[SallyCPA]

Has anyone else had a terrible big 4 experience? I’ve been here for a little over a year and everything about it makes me hate accounting….

[maxb]

Yes I’ve felt that way but one year is early. Accounting in general isn’t fun so get used to it.

[Tim]

I like accounting still after 5 years working in it. Best not to generalize. There are plenty of jobs that people love that I would hate.

FAR - 97 (10/12/17)
BEC - 95 (01/15/18)
AUD - 88 (04/06/18)
REG - 89 (11/16/18)

[noclady]

I agree with Tim – our profession has a lot of options. I've always worked in industry, and I've had jobs I hated for a while, and then liked later. LOL. I've also had jobs that I never liked. That said, I've never worked in public accounting, and have never had a desire to. I've worked with a lot of B4 auditors (mostly senior level) over the course of my time in industry, and some of them even left accounting altogether because they didn't like public accounting.

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” ―Aristotle

[Anonymous]

I'm not Big 4, but auditing has been a bit rough in my experience. The job can get pretty boring and is basically like going through a checklist to me. You're not really adding much value, just completing a task (and trying to bill as many hours as possible) so the firm can get paid. It almost seems like you're ripping off your clients at times.

[maxb]

Switch careers it’s still early. Accounting blows.

[SallyCPA]

what other options are there? i will have my cpa license soon and i dont want to throw awway all the work i have done

[Anonymous]

maxb always keeping it real ha!

Figure out what else you like (marketing, finance, baking cakes, etc.) and see if it makes sense for a career. Accounting skills/CPA is always going to be a good notch on your belt for anything in business. I was borderline ready to leave accounting altogether after about a year in audit. I am 28 and I figured I need to stick it out a bit longer and get my CPA and then see what happens. Plus I just had a kid and got married and need to make steady money for my family. I am more of an entrepreneurial type who doesn't like to be tied down 9-5. I recently purchased an apartment building that needs some fixing up – that kinda stuff is exciting to me. But for now, accounting is safe and will give me steady salary until I don't need it anymore.

[SallyCPA]

Baking cakes sounds pretty good right about now…

But seriously, it sounds like we are similar people @skolvikes..what do you see yourself doing in the future?

[maxb]

if your big 4 try something maybe that isn’t accounting? Performance improvement? Some type of BS like that. No accounting work and many times they make more than audit/tax. The fact that you are already in Big 4 means that you have a great opportunity to try something g new without leaving companies. Good luck

[Anonymous]

I honestly don't know ha. For a while I thought about real estate but that faded pretty quick.. too watered down. Sometimes, sitting at a desk kills me, so I've also thought about careers where I can move around more. Nothing has really stuck in my mind though.

For the meantime, my philosophy is to continue to work hard and be a solid person and hope that I am led into greener pastures someday by virtue.

[noclady]

I say if the thought of working in accounting the rest of your life, or even just sitting at a desk in any job for the rest of your life makes you shudder, then you probably should consider something that makes you happier. Who wants to work doing something they dislike a lot? At one point early in my career I considered leaving accounting. I looked at being a make-up artist, owning a cleaning business, being a teacher – so much so that I spent months on each of those researching what I needed to do to be successful at them. But the most important thing for me besides feeling fulfillment out of my career was being able to provide for my family. I couldn't afford (at that time) to just try things. However, the great thing for me is that I have a husband who was willing to support me in my dreams. Anyway, long story short, I prayed about it all and the answer I received was that I needed to stay in accounting. It wasn't quite the answer I was looking for, but looking back it was a good decision. I like the spot I'm in now, and it's provided me and my family a comfortable life. Whatever you do to decide to spend your life doing, you should feel good about. That's my 2 cents. 🙂

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” ―Aristotle

[Tim]

@noclady

I also work in industry so maybe that's it. There are so many different roles you can fill so you don't really spend years doing the same thing unless you want to. I did a tax internship during school and basically decided then that public wasn't where I wanted to be.

FAR - 97 (10/12/17)
BEC - 95 (01/15/18)
AUD - 88 (04/06/18)
REG - 89 (11/16/18)

[Anonymous]

I also thought about becoming a recruiter. That's a solid option for people who want to still be involved somewhat in accounting, just on a total different side. It would be good for someone who likes interacting with people more than banging on a keyboard.

[Anonymous]

@noclady – I actually came to the conclusion that I needed to pursue CPA in a similar way… I was in church and the answer became very clear. This was after lots of prayer/internal struggle surrounding my career.

[fuzyfro89]

Depends very strongly on what you want to do with your career (includes factors such as long-term earning potential, what you are “good” at, and lifestyle/geography, etc.).

If you don't like reporting, financial analysis, controls (either auditing or process improvement), actual GL accounting, SEC reporting, etc., then there aren't really many jobs in accounting / tax / financial advisory / corporate accounting / internal audit / finance that will make sense for you… this would be a major career change into something almost totally unrelated. NOTHING wrong with that, I have a few friends who left the field entirely, but that would be the first stop to think through… and your wants will change over time, so good to think ahead.

[Author]

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