[Swatee]

I am a CPA and a senior Accountant, started this job in May 18.Most of my work is accurate but I am making very basic errors which are mostly not presenting the data properly.I am recording all numbers correctly and never had any reconciling variance.My Manager is not happy with the minor errors and wants to make a decision on me soon.I am not sure what that decision be but I feel that he is unreasonable.

I make errors like showing zero balances in recons, not filtering the data in recon backup that is relevant to the reconciling item even though my recon is accurate .I reconciled dec accurately but forgot to copy nov numbers in the next column and had oct numbers.

These are the kind of errors I make and they are very silly mistakes .Are Senior accountant’s not expected to make errors like these and they get terminated?

[Pork Flavored Bacon]

What do they see in your interviews – do I really have to say it? They hear a lot of bullshit and they buy it. Did you tell your latest employer you lost two senior jobs before due to performance issues?
Selling yourself is easy and that is what you are supposed to do at an interview. But when your mouth starts writing checks your brain can’t actually cash, that’s going to end badly, as you have seen.
I really think you need to take a step back and really evaluate your situation. My previous comment about going back to associate and working your way back into senior (at the same firm) would be much better since you will be properly trained and have a better understanding of what is expected of you. The flow would make sense. Just looking at your opening post it is clear as day that you are not ready to be a senior.
I wouldn't go telling potential employers you have three years of senior experience. That would imply you are pretty much at a manager level and that would be a very unrealistic expectation right now.

FAR - 75 | REG - 87 | AUD - 82 | LAW - 81

[Adam]

@Pork flavored bacon…STFU…have you ever worked in public..youre not even a CPA..the guy just got fired..he doesn't need your critique or criticism..once you join the club maybe then you can speak up..

If you actually worked in Public, you would know mistakes and errors happen all the time and are common..And you know what they really really don't matter in the end..what matters is they arent material during an audit..which is pretty hard to do..I'm a SR in Chicago..and currently correct the partner for mistakes he makes all the time..this maanger is just a dick..ive dealt with more sociopaths working in accounting then i ever imagined..

On the accounting side..clients do not understand the numbers theyre looking at..nor know GAAP so who is going to point the mistake out? Should mistakes happen..no..but you do work for 10 hours numbers get transposed and things get missed.

On the Tax side..if youd ever worked an actual tax season..youd be aware of numerous “mistakes” that are done on purpose that are highly illegal..but done to reduce taxation for clients and keep them happy..audits are less than 2% and highly unlikely theyll ever be seen..and if they are..the engagement letter covers your ass on both fronts..not hard to lose a number on a complicated return in the software..

Should a SR CPA know how to do recs or whatever..Yes of course..but perhaps instead of firing the guy..take the time to take them aside and sit down with them and walk them through where they struggle and make sure they can do it ann udnerstand it…Firms cry about not being able to find qualified help..yet instead of offering training or guidance they “lay people off”

Simply SALY teaches you nothing..when last year was never right in the first place…but thats Public in general.

[Adam]

Most “Seniors” Ive come accross dont know much more then a second year staff ..so I'm sure hes more then qualified for a SR position..

[jombe]

@Adam -a lot of ppl on this thread, including myself, were speaking some harsh truth, but your post is literally the worst. Yeah, the guy just got fired, but if he keeps making same mistakes over and over throughout his career w/ no one telling him how shit rolls, he will be in a worse shape. And yeah, people in public make mistakes. I was in public audit and they are squeezed so much working 60-80 hours a week for 3-4 months, do you blame them? And there's also a thing called “materiality” and “reasonable assurance” in public audit. There's a “room” for error. In private, in general, you are not pulling those amount of hours. You don't have “materiality” to lean back on. There's no reason why your work product should contain multiple errors. I just moved to private recently and whatever project I am given, I self-review it a few times before I give it to my manager. I haven't made any mistakes so far. I am sure I will in future, but again, it's not something that cannot be kept at minimum. And, the guy was at his position for 8 months. He shouldn't need hand-holding at that point to stop making same mistakes over and over. Hope you get a staff or a senior below you that makes mistakes over and over, man. Sounds like you can handle it. I couldn't.

