Life…Job…and CPA Studies.

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  • #192174
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    Hi Peeps:

    Before I begin to vent I would like to sincerely thank everyone for their thoughts to my posts in the past, present and future!

    1. Life: I at times worry about my elderly, chronically ill grand parents and what will eventually happen. In addition, I have a younger sibling who has CP, wheel chair bound and cannot eat or drink solid food. I worry that he may get ill, hospitalized and require 24 hour monitoring; it has happened before and all of my planning has stopped to help mom out. This bothers me because life does happen, so how do I keep on trucking and no worry so much if this, that, and the third were to occur?

    2. This is technically a tie with number 1. I am currently a “Sr. Accountant” within a higher education institution and provided services to them for 3 years, but the title does not match the work. In other words, the duties are more of a staff accountant/bookkeeper. I have asked for higher level work, but they outsource those duties and bring in a consultant. Why? IDK.

    I am starting to get bored and need mental stimulation so that I may GROW/ADVANCE within a company. That said, I strongly yearn for a mentor (currently lacking), and want to experience other areas of accounting (industries) and develop as a professional.

    All that said, would you opine that it is time to move on? Should I be seeking roles as a Sr. or Staff? Corporate accounting has been weighing heavy on my mind. Maybe public.

    3. Lastly, all of the above is/has been going on. Then this goal of my has risen with a beast called FAR calling my name. Hard to juggle all of the uncertainties, should I go or stay (job) and CPA slaying.

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  • #647949
    Anonymous
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    1. I assume your younger sibling is likely to live a long life, so presuming no emergencies, there's plenty of time to visit with him after the exams are over. As far as emergencies are concerned, there's no sense worrying about them – either they'll happen or they won't, and life goes on. I had close family in the hospital within a couple days before 2 of my 4 exams, so I know that emergencies during critical study time suck. However, remember at all times that the family member is more important, and try to make use of study time where available. For example, if your younger brother were to be hospitalized, then focus on him while he is awake, and study while he sleeps.

    Your grandparents are a different issue, though. Some on here will tell you otherwise, but I'm going to say that if their time here is limited, then spending time with them should gain some priority levels. I'm assuming from your description that they have degenerative illnesses so there is concern of whether they will still be present in mind and body by the time you complete your exams; if that is true, then spending time with them is important. In 10 years, you're more likely to regret not spending time with them than regret re-taking FAR. If, though, they have chronic illnesses that don't pose an imminent threat to their life or mental function, then still visit some, but you can treat it more like with your brother and prioritize studying a bit higher.

    2. Higher ed likes to make titles bigger than the job, so it's not just your employer. Try to find ways that you can improve your job processes or do things that will make the consultants' work quicker etc. so that you can add value and add challenge. I try to always in my job be thinking “How can this be done better?” whether it's simplifying a spreadsheet or creating a new formal policy or automating a redundant process. That ensures that any job stays more challenging and enjoyable. I assume that you have access to a lot of financial data, too. Even if analyzing it isn't part of your job, if you have extra time at work, you might enjoy putting together some mock financial statements and analyzing them yourself, just to stretch your mind. For example, does your employer have a bookstore or college store? Make a P&L statement for it and see if they're making money or losing money on it. You might never show it to anyone, since it sounds like your superiors aren't really interested in your added contributions, but it could be engaging for you.

    That being said, sometimes it's time to move on. I wouldn't expect a mentor to come as part of the package at another job, but you might be lucky. I'd say looking for a Senior role would probably be good, simply because backwards title changes can make people wonder. (I went from “Accountant” in tax to “Accounting Clerk” in private – the work that I did at the Clerk job was really a Staff Accountant job at least, but people have questioned the title decrease, even though it was somewhat of a career change since tax doesn't carry over to private much and a significant pay increase.) If you can't get a Sr job, though, Staff is still fully acceptable. If your college is a non-profit, I'd suggest looking specifically for other non-profit jobs, since your familiarity with non-profit accounting would be a big boost. I work at a college, too, and know that when we were interviewing for an Assistant Controller, it was rare to find an applicant with any experience with non-profits. I'm also in a super-small town, though, which may have affected our applicant pool. 😛

    3. The only way to study with all this going on is to intentionally put it out of your mind while studying. This might be a good reason to wait to change jobs till after you're done with the exams, just to have one less thing on your plate…but either way, you've got to put it out of your mind to study.

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