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The better question is why wouldn't you go to Vegas for CPE credits?
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Nov 20, 2009 00:41
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AbbiTheDog posted:she said find some CPE in vegas so we could write off some of our trip. You've trained her well 
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Nov 22, 2009 03:42
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Rib, Once you state your intention to leave, the partner should let you go rather than bargain with you. Face it, you're replaceable (but everyone at any firm your size is), and a person who has expressed a desire to leave is just someone who won't be a good team member. My personal opinion is that once you hit this stage, get the gently caress out. I don't know how your busy season is structured, but it might not hurt your resume to leave at this stage, given the size of the firm. Were you working in a small firm, doing tax, then it is borderline too late to leave -- but only if you want to keep your public accounting options open. Your resignation should be in writing, but if you won't see your partner, I can't imagine it would hurt to call him about the letter you left on his desk. hellboundburrito posted:Unrelated side note: Any tax preparers in this thread? I do taxes on the side during busy season (horrible idea in terms of work-life balance), and just got the IRS pamphlet in the mail saying tax preparers now need to be over $60 a year which seems like such a ripoff. I realize tax preparers make money doing taxes, but it's not like they give us any sort of free e-filing program or anything with the fee. Luckily I'm at least a CPA so I don't have to deal with the testing they want to implement in 2011. For many years, the IRS really didn't give a gently caress about unethical preparers. Sure, every once in a while they would go into crackdown mode, but they really didn't care unless the dollar amount was huge. Whistle-blowers were ignored even if the frauds were in the six figures per annum. In the last couple of years, the IRS seems to have taken a dim view of paid preparers and taxpayer representatives as a whole, taking the stance that taxpayers should be able to deal with the IRS by themselves. I don't know exactly what the split is between delusion and self-interest, and I don't care to know. Nevertheless, the IRS feels it necessary to regulate the industry. Let's face it, the tax preparation field is a combination of tax professionals and fraudsters. The $64.25 fee is the first step toward federal regulation of the industry. To me (a CPA, for full disclosure), I find the registration system and the idea of federal regulation to be fine, and if this prevents states from enacting their own regulations, it's a net good. (Then again, in full disclosure, I usually deal with about 15 different states per tax season) On the other hand, the way that registration has been handled so far has been an unmitigated disaster. If everything works as planned, it will be harder for a taxpayer to find an unscrupulous tax preparer to sign off on a work of fiction. Hopefully, it creates a perception that tax preparers know the tax code, but won't help you commit fraud, so that I am less bothered by these people.
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Dec 1, 2010 05:26
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AbbiTheDog posted:IIRC, there was an article about how the IRS has 24 databases to track PTINs and none of them tie together. They audited a bunch of the PTINs, and found the majority of tax preparers were using multiple PTINs to dodge computer tracking. I would have never thought about getting a second PTIN just to foil computer tracking. Then again, I would have thought that they did social security number linking on the old PTIN system... Ethics courses for CPAs are different than what the IRS is talking about. To the Service, ethics begins and ends with Circular 230. For CPAs, we have to deal with other issues such as independence. Also, the cynical side of me just assumes that 'ethics' is just a corporate bureaucracy buzzword, a bit of management-speak with no connection to the real world. It is supposed to sound good and fits with the stated intent of the registration program.
