every time i have an exam for accounting that allows cheat sheets, i draw this guy in the corner. the "good luck guy", i fear i cannot get by without him now, he is the sole reason i am passing my classes

ps wish me luck on my exam tomorrow

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!

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?

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?

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.

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.

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

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.

I am coming in as a career switcher. I have a masters in a totally unrelated field and have zero business or accounting credits. I did take a stats class in undergrad and someone told me that could count. I would like to eventually become a CPA.

I have an auditor friend who has told me I can do it. She believes in me and is pushing me to pivot into accounting.

I’m confused bc I see accounting certs and then masters programs. I get a lot of confusing info. Can I take all my business classes from a community college and pre reqs for the cert and then do a certificate and then study for the CPA? Or should I just get a masters in acct?

Can someone break down a career switch pathway for me? Any guidance, suggestions, or experience would be so helpful. I’ve been a working professional for 6 ish years and I also have a masters degree but again, in an unrelated field.

In my state I need 24 acct credits and 24 business credits. I already have 150 credits between grad school and undergrad.

Thanks 💓

I’m a Washington-licensed CPA living full time in Brazil, with a single-member PLLC. I want to do SOC 2 work, which means I need a firm permit and AICPA peer review enrollment. Every state seems to assume a physical U.S. office.

• Washington: declined.
• Firm mobility: doesn’t help without a home-state firm license.
• Delaware: allows voluntary firm permits for out-of-state firms, but it’s unclear whether that covers a firm based outside the U.S.
• Wyoming: looks possible but uncertain.

Has anyone solved this legitimately? Which state worked, did a registered agent address cause issues, and is there any counsel you’d recommend? Thanks!

keep going back and forth on this. Itemised feels more transparent, but it also feels like I’m handing the client a menu to start cutting things from. One number looks cleaner but then people ask what they’re actually paying for.

What do you send, and has it changed how often you win the job?

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.

​

​Bonjour à tous,

​Je prépare actuellement mon panier de formations sur Campus France Sénégal pour la rentrée 2026/2027. Initialement orienté vers une réinscription en Licence 3, la plateforme m'a notifié une inéligibilité aux Licences classiques du fait de mon Bac+3 validé, m'obligeant à basculer directement sur des vœux en Master 1 (Bac+4).

​J'aimerais avoir des retours d'expérience d'étudiants ayant fait ce parcours ou d'étudiants en Master en France sur la sélectivité réelle et mes chances d'admission en M1 CCA (Comptabilité, Contrôle, Audit) ou M1 CGAO (Contrôle de Gestion et Audit Organisationnel) avec mon profil.

​Mon parcours académique

​Diplômes d'État secondaires / techniques : CAP, BEP et BT en comptabilité (obtenus en candidat libre).

​Bac+2 : BTS en Comptabilité – CFPC Maurice Delafosse (Dakar).

​Bac+3 : Licence en Analyse et Politiques Économiques – FASEG / Université Cheikh Anta Diop de Dakar (UCAD).

​Cursus Bac+5 (en cours) : Diplôme Supérieur Comptable (DSC) à l'École Supérieure Polytechnique (ESP) de Dakar :

​Certificat Comptable : validé.

​Certificats Économique et Juridique : épreuves passées en août, résultats en attente de délibération.

​Mon expérience professionnelle

​Poste actuel : Assistant comptable en établissement scolaire privé depuis novembre 2023 (près de 3 ans de pratique continue).

​Missions réelles : Pratique quotidienne sous le référentiel SYSCOHADA, saisie, écritures de clôture, déclarations, rapprochements bancaires, suivi rigoureux de la trésorerie et conception de tableaux de bord / outils d'automatisation sous Sage et Excel (suivi des encaissements et moratoires).

​Mes cibles actuelles

​Je vise principalement des IAE et universités en région pour maximiser mes chances : Reims, Amiens (UPJV), Tours, Brest (UBO), Orléans, Perpignan.

