r/Accounting

Confession because I got a new job - I’ve never once had an accurate timesheet.

I looked at my tasks as buckets. I would fill up one bucket and when full, dump hours into the next. It did not matter what account I was working on or which client. If I used my expected hours for one account I would just fill the next. When I was over budget I would find something to blame it on (usually the client).

Not a single. Accurate. Timesheet.

Do not recommend and do not regret a thing.

Edit: Pro-tip if you have an account thats already obscenely overbudget, it's a great place to put hours in since you hopefully already have an excuse made.

Calls, meetings, admin work, quick breaks, opening emails etc all count towards the 40 hours but I find that I'm at my laptop from 9am to 7pm to get these 40 hours and can't work 40 hours straight. With my 1 hour commute it feels like I just work most of my day and have like 3 or 4 hours to myself before it starts all over again. Also my brain only really works for 4 or 5 hours a day and I'm a vegetable for the rest

Is there any way to make life more bearable and ease the pressure of these 40 billable hours. God i fucking hate billable hours, utilization and time sheets.

I used to work with a builder client who would hand me a carrier bag of receipts every quarter. Some were faded, some were torn, one memorable one had been through the washing machine.... you get the idea

Curious what you're all seeing or are clients getting better at this, or is manual receipt chaos still the norm? And for those of you who've pushed clients toward automated capture tools, what's been the adoption experience like? Do they actually use them, or do they revert to the carrier bag within a month?

Warning: Doom and Gloom post

Dear accountants,

We are entering a dystopian era. 2/3 of my accounting department is now offshored to India. AI will soon be displacing more jobs. Data centers are burning through our clean water. Inflation is high and raises aren’t keeping up with the cost of living. Microplastics are accumulating in mass quantities in our balls. Private equity is buying out all our domestic CPA firms. Massive layoffs and boomers pulling up the ladder. Housing and having kids is unaffordable. 40 trillion in our national debt.

What will things look like in 10 years from now? Will we have AI staff that we get into fights with and have to do remediation through HR? What’s the game plan? How do we survive this era?

Sincerely,
Friendly Neighborhood CPA Mogger

Hi, I am currently a Junior in high school and have looked a bit into Accounting, and it seems like a solid profession to head into. I wanted to get on here and ask for people's opinions because while I have heard a lot that Accounting is a very stable and versatile career and has a lot of opportunity to get a good salary, I am just unsure of what to expect exactly and how I can prepare while still being in high school. I have also heard recently that a decent amount of Accountants have been getting laid off...

After this semester ends, I will have a 4.4 weighted GPA (8 APs) and currently have a 1430 SAT (taking ACT next). I already take College classes at The Ohio State University, and plan on taking Accounting I next spring, to get a jumpstart and also see if I even want to do it. I am in a good amount of business related extracurriculars as well. I love math, problem solving, and I like to think I learn things pretty quick. I understand Accounting in college is far from easy but I am willing to put the work in.

I would be really grateful for some advice from Accountants, and even CPAs because if I were to do Accounting, I would most definitely plan on getting my CPA.

I finish my masters program in July, I've been applying for public accounting positions since september. I've applied to big 4, larger regional firms, and small local firms and have basically heard nothing from any of them. While I did have an accounting internship it was a corporate accounting role but other than that I didn't have any internships in public accounting (I tried to get one between my senior and masters year but no luck). Recruiters have said I doesn't really matter but idk. I'm probably gonna keep applying through the next recruiting season but should I keep applying for public roles or pivot to corporate or another tax role.

Hi,

About 2 months ago I was passed up on for a few promotions that were given out at my company. Since then I’ve been passively looking for a new job since I don’t necessarily dislike where I work but do feel like I’m becoming under appreciated. I’ve been here for a little over 2 years and am confident that I’m more than qualified for a promotion (I’ve had coworkers both at the same level and higher levels say so).

After a few interviews I got a job offer this afternoon for an “Accounting Advisor” at a company in town. The internal recruiter reached out to me and described it as a “senior level position” but it seems to be basically all the same tasks & responsibilities that I currently do but the teams just don’t have staffs so I’d still be at the bottom of the totem poll. It is about a 8.3% increase in total compensation package so not nothing

Ideally I’d be able to use this offer as leverage for a promotion at my current company as that’s what I’d actually prefer and I’m not necessarily interested in the new job after learning more about it.

I have never done that before and am wondering if anyone has advice or things I should look out for? or how to get some sort of assurance about a promotion in the near future?

———————-

TLDR**:** I was passed over for promotions at my current company a couple months ago and have been passively job searching since I feel underappreciated despite being there 2+ years and qualified for advancement. I recently received an external offer for an “Accounting Advisor” role that’s labeled senior level but appears similar to my current responsibilities, just with less support, and includes about an 8.3% pay increase. I’m not very interested in the new role itself, but I’m considering using the offer as leverage to push for a promotion or clearer advancement timeline at my current company. I’m looking for advice on whether this is a good strategy and how to approach that conversation.

hey everyone! I need expert advice please <3

I am an accountant a nonprofit with about a $5M budget and currently make around $60k.