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Dec 1, 2010 22:22
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AbbiTheDog posted:Come on, don't tell me you don't read accounting today. I read Accounting Today, I just have forgotten Accounting 500 Days Ago
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Dec 2, 2010 03:26
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hellboundburrito posted:I'm not advocating against some sort of regulation - I *do* think an element of regulation is a good idea. I guess I'm just sort of displeased about the sudden fee as it relates to the small time (and for arguments sake, we'll direct this towards honorable, tax-code abiding preparers) preparers who do know the tax code but don't do a whole lot of returns during tax season because it's side work for them. I also think regulation and perhaps the element of testing they plan to implement are more effective deterrents for a preparer to sign off on a fraudulent return than the fee itself. That being said, I'm going to pay the fee regardless so I can do taxes in the little spare time I have during busy season, but I guess I wish there was an added benefit of efficient and cost effective filing that was included with the fee for those of us who choose to go through the proper channels and accept the regulation of the field. Unless you do fewer than 10 or 15 tax returns, I think the fee isn't unreasonable. (If you do fewer than that, why even bother?) As AbbiTheDog posted, the old status quo was insufficient to even track the tax preparer community, let alone regulate it. Getting everyone to one database, even if it requires a small user fee, is a necessary first step toward the goal -- what good is it to impose regulations on preparers if the IRS doesn't know who to enforce against? If you have a problem with the fee, increase your preparation rates, explaining that the IRS regulation of preparers is costing you money, forcing you to raise rates. The IRS is an unsurprisingly effective bogeyman during tax season for some strange reason...
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Dec 2, 2010 05:01
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Cyrezar posted:The end result of the PTIN program is that the preparers who suck will take peoples' money and have them sign the return as self-prepared. Realistically, any liability is on the taxpayer as it is so this won't even be a huge step for them. Reputable firms will just increase their fees to account for their increased costs. You are probably correct that there will be a black market of preparers who file as self-prepared. However, it already happens now. I believe that the IRS has already stated it will be doing some publicity about registered preparers, which should help. Hell, there are already a lot of people who won't claim child care tax credits because they 'agreed' not to in exchange for a lower fee -- what does it say about the integrity of a person who they trust their kids with! With any luck, in the end, the IRS will find that more problems come from the self-prepared category, focus some of their energy on that area, and that will help catch some of these issues. hellboundburrito posted:As I said, my issue isn't with regulation - I think regulation is a good idea, but I don't think the fee is going to be the most effective element of regulation if it's even effective at all. The fee itself won't deter people who wish to fraudulently prepare returns, but true regulation in the form of registration, the testing and so on will. Don't take my comments as being anti-IRS and anti-regulation, I understand it is their job to make sure returns are properly prepared and taxes are paid. And as I also said, if the fee included some sort of efficient way of e-filing for free, I would definitely support it. Even if I weren't a CPA and was subject to the testing in 2011, I'd have no problem with that either. The fee is not regulation. The fee is not supposed to put anybody out of business, even the fraudsters. It is one part of a much larger picture, and it is the cost of administering the program and doing basic tax compliance checks on tax preparers. And while I do sympathize with small time preparers who are competent, this small of a fee should not be a tipping point. What should be their tipping point is realizing how much they are earning per hour. You have to count the amount of time that it takes to stay current with tax law, and preparing few returns doesn't allow for the efficiencies of a full time preparer. Plus, in 2012, the e-file requirement drops to preparers with 11 or more returns. Honestly, you need to set your goals higher and get the side business be 30, 40, or 50 returns in the next few years or else you'll be killing yourself for peanuts.
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Dec 3, 2010 14:43
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hellboundburrito posted:If you're talking about Salem State in MA, I know people who work for my (Big 4) firm that went to school there. I couldn't tell you whether or not they recruit there, but it's definitely possible to get in. Odds are, they do recruit there. People are more likely to start their careers at a big 4 firm as opposed to joining later in their careers, so it's likely that a school well-represented in the firm would be recruiting at that school.
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Dec 25, 2010 16:19
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In my experience, Intermediate I is usually the in-depth course on assets whilst Intermediate II is the in-depth course on liabilities and equity. Your mileage may vary.
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Nov 18, 2011 04:43
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himurak posted:Their rationale was that I wasn't learning fast enough. I worked there for a month total. Consider yourself lucky that you got fired. A lot of micro-firms don't like to invest in their employees and if you were fired for not "learning fast enough" in a month then you're better off elsewhere. They probably paid crap as well. himurak posted:Edit: In discussion about the big firms; I think it's a chicken or the egg argument. Is the problem the firms and their demands or the industries that place the value they do on the demands? It's a little of both. Busy seasons are inherently nightmares given the timeframes and deadlines involved. Some of those come from the client, sure. But staffing costs come out of the bottom line, and if you can get the same amount of work done with one fewer salary, the partner makes more money.
