[Anonymous]

Hey gang,

To give you a quick background, I interned at a public accounting firm and was offered a full time position and took it. Fast forward a year later, I’m a month and half away from graduation and do not want to do anything with accounting. I signed an “agreement to work there”, but it no way is that a binding contract. However, they did pay for my CPA review materials and I am currently studying for the exam.

If I tell the firm that I no longer to wish to work there, I will for sure burn bridges, but will I be forced to pay them back for the CPA review materials? I haven’t ran across any wording that points to that, but I want to know what you think.

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

You might want to read your agreement. Does it say anything about reimbursing them for the cost of the materials? Are you not planning to take the exam at all? What made you decide to leave accounting–just out of curiosity

[Anonymous]

You might want to read your agreement. Does it say anything about reimbursing them for the cost of the materials? Are you not planning to take the exam at all? What made you decide to leave accounting–just out of curiosity

[Anonymous]

I've read and reread agreements along with any attachments and I cannot find any wording related to the repayment of CPA review materials.

As of now, I'm not entirely sure if I still want to take the exam. The possibility of going into finance is an option and the CPA would not hurt in the field I'm sure.

I was always attracted to the accounting field because it was “safe” and you'll make money. Recently, I've started realizing that perhaps I have changed and no longer find those qualities about my career attractive. More or less, I realized I chose the wrong major in my final semester of college.

[Anonymous]

I've read and reread agreements along with any attachments and I cannot find any wording related to the repayment of CPA review materials.

As of now, I'm not entirely sure if I still want to take the exam. The possibility of going into finance is an option and the CPA would not hurt in the field I'm sure.

I was always attracted to the accounting field because it was “safe” and you'll make money. Recently, I've started realizing that perhaps I have changed and no longer find those qualities about my career attractive. More or less, I realized I chose the wrong major in my final semester of college.

[Anonymous]

Ah–well as long as you aren't leaving accounting based on the one job you have had then I say do what feels right. If you still like the accounting side of things, but dislike it where you are then I say go for the CPA and get a job more suited to your interests. I don't like accounting, but I'm good with numbers, and it just makes sense for the most part. The pay doesn't hurt either, but I would absolutely LOVE to be able to follow a career path that would be more fun or interesting to me. If you have the ability to follow something you like then do it, especially if you just got out of college. You could always go back and get the CPA later if you change your mind, but I will say it will be a lot harder if you wait than if you just went ahead and did it now.

[Anonymous]

Ah–well as long as you aren't leaving accounting based on the one job you have had then I say do what feels right. If you still like the accounting side of things, but dislike it where you are then I say go for the CPA and get a job more suited to your interests. I don't like accounting, but I'm good with numbers, and it just makes sense for the most part. The pay doesn't hurt either, but I would absolutely LOVE to be able to follow a career path that would be more fun or interesting to me. If you have the ability to follow something you like then do it, especially if you just got out of college. You could always go back and get the CPA later if you change your mind, but I will say it will be a lot harder if you wait than if you just went ahead and did it now.

[Not a Quitter]

Unless you've signed something explicitly making you liable I do not see how they can force you to pay them back.

FAR- 85 I'm DONE!
BEC- 75
REG- 60,60,75
AUD- 74,74,83

CPAExcel used for BEC, AUD, REG
Exam Matrix used for FAR plus NINJA Blitz, cpareviewforfree and a little CPAExcel

[Not a Quitter]

Unless you've signed something explicitly making you liable I do not see how they can force you to pay them back.

FAR- 85 I'm DONE!
BEC- 75
REG- 60,60,75
AUD- 74,74,83

CPAExcel used for BEC, AUD, REG
Exam Matrix used for FAR plus NINJA Blitz, cpareviewforfree and a little CPAExcel

[Study Monk]

I think you should notify them you won't be accepting their offer with a check to reimburse them for the cost of the review materials. They would probably win in small claims court, because them paying for your review materials as a condition of employment is implied and verbal agreements are enforced in most courts. They probably wouldn't bother trying to recover the costs, but instead may not offer the same reimbursement to future full-time students.

You could still get a good reference with this firm, since they liked you enough to give you an offer. The cost of the review course is less than the value of having a reasonable reference from your only internship. Also you don't want the karma of screwing people over, which is what you will be doing if you don't reimburse them.

I would try to sell the review course to someone you trust at your school before it becomes outdated, or see if the firm can give it to another candidate. I think it will be difficult for you to put in the effort necessary to pass these exams when you have no clear career path. If you end up getting a job in finance you might not ever get the opportunity to work with a CPA to meet the work requirements. In hindsight your best path to the finance industry might be to accept the offer, get your CPA license, and move on.

I also think you are in risk of ending up working at some minimum wage job out of college, because good finance jobs are hard to find. It's hard to get a job with just a college degree in this economy. I also think that to many people have seen the Steve Jobs speech. MOST successful people don't try to do the things that they want to do, but the things they need to do.

