[jacobpreis]

Hello All,

I was offered a position as a controller/bookkeeper within a family run firm in the wholesale meat department industry. The pay and hours are fine, but there are two issues, both of which the owner was up front about. The first is that the position was available b/c the previous controller, who was there for 20 years, had a falling out with the owner, as the owner put it, the controller forgot he wasn’t the boss. The second issue is the G/L is essentially all entered manually. He did say that he would want to go electronically, but for now the entries are hand written into a journal. Do you think these are valid concerns?

[ipasscpa]

What is your goal? You want to work in public or private? Which kind of experience are you looking for?

CPA- VA

[ipasscpa]

What is your goal? You want to work in public or private? Which kind of experience are you looking for?

CPA- VA

[mla1169]

When you say entered manually do you mean they keep their financial records all on paper? I'd wonder why they hadn't made a nominal investment in quickbooks at least.

And yeah I'd be concerned with a company that bad mouthed a 20 year employee to a potential hire.

Most troublesome is the title controller/bookkeeper. Huge difference between the two, even in a very small operation with a one person accounting department. What kind of experience do you have?

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

Massachusetts CPA (non reporting) since 3/12.

[mla1169]

When you say entered manually do you mean they keep their financial records all on paper? I'd wonder why they hadn't made a nominal investment in quickbooks at least.

And yeah I'd be concerned with a company that bad mouthed a 20 year employee to a potential hire.

Most troublesome is the title controller/bookkeeper. Huge difference between the two, even in a very small operation with a one person accounting department. What kind of experience do you have?

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

Massachusetts CPA (non reporting) since 3/12.

[melonie88]

I'd be weary of someone who spoke about a falling out as ‘the controller forgot he wasn't the boss'. I'd ask for clarification on that, two sides to every story

[melonie88]

I'd be weary of someone who spoke about a falling out as ‘the controller forgot he wasn't the boss'. I'd ask for clarification on that, two sides to every story

[jacobpreis]

Thank you. I'm actually very interested in this track , and enjoy working with inventory and in the private sector. ( I've never worked for a public accounting firm, although my M.B.A. is in Public Accounting ). In theory, this would be great experience, as the owner said that he would want to set up an accounting software system. And yes, literally he showed me a notebook with G/L entries entered manually. This is an S-corp company with 20 employees, and have been in business for 100+ years.

The owner said the previous controller started thinking he was the owner as well, and they butted heads to much. He is still working, albeit from home. Do you think I should press the owner to allow me to speak with him? I already said I need to speak with the CPA firm before making a move. Compounding the issue is that a year ago I took a position with a remarkably similiar situation, and was supposed to do inventory management, cost accounting, etc. but the person who left came back a week later and it totally messed things up and I got fired from the position. My experience so far has been mostly staff accountant work, with some work with individual CPA's doing individual and small corporations taxes.

So this would be a step up, albeit in a small firm where the “official” working hours are 8-4…

[jacobpreis]

Thank you. I'm actually very interested in this track , and enjoy working with inventory and in the private sector. ( I've never worked for a public accounting firm, although my M.B.A. is in Public Accounting ). In theory, this would be great experience, as the owner said that he would want to set up an accounting software system. And yes, literally he showed me a notebook with G/L entries entered manually. This is an S-corp company with 20 employees, and have been in business for 100+ years.

The owner said the previous controller started thinking he was the owner as well, and they butted heads to much. He is still working, albeit from home. Do you think I should press the owner to allow me to speak with him? I already said I need to speak with the CPA firm before making a move. Compounding the issue is that a year ago I took a position with a remarkably similiar situation, and was supposed to do inventory management, cost accounting, etc. but the person who left came back a week later and it totally messed things up and I got fired from the position. My experience so far has been mostly staff accountant work, with some work with individual CPA's doing individual and small corporations taxes.

So this would be a step up, albeit in a small firm where the “official” working hours are 8-4…

[fuzyfro89]

No managerial experience, no ERP software experience, no one to learn from, nowhere to get promoted…

What are you looking for? This doesn't fit my wish list, but it may fit your's.

[fuzyfro89]

No managerial experience, no ERP software experience, no one to learn from, nowhere to get promoted…

What are you looking for? This doesn't fit my wish list, but it may fit your's.

[mla1169]

Still. While the money may be acceptable to you now, controllers make 2-4 times the annual salary of bookkeepers. Make sure you see if the job description aligns more with controller or bookkeeper and check the salary ranges for those positions in your area. If you're in a job as a controller making 45k a year, combined with no public experience you will have a tough time getting hired into a “true” controller job that started at 90k if you choose to move on.

I speak from first hand experience I'm you in 5 years and when pressed for my current salary which I try hard to dodge it's a deal breaker because I made so little with no emphasis on my masters or CPA

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

Massachusetts CPA (non reporting) since 3/12.

[mla1169]

Still. While the money may be acceptable to you now, controllers make 2-4 times the annual salary of bookkeepers. Make sure you see if the job description aligns more with controller or bookkeeper and check the salary ranges for those positions in your area. If you're in a job as a controller making 45k a year, combined with no public experience you will have a tough time getting hired into a “true” controller job that started at 90k if you choose to move on.

I speak from first hand experience I'm you in 5 years and when pressed for my current salary which I try hard to dodge it's a deal breaker because I made so little with no emphasis on my masters or CPA

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

Massachusetts CPA (non reporting) since 3/12.

[jacobpreis]

Hi Mod,

That's an excellent point. If I decide to take it, the starting salary is $62500 , working 8-4, 2 weeks vacation . I am a little desperate at this time b/c due to circumstances, some my fault and some not, I haven't really found my footing. So when he called me it seemed to be good, but it was very eye-opening how behind the times he was, and not to mention that when making an error on paper it takes a lot longer to find out down the road.

[jacobpreis]

Hi Mod,

That's an excellent point. If I decide to take it, the starting salary is $62500 , working 8-4, 2 weeks vacation . I am a little desperate at this time b/c due to circumstances, some my fault and some not, I haven't really found my footing. So when he called me it seemed to be good, but it was very eye-opening how behind the times he was, and not to mention that when making an error on paper it takes a lot longer to find out down the road.

[mla1169]

I've found it a big challenge. I got fired from a controller job at a small company 2 months ago. Not a lot of small private companies are hiring controllers around here. I'd be happy as a senior accountant at a larger company but they're skiddish some think I'd be unhappy with a “step down”, others have concerns that I haven't held a senior role in a large publicly traded company. And management at a larger company almost always requires public experience which I don't have nor an inclined to go in entry level with staff the same age as my kids 😉

I really tap dance around the current salary issue–I've tried the “I've researched salaries for similar positions in the area and trust this position is in the range I've found”, and I've tried “of course I consider total package which includes insurance, vacation and 401k in addition to salary” but most insist on a figure.

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

Massachusetts CPA (non reporting) since 3/12.

[Author]

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