress away from auditing.
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Jul 12, 2014 11:18
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Hello all. I have an upcoming problem that I was looking for some consensus on. Lots of words incoming. I currently work at a job where I have plateaued and due to my lack of post secondary education, I cannot advance any further in my chosen field, finance. Knowing that, I looked into pursuing education and the cost is too much for me to go into full time. I recently bought a house and my fiancée and I would not be able to afford to live there, even with renters moving in. With that knowledge, it has left me to look at other employment opportunities where I can earn a lot of money quickly so that I can save up and then pay for my schooling up front while still paying our bills. Thus I eliminate the debt, ease our financial burden and I can focus on my schooling. That part is the 'easy' part since I have a in with the oil sands here in Alberta. With all that said I want to get my CPA here in Canada. Could someone say what it is like? I imagine lots of math and statistics. I just don't want to invest two years of my life saving up for school, only to flush it all away by getting the wrong degree.
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Jul 12, 2014 15:59
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An accounting degree isn't that hard. It is challenging and requires a lot of work and discipline. The math part is minimal and there is almost no statistics. It's mostly accounting principles and norms. The CPA exam (which from what I gathered will resemble the pre-fusion CA exam - case-based, lasts 3 consecutive days) is one of the hardest corporate exam in Canada though. Whatever you do don't go in assurance/audit, you'll hate yourself. Try the CMA (management accounting)path instead.
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Jul 12, 2014 21:38
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Less than 40k as a Big 4 staff 2 seems outrageous to me. Even the people from my school who went to small firms in smaller cities are making more than that as a first year. Big 4 in cities with a large business market are making more than one and half times that as first years including signing bonuses.
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Jul 12, 2014 21:59
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At my current job as a branch manager for a loan store I make 40k a year. With an average raise I'll get 42k. Can't wait to get out of here and stop treading water. Thank you for the advice. I was looking at SAIT business accounting management courses or to take the accounting management courses here at the university in Lethbridge.
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Jul 12, 2014 23:25
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Today my doctor called me with my blood test results. I have a severe vitamin D deficiency, a 12 when it should be 30 or something along those lines. Your body produces vitamin D when you are out in glorious sunlight. Gee, I wonder why I don't get any of that? Don't work in accounting. If it doesn't make you kill yourself, it will give you rickets.
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Jul 18, 2014 14:29
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My new job has summer hours and I only have to work 4 hours on Friday (June-August). Also I've been here for less than 2 months and I've gone on two day trips to San Fransisco for team building. Work in accounting.
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Jul 18, 2014 18:25
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Bugamol posted:My new job has summer hours and I only have to work 4 hours on Friday (June-August). Also I've been here for less than 2 months and I've gone on two day trips to San Fransisco for team building. Work in accounting.
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Jul 18, 2014 20:16
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Xibanya posted:Today my doctor called me with my blood test results. I have a severe vitamin D deficiency, a 12 when it should be 30 or something along those lines. Your body produces vitamin D when you are out in glorious sunlight. Gee, I wonder why I don't get any of that? Don't you have to be out in sun for like 10 minutes a week to cover your vitamin D making capabilities or whatever?
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Jul 18, 2014 21:11
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KILLALLNERDS.EXE posted:Whatever you do don't go in assurance/audit, you'll hate yourself. Try the CMA (management accounting)path instead. This. If you don't mind creating balance sheets and journal entries instead of verifying them, you should consider corporate accounting. I started at an oil company straight out of school with a salary ~30% higher than the average Big 4 audit salary in my area, and in the first five years I averaged 2 days a year where I was at work past six. It's not the most exciting work (although if you're looking for an adrenaline rush, finding out while you're building the quarterly balance sheet that the in-country guys screwed up a $84M JV will give it to you) and things can vary widely from company to company, but if you are interested in good money and decent work/life balance you should at least check it out.
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Jul 24, 2014 17:59
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Unclejeeby posted:This. If you don't mind creating balance sheets and journal entries instead of verifying them, you should consider corporate accounting. I started at an oil company straight out of school with a salary ~30% higher than the average Big 4 audit salary in my area, and in the first five years I averaged 2 days a year where I was at work past six. It's not the most exciting work (although if you're looking for an adrenaline rush, finding out while you're building the quarterly balance sheet that the in-country guys screwed up a $84M JV will give it to you) and things can vary widely from company to company, but if you are interested in good money and decent work/life balance you should at least check it out.
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Jul 24, 2014 18:20
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SiGmA_X posted:I wonder if that salary is due to oil. In my city, it's generally pretty equal corp v public, and very much limited OT. Maybe a 50hr week at quarter close I found I was making equivalent to Big 4 starting in corporate accounting. Just no overtime where I worked. I went salary after about a year anyway. If you want the money OT is great. If you want your time corporate accounting can be great. I worked there for a few years and now I have what is essentially my dream job. Extremely competive pay, loads of advancement opportunities, great beneifits, great perks, located where I want to live. I don't have my CMA (working on it) or my CPA or my Masters. Audit / Tax is a great way to go, but by no means should people think that if they don't have their CPA they won't get a job at a big company.
