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To be honest a masters isn’t really worth it unless you need the business credits. A MSA is just an additional CPA study that costs anywhere between 3-10x that of a Becker course.
Any Accounting majors/accountants on NT?
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Been out of school for 7 years, been promoted once but held back since lack of CPA, I've attempted two tests twice, failed and it's discouraging, tried to do it during pandemic while working and it's just hard to retain all that, life is comfortable I make decent money and it's stable. Looking back there's no regrets, I don't find it stressful and once you get the hang of it, it's like clockwork.
Worked at software and now at a publicly traded company.
Worked at software and now at a publicly traded company.
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leaning towards spending some money on a review course and just going for the cpa. signed up for free trial of wiley just to check out their product
from what i been reading it looks like most people put in about 400+ hrs study time for the exam
not even sure how i am going to squeeze in all that time while working full-time
i hear some people talk about taking some time off and devoting their time to studying and prepping for the exam
from what i been reading it looks like most people put in about 400+ hrs study time for the exam
not even sure how i am going to squeeze in all that time while working full-time
i hear some people talk about taking some time off and devoting their time to studying and prepping for the exam
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I studied while I worked full time. Studying during busy seasons sucks but it is what it is at the end.
The amount of time you have to put in depends on how well you know the material and how well you retain it. One of my coworkers would just study for 3 days before the exam and was enough. I have others who spent months on end studying. It varies by person greatly. It’s not a hard exam, it’s just demoralizing to do while working full time and actually trying to have a life.
The amount of time you have to put in depends on how well you know the material and how well you retain it. One of my coworkers would just study for 3 days before the exam and was enough. I have others who spent months on end studying. It varies by person greatly. It’s not a hard exam, it’s just demoralizing to do while working full time and actually trying to have a life.
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signed up with Roger CPA review and been at it for a little over a month
the book and lecture videos were pretty easy to digest
MCQs were difficult, but that's where I've been learning the most. figuring out why i got the problems wrong
just hard retaining the stuff when i am going back to previous sections and review/testing
only been able to get 1-2 hrs each night and a little more on the weekends
the book and lecture videos were pretty easy to digest
MCQs were difficult, but that's where I've been learning the most. figuring out why i got the problems wrong
just hard retaining the stuff when i am going back to previous sections and review/testing
only been able to get 1-2 hrs each night and a little more on the weekends
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I mean if you’re working full time while doing those hours it’s seems about right. Just keep focused and you’ll be alright. The exams are tough but if you put in the work they are fine. Roger MCQs are sort of weak as I used other as well. May want to subsidize them with ninja CPA mcqs.
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- Jul 19, 2012
Who should I use to do my taxes this year?
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I think i got through them in 4 months. Did it right after Masters of Accountancy and before my full-time started. Best decision ever - no idea how people do it while studying. Passed 3 of them with 95+ and a 76 on Reg yuck taxes.
Accounting is an amazing career anywhere outside of the bay area. Think I saw a stat somewhere that said a lot of millionaires are accountants and teachers (presumably because of saving consistently for long periods of time).
Accounting is an amazing career anywhere outside of the bay area. Think I saw a stat somewhere that said a lot of millionaires are accountants and teachers (presumably because of saving consistently for long periods of time).
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can i ask why not in the bay area?
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Because the salaries don’t match the cost of living here.
Staff: 60-80
Senior: 80-110
Manager: 110-150?
I’m not sure of the exact numbers but from my memory of being in audit at a large regional firm you basically have to be a senior manager to afford living in the Bay Area. And even still you don’t get the large potential of tech companies when including equity compensation.
Any reasonable tech company will offer $130k + bonus + RSUs + options for a manager position in other less complex field like Sales Operations. You can also do Revenue Operations at a private company. Traditional accounting like payroll etc is okay too but it’s just quite hard to justify the level of effort that is asked for the compensation being given.
There is nowhere in the normal Bay Area (non outskirts) that you can buy a single family 3 bedroom starter house for less than $1.5M
Edit: I listed audit positions because at least here you kind of need to have some of that public experience to go to private industry and get a good pay bump.
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Salaries are about the same in NYC.
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What's your definition of sales ops? BC that's def more complex and harder to get into in a tech company than accounting
Are you thinking of order management lol
Are you thinking of order management lol
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It’s not hard just requires persistence (imo). There’s so many small tech companies and if someone puts in minimal effort (e.g., learning reports and dashboards) they can get a job at least as an intern or junior Sales Ops analyst. Agreed less easy than accounting though since there are way way more recruiters for accounting.
Edit: It seemed hard to me too when i was in accounting. Now that i’m on the other side and run Commercial Ops for a public tech company i realize how easy it is to get into. Most of the people in Ops are far less driven or intrinsically hard working when compared to accountants. Just my opinion anecdotally. They’re just better at being communicators.
Edit: It seemed hard to me too when i was in accounting. Now that i’m on the other side and run Commercial Ops for a public tech company i realize how easy it is to get into. Most of the people in Ops are far less driven or intrinsically hard working when compared to accountants. Just my opinion anecdotally. They’re just better at being communicators.
