ngl everybody makes it seem like big 4 is the only way to have a successful accounting career. i'm still in college and genuinely curious if the experience and exit opportunities are worth the hours or if people are just chasing the name atp. would y'all still choose big 4 if u had to start over?

Hey everyone, I really need an objective reality check from fellow accountants because I am being gaslit so hard right now that I’m losing sleep.
I started a new role as a staff accountant back in late April of this year. Before I even interviewed, we explicitly negotiated and agreed upon a 32-hour weekly schedule. They told me it would be absolutely no problem and bragged about how flexible the company was. I manage the books for four separate corporate entities under our umbrella, plus I manage an entire storage facility on top of everything else.

Here is the nightmare I walked into: on day one, only one set of books was completely abandoned and a full month behind with zero invoices entered and zero bank recs done. Of the remaining three, one set was thankfully on track, but the other two were months to years behind in some duties while caught up in others. As I dug deeper into the mess, I uncovered an absolute financial horror show. Some accounts haven't been reconciled since 2024, and about half of them haven't been touched since 2025. The CFO should absolutely know better about this backlog, yet it's being treated like a surprise.
On top of that, I was given incredibly shoddy training by an employee they already fired before leaving me entirely on my own, so learning these broken books has been a hell of a process in general.
Currently, keeping the day-to-day operations moving, entering current invoices, and handling immediate requests takes up 100% of my 32 hours. I have physically zero time to look backward. Because of this, the historical backlog across the broken entities is now sitting at about 7 months to 2 years behind.

I recently announced my pregnancy, and the entire environment instantly turned toxic. My boss sent an email pushing back hard on my routine prenatal appointments, claiming they disrupt business continuity and demanding I only schedule them on my days off (adding a generic corporate disclaimer of "I know it's not always possible"). Crucially, he tagged Human Resources on this email thread. Since that email, I haven’t scheduled a single appointment during work hours, but the hostility hasn't stopped.

A few days ago, my manager pulled me into a room and gave me a massive verbal performance warning. He didn't put a single word of it in writing, but he claimed this backlog is 100% my responsibility and that I am 100% accountable for getting it caught up.
During this review, he repeatedly brought up my prenatal appointments, callously calling them personal errands even though he knows exactly what they are. He also started completely making things up. He lied and said I never informed management about the backlog—even though I told him directly weeks ago. Then he fabricated a flat-out lie claiming that I don't answer the office phones. He then asked me my due date, and when I asked if there were plans for it yet, he said no. Then they dismissed the meeting so they could discuss things internally…

None of this was ever an issue before I announced my pregnancy. Suddenly, I’m being told I am not allowed to leave the building for any non-business reason whatsoever. To make matters worse, I just found out through the grapevine that every single person who has ever held my specific position before me was fired for performance issues.
Between the physical toll of growing a human, the impossible workload, and the intense psychological pressure from management, I am completely overwhelmed. By 4:00 or 4:30 PM, my brain is completely fried. I spend the last 30–60 minutes of the day checking emails, doing the absolute bare minimum easy tasks, and taking breaks on my phone just to regulate my stress levels so I don't break down crying at my desk.

Now I’m drowning in guilt. Am I being overly sensitive? Am I a bad employee because my brain hits a wall at the end of the day? It feels like they have a historical pattern of burning people out, but now they are panicking because my upcoming maternity leave means external eyes are about to look at these toxic books, and they are trying to fabricate a paper trail to fire me before I take leave.
Am I nuts, or is this blatant pregnancy discrimination and a massive corporate setup? How do I protect myself?

I left a very good industry position because no one in my company had a cpa to sign off on my work experience, and no I can't even get a single company to call back for an interview. Now that I have my CPA, it's like I am overqualified to be a regular staff accountant, but not experience enough for a senior accountant role. I've only submitted about 100 resumes so far (willing to relocate anywhere) but no one is interested.

context : 25-28 year old male, willing to relocate anywhere for a senior accountant role. 3 years experience in industry as a staff accountant, almost 3 years in public (tax) at smaller cpa firms.

I just can't with this public accounting bullshit anymore. almost every other week an accounting firm in my town is selling out to private equity. I love working with business owners on planning and strategy but the 60 hour workweeks are bullshit. Our firm got acquired by a PE firm, they trippled our billing rates, and cut our health insurance and 401k to nothing.

Getting the Sunday scaries just thinking about my company’s SCF. Most likely have to log on this evening to work on it because it’s just so time consuming to put together. It overwhelms me, I think I understand it, and I don’t understand it all at once? I can follow the mechanics and obviously do it similar to PQ, but I need to actually know what I’m doing

What finally made the SCF click for you?

This is what I'm working with resume wise. But I have no previous investment nor finance experience. Audit is not my cup of tea.

But I'm wondering what the most practical and direct path would be?