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Jul 24, 2014 19:34
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If any accounting pros could give me some advice, I'd really appreciate it. I'll have my MBA - Finance from a no-name state U in a few weeks. Brief life story: I worked in retail, got a BA in Anthropology, went back to retail, bought/ran a retail store, went back to school to get my MBA. I also did payroll accounting (tax/compliance stuff) at a Fortune 500 for half a year. I live in Germany now, but my visa will expire in a couple months unless I get a job. I'm looking for entry-level corporate finance/accounting positions. The feedback I've gotten from smaller companies is that I'm overqualified, while Big 4 and major MNCs in D-A-CH have stronger applicants than me. EY in Budapest seemed really excited about hiring me, but they didn't follow through. Option 1: CMA. I have the prep books, and it seems like it would be relatively little marginal effort, given my finance/managerial accounting background. However, from talking to accountant friends, and reading about it online, it seems the CPA is more a "sure thing" than the CMA, career-wise. Option 2: ACCA. I could start working on this immediately, but the usefulness of this in the States is basically nil? Option 3a: CPA. I need 7 more Acc classes to qualify in my home state. Option 3b: CPA + Acc undergrad. If I took ~10 classes, I could get another bachelor's in Acc. Option 4: Keep going after Big 4 + MNC jobs in eastern Europe, get more qualifications later. I'm leaning toward Option 3, but I worry that's a cop-out and I'm irrationally hoping more school will fix my problems. Any other options you'd recommend?
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Jul 25, 2014 11:54
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I'm confused because you don't make it clear where you are looking for a job. Are you trying to find a job in Germany or a job in the United States? What was GPA from your MBA? What type of accounting do you want to do? Are you just looking for any accounting job? I can't really comment on the European job market and couldn't really tell you what certifications do well over there. For the US I think most people in this thread will tell you to get your CPA. If you're going to go that route you might as well get your bachelors in accounting as well as it sounds like they would essentially go hand in hand. I don't think the CMA is really something you get before you have job experience, but more something you pursue to further your education when you can't meet the CPA requirement and/or can't work under someone to get your hours. It also largely based on what industry you're trying to get into. I worked in a manufacturing environment which is why I pursued it. Did you do any internships? Why do you live in Germany? Are you from there/have family? How long ago did you do payroll accounting for a Fortune 500 company? Do you have any connections there? How old are you? You seem like you're putting yourself into an extremely tough market. I would be worried that you're overqualified for anything entry level, but due to your lack or experience under qualified for anything above entry level. Bugamol fucked around with this message at 15:12 on Jul 25, 2014 |
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Jul 25, 2014 15:05
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Thanks for the reply Bugamol. I was trying to keep it short but I should've given you guys more to work with. I've been looking for work exclusively in the DACH and eastern Europe, but I'll go back to the States in October, at the latest. It's kind of a whole other long story, but I'm not that gung-ho about staying here anymore, so going forward I'll be looking for work in the US. Pending my final test results, my GPA should be at least 3.94, maybe a hair higher. All A's, except for one B+ in biz law. I think any type of accounting would be good, but I especially like managerial/cost accounting. I tried to do an accounting internship at that Fortune 500, but they said I was overqualified and hired me for payroll accounting instead. I worked there last summer through early this spring. I went to Germany to do my last semester of school as a study abroad. My German was decent and I wanted to improve it, and it seemed like a good opportunity to network over here, with the intention of staying after graduation. My German got better, but I've been told by several different Germans that networking really doesn't work the same way here as in other countries. "Knowing a guy" isn't worth much here, or so I'm told. I'll be 27 in October. No family here. I still have connections with that Fortune 500. I left on good terms, and I got along with my coworkers. When I put in my 2 weeks' notice, they actually asked me to stay on an extra 4 weeks through the beginning of the new year to make sure all the year-end projects got done. I'm sure I could go back and get a full-time position there if I wanted. The problem is, it was in a smaller town in the middle of a terrible southern/mid-western state. I convinced my wife to go there in the first place with the promise of it being temporary. She has straight up told me if I want to go back, I'm going alone. I also know exactly how much everyone there makes, and I made more as an experienced bicycle/ski mechanic in Colorado than they pay their staff accountants. So I'm not sure that's worth getting divorced over. Bugamol posted:I would be worried that you're overqualified for anything entry level, but due to your lack or experience under qualified for anything above entry level. Yeah, that's exactly what I'm afraid of. The "overqualified" thing really drives me nuts. It's not like "Goldilocks-qualified" people stay entry-level for 10 years or something. Everyone gets experience then moves up or out. posh spaz fucked around with this message at 16:21 on Jul 25, 2014 |
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Jul 25, 2014 16:05
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posh spaz posted:The "overqualified" thing really drives me nuts. It's not like "Goldilocks-qualified" people stay entry-level for 10 years or something. Everyone gets experience then moves up or out. The issue is because you have an MBA most companies are going to expect that you want to be paid more. On the flip side you have very little "practical" experience so you're still viewed as a high risk. Your Fortune 500 story plays well and I would definitely tell that in any phone interviews / real interview. That you were overqualified for an internship, they hired you as a payroll accountant, and then even extended your employment by 4 weeks because you did so well. However I think your biggest issue is going to be getting interviews.
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Jul 25, 2014 16:42
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I should probably ask this in the resume thread, but what's the etiquette in removing degrees from resumes? If I get another bachelor's in accounting, I would probably take the Anthropology degree off of my one-page resume. Would it be unethical to take the MBA off as well?
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Jul 25, 2014 17:56
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posh spaz posted:I should probably ask this in the resume thread, but what's the etiquette in removing degrees from resumes? If I get another bachelor's in accounting, I would probably take the Anthropology degree off of my one-page resume. Would it be unethical to take the MBA off as well? As sad as it sounds I have a friend who took his PHD off his resume because he wasn't getting callbacks. I can't remember if he just left his masters or bachelors. Honestly I would shop the job market with the MBA / degree and if nothing is working out then consider removing it. How long have you been looking for a job and where? Just saying "Yes I'm currently living in Germany, but want to move back to the United States" is going to turn off a lot of employers.
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Jul 25, 2014 18:57
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