Any WTM accountants/CPAs? (going back to school advice)

[EmilyGF]

Hi boardies,

I'm 41 and putting out feelers for a long-term career. I started back to work part-time this year and might be continuing the job this year, depending on funding. I'm still homeschooling and will keep homeschooling for at least 6 more years. DH's work is currently such that he can be home afternoons I need to be in-office.

Anyways, thinking long-term, I'm considering going back to school for accounting. But, I wouldn't be working more than part-time for the next six years. After that, full-time would be fine. There is a program in my city that would make the classes inexpensive, and my impression is that people don't care where you take the accounting classes as long as you are eligible for the CPA exam afterwards. I already have an alumni network through my undergrad and I am building up a personal network through my current work.

Any insights or thoughts? Suggestions?

Emily

[Lecka]

My sister is a CPA.  We are in a medium-sized town and she works for a private practice.  She is not working for one of the Big 5 or Big 4.

She is someone who has suffered a little bit from not being someone who is good at networking, going to Chamber of Commerce or Rotary Club or things like that, to bring in new business.

 

She is very good at her job and clients like her, but she is not someone who is networking and bringing in new business or getting the name out there.  
 

That kind of thing goes a long way where my sister works, with a given that people are competent and passed the CPA exam.

 

Here people who work for one of the big companies would not live in this town, they would live in a city (I could name the city where many of my sister’s class went to work).

 

She never wanted to move, and many jobs basically advertised that they wanted someone with 3-5 years of experience and it was implied that this was from a Big 4 or 5 company.  
 

She had some concern about that but it ended up not being an issue for her. 
 

I think where you live and what your career goals are will make a difference.  My sister never, never wanted to just do taxes.  She works with small companies on their books and she also does some audits.  I know when she started audits were her favorite.  
 

She also worked for a university for a while instead of for an accounting firm.  

 

Anyway — if you are not going to move, I think you could do a lot to network and just see what the jobs are in your area and what kind of work they do.  There are totally people at my sister’s work who do networking things and would be happy to network and talk about what they do.  
 

My sister really enjoys her job.  

[Katy]

Accounting is always a good job. There are several different kinds of accounting that fit different personalities. If you don’t want to be client facing you can work for a company directly and handle things like payroll.  
 

ETA: I have a grandparent who was on the state board of accountancy (the board that regulates the CPA exam), and many extended family members who are accountants. Almost all of them chose a different field. One was a tax accountant for a big firm. One is an auditor. One is a corporate accountant for a huge company. One is a corporate accountant for a small arts company. I don’t know what the others do. 

Edited August 7, 2022 by Katy

[historically accurate]

I was a corporate accountant back before kids. First job was Staff Accountant at a credit union, I then worked for a software company, and then worked at a real estate investment firm. I'm back working now after 15ish years as an accountant at two local libraries - both part time positions for a total of about 30 hours a week while I'm still homeschooling. I passed the CPA test many years ago, but I've never actually worked as a public accountant nor have I kept up the educational credits. I would hate networking, but I do enjoy running the accounting/payroll/business office.

Accountants are always needed, so it's a good job - it's also older age friendly; accountants can keep working pretty much as long as they like/need to.

Edited August 7, 2022 by historically accurate

[Lecka]

An issue for my sister has been “busy times.”  She left a job for a job where she would have more of a 9 to 5 work week and not be slammed at certain times of the year.

 

She just didn’t like that job as much, but when her kids were young she didn’t want to have to be busy over Christmas because of corporate year-ends on January 15.  For whatever reason — this is a thing where she works, and they are busy over Christmas and New Years, but they have a slow tempo over the summer.  
 

 

[Bambam]

Just a random factoid - I believe the CPA exam will be revamped in 2024 - so some are scrambling now to finish before it changes.  But if you won't be ready for the exam until 6 years from now, good prep courses and info should be available by then. 

[SKL]

I think it should be reasonably easy to find a part-time job in accounting, both before and after you are a CPA.

Not sure if this is still true, but when I was a young adult, it was possible to take a test to qualify to take the CPA exam even if you didn't have an accounting degree.  You would still need some classes in accounting / tax / business law / maybe other things, but not as many.  This is how I was able to qualify to take the CPA exam - I used undergrad / MBA accounting, law school tax courses, maybe economics, etc.

[Bootsie]

How many classes/hours are you needing to take to qualify to take the CPA exam?  How long do you think it will take you to complete that coursework?

Another thing I would consider is whether I was simply interested in doing accounting work or if I wanted to be a CPA.  The work requirements for being a CPA vary by state.  I would check in the state you are located to see how easy it would be to meet licensing requirements working part-time if your goal is to become a CPA.  Some states require a certain number of work hours during a time period (say 3 years) in particular work situations to receive your CPA; depending upon how part-time you want to work that might be an issue.

[Clarita]

My mom likes being an accountant. She went back to school for it when I was 10. She didn't go to a big name school, because she just couldn't see herself putting in the work (she assumed a big name school would be more rigorous), and the commute to the big name school would be a little longer. She never got a CPA, I think she attempted once but it was hard to study and take the time needed with a child. (My dad was not the most supportive. He paid for the school stuff and continued to be the breadwinner in the family but not much else.)

She has always been able to find work if she wanted to. Right now she enjoys working seasonally for a CPA friend of hers. She's done the payroll corporate accounting stuff which is a little less seasonal. She's worked fulltime and part-time and never really had trouble finding what she needed to find. Her hours were less flexible than my dad's (who was an engineer), but flexible enough that she could take time off to take care of me if needed.