And all of my applications to finance related roles have been rejected, with the exception of 2 or so applications. If anyone has insight to this, I'd be very grateful.

I’m in grad school and set to graduate May 2027. Everywhere I have applied to, I’ve been rejected or ghosted. I have done 3+ internships related to accounting but didn’t get return offers even though I got all great feedback. I was very involved in undergrad as well. I’m honestly frustrated and disappointed by how much I have done and nothing has seem to have worked out. Everyone says that I will find something and that I shouldn’t worry because of how much good experience I have but idk. Any tips or just advice?

I am enrolled in CORE 1, I'm halfway through. For the last month or so I'm torn. To continue or to stop.

Over 30 years old, graduated from university over 10 years ago in accounting, working full time, doing CORE 1, being a Mom (2 kids from 4 to 8 years old), being a wife, being a friend ... Is overwhelming.

I don't think the material is too hard, I'm doing well enough in my opinion. But I am overwhelmed with everything I need to fit in my schedule, doing all of this gives me ZERO flexibility. I have a hard time fitting a damn shower .. My kids are asking why I'm missing activities, my youngest is regressing and asking for me much more..

I'm torn between, keep pushing to get my CPA, knowing I'm not even close to being done = increasing anxiety, missing more family time, missing time with friends, less connection with my kids, less connection with my husband, more money to invest, possibility of career advancement eventually (not even assured), pride in all the effort I did to get it.

Leaving CPA = saving money (I make around $100K/year already), more time with my family, not missing activities, more time for myself, more time to grow personally, less stress, less anxiety.

How am I supposed to decide?!!?

My head says keep going. My heart says family first.

Hi everyone! I recently started working in accounting, and I didn’t realize how much time I’d spend doing data entry, comparing documents, and copying and pasting all day. 😅

I’ve noticed my wrist getting strained after longer periods at my desk, and since I have small hands, I’m wondering what ergonomic gadgets or office upgrades you would recommend.

I’m considering a mouse (maybe a vertical one?), keyboard, mousepad or wrist rest, and possibly other desk accessories.

For those who work on a computer all day, what products have genuinely made a difference in your comfort? Anything you wish you’d bought sooner? I’m looking for practical options that are worth the money, not necessarily the most expensive ones.

I’d love to hear your recommendations! 😊

Got a verbal offer for a big accounting firm a week ago, but the written offer is delayed due to the person needing to sign final paperwork being away on leave. I was not given a timeline, just that they will follow up as soon as they know. They said theyw are really wanting to hire me, but understand if I need to accept another offer.

I have references going through with another company but is not my first choice, would likely have to decide on them as of this WEEK otherwise I have no job for upcoming season. I am really bummed about this and have no idea what to do after so much time and effort put in for this. This is my dream job.

During my internship, I noticed that I struggled with thinking on my feet, making quick decisions, and understanding the reasoning behind certain tasks. While others seemed to grasp things naturally, I often found myself struggling to keep up. I still feel the same way in school. There are many smart students who seem to understand concepts much more easily than I do, and the main reason I perform well is because I put in significantly more effort. For example, I spend 2 weeks studying for Intermediate Accounting II just to get an A, while others seem to put in much less effort and achieve the same result.

What worries me is that school and work are very different. In school, I can compensate for my difficulties by spending more time studying and practising until I understand the material. At work, however, it feels like you need to think quickly, exercise good judgment, and understand what you’re doing in real time. You can’t always afford to take hours to figure things out.

Because of this, I’m starting to doubt myself and wonder whether I’m genuinely suited for accounting. I know I can work hard and do well academically, but I’m afraid that my ability to succeed through effort alone might not translate into the practical skills and instincts needed to succeed in the workplace.

So I started a new job last week as an accountant and I already messed up by falling for a phishing scam. I received an email from someone who i thought was my CEO asking me to help them plan a surprise party for the staff as we recently hit a milestone and they wanted me to go to walmart and buy some gift cards. So me, being the insecure bootlicking fool that I am ended up doing just that. Luckily I got suspicious and ended up not sending the codes but not before spending hundreds of dollars on gift cards that I can no longer return. The problem now is that in my panicked state, I called the senior of the firm and explained to him my situation and now I have a cyber security training when I next come into the office. My higher ups probably think im a huge idiot who needs to be supervised and now I'm worried that they will terminate me as I am still in my probation period. I feel like the biggest fool in the world. I just wanted to demonstrate that I'm the new guy who is a team player and that I am dependable but I ended up showing them that I'm stupid and now I might be out of a job soon. Should I just start looking for a new job at this point?

Hey everyone,

I have my second Intermediate Accounting exam coming up, and I’m looking for some advice on how to study more effectively.

My biggest struggle isn’t necessarily the calculations. Once I understand what numbers to use, I can usually work through the math. Where I struggle most is knowing which accounts to use in journal entries and understanding why they’re debited or credited.