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Jan 24, 2015 16:06
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Untagged posted:What's life like for non-accountants at THE BIG 4? One of them has an office nearby and they are apparently heavily recruiting for corporate consulting in a field I'm somewhat familiar with ie. fraud/law enforcement/investigations etc. The bennies and salary are pretty good. Although it is a 60%-80% travel required job. Are the non tax jobs just as potentially soul crushing? My sister in law was a CPA for another big firm and loved the travel, but hated the hours and lack of a work life balance which forced her to quit. It's tempting, but there's not much info for life in these types of positions. Going from what I read at Going Concern, these areas are more profitable than bog standard tax and auditing services. Because of this, they offer better salaries and better hours without the same pressures of eating time from unrealistic budgets. By all accounts, they seem like a great place to start a career. That is, until the next economic downturn when consulting work disappears.
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Dec 30, 2015 14:11
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JohnnyTreachery posted:can Managerial and Intermediate I be taken together, or is this a terrible idea? also same question for Managerial + Cost. This might be different at your institution, but at the one that I attended (as well as the one I teach at) Managerial & Intermediate can be taken together as they are two separate types of accounting. In my area, managerial and cost are similar and one would be a prerequisite for the other.
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Aug 2, 2016 23:19
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Tax reform is a great opportunity especially for young accountants. 1 - As said before, lots of consulting work. 2 - After the '86 reform came in, a bunch of old accountants said "gently caress it; I'm not going to learn a whole bunch of new rules. Time to retire." Lower supply and higher demand for accountants mean higher wages and faster tracks to higher-level jobs.
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Dec 2, 2016 09:54
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Kinson posted:I'm leaving tax for a private company Controller position. Oh happy days! I put in my 2 week notice Monday and next week will be my last, but I'm seriously considering just taking next week off. Congratulations; I did the same thing 2 years ago. (Except I started my own firm on the side. Now I enjoy tax season.)
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Dec 3, 2016 14:26
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chupacabraTERROR posted:This is true. But I also never understood how the managers and above put up with the poo poo hours, too. Like I said in my last post, it seemed like the hours stayed the same or worse as you moved upwards. Only the senior partners seemed to have enough power to delegate the poo poo work to the junior partners. It's because instead of doing poo poo you hate, you're in charge of poo poo you hate. That's an improvement. Plus there's the potential to make partner and own some poo poo you hate (but at least are compensated for it).
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Dec 6, 2016 19:24
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As a first-year staffer, if you're not loving anything up, they're not giving you challenging enough work (or you're not even recognizing that you're loving up, which is worse). In my view, the most important aspect of making a mistake is what you learn from it. Given the day of tax review work I just finished, here's a pro tip I'll share with you first year whippersnappers: the most important thing you can do in preparing a 2016 income tax return is to look at the 2015 income tax return first. If your firm didn't prepare the 2015 return, make sure you get it from the client and keypunch the 2015 return data into your software's 2 year comparison (or whatever your firm uses). When you think you're done preparing the return, review the 2 year comparison first and see if there's anything that changed significantly or looks like it might be missing or weird. Note it and send it up the review chain; your reviewer will appreciate it.
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Mar 12, 2017 01:53
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St Patrick's Day is the perfect holiday for accountants as it lets everybody blow off some steam after the 3/15 deadline. If nobody gets blackout drunk, then you're working for the wrong firm. Also, make sure the cab companies in your area are well-staffed on April 18th. Anyone who can make it into work on the 19th isn't a real accountant.
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Mar 21, 2017 00:06
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Moneyball posted:I have an interview on Monday about an audit position in public accounting. Not big 4. They want to see my transcript to make sure I'm eligible to sit for the CPA and to weed out dummies. Bs and Cs in undergraduate aren't great but they shouldn't kill you. That D- though. Some colleges would not allow a D- to count as a passed class in a major and would require you to retake it before graduation. Assuming that your Advanced Accounting is roughly the same as the one I've taught (consolidations and partnerships, etc) I would have a hard time taking you seriously for an audit position. For tax it wouldn't bother me as much.
