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.

Just need a rant. I'm going through my first public audit and the long hours, stress, lack of sleep finally got to me. Im in my second year in B4 audit. I'm normally able to hide it but today I just felt horrible, deflated, and exhausted. For the last 4 days ive only had 4 hours a sleep a night.

My team ended up allowing me to me to go home and rest and once they gave the go ahead I just started quietly tearing up in the office before heading out.

It's not even that my task list is long. It feels manageable and like I should be able to get everything soon. I just feel overwhelmed and like a failure. My self talk is horrendous. I'm more disappointed in myself than anything. I love my team. Every one of them handles this so well.

Edit:

Thank you all for your thoughts! You don't know how much they mean to me. After taking a nap and eating I feel much better. I knew that I was going to face these sort of challenges going into this field. I had a reasonable reaction to the lack of sleep and high stress.

Im going to take some advice and look for a professional therapist to help me deal with this as this state of mind isn't healthy for me, my wife, or my team members.

My ultimate goal is to stay long enough to either transfer or find a job in my ideal country (thinking of moving to the Netherlands from the US). I for sure don't think I'm cut out to stay in B4 audit long term and would love to pivot to accounting data analytics in a more tech focused role but wanted to get my cpa and a few years in audit before making that change.

Its filing season at the end of the day. The work will get done and I'll be in a much better place afterwards. I'll hopefully be happy I made the sacrifices I make today to raise a family in my dream country in a job that I truly love.

I’m a few months into my accounting degree, first term. I enjoy problem solving, finding the why of issues etc. I figured I would try accounting out. For context I am 27 and have been in blue collar work since I was 14 and my body feels it daily so I’m wanting a switch. Seeing posts on this thread almost makes me second guess what I’m doing. Who here enjoys what they do? Who here wishes they pursued a different path? I appreciate your insight.

EDUCATION

BARUCH COLLEGE, Zicklin School of Business New York, NY

Master of Science, Taxation

EXPERIENCE

Accenture Chicago, IL

Business Architecture Specialist October 2023 – May 2025

● Guide Workday implementations, test phases, & post-production support for Accenture Workday Education & Government

● Prepare meeting materials (i.e. agenda, meeting notes, powerpoint decks, recordings) to lead workshops for client education on Workday functionality

● Identify business requirements, functional design, process design (including scenario design, flow mapping), prototyping, testing, training, defining support procedures, custom reports

● Ensure that all work streams are cohesive and cross functional impacts are considered and mitigated.

TopBloc Chicago, IL

Workday Financials Consultant December 2022 – September 2023

● Guide Workday implementations, test phases, & post-production support for various industries (finance, media & telecommunications, hospitality, healthcare, construction, life sciences, e-commerce, nonprofit)

● Review Statement of Work and align functionality requirements

● Lead client discovery sessions, gather requirements, design, demo, and user-acceptance testing of functional business areas (customers, customer contracts, expenses, projects/psa, project billing, suppliers)

● Prepare meeting materials (i.e. agenda, meeting notes, powerpoint decks, recordings) to lead workshops for client education on Workday functionality

● Identify business requirements, functional design, process design (including scenario design, flow mapping), prototyping, testing, training, defining support procedures, custom reports

● Ensure that all work streams are cohesive and cross functional impacts are considered and mitigated.

● Provide the Project Manager with status updates and keep them apprised of overall project status. 

● Demonstrate strong client and stakeholder management to achieve project objectives.

● Support staff members at all levels through knowledge share sessions.

● Support change management team with production of training materials to be shared with clients.

