I changed jobs a few months ago admittedly because the job was remote and I was very burnt out on my long commute. My new role is senior accountant with a small accounting firm that specializes in not for profit accounting. I took a step back for this job- I previously worked as a finance manager/director with a not for profit with a staff of 3.

While interviewing for my current role, I was assured staff accountants would take care of most of the monthly close for each of my 12 assigned clients and my focus would be mentoring the staff accountants, reviewing their work, making the payroll JEs and fixed asset JEs, etc. But I was told the number one priority in this job would be maintaining and enhancing client relationships.

Since I began the job, two staff accountants have quit and we were told they will not be replaced. The seniors including myself are just supposed to pick up the slack here. Out of my 12 assigned clients, 3 have tight closings every month; each of these clients sends me their support on the 5th or 6th of each month. They need to be closed by the 10th of the month. The other 9 need to be closed by the 20th of each month and their support trickles in whenever they have time, which is sometimes last minute, and I am spending a lot of time chasing them for it. To add to this, I'm expected to work with the clients' auditors to complete annual audits and 990s.

I have had little to no time to actually work on client relationships, which actually doesn't seem to be a priority nearly as much as they told me it would be. I am very stressed with the short closings for these clients and also now getting blamed for other clients not submitting support on time- even when I chase the client for it. For example, I let my boss know I was having trouble with a certain client who keeps forgetting to send several reports needed to close and even though I email her repeatedly in advance, she ends up sending her support the night before her close. My boss emailed me the day of their close asking if I was finished yet. Well no I haven't because I just received her support the night before.

I feel like this job is not going well and isn't sustainable. The person who had the role prior to me I found out was only there for 10 months, and the person prior to her for just over a year.

I find myself extremely stressed over things I cannot control such as the timing of these short close windows, getting the support I need from the client, and doing more with less staff accountant support. Is anyone in a similar situation? I would like to try to make it to one year and then apply for other jobs (trying to make it to a year so that it doesn't look weird that I am wanting to change jobs after only 4 months), but I am not sure I can do it without going crazy.

I’m in Interm Accounting II. When I go and cold read my new chapters in McGraw hill, it’s almost as if they’re intentionally making it indigestible and non transparent.

Far too many times I’ve been lead to believe I cannot understand something accounting related, then turn to other sources to grasp it almost immediately and experience that “Aha” moment. I never have to go far either, because it’s as if almost every other resource understands what teaching and introducing new topics is, but NOT McGraw Hill. This seems to be a pretty wildly experience phenomenon too.

Why is this most universities go to teaching software now?

First off im just scared bc my 'father' has invested lotta money in my accounting studies and he just makes me remind everyday about the money he invested in me that went into loss so even if i wanna step out i cant now.

Ok 2nd idk whats happening like ik im starting from literally zero compared to my classmates whose basics is completely clear..

Idk its just...... Like i can easily understand and memorise theoretical concepts and i love when i do them but the second any calculation or practical questions comes in, I blank out, i get stressed, i start sweating. And its not like my maths isnt good, i luv maths I just dont know why i cant do it. Now im scared maybe this whole accounting thing isnt for me.. :(

I was an expert at JDA TSG this past season. When will I know if I get rehired for 2027 season?

I just did a HireVue interview for a job I REALLY want, and I genuinely feel so demotivated about how it went. I feel like I didn’t get to show who I actually am as a candidate, and my answers were literally all over the place. I keep replaying my responses in my head and cringing at things I said or things I could’ve explained so much better.

I genuinely believe I would do 100% better in an actual interview whether in person or virtual. I’m so much better at expressing myself when I’m talking to someone face-to-face. I can read their reactions, have an actual conversation, explain my thought process, and let my personality come through.

LIKE WHY ARE YOU GIVING ME 10 SECONDS TO PREPARE AN ANSWER???? 😭😭 Even in a normal virtual or in-person interview, sometimes I need 15–20 seconds to gather my thoughts before answering. But with HireVue, there’s a timer counting down, a camera staring at you, and the pressure of knowing you only get one shot. It feels so unnatural.

