[Anonymous]

I dont know about you guys, but when I was studying in collage – I thought that when I graduate with an Accounting Degree and get a CPA i’d be making some serious money, and work my way up to 300K or so…

Anyone shared this feeling or was it just me 😛

So, here’s a question I don’t have an answer for: If you knew what you know now 10 years ago, would you study accounting again?

I’m happy where I am and hope for a great future, but I cant deny that there was a bit of an expectation gap they did not try to narrow in school!

Update: Found Accounting Compensation Report – GoingConcern.com

[Anonymous]

Anyone can make $300K doing ANYTHING. The problem is, only the very top cream of the crop will earn that, the rest will fall into the normal distribution below the “1 percent”. It's all about balance: money, stress, free time, for me, Accounting field (with CPA) one of the better fields to be in, with fairly high income limits, and fairly flexible perks.

[StephAV]

I didn't have $$ figure in mind, but I thought my lifestyle would be better than it is. I had expectations of being able to travel, buy a home, have a nice car, a few kids, a nice wardrobe, plenty of spending money, all while contributing to retirement and saving for college. Reality is more like a shack by the river… Joking, kind of. It is in one of Jeff's audio reviews (the shack by the river). But we can't travel as much as I'd like, I live in a modest home, drive a modest car, contribute modestly to retirement and need to stick closely to a budget to ensure we are out spending our income.

I graduated in 2005 and to be fair 2008 through 2012 were rough, economy wise. I think those of us who were early on in our careers are probably a little behind where we should be.

I honestly expected to get raises of about 10% per year… Man, have I had some disappointing years!

FAR - 7/13 - 72, 11/13- 74, 2/14- 82!!! Best score ever (for me)!!!
BEC - 1/14 - 75!!! Perfect score! First Pass! YAY!!!
AUD - 8/14 - 80!!!
REG - 5/14 - 72, 10/14 - 66, 1/15 - 78 - DONE FOREVER!!!
I did 5 of the UNA and CPAExcel classes to earn units.

[shankysays]

Uh…no. Anyone who expects $300,000 relatively early on in their career probably didn't do their research.

That being said, I remember someone telling me in college that after about 5 years in public accounting you could expect your salary to have doubled…bahahahahaha. Yeah right.

BEC - 72, 82! ✓
FAR - 80! ✓
AUD - 70, 92! ✓
REG - 74, 78! ✓

Licensed CPA 5/2015

[KBinMN]

If I knew 10 years ago what I know now I would not have went to college or got into accounting. Especially not accounting tho.

[jessica8926]

I am not sure my opinion on this topic matters much because I just started my auditing career a little over a year ago, but I have always been under the impression that accountants, auditors, tax auditors, whatever the sort, who start out in public accounting will make some good money. It is why i started out in public accounting. I can honestly say I never thought to double my salary in 5 years or hit $300K without putting in some serious time, but I did expect to be making more money than most people my age. I can say that is true today, most of my friends who graduated in my class are either unemployed or still living with their parents barely making any money. I am well off for someone my age, 24, and I have been able to stock away a lot of money into my 401(k), savings, and pay off my large amount of student debt, $70K, with additional payments here and there. Obviously it just depends on your situation, what company you are with, your family life, if you have kids a husband a house. I do not have children nor do I have a house. But I can say I live on my own with my boyfriend pay all of my own bills and we are doing very well for a couple our age. As I put in more time with my public accounting firm I do expect increases in my salary but nowhere near 10%. I can travel when I want as long as it works around my work schedule. Like I said I know I don't have that much experience yet, but if all stays how it is now and I continue to receive raises, which with my company I will, I will not regret my decision to go into accounting. It is one of the most sought after positions and you will always need an accountant! I have researched open positions that are willing to pay me 10% more in salary with just a few years of experience in public accounting. I think time spent in public accounting can only help get you to that $300K salary, but people need to understand it will not happen over night or in a year or 5 years at that. Accounting is all about starting at the bottom and working your way up.

AUD - 77
BEC - 82
FAR - 75
REG - 81

Illinois Certified Public Accountant 2016

AUD - 69, 77
REG - 74, 81
FAR - 75!
BEC - 71, 82

IL candidate!

Finally done (5/24/16)!! Yahooooooo!

[hasy]

I would have gone into CS. But accounting just seems so much better than coding. [shudders]

AUD - 83
BEC - 80
FAR - 83
REG - 78

BEC - 80 (Roger + NINJA MCQ + WTB)

FAR - 72; 83 (Roger + NINJA MCQ)

AUD - 83 (Roger + NINJA MCQ + WTB)

REG - 52; 78 (Roger + NINJA MCQ)

Ethics - 68, 96 (how I dislike you)
-
This forum is more addictive than drugs. Still returning after licensure.

Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved - Helen Keller

-

BEC 80 (10/23/15)
FAR 72 (4/2/15); 83 (7/11/16)
REG 52 (4/28/15)
AUD (9/9/16)

Roger + NINJA MCQ + WTB

[joeboxington]

I have a cpa and five years of experience albeit not nearly anything like big four and I cannot find a job to pay me more than 25/hr….at the moment…I'll keep you updated.

[LongShot]

No, I absolutely would not go into accounting. I would drop out of college and start a business. Or just rob a bank. Definitely wouldn't be accounting.

FAR - 75
AUD - 72; 87
REG - 64; 74; 84
BEC - 88

Done!!

[joeboxington]

most lawyers are making under 50k and with 5 years of experience still making less than 75 so i guess the economy is tanking but since there is a bubble in the market they aren't talking about it on cnn…get ready to pull your money out of apple.

[mla1169]

This is the problem with 20-something's and recent grads. It is NOT your fault, blame your parents, coaches, teachers and anybody who fed you that “you can be anything you want to be” BS and neglected to inform you of the blood, sweat and tears it would take to get there. A BC law grad is suing the school because even after passing the bar, he can't find a job. Education and licenses are tools and nothing more. Would be exactly the same as saying “I bought brushes and paint 10 years ago and can't figure out why I haven't created a masterpiece”

The tools guarantee NOTHING. The talent, sacrifice, and persistence are what matters.

FAR- 77
AUD -49, 71, 84
REG -56,75!
BEC -75

Massachusetts CPA (non reporting) since 3/12.

[joeboxington]

no offense but I just want to make 50,000k a year. I passed the CPA, graduated with honors, and I am way better at excel than 99.9 percent of people in any field considering I Can program games in it…

I still can't find a job…I think we should blame the baby boomers for selling us out but not for inflating us…most of us are fighting for the basics and so we can buy healthy food which costs a premium since the baby boomers basically screwed us with monsato.

I find that when older people think my generation is entitled what they really mean to say is that they feel bad for being so entitled them selves that they have destroyed the environment for us, populated our stores with gmo's, and essentially allowed the existence of child slavery.

[tomq04]

blame yourself

Start a business, do something productive. Never blame anyone else.

In response to OP, I wish I had done computer science.

REG- (1) 76
FAR- (2) 64, (5)74, (7)83 (Over achiever!)
AUD- (3) 70, (4) 75
BEC- (6) 75

[juuustin]

joeboxington must be the type of “informed citizen” who posts on CNN Money articles all day telling people to buy gold. I'm going to say your lack of a job has more to do with your personality than it does job skills.

MD Candidate: 10/1/14

FAR - 87 (11/23/14)
REG - 87 (1/30/15)
BEC - 89 (4/19/15)
AUD - 98 (5/30/15)

Ethics - 100

Experience - In Progress!

[REG-FTW86]

Considering I was told big 4 firms hire at $45k or around there in Las Vegas and with a CPA you're at $60k a year I stayed away from accounting after graduating. I was also told by someone on a board of directors auditing committee, “If you have a choice stay away from public accounting. It's brutal and the hours are horrible!” So I got into operations management / credit management. That was until I applied for a corporate finance position with the same company. Director of Finance told me “If you're really serious about finance go get your CPA or MBA. We'll be hiring in 2-3 years. That's why I'm doing this. I see an opportunity to move up with a great company by having my CPA. If that doesn't pan out I still have operations backing me. I can gain experience through finance. It seems that's the way corporations are going now. They are looking for CPAs. A lot of executives that I know of have CPA's and you'd never know it without looking it up. Companies want people who know finance / numbers / accounting / analytics in those top positions. That's where you make those big dollars unless you end up developing an app that makes it big, lol.

If I had a choice to go back, eh…5 years ago I would still do it all the same and changed nothing. I majored in both finance and accounting.

AUD - 78
BEC - 77
FAR - 77
REG - 80

"Our greatest weakness lies in giving up.  The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time."  Thomas A. Edison

How bad do you want it?

Regulation For The Win!

FAR 57, 62, 77
BEC 70,77
AUD 54,78
REG 66, 62, 7/29

FAR.BEC.AUD.AUD.BEC.FAR.FAR.REG.REG

Roger CPA Review / Ninja MCQ Supplement

Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time - Thomas Edison

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