I’m a lower junior and pretty much a lost cause for these internships at this point. I’m thinking of taking nursing pre requisites and applying to accelerated nursing programs after college. Do you guys think this would be the right move?

if I am already established in audit and industry how do I go into tax? I don’t mind starting from scratch but all associate positions are for new grads. Do I have to go back to school?

I’m sad to say that my position has been terminated. I was completely blindsided by this today. I loved my job and coworkers - I even looked forward going to work everyday. I’m gutted. I got two weeks of severance and I know that will unfortunately not be enough time to find something of quality. I’m not here to trash talk - I’m just sad and lost.

Fin Analyst - small cap company

5 years experience

Got screwed last two jobs and now I’m at a new job in gl accounting, I absolutely hate it. Could care less if something is consumables or smallwares or whatever it may be.

Took the job for the benefits but scared if I tell my boss I want some other role it’ll just lead to getting fired.

Also people say oh I’ll help in front of others but then they say they don’t know something specific, mind you this is senior leadership.

Help how can I go about this?

Hello, I am a high school senior (18) and I have no idea what I want to do after high school. I know the job market is garbage right now, so I am trying to choose wisely. Now I considered accounting and becoming a CPA for money and stability. I like art and graphic design, but I will be frank: I suck at art, especially digital stuff, I am afraid I will not get a job, it is competitive (not saying accounting will be any easier to break into by the way) I am not confident about the job growth of graphic design, and I am not confident in graphic design's job security. I know AI will integrate its way into accounting and graphic design by the way. I only talked to AI about what accounting encompasses, and I haven't chatted with real people in the accounting field yet. I live in Pennsylvania, so I am not sure if it will be a good choice for that specific area or not, but you can let me know. I considered doing accounting at a community college and transferring to a 4 year college. I feel like accounting is more straightforward on what you need to get than graphic design. I am not passionate about this career, but I have heard the math is basic arithmetic, so I think I can tolerate that, despite not being a math person. I feel like I suck at everything to be honest, and I don't know what I want for my life. I know I want to succeed financially though, so I am willing to give some things up if it means I can succeed. I already feel like a bad person, so succeeding financially will at least give me one more good quality and a better life. Especially since this economy will worsen.

I considered other jobs, and I tried figuring out what I wanted to do after high school all 4 years with no clear answer or direction. I feel like every job is a job I cannot obtain. I have broad interests, and I feel a need to know everything and do everything, so that is why this was so hard to decide. I am afraid of studying for a degree, wasting my time, and being a disappointment with no future or job. So is accounting worth it considering my motivations? What does a day-to-day life for an accountant look like? Can I even trust ChatGPT for advice, as long as I click the "search" option before sending in the prompt and tell it not to say stuff just to please me? I feel like school guidance counselors don't know anything beyond surface level knowledge about jobs and the reality of it. They are so overconfident that you will succeed in your passion, and although I appreciate the support, I feel like I cannot make it as an artist. I can't do a trade due to graves disease (hyperthyroidism) so white collar jobs are my only hope, even if I am an idiot. I get good grades only due to effort, not intelligence.

I’m contemplating accounting because I like puzzles and I took financial accounting in college and liked it. I already have an undergraduate degree in math, and I know pursing graduate school in this area will not yield job stability without extensive projects. So I’m looking to pivot into accounting but everyone keeps saying that the hours are bad. Alternatively, I’m considering engineering. I’m thinking about civil engineering.

I would have committed to a masters in accounting already if it weren’t for the extensive working hours I repeatedly hear about.

Can anyone provide any insight into what a career in accounting entails?

Hi all, I’m looking to hold my small team of four to more accountability and am looking at potentially using a project management software as a tool to do so.

I’ve used Trello in past, and may be what I need, but looking to see if anyone else has suggestions.

Given we’re a small team, I’m a small company, we also have some HR tasks absorbed into our team and thus that will require certain projects to require a privacy settings.

Some of the areas I’m looking to better track for visibility and collaborative notes:
- ME close
- Pending issues - customers or vendors
- ERP upgrade tasks
- Open items on special assignments/requests from other departments

Appreciate any insight in advance.