AUD - 99
BEC - 91
FAR - 94
REG - 96

--------------------------------------------
Done with exam. On with life.

FAR - 94 (10/4/15), Local Prep Online Lectures, BISK & NINJA MCQ
AUD - 99 (1/19/16), Local Prep Online Lectures, BISK & NINJA MCQ
REG - 96 (4/19/16), Local Prep Online Lectures, BISK & NINJA MCQ
BEC - 91 (7/19/16), Local Prep Online Lectures, BISK & NINJA MCQ

581 days of listening to lectures, reading texts & 10,000+ MCQs...

[Recked]

Some incredible ethical challenges mentioned in Adam's post… I'm just gonna slowly back away from this one.
If you know of people making “highly illegal” decisions on tax returns to keep the client happy, I'd suggest you stay as far away from that as you can.
The chances of getting caught are about correct, my understanding is less than 1% currently, but I will tell you once your number gets pulled the odds go to 100%.
Nothing worse than representing a client when the audit gets sideways, trust me. Someone loses sleep over it, don't let that person be you.

Memento Mori - Kingston NY CPA & EA (SUNY Albany 2002)

FAR-93 11/9/17 (10wks, 250 hrs, Roger 1800+ MCQs, Gleim TB 600+MCQs, SIMs)
AUD-88 12/7/17 (3 wks, 85 hrs, Roger 1000 MCQs no SIMs hail mary)
REG-96 1/18/18 (6 wks, 110 hrs, 1400 MCQs, no SIMs)
BEC-91 2/16/18 (4wks, 90 hrs, 1240 MCQs)

[PJ]

Nothing like a CPA admitting to tax fraud on a public forum

AUD - 83
BEC - 92
FAR - 92
REG - 91

Licensed in IL

[Pork Flavored Bacon]

Adam: Yes, I am a CPA and yes, I have worked in public accounting. In fact, I was fired from my first public accounting job for performance issues, too. Mainly, I just didn't care about audit but got a wake-up call when they booted me for doing terrible work as an associate.
If you're correcting your partner all the time, it sounds like you work at a shitty firm.

FAR - 75 | REG - 87 | AUD - 82 | LAW - 81

[TommyTheCat]

wow Adam you win for the most entertaining post of 2019 so far.

Totally agree with Pork and a few other comments above. Adam if OP takes your advice they'll be getting cut from their 4th senior job in the next year, bank on it. Blaming everyone but yourself is a sure fire way to failure.

AUD - 85
BEC - 89
FAR - 91
REG - 97

[Nate]

I'm sorry you were fired, I've been fired 3 times in my life, and only one was due to performance issues (believe me, I deserved it, I was lazy and hated the job). Once I was fired at a small company by an accounting manager that had 0 education and literally didn't know debits from credits and she got tired of me showing her up (and I was also catching on to fraud that scared the owner and CEO, who was the owner's 27 year old son fresh out of a business degree). The other time I simply wasn't willing to work the crazy hours they demanded because well, I love my wife and want to spend time with her occasionally; plus with the salary the managing partner gave along with no OT, if you met his crazy work hour demands you'd making well under $10/hour. So believe me when I understand how people can be unjustly fired.

However, in your case, I'm going to agree with everyone but Adam. One thing I noticed in your post is that you repeat mistakes, and that's a huge issue. And the worst part is it isn't a random calculation error which happens to all of us, this is a very easy correctable error (reconciliations), but you seem to have taken 0 imitative to fix it yourself. It's not the responsibility of management to hold the hands of employees, you have to take a certain level of responsibility in correcting your own errors (and taking the time to catch your own errors). I work in both tax and FS reviews, and you better believe I look over my work after finishing and do 2 year comparisons, to see anything I might have missed or entered in error. I was never told to do that, but I chose to do that because I want to grow and be the best that I can be. In all accounting work, it's very important to learn from mistakes and adjust/grow to keep them from happening again.