And now I’m stuck in this awful cycle of wondering if I completely messed up my chances. I WANT THIS JOB SO BADLY, and I hate feeling like I potentially ruined an opportunity because I couldn’t perform well in this weird interview format. I know I shouldn’t assume the worst, but it’s hard not to when you walk away feeling like you didn’t represent yourself properly.

I’m just so frustrated because I KNOW I have more to offer than what I showed in that interview. I wish employers would give candidates a chance to have an actual conversation instead of making us record ourselves answering questions under a time limit. 😭

Has anyone else felt like they completely bombed a HireVue but still ended up getting an interview or an offer? I could really use some reassurance right now because I’m genuinely feeling so discouraged about the whole thing.

For those of you who have been working in accounting for a few years, if you could go back to your junior year and had two offers, would you rather intern at a Big 4 firm or a large company like Amazon?

Which do you think would open more doors after graduation in terms of career growth and full-time opportunities?

Curious what you'd choose knowing what you know now.

As a previous post explained—Was strung along for a lowball offer. Negotiated to get a little more and factored in WFH, career trajectory, etc. and finally accepted after concerns were answered. Mind you this was all in the heat of busy season but start date was far enough out I had time to put in 2 weeks next month.

Well 10/15 came and passed and had time to really read through the language of offer sheet and come to find out the bonus amount (which I expressed was lower than what I usually would get but for WFH/chang of pace, I was ok with 3-4k less bonus) would be prorated for the ~2 months I would be at new firm in 2026 so actually I’m getting 7% of the bonus I would expect if I stay at my current firm.

The way it was verbally communicated by recruiter/new firm was the number was the TOTAL bonus I could expect in 2027. Nope. expected to take a total 15-20% paycut and I was already iffy on whether the work-life balance would really improve or if it would be the same just wfh. In this economy???

Everytime I’ve switched jobs no matter when I joined a new one, my bonus was as if I was at the firm all year—aka place understood I am forfeiting my bonus from time worked that year at old firm. Not to mention I was already accepting ~$10-15k base salary paycut for the wfh, slightly better benefits, possible better career trajectory.

With the amount of unknowns i.e., bad colleagues/managers, similar busy season hours, possibly longer immediate hours to catch-up with new firms clients/processes/tech, this was the last straw. Maybe if I got a “hey it’ll be worth it usually bonus’ are XX% and yearly merit increases are XX% but I have no clue? And they’re “so excited about my drive, experience, new personality/ideas I bring” but trying to pay me like a staff accountant of 2-3 years…

Hi! I’m in my second year at a Canadian university in a social sciences major (one that’s unrelated to business). I’m finding that I really do not like my major, so I was thinking of switching into accounting (I can make up all the credits for year 1 and 2 as quite a few of my credits transfer).

Is accounting worth it in today’s world in terms of job outlook and job security (particularly referring to AI taking over jobs)? I see a lot of conflicting information on this (some people saying it’s impossible to get a job, some saying there are many positions open, and also on information regarding pay and salary), so I just wanted to ask and see what people actually in the industry thought!

All I’m looking for is a career that I can make decent money from and will likely be able to find jobs in and I’m wondering if accounting might be that.

Any insight is appreciated!!

Hello, just curious because its been 5 days and haven't heard back. Applied about 3 weeks ago, 1st interview 2 weeks after and 2nd interview 5 days after the 1st. Since then I haven't heard anything back and also, I sent thank you emails after interview and didnt get any response. I feel like its a bit rude or am I overthinkibg it

Thanks

Hi everyone! I have a 1-hour final-round onsite interview for a Senior Tax Accountant position at an industry company.

Is the final-round interview usually more focused on technical tax questions or behavioral questions? I’d appreciate any advice or insights on what to expect.
Thank you very much!

Not sure if this is the right place but i got tired of getting ripped off. I had the best cpa around these parts at $350 an hour. 3 businesses. I do the bookkeeping. Year after year they do my taxes and tgen obe year ask me "did you buy a farm "? Had it for all the years you did my taxes. I started doing my own taxes for 3 businesses. I got super busy one year and a cpa firm kept bugging me to do my books- i never do this but i did. My first bill comes for $550. I go look in QB audit and she was in there for 6 minutes...fired. Anyway, CPA's are way over rated and over paid in this day and age. Plus i am super involved as an owner into my finances. Not some ding dong who says i owe the irs 45k.