[EmilyGF]

Thanks everyone. This is really helpful.

I am in a large city, so I don't think access to firms is an issue. I didn't have any accounting as an undergrad, and, although I took economics, it was a very theoretical, calculus-based economics class that doesn't really pertain to day-to-day life. 

I was an engineer before kids, and just don't see any way to make that work again with my current lifestyle. I also didn't really like working as an engineer, and I did like the bookkeeping I helped with in high school and the office environment I worked in last year. I want a job/career that lets you work as you get older and it seems like that is the case with accounting. Also, I wouldn't mind working crazy hours parts of the year and then fewer during other times.  I find intensive work stimulating, as long as it doesn't go on forever. Also, my husband's job is flexible enough that he could schedule a lighter load during busy season.

Thanks again, and more advice/anecdotes are appreciated. You guys are great.

[Lecka]

My impression is that my sister tried doing some piecework accounting and payroll, and she just didn’t like it as a job.  She was motivated to get her CPA license because she tried that and she didn’t see it as something that would work for her long-term.

 

Then when she had the more 9-5 job like an in-house CPA (I’m not sure of the terminology) she found it really boring as time went on and she got, I think, frustrated with some of the same issues that would keep coming up.  
 

I think she does like novelty and working with different clients.  
 

I think that if there is a client who is difficult she isn’t going to just get stuck with it forever.  
 

The place she works now does hire people to come in during their busy times.  That is definitely a thing.

 

What I would wonder about — my understanding/impression is that it’s a job where there is an expectation of on-the-job training when you are new.  That’s my understanding of the whole “3-5 years of experience” thing.  
 

For this with my sister, I don’t think they would expect to be able to hire someone to come in during their busy times and hit the ground running, unless that person had already gotten that “3-5 years of experience.”

 

But I don’t know really.  My sister was very concerned about this experience issue because she was concerned she would have to move to find that first job and she didn’t want to move.  
 

I also have an impression that she had to ask a lot of questions and be shown things a lot while she was new.  
 

I am also not clear on her continuing education requirements, but in practice her workplace pays for them to go to conferences at nice places and that is how she gets her continuing education.  
 

When she worked at the in-house place I think she arranged that on her own and would end up doing it on weekends.  
 

She likes it when they go to a conference, and I don’t think she liked doing the continuing education when she was at the place where she just did it on her own, on her own time.  

Another thing she likes is that she has caught someone committing fraud here and there and if they have someone come in where it seems possible an employee is committing fraud, I think she is likely to get it.  She just likes it. At the same time I think this overlaps with things where “the books are a mess” and she is someone who likes to figure that out.  I think other people she works with do NOT want to be the one to straighten things out when someone’s books are a mess.  But she likes it and sometimes it is because it is fraudulent.  
 

But she also can barely say anything about it because of confidentiality.  She can basically say nothing.  I have even asked her before and she will not say anything!  

[Katy]

If you're already an engineer, why not do something like data wrangling or data science instead?  It pays much better and the training is easier for someone with your background.

[Clarita]

1 hour ago, EmilyGF said:

I was an engineer before kids, and just don't see any way to make that work again with my current lifestyle.

Have you thought about consulting as an engineer? I've worked with quite a few consultants when I was working and a few that were super relaxed about it. Consulting can be more relaxed than the actual full time engineering work. Also technical writing is another thing that can use a little more of that skill set as well. 

When my kids get older and assuming I wouldn't want a full time gig I think I would look into technical writing or PCB layout. That's also because I know I totally hate accounting. (My former employer was willing to commit to 20 hours but come into the office once a week.) I didn't feel like I could commit to the once a week, since I homeschool 2 kids under 6.

[EmilyGF]

9 hours ago, Katy said:

If you're already an engineer, why not do something like data wrangling or data science instead?  It pays much better and the training is easier for someone with your background.

I'll look into that. I know I don't want to go back to work as an aerospace engineer. Most engineering-world jobs are full-time+, but I'll look at some job ads for that. Also, I perceive engineering to be very biased against older people and I am concerned about that. But thanks for the keywords. I'll look into it!

Emily

[Katy]

21 minutes ago, EmilyGF said:

I'll look into that. I know I don't want to go back to work as an aerospace engineer. Most engineering-world jobs are full-time+, but I'll look at some job ads for that. Also, I perceive engineering to be very biased against older people and I am concerned about that. But thanks for the keywords. I'll look into it!

Emily

My husband switched from Industrial Engineering to data in the past couple years, a few years older than you are now. It’s an emerging field that didn’t exist 10 years ago. It requires some math and programming, but mostly creative problem solving. Most of the jobs are remote and it’s so in demand that you could probably negotiate part time. 

[sbgrace]

My husband is a CPA in governmental accounting. He isn't paid as much as public accounting, but has good work-life balance and enjoys his work. I've decided to try to enter the field myself. His work does want employees to be qualified to sit (or have) a CPA. His agency does hire part time. 

How close are you to the educational requirements for the CPA in your state?

I'm getting the accounting courses I need to sit for a CPA here through community college (and taking a few related non-accounting courses to update myself, since my previous education was 20 years ago). I'll have an AS in accounting when I'm done. Community college is much more cost and time effective than the university options I investigated.