[stoleway]

Hi everybody, so I’m about to receive an offer from a public accounting firm that specializes in this kind of business.

I have heard differing opinions on entering into this field, others say entering into this field will be hard for me to branch into other areas of accounting since this is a specialized field and doesnt involve too much of accounting.

For those that knows this field very well, is that true? I dont want to accept an offer from this firm knowing that my skills will not be needed by other businesses in the future.

Im really confused and needs some advice. Thank you all.

REG -63│ 84!!
BEC- 59│70│ 71 │78!
AUD- 75!
FAR- 87!

Mass-CPA

[stoleway]

Bump

REG -63│ 84!!
BEC- 59│70│ 71 │78!
AUD- 75!
FAR- 87!

Mass-CPA

[Anonymous]

Sounds extremely specialized to me..

[Anonymous]

What's your accounting history and what's your accounting goals? It's hard to say without knowing more. It's definitely very specialized, but if you have no accounting experience, it could give you a foot in the door elsewhere. That being said, if this isn't something you really want to do longer-term, then it might not count as much as something that is more broadly applicable. However, given that I hadn't heard of this specific field till I saw your post, I would consider it very super specialized, so if you know you don't want to do it long-term, then it's not a great option unless you just need anything accounting-related to build your resume.

[Monkey Wrench]

This field isn't as specific as you might think, it bases itself around auditing/compiling cost reports that are sent to the state government/fed government. The audits will be based around nursing homes/hospitals/MCO's. It is specialized but I do not think that it is SO far out there that it will completely hole you in.

[stoleway]

Thank you all for your input, a little background about me. I have never had a real accounting job, I completed my MBA in 2012 and have been stuck in AP ever since, even though AP is accounting I know its at the lowest totem of accounting and I really want to get out and do something meaningful with the knowledge that I have acquired over the years.

Honestly, my long term goal is to specialize in a specific area of public accounting and open up my own firm after I have gained all the necessary experience.

This field I guess is too narrow and I wonder if I will be able to achieve my long term goal with a job like this. I also wonder how this kind of job will benefit small business owners, simply because dealing with the government is a lot of pain and maybe only the bigger firms can secure contracts with the government.

Just like monkey wrench said, the job is basically done on behalf of the state and fed government. It helps the government recover moneys that could have been paid out mistakenly or due to fraud.

REG -63│ 84!!
BEC- 59│70│ 71 │78!
AUD- 75!
FAR- 87!

Mass-CPA

[Anonymous]

I think that this could be a great benefit to small businesses. You might not be working with the small businesses that benefit from it, but there are ones that do. There are a lot of small medical practices that accept Medicare and Medicaid and every time that some other practice – large or small – commits fraud, it hurts the ones that are doing things right. So, by reducing the fraud, you are in a way helping the honest small practices. If you meant that you're not sure how you could market your services to small-businesses after you set up your own practice, I don't know if small practices would want to hire you to review their submissions and ensure they are in compliance, but I have to imagine that there's some market for someone who is experienced with the system and knows how to ensure they receive all reimbursement they are entitled to while not messing up the paperwork…and/or if they could hire you simply to go through the audit process with them. I know for tax audits, people like to have an expert on their side of the table, so anticipate the same would be true for Medicare and Medicaid audits.

[stoleway]

Thank you Lilla, so do you think this opportunity is good for me based on the fact that this will be my first shot at public accounting? Do you think I should wait and keep applying till I find a boutique accounting firm?

REG -63│ 84!!
BEC- 59│70│ 71 │78!
AUD- 75!
FAR- 87!

Mass-CPA

[Monkey Wrench]

not exactly stoleaway. If you were working for a public firm you would be submitting stuff into the government on behalf of the entity. Really, there is no difference between that and say tax accounting, you are submitting a persons or entitys tax on behalf of the entity. Or if you want to take it even farther, you public accounting firm doing annual audits for a public company who has to submit to the SEC.

Have you already interviewed? did they say who there primary business is with? it could be hospitals, nursing facilities, clinics, Managed Care Orgs (MCO's)….Did they exactly say what you would be doing? On-site audits? Cost report compilations? both?