Interviewing in a few weeks with BDO for tax, a little bit desperate for a job after passing 4/4 CPA exams. Feel free to give any insight!

Edit: I only see the audit side getting LOTS of hate. how is the tax side?

I have an internship coming up at a large public accounting firm in the audit department. I wouldn't be surprised if I received a return offer as I consider myself a competent person, all arrogance aside. The problem is that I genuinely don't want to work in public accounting. I've been thinking about passing the CPA exam after graduating and applying to temp and staff positions. Would that be more difficult than I'm imagining? I would stick through a few years of public if that is the case

I recently interviewed with a large public accounting firm and didn't get an offer. They said that it was highly competitive and they had no negative feedback. They said they liked my stories and that I presented myself well. My guess is the deciding factor was that I have no public accounting experience, and other candidates did.

I now have an interview lined up with a Big 4 firm and I don't want the same outcome. I now have a seasonal internship at a small public accounting firm starting this spring, and I mentioned it, but it won't begin until after the interview.

For those who've been through this: how do you compensate for the lack of a public internship on your resume? What are tricks I can use to make myself stand out?

I’m 4 months into this entry level accounting position that I accepted right out of school. I accepted it without doing too much research and I regret it since it was close to my home.

The company is in manufacturing and they were growing so they needed an accountant as the owner was managing the accounting and finances. When I interviewed I looked at his LinkedIn and he had an MBA in finance but his account was private, I thought that his undergrad was in accounting or something. He seemed to know accounting related matters and showed me his Quickbooks when I asked for profitability ratios and stuff. Turns out they were making 8-9m in revenues.

He was doing the management and acting as a controller for the accounting. They don’t have an accounting person on staff. The office manager basically did all the AR and the boss did the AP, sales tax filings, and credit/bank recs.

He has me doing the bank rec and credit card reconciliations. I also do the sales tax filings. I also do accounts receivable. I was like this is fine but turns out he barely knows how to manage an accounting function. I asked whether he did account reconciliations during month end and he never does anything. He just reviews the balances but he never actually did a proper recon. He sometimes says the numbers are messed up.

I think he knows the process of AR, AP as I’ve done research on the processes, but he's not very knowledgeable when it comes to maintaining the books. His month end close just consists of the credit cards and bank recs. He knows how to do tasks in quickbooks and knows his way around. He understand the GL and journal entry impacts. He just doesn’t have actual accounting experience.

I think he’s hiring me to take over all of his work instead of training me to become an actual accountant while doing the work of that makes sense. He wants to focus his time on growing the business but he also wants an accountant at the same time without investing in one.

I did more research on his experience and he only help leadership positions in corporate finance and investment banking. So he doesn’t have the skills to become an accountant. His undergrad was in business admin. I feel like he is not in the position to become a controller and manage the accounting function of this business.

Im already looking for other jobs but i just know that this is gonna be a shitshow if I continue. He needs an experienced person cause I think it’s too late to find someone. I feel like I’m absorbing the responsibility without any experience. I won’t have the best learning.

My manager is an absolute bully and has incredibly volatile moods. If he thinks something, even if it’s entirely wrong, he will only become angrier if you attempt to correct him. He gets an idea in his head based off basically nothing, and then will just berate you based off what he thinks you are or do in his head even if it’s a random no justification idea. He just makes shit up like thinking you have a certain habit or behavior trait or even a type of person you are and if you disagree or correct in the slightest most polite way he only becomes angrier.

He then uses his anger to berate and yell all the time and I genuinely don’t know what the correct response is, we can’t go to HR because duh and we CLEARLY cannot reason with him when he gets in one of his moods.