Hi, I'm an accounting student and earlier I made a post asking for tips and people said that learning excel was pretty important. Wanted to ask how much do you use it, how long it took you to learn excel, and any important functions or anything I should learn, any tutorials, etc.

If anyone can answer I'd really appreciate it! :D

Recent hire as an experienced manager at a northeast PA firm that is PE backed. There is no work until busy season, and the hours I'm slotted for the traditional busy season are shockingly little. Our firm has annual benchmarks and right now there's no way I'm going to be even close to meeting expectations for next year. The other managers have more hours than me, but even they have thin busy seasons, with no indication of work coming in the fall.

A lot of our staff idle right now as well. It sounded like the work that kept them busy in the fall was moved to other offices in the firm after becoming PE backed. I've heard whispers that they're trying to get more work but whispers don't pay the bills.

Should I look to leave after the busy season?

just got approved for my license and went to go print it out... why is it so ugly

I always hate the non-major classes, we have "pre-business" core classes and the general business core and honestly 2/3 of the classes are really useless. I always hate having to study for them because I feel like I'm wasting my time, but there's nothing else to do because most of these classes are very exam heavy. How much does non-major GPA weigh in terms of getting internships? It seems like nowadays the bare minimum is a 3.2, if not 3.5 for you to even be a qualified candidate for an internship.

Hey I’m an accountant II, and am used to digging in from the transaction level, and making a pivot table to see what makes up an account to perform any analysis. I would like to improve my analytical skills to be able to see from top down rather than bottom up, but am unaware of the best method to improve. Any suggestions?

Hello everyone, as CPA Core 1 is starting, does anyone have any tips on how to complete it and pass the exam? I am a full-time employee, so I get tired when I come home from work. Should I push through the quizzes+content first ( like the first 2 weeks) and then review the content in depth again and do the cases? I am not the brightest student when it comes to accounting, so what should I focus on? The star chapters and just redo the problems again and again? Like, what's the best way to pass the exam? Any notes anyone wants to share? What should I practice right starting now? I am planning to spend 17 hrs every weekend to get the bulk of my studying done, and 2-3 hours every day after work. Is that enough?

Can you provide more background on why you were laid off, your companies accounting team structure, general company financial performance, and just general culture?

Curious about the reasons managers and directors are getting laid off, like if it’s the company cannot afford you, they are trying to reduce headcount and just put more work on others, etc…

I am in my final year in Accounting for my Bachelors. I did not land any internships during my bachelors but since next semester I only have one class I decided to apply to come for next winter 2027. I got two offers one from BDO (Canadian Tax Services) and EY (Indirect Tax Department).

I am not sure which one to take. BDO seems to have 5 personal days I could take and I think it’s beneficial for me since I will still have one class to finish. EY does not have. So I don’t know how they will act if I request day off for my quizzes although during my interview I did tell them that I will have one class left. Also when I talked with the partner at EY he told me that under the order de CPA the indirect tax is very niche so it will count only 4-6 months of experience towards my CPA designation. My internship at EY is 6 full months.
BDO internship is 4 months.

I am in a dilemma because EY is one of the big4 and will it be possible to change department easily after my internship?

Can someone please give me some advice please. I want to become a CPA in the long term.

Also I am in Canada, Montreal.

Hi everyone!
I have a master’s degree in Corporate Finance from Algeria, but I graduated around 3 years ago and unfortunately, I don’t have any work experience in the finance field.
I’m looking to improve my CV and make myself more competitive in the job market, especially if I want to apply for finance jobs in the Gulf countries (UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, etc.).
I’m considering learning skills like Power BI, Excel, SQL, or financial modeling, but I’m not sure which ones would be the most valuable or where I should start. I’m also open to certifications or practical projects that could help me stand out.
For those working in finance, especially in the Gulf, what would you recommend adding to my CV? Which skills or certifications are actually worth the time and money, considering that I don’t have relevant work experience yet?
I’d really appreciate any advice or personal experiences. Thank you!