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May 12, 2017 13:35
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Moneyball posted:Well drat. Now I'm not just concerned about not getting this job but also future ones. Hopefully I have an an understanding interviewer. Ultimately, the only thing that really matters in public accounting is the CPA and experience. Your GPA is used as a substitute for both early in your career, as an indication of your understanding of accounting and your likelihood of passing the CPA exam. I never interviewed with a large CPA firm, only smaller ones, but I only had to have transcripts for a potential employer after the interviews to make sure I wasn't lying about my degree. In your case, Just be honest and explain what happened and what you learned from the experience. The earlier you can get started on passing the CPA exam, the better. Pass FAR and nobody will give a poo poo about your Advanced Accounting grade The past is the past and you can only move forward.
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May 12, 2017 18:41
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black.lion posted:You have to work under a CPA (who signs off on your year of experience), so if you can find a company with a CPA inboard you can get the xp needed, but obviously not many companies keep CPAs on the payroll You'd be surprised. A lot of us CPAs leave for industry and keep our licenses, especially if we moonlight. It's state-dependent though. If the continuing ed requirements are too arduous, CPAs in industry will be more willing to let their designation go inactive.
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Aug 25, 2017 13:05
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JohnnyTreachery posted:Are exit opps for tax limited to, like, industry tax, or can you pivot to sr accountant/financial analyst like someone that went into audit? Well, anyone can pivot their career in any way that they wish, especially if they're willing to start at a lower pay rung for a few years. It does depend on how specialized you are; if you're a SALT expert then you would be well-regarded for industry tax positions only. If you have your CPA, that will help tremendously. Aside from that, there are good opportunities in the mid-sized business market for former tax people to transition to industry generalist. A company with a smallish accounting department might be looking for a controller with a tax background as GAAP is not universal if the business is not beholden to the SEC or the banks. That's what I did, although it did help that I had some general ledger experience within my primarily tax role. The smaller the accounting department, the bigger of a fish you will look like. For better and for worse.
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Sep 11, 2017 13:35
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Covok posted:I got nothing done today. It’s called billable hours. You got lots of things done. (I’ve worked more this week between Christmas and New Year’s than I think I ever have. Make hay while the sun shines!)
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Dec 29, 2017 14:31
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Hurt Whitey Maybe posted:Individual work sounds like hell. I would have been fired by now if I was you for screaming “use TurboTax” at them. With the right clientele, individual work is entirely enjoyable. Sometimes they can be doozies, though. My favorite war story from my prior firm: Picked up a new client in the throes of the recession. His workplace was closing and he had the option of moving to another location or taking a severance package. He had decided that he was going to start his own business, and his buddies at the bar said that he’d have so many write offs that he wouldn’t have to pay taxes, so he took the severance. But not until after he claimed exemption from tax. He also liquidated his 401k to “pay off his credit cards” and he let a prior 401k loan lapse. End result was a six figure distribution, no withholding, and he was too young to escape early withdrawal penalties. At least his wife had the common sense to have some taxes taken from her check. The predictable result was that the couple owed an incredible sum. She was crying; he blamed me for the result, saying that it was my fault. I don’t remember my response to him, but I think it involved something similar to “I don’t have a time machine.” For some reason, I never saw them again after that fateful day...
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Feb 5, 2018 14:20
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Covok posted:They definitely expect me to do illegal things. No, they want you to turn a blind eye toward illegal things. But good on you for running as fast as you can away from this place! At the small firm I used to work at, the only time that they kept the company name confidential in the job ad was when they were planning on firing someone and looking for an immediate replacement. Take that for what it’s worth.