Unfortunately I know this isn’t like an uncommon experience so plz help what do I even do other than just stick it out and pray one of my applications somewhere else goes through

Managed to fail 3 interviews already. Kakatapos lang nung pangatlo today and I feel like failed na ulit yun kasi hindi ko napaghandaan na may mga patechnical questions na pala agad and i know hindi naging maganda mga sagot ko. To think na top companies na nasa list ko pa naman mga to na lilipatan tas hindi ko mapasa🥹 i have 5 years experience na sa audit, 2 years as senior and i dont know mahina ako sa theory questions pero in work naman kayang kaya ko. Any tips sa mga nagjojob hop ngayon na auditors kung paano mag prepare lalo sa technical questions sa interview? And any reco na good company as an auditor, ano pa bang ibang job role na pwede lipatan ng isang senior auditor. Ayoko na talaga mag busy season ulit dito sa big 4🥹

Hey everyone, I just received a job offer and I realized I accidentally listed the start date for my most recent job as one month earlier than when I actually started. Is this likely to be a big deal in the employment verification, or am I overthinking it?

is pivoting to accounting worth it for work-life balance?
I’m 34M in Ontario with two toddlers (2 and a half and 1yo).
I’ve been a nail tech for 7 years making about $4k–$5k net/month. The money is fine, but the lifestyle isn't sustainable anymore: 10-hour days, nights, weekends, and no benefits. My partner is in the same industry, so our household has zero schedule flexibility.
My main priorities now are simple: predictable 9–5 hours, evenings/weekends with my kids, and basic benefits.

I’m looking into doing a part-time online accounting diploma (did some coursework years ago) to land an entry level job and continue to work towards a degree

For anyone working in accounting in Ontario:
1. Lifestyle check: Is non-public/industry accounting genuinely a predictable 9–5, or is work-life balance a myth here too?
2. Job prospects: Can an online college diploma realistically land a standard 9–5 with benefits without prior office experience?
3. Reality check: Is the entry-level pay cut worth it long-term for someone in my situation, or should I just try to fix my own schedule in the service industry?
Appreciate any honest advice!

I have a year of audit experience and i just got my CPA. I don't like audit really. I'm pretty interested in complex accounting and also private client tax. I think i could get paid more doing FDD but i like that tax lets you start your own practice.

Any advice

I believe my job will pay $10k a year towards the tuition. Is it a good program to learn about tax? I am currently 3/4 and plan on taking my last CPA exam in December of this year. If you think a Master's program isn't worth it, what do you recommend I do to learn more about tax? Any books? Been working in tax for a smallish firm for 3 months and hope to one day do my own thing. Thank you.

I wanted to make an update to my previous post because I’m still struggling to figure out how to get my career moving in the direction I actually want, and honestly, I’m starting to feel pretty hopeless about it.

For some background, I graduated with my bachelor’s degree in accounting in May 2025 and currently work as a Payroll Manager at a local CPA firm. I was originally hired as a Junior Accountant, but due to staffing issues, I ended up primarily working in payroll and eventually moved into management.

The problem is that payroll isn’t what I want to do long-term. My goal has always been financial accounting, specifically things like journal entries, account reconciliations, month-end close, and financial statement preparation. I want to build actual experience in those areas and eventually grow into a career where I can continue learning and advancing.
Since my original post, I’ve continued applying for accounting positions, and I’ve even started applying for entry-level roles because I’m willing to learn and gain the experience I’m missing. Unfortunately, I’m still getting rejected. In some cases, I barely hear anything back at all.

I’m also working with a recruiter to help me find opportunities, but so far, that hasn’t really led anywhere either. It’s discouraging because I feel like I’m trying to take the steps people recommend, but I can’t seem to get my foot in the door.
At this point, I’m even open to exploring other areas of accounting, including tax or audit, if that would give me a better opportunity to build my skills and get my career moving in the right direction. Financial accounting is still my primary interest, but I’m beginning to wonder if I need to consider a different path to gain more relevant experience.

For additional context, I have a bachelor’s degree in accounting, a Master of Accountancy, experience working at a CPA firm, and management experience. I’m also working toward my CPA. I understand that my practical experience doesn’t necessarily line up with the positions I’m applying for, but I feel like I have a solid educational foundation and am willing to put in the work to learn.

At this point, I’m starting to wonder what I’m doing wrong. Is my payroll background making employers overlook me? Am I applying for positions I’m not actually qualified for, despite having the education? Or is the job market just particularly difficult right now?