Hey everyone! first year accounting student here.
I wish i could get tips on how to get far ahead from my class, we're like 2 months in maybe 3, and were just learning about the income statement, the class pace is super slow, and im already a bit ahead, but i don't want to treat the accounting subject as a subject, but as a job.
So please, what concepts should i master, to study like i have 6 months to work as an accountant for a company.
Thank you!

I’m in my early 20s and I just recently graduated earlier this year with a bachelor’s in accounting. I recently landed my first accounting-related job (a controlling position) making around $60k, despite having no previous accounting experience.

I’ve been here for about a month and honestly, it’s been pretty rough. The training hasn’t been great, and I’ve felt pretty overwhelmed at times. I’m slowly starting to learn and get more comfortable with the work, but the environment has made me pretty miserable. On top of that, my commute is about an hour each way, five days a week.

So honestly, this job has already taken a pretty serious toll on my mental health, and I’ve only been here about a month. I find myself dreading going to work, and even when I’m home, it’s hard to fully relax knowing I have to go back the next day. With my master’s and CPA studies coming up, I’m worried that staying in this environment will only make things worse. I want to prioritize my education and career without sacrificing my mental well-being in the process.

I’m planning to start my master’s in accounting this January and hopefully finish it within a year. I also want to study for the CPA exams at the same time, with the goal of passing at least 2 sections while finishing my master’s.

With my current job and commute, I genuinely don’t see how I’d manage all of that.

I’ve started looking at other opportunities, but I’m not sure what I should be targeting. Should I apply to accounting internships, entry-level staff accountant roles, AP/AR positions, financial analyst jobs, or something else? Would taking a lower-paying or part-time position while
studying be a smart move?

Also, how would you guys approach my resume? I’ve only been at my current job for about a month, but I’m planning to stay until at least January, which would give me around 4 months of experience. Would leaving after that short of a time raise red flags with future employers? Should I include this position on my resume while applying right now, or wait until I’ve gained more experience? I also have several years of unrelated work experience, including some leadership experience.

I’m not against working hard. I just want to build a solid accounting career while giving myself enough time to focus on school and the CPA exams. I’m trying to figure out what my best move would be, both now and once I start my master’s.

For some context, I’ve been working as an admin assistant for about a year now. I have an associate’s degree in accounting and recently started going back to school to get my bachelor’s degree in accounting.

The job market is pretty tough here, so while I originally wanted to do something more related to accounting, I decided to take the admin assistant position anyways.

But now that I’m back in school, it’s really making me want a job that’s related to accounting. That way I can start gaining experience in the field while also studying.

Anyways two positions recently opened up internally at my company, one for a payroll clerk and the other for an accounts payable clerk. I’m planning to apply for both, but I was wondering which role might open more doors for me in the future (even if it’s years down the road)

So I guess my question is, which position do you guys think would be more beneficial long-term? Again I’m applying to both so if I am selected for either one I don’t mind, just curious which one might teach me more transferable(?) skills

Honestly I really like my company and the benefits here, I just feel ready to do something other than write memos & letters all day lol

I’m on the sending side and I keep hearing about invoices sitting in an “exception queue” for weeks. From your side, what actually causes it most - missing PO, wrong entity, duplicate invoice number, something else?

They say there’s a shortage of accountants/CPAs. I’m not seeing that at all. Every job on LinkedIn has at least 100 applications in less than a day.

I have a CPA, MBA, and 7 YoE in industry and struggled to even get an interview for a senior role in industry. With all of my education and my CPA, I have put so much time into this career and it feels like I’m running in place. The CFO at our company makes over $250k, meanwhile the next person in line (Accounting Manager) makes only $90k. I make $70k. I just heard about a friend who passed her test for a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA). She just signed a contract for $60 per supervised hour with a guaranteed 25 hours. That’s just shy of what I make now working over 40 hours a week.

It just feels like these companies expect the best of the best with countless requirements for education and experience — yet the pay is just not there. It’s getting frustrating and I am too the point that I steer people AWAY from accounting rather than encourage them to start this career.