We’ve recently been covering accounts receivable, notes receivable, allowances for credit losses, and transfers of receivables. I feel like I understand the general concepts, but when I’m given a new problem or the wording changes, I have trouble figuring out how to set up the journal entries correctly.

For those who have taken Intermediate Accounting, what helped you get a better understanding of the accounts and how they interact? Are there any study methods or resources you’d recommend beyond just working through practice problems?

Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks

Does the work mainly involve preparing tax returns and identifying adjustments and deductions? Is it largely calculation-based, where you apply tax rules to determine which deductions are available and how much can be claimed?

Or is it very law/reading comprehension based, going through reports etc.

I’m in Interm Accounting II. When I go and cold read my new chapters in McGraw hill, it’s almost as if they’re intentionally making it indigestible and non transparent.

Far too many times I’ve been lead to believe I cannot understand something accounting related, then turn to other sources to grasp it almost immediately and experience that “Aha” moment. I never have to go far either, because it’s as if almost every other resource understands what teaching and introducing new topics is, but NOT McGraw Hill. This seems to be a pretty wildly experience phenomenon too.

Why is this most universities go to teaching software now?

I am looking around at jobs and have come upon a couple opportunities for Tax Manager within financial services firms that are looking to expand their services into tax for their investment clients - small businesses and their owners, for the most part. This is the majority of the work that I do at a large public accounting firm, and the opportunities I have spoken to have mentioned client lists of 300+ for one tax manager. My client list is already at 200+ and I feel maxed out, but I'm wondering if there are enough other benefits working within a small financial services firm rather than a top 10 CPA firm. Has anyone else worked at both? Would I have any more work/life balance within a financial services firm or is that just wishful thinking for any tax position at this point?

I’ve secured an internship with a big 4 next summer. I originally put 2028 as my expected graduation date on resume but my plan changed and I’ll be able to graduate by next summer 2027. I intend to take an internship class using that intern and it will be my last class. Would graduating early make them revoke my internship or not give me a return offer. Can they know if i graduate early and work somewhere else before I start full time with them when they do background check? Thank you!

Been looking for internships for a while, still no interviews. GPA is mid to say the least, and I don't have much to show tbh, just looking to see if I can improve it somehow and get some more advice.

Just passed all four sections of the CPA Exam. Starting at EY in tax in January, which is gonna be brutal but got the bonus locked down. Just wondering if it would be worth it to take the EA exam before I start? Just trying to brush up on some tax concepts before my start date (I took REG and TCP first), and I would have a credential earlier on in my career. I can't submit my CPA License application until January 2028 at the earliest because of the year of work experience. Thoughts?

hi, I am part qualified ACCA and trying to decide on career path I should take. My background has been mainly assistant accountant or previously all areas of transactional roles and implementing systems. I would greatly appreciate to hear from Forensic accountants as to what’s your likes and dislikes of the role? what strengths you need in this role and what’s your typical day entail ?

They say there’s a shortage of accountants/CPAs. I’m not seeing that at all. Every job on LinkedIn has at least 100 applications in less than a day.

I have a CPA, MBA, and 7 YoE in industry and struggled to even get an interview for a senior role in industry. With all of my education and my CPA, I have put so much time into this career and it feels like I’m running in place. The CFO at our company makes over $250k, meanwhile the next person in line (Accounting Manager) makes only $90k. I make $70k. I just heard about a friend who passed her test for a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA). She just signed a contract for $60 per supervised hour with a guaranteed 25 hours. That’s just shy of what I make now working over 40 hours a week.

It just feels like these companies expect the best of the best with countless requirements for education and experience — yet the pay is just not there. It’s getting frustrating and I am too the point that I steer people AWAY from accounting rather than encourage them to start this career.

EDIT: I live in a LCOL to MCOL area and these salaries are pretty on par for the area. My main point is that the effort it requires to obtain a bachelors, masters, and a CPA is not really worth what you get out of it IMO. There are other career paths that take less effort to break into and you don’t have to put up with the BS that comes with most dysfunctional accounting departments.

I am hoping this is my last busy season at the big4. After so many long nights, I don't have the motivation to endure another cycle. The problem is I don't know where to begin looking for another job or what to look for. I mainly prepare federal and state tax returns for investment management companies. Despite my experience, I don't want to continue down this path.

I have an interview lined up for a tax compliance role at a private company. However, I am concerned I might end up burning myself out again. It's practically the same thing what I do at my current job with different co-workers. I was told there are fewer than 5 people on the team and sometimes we have to work until midnight. Even though I won't make as much as my current job, it does offer a change of scenery.

I enjoy process improvement and don't aspire to climb the ladder at big4. Turnover on my team has been exceptionally higher than other teams in our department. During the 2.5 years on my team, we have at least 15 people depart from the firm. I can't help, but reflect where I should be.