Deloitte New York, NY

Workday Solution Analyst (Higher Ed) March 2022 – November 2022

● Banking & Settlement Functional Lead, gather requirements, design, and test banking & settlement business processes in scope with C-Suite

● Document banking & settlement configuration workbook through development phases

● Map banking structure and cash flow - configuring banking hierarchy, account usage rules, bank routing rules, payment types, intercompany profiles, and account posting rules

● Provide solution design around banking reconciliation with Matching Rule Sets, First Notice Rules, Ad Hoc Bank Transaction Templates, managing 100+ Bank Accounts

● Configure reconciliation banking accounts to accommodate integrations to settle intercompany due to/from with state source systems

● Provide support to integration resources on creating new integrations to bring electronic bank statements into Workday

● Prepare and execute one-time cash conversion process from legacy to workday via EIB

● Prepare powerpoint decks to support repeat conversion procedures from legacy systems to Workday for future Higher Education clients

● Take notes for NextGen Finance Meetings to discuss critical finance implementation topics, i.e., FDM structure, Project Status, Stakeholder concerns

● Demo Workday functionality for C-Suite, i.e., auto bank reconciliations, import accounting journals via EIB

● Record to Report and Banking & Settlement certification

HCMPoint New York, NY

Workday Payroll Analyst (Telecommunications & Media, E-Commerce, Nonprofits) August 2021 – March 2022

● Assist clients with solutioning Workday implementations, test phases, & post-production support

● Getting clients comfortable with Workday Payroll/Time/Absence modules while studying their current payroll processing steps and building upon that to include best practices for Workday

● Loading EIB’s, processing payroll, reviewing results, and troubleshooting during implementations

● Writing custom reports in Workday for client’s day to day activities

● Keeping up to date with IRS rules and regulation changes for assisting clients with tax questions

EDIBLE SCHOOLYARD NYC New York, NY

Finance & Operations Manager January 2021 – August 2021

● Partner with executive director & program managers to prepare and implement the annual organizational budget.

● Maintain budget spreadsheet and controls; prepare monthly financial reports including budget to actual reports, statement of cash flow, and other ad-hoc reports as required

● Process semi-monthly payroll with payroll administrators

● Meet with the Executive Director and Vice President of Development monthly to review financials and cash flow analysis

● Regularly review internal finance/HR/IT controls and ensure all policies and procedures are clearly documented and communicated

● Prepare documentation for annual audit and manage timeline

● Serve as staff designee to the Audit & Finance Committee and work with the Executive Director and Board Treasurer to prepare materials for quarterly committee and board meetings

● Support the Development team with securing PPP Loan, grant budget preparation, grant reporting and tracking of restricted funding

SIMONS FOUNDATION New York, NY

Accounting Associate January 2019 – December 2020

● Maintain and analyze the general ledger accounting records, prepare and post routine general journal entries, and assist in preparation of the monthly close

● Prepare month-end bank reconciliations as well as additional balance sheet account reconciliation, including, but not limited to, accounts payable, accounts receivable, and other asset and liability accounts

● Organize chart of accounts and maintain account maintenance templates to be published for external use

● Manage, organize, and record investment valuation adjustments based on monthly, quarterly, or annual statements

● Prepare variance analysis and related commentary on the statement of activities

● Prepare schedules and analyses to be incorporated into the monthly and annual reporting packages for both internal and external use

● Daily processing of calls and distributions for private funds for approval by CFO

● Respond to periodic requests for accounting analyses and take on special projects as needed

● Assist ongoing efforts to improve processes and create efficiencies in operations

● Maintain monthly accounting files and ensure documents are properly organized

● Provide support during annual audit and assist the team in responding to requests from external auditors

● Understand workflows between teams and coordinate follow-ups as appropriate

● Perform any other duties or tasks as assigned or required

KIWI PARTNERS, INC New York, NY

Accounting Associate April 2018 – December 2018

● Prepare and maintain financial records for multiple nonprofit clients in accordance with GAAP including AP/AR, bank reconciliations, cash receipts, monthly journal entries, payroll

● Ensure client accounting records are reconciled and complete

● Provide accurate schedules for budget analyses, audits, monthly financials, finance/audit/board meetings

MARKS PANETH LLP New York, NY

Semi-Senior Auditor - Nonprofit, Government & Healthcare Group January 2015 – December 2017