I spoke to an ancient wise man who sent me on a mushroom induced journey through an ancient forest to find the key to passing the CPA exam. A talking spider monkey told me to throw the last of my drinking water in the dirt to find what I was looking for. So I followed his instructions and the following message appeared in the soil:

"Do 5000 multiple choice questions for each section"

[Study Monk]

I think you should notify them you won't be accepting their offer with a check to reimburse them for the cost of the review materials. They would probably win in small claims court, because them paying for your review materials as a condition of employment is implied and verbal agreements are enforced in most courts. They probably wouldn't bother trying to recover the costs, but instead may not offer the same reimbursement to future full-time students.

You could still get a good reference with this firm, since they liked you enough to give you an offer. The cost of the review course is less than the value of having a reasonable reference from your only internship. Also you don't want the karma of screwing people over, which is what you will be doing if you don't reimburse them.

I would try to sell the review course to someone you trust at your school before it becomes outdated, or see if the firm can give it to another candidate. I think it will be difficult for you to put in the effort necessary to pass these exams when you have no clear career path. If you end up getting a job in finance you might not ever get the opportunity to work with a CPA to meet the work requirements. In hindsight your best path to the finance industry might be to accept the offer, get your CPA license, and move on.

I also think you are in risk of ending up working at some minimum wage job out of college, because good finance jobs are hard to find. It's hard to get a job with just a college degree in this economy. I also think that to many people have seen the Steve Jobs speech. MOST successful people don't try to do the things that they want to do, but the things they need to do.

I spoke to an ancient wise man who sent me on a mushroom induced journey through an ancient forest to find the key to passing the CPA exam. A talking spider monkey told me to throw the last of my drinking water in the dirt to find what I was looking for. So I followed his instructions and the following message appeared in the soil:

"Do 5000 multiple choice questions for each section"

[Anonymous]

Just a thought – when you graduate, what do you plan to do? Unless you feel the need to go back to college full-time, then you will, I assume, be working. In order to pay current college debt (assuming…) and living expenses, you'll probably be working full-time. If you're working full-time, then the job with the accounting firm will probably pay better than any other job you can get full-time. So, if it was me, I'd keep the job offer, and then use that to pay the bills while figuring out what you want to do and looking for a job in your preferred career.

However, if your goal was to go to school full-time or if you have another job opportunity in a field that you prefer, then ignore what I said above. 🙂

[Anonymous]

Just a thought – when you graduate, what do you plan to do? Unless you feel the need to go back to college full-time, then you will, I assume, be working. In order to pay current college debt (assuming…) and living expenses, you'll probably be working full-time. If you're working full-time, then the job with the accounting firm will probably pay better than any other job you can get full-time. So, if it was me, I'd keep the job offer, and then use that to pay the bills while figuring out what you want to do and looking for a job in your preferred career.

However, if your goal was to go to school full-time or if you have another job opportunity in a field that you prefer, then ignore what I said above. 🙂

[tomq04]

I hate to sound like the rest, but i'm in your boat…at a job i'm no longer in love with, but finishing my cpa and getting all ducks in a row before anything crazy happens. Don't plan on going anywhere for at least 2 years, but as mentioned repeatedly, not wanting to screw anyone over, including myself 🙂

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

[tomq04]

I hate to sound like the rest, but i'm in your boat…at a job i'm no longer in love with, but finishing my cpa and getting all ducks in a row before anything crazy happens. Don't plan on going anywhere for at least 2 years, but as mentioned repeatedly, not wanting to screw anyone over, including myself 🙂

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

[John Tucker]

AML,

I'm sorry, but when you mention the following I'm sort of confused on where you presently stand?

“I was always attracted to the accounting field because it was safe and you'll make money. Recently, I've started realizing that perhaps I have changed and no longer find those qualities about my career attractive. More or less, I realized I chose the wrong major in my final semester of college.”

You said you have changed, changed in terms of what?? What changed? Do you have another industry you are going to be working in that you can estimate providing a higher mix of compensation, benefits, free time and personal “worth”?

If the answer is no, then I don't get the sudden change of thought? Especially with less than 2 months away from graduation??

And when a firm pays for any portion of your education, it usually is accompanied with a commitment of working there for the next 2-5 years. So most likely, I can't say for sure, but most likely there's a clawback provision that if you were to not work at the firm for a certain period of time they would clawback the monies they spent for you to prepare for the exam.

But I'm sorry, unless you have a better, brighter position or business idea lined up or one you reasonably believe you can jump into soon, with more compensation, benefits and personal “worth,” I don't see how this makes any sense at all?

* State of MA CPA Exam Candidate
- BEC: Sunday, August 24th
- FAR: Saturday, November 29th
- AUD: TBA for February 2015
- REG: TBA for May 2015

[Author]

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