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May 12, 2018 03:27
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Covok, I’ve followed your story through the years, so I’m glad that you’ve landed on your feet, but you really need to be more careful in this situation like this. I had a somewhat similar situation when I joined my current company to replace the retiring controller — they were inefficient (using green 13 column paper in some cases), they printed hard copies of stuff they didn’t need (in color at ten times the cost, no less), making major errors, and not dealing with a problem employee. But I also recognized that I was seen as the new punk kid with some fancy letters after my name so it was really important to tread carefully at first. Part of being a successful manager is seeing the world through other peoples’ eyes. You need to see how you and your actions are perceived by others, especially during the first impressions stage. You want the retiring accountant to cooperate for a successful transition of clients, but in the 3 weeks that you’ve been there you’ve already completely humiliated the guy. You’re the punk kid with the Big 4 on your resume coming in and saying how everything is done wrong — in short, you’re implying that he sucks. And maybe he does. But now instead of spending the last two months of his career ensuring that “his” clients are well taken care of after August, he has to reclaim his dignity. He’s got to stand up for his years of work. He’s got to stand up for the good bookkeeper who has always been loyal to him. All because some punk thinks he knows more than him. It is possible that you have already completely screwed up any hope of a successful transition. For your sake, I hope not.
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Jun 23, 2018 16:34
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Covok posted:So I think you guys are really misunderstanding it. I have a lot of plans but I haven't acted on any of them and I plan on doing them slowly and I haven't said anything. The only thing I've really done is somewhat unintentionally convinced accountant to be a little more efficient on sales tax and start treating the person who yelled at me a little more shortly, as I would have done anyway. Yes, we all read the exact same post and happened to come to the same misunderstanding. It couldn’t possibly be you. No, it’s the children who are wrong. Aside from the bookkeeper’s wacky shortened name thing, these issues clearly point to you. You’ve been there three weeks and you already think you know better than everyone else. Isn’t it the least bit possible that your internal attitude is coming out to your new coworkers in manners you are not intending it to?
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Jun 24, 2018 04:47
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The most important thing about a mistake is learning from it. The fact that you’re open about it, rather than hiding from it, is a definite sign that you’ll learn from it.
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Jan 16, 2020 19:38
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There are few activities in tax land more useless than mass filing of automatic extensions so yeah, let’s keep requiring them instead of just having the due date be 10/15 with payments due 7/15 (4/15 in years that the economy isn’t blowing up).
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Mar 18, 2020 15:47
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Democratic Pirate posted:My friends firm is going with “file expected refunds by 4/15, hold off on anything else” That’s currently the triage plan for the firm I do some per diem work for.
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Mar 18, 2020 16:42
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Covok posted:He has a profit of about 78k if we go by the schedule c the broker filled. (1) Your client needs to fire this mortgage broker and block phone calls/e-mails. He is trying to get your client to commit both tax fraud and bank fraud so he can get a few thousand bucks in commissions. (2) Your client probably can’t afford the mortgage he wants if he’s making $40k but needs $80k in income to meet underwriting. (3) One of the two preceding statements will be easier to explain to the client than the other.
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Oct 14, 2020 15:01
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Well, that’s good. I’m still not sure how he’s supposed to be able to afford the mortgage though, but best of luck to him all the same.Lord of Garbagemen posted:Unfortunately, when I was working at a small firm this kind of bullshit was extremely common. It is scary to think about the bullshit bankers do and get away with #tobigtofail. The beauty of the mortgage broker system is that they offload the fraud from banks to third parties allowing them to retain plausible deniability when loans going bad.
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Oct 14, 2020 16:26
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Good Citizen posted:Isn’t the home offer deduction like $5 per sq foot up to a max of 300ft plus some expenses and that room needs to be exclusively used for your business? I’m going from memory so I may be off but I definitely remember it being both lame and a hassle That’s the simplified method. The full method can be higher (or lower) than that but if you own the home it includes depreciation which is its own can of worms. However, as said before, if you are a W-2 employee you cannot deduct home office expenses, or any work-related expenses at all. TCJA rules, from 2018-2025.