Health Care is growing, and its never going to go away, and it is always changing so its not a bad place to go into, especially if you are just trying to get experience. Go work for them for a year or so and leave if you don't like it. There are TONS of private companies that own oodles of nursing homes or clinics that need cost report preparers, so its not a dead end, but if you may not want to be in the healthcare industry it may be a dead end in that sense if you stay there too long.

[Anonymous]

This situation happened to me, actually. I was working at a pharmaceutical company and working in a division that was providing the claims and audit requests directly to CMS (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services) and/or working with the auditing firms representing my pharmaceutical company's clients and requesting claim information from us. Let me be frank, I didn't stay at this job very long. I figured after 3 1/2 years of public accounting, anything would be better. BOY, I couldn't be further from the truth. I actually thought about going back into public accounting (gasp!) just to get out of this job. What made it so bad? CMS and the government. They don't mess around. When they have an audit, they want that audit done in 48 hours (no ifs ands or buts). I worked until 2am on numerous occasions for 6 months straight. Needless to say, I didn't stay long. Fortunately, I was able to land a more accounting-type position at a different pharmaceutical company (where I have now been for the past 3 years).

Pros for taking a job auditing Medicare and Medicaid (In my Personal Opinion): Just like there will always be jobs for accountants, the way this Obamacare is playing out…..there will always be need for healthcare and healthcare audits. You can use your knowledge with this to cross-train and branch out to another area (maybe? hopefully?)

Cons for taking a job auditing Medicare and Medicaid: Like I mentioned above, the hours could be worse than public accounting (or maybe they were just worse for me).

Not sure if this helps. If anything, maybe just reassurance that there are a few people that know what you're talking about 😉 Good luck!

[Anonymous]

I don't know enough about your local job market to say for sure…but if you feel like you're stuck at a dead-end already, and if this has the opportunity of opening more doors, then what do you have to lose? I'm guessing that you don't feel likely to have other options any time soon given that you said you've been stuck there since 2012, so if you figure it'll be another 2 years till you get another decent option, might as well do this as keep sitting where you are.

Does this firm do anything else besides these audits?

[Anonymous]

@stoleway,

I am the controller for a medical laboratory and I have had to deal with RAC auditors over the last few years in my position. Essentially what I have gathered they do is review reimbursements and request refunds on payments made in error/overpayments or when they (Medicare/medicaid) have made a policy change effective a certain date then they go back to recoup funds as a result of that change. The RAC auditors are also the ones we would file appeals to.

I could see this being beneficial if you are wanting to specialize in healthcare accounting which could be a good area to look at getting into if you are wanting to eventually open your own practice. I am a CPA in industry and we use an outside CPA firm for our tax returns and consulting.

[stoleway]

@Monkey Wrench

I will be interviewing tomorrow, I wanted to know the pros and cons before I even step up my game during the interview. I have provided the job description below.

•Conduct desk reviews and various on-site audits

•Conduct research in order to determine billing and reimbursement compliance with relevant Medicaid or other government program regulations

•Conduct all phases of the audit including planning and research, risk assessment, fieldwork, reporting of findings, and other procedures as required

•Review applicable Federal and State policies and regulations associated with each specific audit type prior to performing the audit

•Prepare working papers to document scope and findings of audit in accordance with Medicaid or other government program regulations and AICPA standards

•Maintain security and confidentiality of all protected health information when analyzing material

•Maintain thorough electronic documentation

•Additional responsibilities as assigned

@will it ever end

Working lots of hours doesn't scare me but I'm pretty much concerned about not being paid for overtime for those long hours. were you paid overtime for those long hrs? I don't know about the company's overtime policies, I guess I will know tomorrow.

@Lilla

I'm feeling positive about it due to the contributions made so far, the firm only specializes in this kind of service. Its a national firm and this is all they do throughout the country.

@bnrhilton

Thank you for your input, I feel much better now.

REG -63│ 84!!
BEC- 59│70│ 71 │78!
AUD- 75!
FAR- 87!

Mass-CPA

[Anonymous]

Sounds very similar to my job. If this job is with an accounting firm, then I suppose it could be all right. But I work for a contractor, and contracts come and ago, so that's why it is not wise for me to stay here long term.

[Monkey Wrench]

And you said this was a public accounting firm? not state? could be that the state hires an accounting firm to do it.

[Anonymous]

No overtime, unfortunately. My boss was kind enough to give me two “comp days” (but usually, I never had time to use them)

[Author]

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