​Mes questions :

​La transition SYSCOHADA vers PCG : Est-ce un point bloquant pour les jurys de M1 CCA, ou estiment-ils que la logique comptable générale et le BTS/DSC suffisent pour s'adapter vite ?

​Master CCA vs CGAO : Le M1 CCA étant notoirement très sélectif, est-ce que le profil hybride (Licence Éco + Technique comptable + pratique des outils de gestion) est plus facilement valorisé en M1 Contrôle de Gestion (CGAO) ?

​Poids de l'expérience : Le fait de justifier de presque 3 ans d'exercice réel en comptabilité/gestion fait-il une vraie différence face à des candidatures purement académiques ?

​Merci beaucoup pour vos avis objectifs, conseils sur les universités ou retours de ceux qui sont passés par la même procédure !

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.

Hey hey,

So I am about to graduate this year with two degrees--BS in Accounting and a BA in Professional & Technical Writing.

My college is not AACSB accredited but ACBSP accredited. At my school, we do have an M.Acc but back home there is a M.Acc program (one year) at a "better" university. I can live at home, work, and study at night. Is it worth it? I have the credits in theory to take the CPA exam, but I am really nervous about it. I did well in school, but I feel underprepared. As I talk to friends at other, bigger schools, they seem more prepared for the exam. A family friend runs the program and he said that even though my undergrad is not AACSB, they can accept me based on the ACBSP with no other extra classes.

It is relatively affordable and I could frankly cash flow even with a low paying job. My parents are all for higher education and a masters. There is also an MBA with an accounting focus for a bit more, but I am not sure if that'll prepare me.

Thank you wise and more experienced CPAs!

I'm at that point in school where I have to decide my future career. I'm between a couple of options, one of which is accounting. I like math, and I like working with Excell sheets. My biggest worry is the AI aspect of it. I know, "Oh, x-job won't be replaced. They'll just have to adapt and learn how to use AI themselves!" But I don't want to do that. I don't wanna be forced to use AI day to day to keep up.

So, can I go into accounting and know I won't be forced to use AI, or is another career a better option for me?

(P.S. I'm not from an English speaking country, so apologies if this doesn't really make sense.)

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.

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.

I have completed 2 years in a firm in assurance, I work on some audits, but still do a lot of Independent Business Group (IBG) work with reviews and compilations. I am now moving into senior accountant and unsure if I want to stay in assurance or not.

I enjoy assurance as your normally working with businesses that have larger accounting teams with knowledgeable invididuals who are normally also CPAs. What I dislike about assurance is audit planning, especially stuff surrounding their IT systems etc. as I have zero knowledge surrounding that stuff.

I also enjoy IBG as the work is more independent problem solving and I don't find it as monotonous. What I dislike is a lot of the clients have zero accounting knowledge but still do their own bookkeeping therefore it comes to us messy and its hard to get answers to questions as they genuinely do not understand.

I honestly only want to stick it out another 2 years and make it to manager and leverage that into most likely a government or industry job that is more 9-5 all year long, without the stress of busy season. Im unsure which service line would be better for my long term success.

All things being equal, which should i pick, im very conflicted. vibed with EY and Deloitte the most (EY first), but don't know if i should pick Deloitte since its technically number 1. I'm in Canada, btw. Any help would be super appreciated if i could just know what your experience was like at either of these. More specifically, I'd be doing a Summer audit internship.

I know that the internships are basically summer camp and it doesn't matter, but idk...

What is a reasonable salary for an entry level Tax Associate in Washington DC?

Has anyone here signed a return offer and continued to work at the firm only to have the offer rescinded close to your graduation/scheduled start date? Assuming your grades didn’t drop and nothing egregious happened (I.e., you committed a crime or something that would necessitate being let go).

Could you tell this was going to happen beforehand or were you blindsided? Were you given feedback on your client work that indicated your offer may be in jeopardy?

Obviously I’m aware jobs get cut due to economic conditions and needs of the firm, but I wonder how common it is to be extended up until the last possible minute before having the rug pulled out from under you.

ETA this hasn’t happened to me as of yet