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Feb 24, 2021 00:36
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Hellblazer187 posted:I think my firm just grew too big, too fast and they weren't able to cope with the growth or manage it properly. Whoever decided to roll out a new CRM in February needs to be fired, yesterday. Hellblazer187 posted:I think I might just go solo after this. If I could get like 200 tax clients and a handful of monthly bookkeeping clients, I could fund a beach bum lifestyle on an average of maybe 10 hours a week? I don't want to build a whole practice with employees and everything. I just don't want to deal with anyone else managing me, or working to provide someone else surplus value. gently caress the grind. The hardest part is getting the initial tax clients for the practice. I started my solo practice when I got a job in industry, and then made the side practice the main job when the industry job went to hell. But that was a 5 year ramp up, and I found some per diem work for another firm as well. You may wish to buy a firm from a 60-90 year old solo practitioner who is sick of it all. The good news is: after this year there will be a lot of people looking to retire.
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Apr 13, 2021 18:05
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Hellblazer187 posted:The decision was made by both company owners so I doubt it! It was planned to be implemented in November of 2020 but then we kept getting delays from the developer. They were finally ready in Feb and I think not saying "OK cool but we'll use the old one until May" was a huge mistake. Somehow, that's even worse than I thought. quote:I don't have near enough cash for that. I honestly think I'll just teach English and start a solo practice as a side hustle, and live off rice and beans until I get enough of a client base to live off of it. Yeah, or the contract work for another firm to get by. Or if someone has a small, 30-50k ish practice they're willing to sell on installments. I agree with tumblr hype man. It is not nearly as unattainable as you think, and sellers are likely to be more motivated to sell than normal.
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Apr 13, 2021 18:28
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Hellblazer187 posted:yeah UT being down is loving hilarious right now I do some per diem for a firm that uses UT in Virtual Office and has their practice management in Onvio. Every day so far this week there has been hours of outages in either of the two systems, and of course we need both to be functioning for the workflow. Makes me very happy that UT in my solo practice is on a local install for now. edit: And Onvio makes 4 days in a row of being unusable during normal working hours. Missing Donut fucked around with this message at 16:38 on May 13, 2021 |
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May 13, 2021 15:49
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I love tax day. I learned years ago the importance of setting client expectations, so my clients have learned that the accounting I will do today is tie up loose ends and otherwise relax. Gonna pick up lunch shortly and open up a beer. Congrats everyone, we did it!
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May 17, 2021 19:03
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- If a recruiter wasn't willing to work around your schedule, which is being respectful to your current employer, you should question whether you want to continue working with that recruiter. - There's nothing inherently wrong with starting at the bottom of a small firm and working up to partner. It requires you to be more open to talking to others about their firm procedures and practices, but it can work. But what you describe is not a great long-term proposition, because if you don't want to work for the new partner, I'm assuming you wouldn't want to stay to potentially make partner with him... - You don't need to state a reason for leaving. The less said, the better. - Looks like others have said this while I've been typing it out, but it would be a potential issue to interview for an Accounting and Auditing Manager without any audit experience.
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Jul 28, 2021 18:58
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Congrats on passing the exam parts!
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Sep 16, 2021 01:54
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Covok posted:Today, I found out from my boss the new owners have set new criterion effective immediately. Unless we grow 10% every year, we will no longer get a bonus. I do not find this an attainable goal. That likely shoots my pay back down to just 60k. Today, your boss will find out that unless your base rate matches market, there will be a job opening. Credentials help the job search but are not controlling. Eventually you will want your EA or a CPA but that is long term. Moving forward, remember that the value of a bonus in your comp equals $0. No ifs, ands, or buts.
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Jan 31, 2022 17:49
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Covok posted:What is market? That is the biggest problem.I always get. For a tax preparer, I make fine for the area. For an accountant, I do not. No one has ever adequately explained this problem to me. I don't know the nitty-gritty specifics of the Long Island market, but I would wager a bet that it's a lot higher than a lot of other places. I'm in Wisconsin and would consider $60k to be insulting pay given what you do. Tax usually pays more than accounting. Honestly, your boss should be grateful that you haven't burnt down their office given that they communicated your pay cut on 1/31.
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Jan 31, 2022 23:48
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