● Perform financial statement audits, reviews, and compilations for various tax-exempt organizations, 401(k) and 403(b) plans, foundations, endowments, pensions, and municipalities effectively and efficiently in compliance with regulations

● Prepare audited financial statements, with the accompanying notes and disclosures, to provide a reliable and relevant representation of the client in accordance with GAAP

● Communicate with partners, managers, and seniors throughout audits from planning to completion

● Perform Uniform Guidance – Single Audit testing

● Coordinate with management personnel to review and improve their internal controls by suggesting new policies & procedures and how to effectively implement them

● Perform comprehensive audit tests on cash, accounts receivable, investments, fixed assets, prepaid expenses, accounts payable, long-term debt, and numerous income statement accounts

● Perform in depth research on tax and audit pronouncements to support accounting stances

● Accumulate information from client’s management to plan and prepare Form 990 Tax Return

FRANK, RIMERMAN + CO LLP New York, NY

Tax Associate November 2013 – December 2014

● Utilized tax preparation software to prepare and process individual (1040, 1040-NR), fiduciary (1041), family limited partnership, partnership (1065), C-Corp (1120), S-Corp (1120-S), and Private Foundation (990-PF) returns

● Partnered with all levels of staff on planning and preparation of accurate and timely tax returns

● Performed quarterly tax planning for high-net-worth individuals including preparing projections and estimated tax vouchers

● Created and implemented new tax packages and spreadsheets to improve efficiency in data collection and tax analysis

● Prepared foreign disclosure filings (FinCEN Report 114, Form 926, Form 8938, Form 8865, Form 8621, and Forms 1042(S))

● Researched tax rulings and regulations in support of positions taken on tax matters

● Communicated with federal, state, and local tax jurisdictions to answer tax notices to resolve and settle all outstanding matters

SKILLS

● BIO Analytics, Bill.com, Concur Expense, Expensify, JIRA, Microsoft Great Plains, MS Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook), Prosystem fx Tax, Prosystem fx Engagement, Quickbooks, RIA Checkpoint, Salesforce, Shopify, Smartsheets, Stripe, Tableau, WinSCP, Workday

Staff at mid tier firm. It’s clear some people draw boundaries and close laptops at 5 or 6. Some people don’t draw any and sometimes work until 7 or 8 even 9 outside of busy season just because some senior manager has notes for them to clear. Sometimes it’s because the staff wants to hustle and climb fast but I’ve noticed most of the time it’s just a staff that can’t find a way to say no. They want to people please or they are fearful that they will be put on the chopping block if they don’t work outside of available scheduled hours.

I guess I’m just wondering what the long term outcome usually becomes for the yes man people. I’m sure it’s office and firm dependent, but has anyone been the yes man and looked back and said “that was worth it”? Anyone been trapped in the yes loop themselves?

There’s obviously balance to it. You don’t say no to everything but there are definitely people that will do jumping jacks on command whenever anyone manager or above pops up in teams.

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.

What made you decide to work for the government? Is that the “greener grass” in terms of compensation, benefits and stability? Would really appreciate any feedback especially if you’re in Toronto/Canada.

Hello,

I am currently a remote position, and go into the office every so often. I have two cats that are my life and I want to be home with them, or showing them the world (in tiny bite sized pieces), and NOT in a 9-5 in the office all the time. I have not sat for the exams...yet. I want to be a corporate lawyer, but will likely wait a while for that, also president, and will pursue a CPA first.

1. What does your salary look like, and do you consider yourself a benchmark?

2. Being a role model matters to me a lot. I like to do good work, I don't like to waste company time, and I care extremely about the success of the company I work for - not to supercede getting to sit with my cats as I do my spreadsheets.

3. And how does this life look for non-CPAs? I wonder if I don't know just how good I currently have it. But I'm working out that it is pretty amazing.

I enjoy​ the work, but would want to go to law school for the depth of education. It seems extremely interesting. Maybe I will change my mind. But it is deep within my heart.

Cat tax: Scream is pictured. Peaches is in shrimp formation next to him, snoozing as well.

