[LawGuy]

Quick question for everyone who is working or has recently worked at Big 4: What software do you use? I am mainly interested in what specific tax software they are using, but I am also curious about other types (audit software, time keeping/billing software, etc.).

The reason I am asking is because I have recently gotten into software development as a hobby. I would like to have the capability to build custom add-ons to existing software platforms, and I am curious to know what programming language the big 4 use for their software.

If anyone is curious, I am beginning to see that there are many opportunities when you combine a professional skill-set like accounting with a software development skillset. By combining the skillsets, there are many simple programs that you could build that would be inefficient for a pure programmer to create because he or she would not have the requisite accounting knowledge. Plus, learning to code is not that difficult, and rather fun in my opinion (it’s easier than accounting, and I enjoy it so much I do it in my free time while working full time and studying for the CPA exam).

AUD - 86
BEC - 85
FAR - 81
REG - 92

Excelsior!

[jbergmann1]

You must have a job in industry. Way too much time on your hands

TX CPA

Passed all 4 parts of the CPA exam!
License application in progress

[CPAfit]

@lawguy I am interested in software development myself. Can you please give me some guidance as to how a person with no software/engineering background can enter this field. I tried looking up some tutorials online but it was not worth it. I totally agree with your predicament that combining the field of accounting and software can do wonders and make a lot of processes more efficient.

AUD - 82
BEC - 78
FAR - 78
REG - 83

HIYA!

NH Licensed CPA - Jun 2018

[PonyUP]

I work in corporate finance (not big 4). The most popular software used by business is SAP Hadoop. That is the accounting side. On the Financial reporting side a lot of companies are demanding Hyperion. The going rate for a Hyperion HFM report writer is $200 an hour.
Next I would look at the new demand for XTML reporting tools (similar to what Workiva has developed). They employ a large number of software developers with CPA's.

AUD - NINJA in Training
BEC - NINJA in Training
FAR - NINJA in Training
REG - NINJA in Training

Good Luck future CPA's,

From

PonyUp

[LawGuy]

@CPAfit I know the feeling! I started looking into some programming tutorials online some years ago, but everything they taught seemed so far removed from actually being able to program anything useful. I think this is because the tutorials mainly focus on how to program the “engine” and omit the parts necessary to cause the “engine” to interact with other programs and/or websites. When you watch a tutorial, it seems as if everything you are doing is in an isolated environment. Once I discovered how to connect my “engine” with the internet and other programs, it immediately became a lot of fun. I think the key is to work on actual programming projects, rather than just try to learn everything in the abstract. However, it is necessary to get a basic foundation first.

Picking a language to learn is mainly about what you want to do with it. I think the easiest language to start with is Python. However, Microsoft Office 2013 and 2016 now have add-ins based on Javascript. Google Docs uses Google Apps Script, which is very similar Javascript. This means that you if you learn a bit of Javascript, you can easily program custom add-ins (more powerful than Macros) and even put them up for sale in the MS office or Google Docs store if they're good enough. I think having a few Javascript add-ins for MS office on your resume would cause a hiring manager at any accounting firm to salivate lol.

Udacity has a lot of fantastic courses for free (though not all their courses are free). Here is a good one for Javascript:

https://www.udacity.com/course/intro-to-javascript–ud803

And here is a good one for Python:

https://www.udacity.com/course/programming-foundations-with-python–ud036

AUD - 86
BEC - 85
FAR - 81
REG - 92

Excelsior!

[Author]

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