For anyone who has successfully transitioned from payroll or another accounting specialty into financial accounting, tax, or audit, how did you do it? Were there particular positions or types of firms that were more willing to give you a chance? Would you recommend focusing on smaller CPA firms, industry positions, or something else entirely?

I’d also appreciate advice from hiring managers or recruiters. Is there something I should be changing about my resume or the way I’m approaching my job search? I’m already working with a recruiter, but I’m still struggling to get interviews and offers.

I genuinely want to build a career in accounting, but after months of trying and continuing to get rejected, I’m starting to feel stuck. I’m open to exploring different paths within the field, and I’d really appreciate any honest advice or insight from people who have been in a similar position.

Another rant!!!

Taking my final that's due this week for data analytics with that Dillard's data, and they force you to use a timed VM. I'm following the steps 1:1 and yet there is a big issue the data won't load! And I have a timer limit to figure it out else all my data is gonna get wiped

Idk how they thought this was a good idea for a class. Luckily I already have a guaranteed C for the class even if I tank this but still sucks

After chasing down one of my problem clients (having some issues in their personal life, and renting space in a building i have 5 other clients) i finally got the 8879 signed back and sent off my last return. Gonna go enjoy a cold one. Good luck to all tax people out there, we're all gonna make it.

I hate the robotic nature of interviewing these days. I want to go into an interview and be friendly, talk about what the role entails, and talk NORMALLY about my past experience. I want to just say that a certain part of my last role sucked, certain parts that I really enjoyed, and what I excel at. This whole explaining "challenges" and how I "heroically overcame" them is so dumb.

I am planning to pivot from 4 years of public accounting experience to a public life science company to senior accountant - SEC reporting? I’m currently a senior audit associate. Thoughts if this is right move as I’m worried about the hours due to filing deadlines and I will be pigeonholed into life science clients only. I’m thinking if I should just keep applying to other industries. My goal is to be Accounting Manager in 2 years and to have a solid work life balance. Appreciate your insight and advice in advance.

I figured I might post on here to vent and get some feedback. I got laid off from my staff accounting job 2 weeks ago because "I asked too many questions" and I have been doing everything I can, applying to jobs, working with a career coach, working out, and taking care of my health. And it just feels like none of this is working, and sometimes I want to end my own life. I can't even talk to my own family because they're saying oh you'll find one one day or stop complaining and start looking at it differently. It feels really lonely and isolating. I might have to stop bitching and start looking for a part time job to pay bills.

I am in the North Scottsdale area and I honestly thought I was gonna be set for life and I live in a place where rent is high and oh well it bit me in the ass. I don't really know what to. Any advice? Should I just apply to part time jobs and just pray for the best? I might just give up even though I don't want to.

How are people supposed to break into tax accounting when entry-level opportunities seem almost nonexistent?

I’m coming off 6 months of medical leave and have roughly ten years of bookkeeping/small business tax that progressed into medical billing and like past 2 years.

I have a few small clients and people who come to me to do their personal taxes. Nothing huge, but nets me ~500/month plus a couple thousand over tax season.

I have a 1 year certificate I did online for accounting as some jobs I applied to for bookkeeping required these first year classes. I’m in some online classes this fall that’ll cover electives or some core classes if I move to the local uni next year.

Present plan is a bachelors of commerce, major in accounting. I have concerns about ability to get a CPA once I graduate due to accounting firms in past using ‘work culture integration concerns’ as a reason I didn’t move forward once interviews moved to in person (I am visibly queer. I dress conservatively to job interviews but I have short hair (sometimes colored) and on social media I am out) and now with using a walker, I do not think my chances will get any better.

Advice on whether I should continue this or suggestions of a minor I should pursue? Will job options with my experience (probably ~12-14 years by time I graduate) likely be ok or will a masters/doctorate improve it?

My priority is stable employment and/or enough clients to be stable once I graduate in a job I can do comfortably while using a walker, which is why I started to take bookkeeping more seriously than helping my family and friends