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Top MBAs go into sale ops, never accounting
What you are thinking of is business/data analysts within sales ops
lol just saw your edit
dude nobody thinks about this in regards to accountants besides accountants aka the people who find the toughest time to lateral to a different function within the same company or outside the company despite being "driven or intrinsically hard working".
you are 100% correct about accountants being poorer communicators but i think you are missing the point on how important communication skills are & how ****ty accountants' communication skills are.
it's always so weird that it's so common that accountants have this superior complex when NOBODY besides accountant think highly of y'all lol. i'm not even sure if accountants get paid more than recruiters...pretty sure they don't
What you are thinking of is business/data analysts within sales ops
lol just saw your edit
dude nobody thinks about this in regards to accountants besides accountants aka the people who find the toughest time to lateral to a different function within the same company or outside the company despite being "driven or intrinsically hard working".
you are 100% correct about accountants being poorer communicators but i think you are missing the point on how important communication skills are & how ****ty accountants' communication skills are.
it's always so weird that it's so common that accountants have this superior complex when NOBODY besides accountant think highly of y'all lol. i'm not even sure if accountants get paid more than recruiters...pretty sure they don't
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Quick bump and update...
Ended up passing the cpa exams earlier in the year. I was able to work and study on my free time at my previous job since it was not too stressful. Was never the best test taker, but if you put in the hours, you put yourself in a good position to pass. Cant imagine working full time in public and studying for exams.
Took a few months off before I started working for a firm (non big 4) in tax. Got some rest/relaxation and quick vacay before jumping into a new career.
Been a couple months now. Training been insane, but I enjoy the process. I thought I was going to be the lone old head, but there were a handful of career changers as well.
Ended up passing the cpa exams earlier in the year. I was able to work and study on my free time at my previous job since it was not too stressful. Was never the best test taker, but if you put in the hours, you put yourself in a good position to pass. Cant imagine working full time in public and studying for exams.
Took a few months off before I started working for a firm (non big 4) in tax. Got some rest/relaxation and quick vacay before jumping into a new career.
Been a couple months now. Training been insane, but I enjoy the process. I thought I was going to be the lone old head, but there were a handful of career changers as well.
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- Oct 14, 2008
Quick bump and update...
Ended up passing the cpa exams earlier in the year. I was able to work and study on my free time at my previous job since it was not too stressful. Was never the best test taker, but if you put in the hours, you put yourself in a good position to pass. Cant imagine working full time in public and studying for exams.
Took a few months off before I started working for a firm (non big 4) in tax. Got some rest/relaxation and quick vacay before jumping into a new career.
Been a couple months now. Training been insane, but I enjoy the process. I thought I was going to be the lone old head, but there were a handful of career changers as well.
I was one of those career changers. I was 29 when I joined. Had plenty oF managers and SM who were my age when I worked for them. But I got promoted quicker because of my experience and professional level so it wasn’t that bad. As long as you don’t have that personality where you can’t take criticism from someone who is younger then you then you’ll be fine.
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For anyone who passed the CPA exam, can you give me some insight on how you studied, what resources you used, etc?
T0INE
formerly toine2983
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Been a minute since EYE completed the exam but initially started with Becker but switched to Gleim after my Becker subscription expired.
One reason EYE switched over to Gleim is they have a Access Until You Pass guarantee with their premium package whereby you get updated study materials as they become available each year.
CPA Exam Prep Courses - Gleim Exam Prep
Choose the CPA Exam prep course that's helped candidates pass over one million CPA exams since 1974. We're ready to help you pass.
www.gleim.com
As far as my study routine EYE would study after coming home from work but that was rough, especially during busy season.
After I lost my job EYE would study most of the day while going through the job search. That consisted of
- Watching the lecture vids and follow along in the books
- Complete study questions after each section
- Do the simulation at finishing each chapter
My goal was to finish 1 or 2 chapters a day and when EYE completed an entire book do the simulation CPA exam Gleim offered for that particular section.
Hope this helps.
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Appreciate itBeen a minute since EYE completed the exam but initially started with Becker but switched to Gleim after my Becker subscription expired.
One reason EYE switched over to Gleim is they have a Access Until You Pass guarantee with their premium package whereby you get updated study materials as they become available each year.
CPA Exam Prep Courses - Gleim Exam Prep
Choose the CPA Exam prep course that's helped candidates pass over one million CPA exams since 1974. We're ready to help you pass.
As far as my study routine EYE would study after coming home from work but that was rough, especially during busy season.
After I lost my job EYE would study most of the day while going through the job search. That consisted of
- Watching the lecture vids and follow along in the books
- Complete study questions after each section
- Do the simulation at finishing each chapter
My goal was to finish 1 or 2 chapters a day and when EYE completed an entire book do the simulation CPA exam Gleim offered for that particular section.
Hope this helps.
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Appreciate it
I used Becker and ninja MCQs. I would study 2-4 hours after work every day.
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Find a review course that works for you. A lot of them offer trials so you can get a feel on how they teach the course.
For me...
Hammer out all the MCQs and read the explanation on why that answer is the correct one. I usually like to put pen on paper and note things down.
I did not spend too much time working on Sims, but focused on format and how answer was solved to get an understanding.
Put the time in and you will be in a good position to pass. Was doing a 2-3 hrs a day for about a month for each test
For me...
Hammer out all the MCQs and read the explanation on why that answer is the correct one. I usually like to put pen on paper and note things down.
I did not spend too much time working on Sims, but focused on format and how answer was solved to get an understanding.
Put the time in and you will be in a good position to pass. Was doing a 2-3 hrs a day for about a month for each test