Context:
- This is my second job since graduating college, worked at an audit firm for ~10 months before this
- I’ve been here 3 years
- I’m currently studying for my CPA
- Leadership is training me as part of a succession plan to eventually become CFO within about the next year
- The current CFO makes around $90k
- I am definitely not as qualified or experienced as the current CFO yet, obvi

I’m being offered a raise now, plus some form of compensation when I pass the CPA, and I’m trying to figure out what’s realistic

I don’t want to be unreasonable and ask like I’m already a fully seasoned CFO, but I also don’t want to undersell myself if I’m being developed into leadership

Questions:

1. What would be a reasonable raise to ask for now?
2. Would you ask for a CPA passing bonus, salary increase, or both?
3. Since this is a succession plan, should I be asking now about compensation expectations for the eventual CFO transition?

I am crying because I worked so hard for this. I didn’t have anyone to share this new with. 😭

Yes, I know the job market is absolutely horrendous. It’s really all a game of luck at this point :/

2026 might be too recent but you never know

What city did you find your job in?

I've never done this. I've worked for 10 companies over the years, always as an employee or 1099.

What's the new employer's angle?

Hello,

I am currently 2.5 weeks into Core 1 of the CPA program here in Canada. I find myself stretched for time often (as is everyone) and was hoping to get some tips to help maximize my time.

Currently my schedule is as follows:

Monday - 1-2 hours of ebook reading of the starred chapters and then attempting the MCQ's (knowledge checks)

Tuesday - 1-3 hours of ebook and then do the weekly quiz. I will debrief the quiz after too and find out where I went wrong.

Wednesday - 2-4 hours of doing the Integrated Problem for the week.

Thursday - 1-2 hours of doing the Practice Case for the week

Friday - I do nothing. This is my rest day.

Saturday - 3-5 hours of debriefing prior weeks Integrated Problem and Case

Sunday - 2-4 hours of ebook for the next week to get "ahead" and I have recently begun finding all the units in the Knotia handbook so that if I dont know what im doing on the exam I can at least copy paste and throw shit at the wall for a potential RC..

So far: My IP's and Cases are going okay. I get mainly RC's and C's with a couple NC's. However, last weeks case made me go over time because I simply got confused with what the FR issue was trying to say (it was revenue but i overthought it and thought it was financial instrument recognition...)

My main concern is that all of this ebook time would be better spent somewhere else. But the ebook also gives tangible results in terms of knowledge checks. I know I should start doing the retired exam cases and debrief those as well but I simply havent. Maybe Sundays I should devote to Retired cases?

If you have passes Core 1 could you give me some tips and things to avoid or things to stress over so I can maximize my time. I am not feeling burnt out yet but I do feel constant stress that I wont be prepared come exam time.

In Public they gave me 1.5 years before PIP. In state government you're given infinite chances. I'm curious on private though.

I just got fired 1 month from a firm that is based in NY but building out their Texas branch. I was hired as a tax accountant and was mainly doing bookkeeping on quickbooks not even tax prep or anything. I’m not sure what to do as I’m not a CPA yet I graduated 2 years ago and honestly don’t feel any confidence in myself. It was tough being unemployed. They mentioned it was because of performance and not growing and mentioned I was not passionate about my work. I took a lot of notes and tried my best and always as questions but I was never told really how I’m doing or what can I improve on. Idk what do to do. Do I even hunt for other jobs to get certified in quickbooks idk

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I recently left my accounting job, and the relationship with my direct supervisor wasn’t great by the end. Now I’m job searching, and multiple recruiters keep asking specifically for supervisor-level references.

The problem is that my strongest references are not my direct supervisor. I have a Senior Accountant who trained me, reviewed my work, and worked closely with me, plus a Senior Financial Analyst/Finance Manager who worked with me on reporting, capital calls, and job cost analysis. They can speak to my actual work quality better than anyone.

But recruiters keep pushing for a manager/supervisor reference.

What’s the best way to handle this without making it sound like a red flag? Should I explain the situation directly, offer senior colleagues instead, or try to find another manager-level person who wasn’t my direct supervisor?

Would appreciate advice from recruiters, hiring managers, or anyone who’s dealt with this.

I have the opportunity to do either but I’m a new grad and I don’t know what to pick. I feel like if I turn down my big 4 offer I am missing out on early career exit opportunities, but I could always find my way back if startup flops or is not making me happy. What do you recommend? They are both tax related so idk 🤷🏼‍♀️

I am a woman in my early 30s, currently working as a senior accountant in renewable sector, have 7 years of experience - over 4 years in audit (big 4) and 3 years in the private company. At the current company any promotion takes very long time (5 years to be promoted to the supervisor and even longer to manager due to the career ladder at the company). I am currently working on my cpa. Recently started looking for a new job and got in contact with recruiters looking for a senior accountant or supervisor roles and I kid you not- each and every one of them tries to undermine my experience, telling me that my skill set is not what their clients looking for (I have month end, quarter end, year end close, using accounting software on a daily, assisting with audits, day to day reconciliations and working in my areas assigned, cooperating with other departments, etc). At this point I feel extremely annoyed by the tone of recruiters and sometimes their blatant disrespect on the phone or ms teams call. They are also aggressively pushing Siegfried group onto me too, even though I told each of them I don’t want to work public accounting hours (the main reason why I left big 4 about 3 years ago).

Does anyone have the same issues? I really thinking to stop relying on recruiters now and start applying for jobs myself without involving them like I did right after the grad school. When I was looking for a job 3 years ago I certainly had better opportunities with the same recruiters and they also tend to be more respectful.

Go out and show ‘em why there’s a P in CPA