[Anonymous]

I need to make my decision to two offers. One is from a local small CPA firm. Another one is from a start up IT company.

1) CPA firm total has 12 people in the office. Pay is 6k less than the IT company. No overtime pay, but will reimburse travel expense. The rest of benefits are similar to the IT firm.

2) The start up IT company has total around 50 employees: I will be the only accountant in the office. They have a part time CFO who is living thousand miles away, and he only comes to the office once per month or per quarter. The CFO will help me with the monthly closing, report, payroll…… by phone or email.

My background: I just started to study for the CPA exam and AUD exam second try was scheduled in the end of this month. I only have 2 and half staff accountant experience.

My concern:I have been looking for a job for 2 months since I was laid off due to the company was bought out. My friend says small CPA firms always lay off people after busy tax season. IT company will not have too much learning opportunities by working alone. However, the IT company’s pay is 6k higher plus will not have too much over time, so I could have more time to study for the CPA exam. My goal is to work a mid size to large CPA firm in the future. The opportunity to work at this small CPA firm is a first step into CPA firm industry. However, I am afraid of the instability working at a small CPA firm because my lay off experience.

Please advise which offer I should take for better learning opportunity and a better path to work in a big CPA firm later on. Thank you!!

[hunter32]

Personally I have been working for a small cpa firm with 10 professional staff for two and a half years and nobody has been laid off or fired. If you're good at your job they'll keep you. Plus with my years of experience LinkedIn recruiters have been biting at my ankles, all from bigger firms.

BEC - 80 (Becker)
AUD - 92 (Becker+NINJA MCQ)
FAR - 87 (Becker+NINJA MCQ)
REG - 90 (Becker+NINJA MCQ and Audio)

[Kimboroni]

That's a great position to be in, choosing between offers!

The small CPA firm is going to be better for getting you toward your long-term goal, and if the firm is interested in growth, it won't lay people off if they're good. It sounds like it has better learning opportunities for you also.

As far as studying for the exam, all kinds of people in public accounting successfully study for and pass these exams. You just have to work it around the busy seasons and plan accordingly. There are down times, too, so use those to your advantage.

AUD 84 (1/9/14-Wiley books/TB + free materials)
FAR 83 (5/21/14-the above + NINJA 10 Pt Combo Lite)
REG 84 (7/9/14-Wiley books/TB + NINJA Audio/FC/Notes)
BEC 76 (10/5/14-Wiley books/TB + NINJA Audio/FC)

Disclaimer: My ninja avatar is not meant to imply that I have any affiliation with this site other than being a forum member. That's a pic of a T-shirt that my daughter gave me for my birthday. 🙂

[Anonymous]

hmm, I'd say that your concern is a valid one – although I wouldn't necessarily call a start up company secure either. Investigate (i.e. read glassdoor reviews, see if you can find former employees on LinkedIn that only worked there for mysteriously short (aka) busy season tenures, ask professors of their opinion of the firm and if they've hired/fired any students…etc). Just because the risk of lay off may be a little higher at a smaller firm, doesn't necessarily make it likely.

Also, if your risks of lay offs concerns are unfounded, the better path to working at a larger CPA firm later is clearly the CPA firm – but you already knew that ;). Just go with your gut.

[Herbieherb]

I would go for the small cpa firm…start ups are risky. I had a decision similar to yours 3 years ago…join a 70+year old institution or a start up…in 2012-2013 the start up layed off 80% of the staff and moved its HQ to Germany…lol

NEW YORK- DONE

[Author]

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