From my personal perspective, it doesn't sound like you aren't smart enough, it sounds like you just aren't very hard working. And honestly, that's not the worst thing. You can be a lazy accountant and still make a living. Heck, I have a lazy coworker, he graduated years ago and has never passed a CPA exam and even though he has every reason to pass them he never even studies. He tries to find ways to work less than 40 hours cause he enjoys spending his afternoons drinking beer. A year ago he was ahead of me because of experience, but I got my license and have worked way harder and now I've passed him up, and he's totally OK with that. He just simply enjoys being an associate and making just enough to afford a small house and drink lots of beer, and he and his wife don't want kids so it works for them. He has mastered the art of butt-kissing so that helps him a lot, but I wouldn't recommend that.

Basically, I'm trying to say, own up to your errors and have some self-reflection. If you want to be a partner or CFO or something like that, then you can do it! Just take the initiative and don't blame everyone else. If you want to be like my co-worker, then heck, go for that lifestyle, he seems perfectly happy and doesn't care that he doesn't get promoted. Just be honest with yourself. Best of luck with your career aspirations, whatever they may be.

AUD: 54 (10/31/15); 83 (12/02/17)
BEC: 70 (01/31/16); 90 (07/02/17)
FAR: 73 (10/03/15); 88 (02/17/18)
REG: 83 (06/09/18)
AICPA Ethics: 91 (06/28/18)
Licensed: 08/16/18

[Swatee]

Hi Everyone,

I actually found another job with a small company as a Senior Accountant and I have been doing very well in it.In reality I find my job to be very easy and I have made may be 2 errors in 8 months.My Manager is a very nice lady and loves me and my work.Though I don’t make too many mistakes but when I do she forgives me and won’t tell the owners of the company about my mistake.My salary is also good but the issue is that I am getting bored.Im their opinion they have given me a complex work but it’s not complex to me and I get done with everything very quickly.My workload is also not too much which is why I get bored because of sitting idle .

I have a offer of accounting manager from a large company.Should I except it?

[Swatee]

Sorry accept it*?

[Silent]

No honestly you should not accept it. I am seeing you getting fired from large company in 3-6 months.

[jeff]

I made a leap from a small family-owned company to a publicly-traded company. The grass isn't necessarily greener. Each type of setup has their pros and cons.

Small: More drama / likely run by the founder who is opinionated and set in their ways

Large: More politics (there can be politics in a small company too, don't get me wrong), more bureaucracy. It takes 10 VPs to hold a 3 hour meeting to make a decision about the coffee maker, etc.

Don't leap because the grass will be greener – it likely won't be.

AUD - 79
BEC - 80
FAR - 76
REG - 92

Jeff Elliott, CPA (KS)
NINJA CPA | NINJA CMA | NINJA CPE | Another71

[PC]

Yikes – first time reading through this one!

Swatee, it sounds like you have it pretty good where you're at. Sure, you are bored sometimes. But you also have a manager that is kind and understanding. Don't take that for granted.

How have you grown in the last 11 months? Are you now ready for a role with an unforgiving manager more complex accounting (i.e. more risk for simple errors)?

There is no education like adversity.

BEC – 85 (10/1/18)

AUD – 91 (12/10/18)

FAR – 92 (5/13/19)

REG – 87 (9/9/19)

[Recked]

You might be bored now, but I'd wait until after tax season if you office does tax work.
You will be busier with more projects that should keep you from being bored.
3 failed senior roles, and then jumping to management seems like a recipe for disaster to me, depending on what the management duties are.
If you need to review work for seniors, and you yourself were making mistakes as a senior, it just doesn't sound like it will work.
I'd recommend getting some more experience under your belt. If you have a boss that you like working for, that really goes a long way to making your quality of life better.
I would cherish that because it can be hard to find in this accounting game.

Memento Mori - Kingston NY CPA & EA (SUNY Albany 2002)

FAR-93 11/9/17 (10wks, 250 hrs, Roger 1800+ MCQs, Gleim TB 600+MCQs, SIMs)
AUD-88 12/7/17 (3 wks, 85 hrs, Roger 1000 MCQs no SIMs hail mary)
REG-96 1/18/18 (6 wks, 110 hrs, 1400 MCQs, no SIMs)
BEC-91 2/16/18 (4wks, 90 hrs, 1240 MCQs)

[Author]

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