Obviously seen a shift towards in office mandates but wondering if anyone is still finding and landing fully remote jobs?

I see them posted but with number of applicants it’s been impossible to land one solely off resume at the senior/manager level. Feel like I need to have connections or some kind of way in at this point.

Im 33M currently working as a Senior Accountant at a midsize firm. I have been an accountant since 2020 and I absolutely hate it to the point that i have been slacking off at work and the work had been slowly piling up.I have been thinking of changing my career path completely and looking jobs that are not finance related but since I have been working as an accountant for 6 years I make a decent income, I am confused if I switch careers I will have to begin with a low paying job.
I have around $30k of savings and my wife makes a decent income too. We don’t own a house or have kids so it’s pretty much our own expenses.

Is it okay to quit my current job and look for opportunities in other fields? However I am unsure what will really make me happy and so I am really confused.

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.

Facebook

I have been working as a staff accountant at a manufacturing company for the last three years. We recently opened a new factory in a different state.

My controller attended a management meeting yesterday. She informed me that upper management was changing my position from staff accountant to corporate billing. I already do the AR for our primary location, I will be responsible for invoicing production for the new location as well. We haven’t discussed the details behind my new role, but should I be angry? It seems like a demotion.

Only max 22 hours to go 🫠🫠🫠 SLEEP IS FOR THE WEAK

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!

INTERNSHIP not full-time

have an interview next week but I’ll probably get rejected like I always do for literally everything

Just got rejection #3 and spent 15 minutes crashing the fuck out. It’s been pretty difficult getting interviews as I don’t go to a target school so I’ve gotten plenty of auto rejections too.

I’m 24F with a good, lengthy work history (I was in the Air Force for 5 years so I’ve highlighted that a lot on my resume). 4.0 GPA. Really starting to lose hope at this point. Sure, there’s always next year but I’ll be competing against people with multiple internships while I have 0. So my chances will be even lower. PA or industry, doesn’t matter, they will all be extremely difficult to get next cycle due to me having 0 internships. Also it makes me feel like complete shit that teenagers are beating me out and getting selected for internships while I can’t seem to land anything. What’s wrong with me? Why does NOBODY want me?

I’m gonna graduate this coming winter , and I have no job. I have applied lots of small and middle firm and nobody’s wants me. 😭What am I gonna do after graduation? I had one internship and that company didn’t not get me an offer, I’m trying to find another intern in Tax and there’s not much left for the tax job. I feel so sad😭. I tried so hard to get my bachelor degree and end up have no job. I’m so sad 😭

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

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

Does anyone else hate it when vendors payment terms are “due upon receipt”? It drives me nuts when non-accounting people do this on their invoices and then are upset when it takes a week or two for payment to go out.

1) we have systems in place to confirm the invoice is both real and accurate
2) our bank takes a day to do ACH payments (entered on a Monday goes out on a Tuesday)
3) sometimes our small accounting team does not have bandwidth to do the AP portion THE SECOND YOU EMAIL THE INVOICE
4) I can’t turn around payment if you send me an invoice at 4:30 pm. The bank has cutoff times for approvals

It’s just unrealistic and then they bitch about not getting paid. Karen, the payment is coming. You’re getting paid the same week you sent the invoice, do you not get how rare and quick that is?

Rant over

On our first exam, I got a 77%, which was actually above the class average. This was our 2nd exam. I scored a literal 35%. My grade in the class has plummeted from an 88% to a 69%.

I genuinely don't understand how I performed this badly. Worst case scenario I was expecting a 50%...but a 35%?

This is hands down without a doubt the worst I have ever performed on an exam in my entire academic career.

Apparently the class average was a 65%. I didn't even get anywhere close to that. I'm at a loss for words.

When I first saw the grade, I literally thought it must've been a mistake. I just cannot believe I scored THAT badly on an exam.

I think I may need to reconsider this major entirely. I already wasn't big on it, but after this I truly just don't know what to do.