I would look for something that gives you a chance for upward mobility and/or a chance to develop some new skill sets. I’ve been in public at the same firm for 10 years, but I’ve moved twice and changed industry specialisations more than once.
Partner: both firms I've worked at have had the 3-4 life-long managers there. that's just not appealing to me for several reasons especially seeing the differences in how partners act and the fact that you're still being underpaid comparatively to someone you probably work as hard and as much as. Both firm's partners (12 people and 25 people size) have a ton of freedom outside of busy season. Managers still have to worry about PTO and being in the office 8-5 even when there's no work they need to be in the office to do - while the partners come in for 2-4 hours a lot of days and then leave as they please. And you know you're still being underpaid at most firms at manager level. No telling how much our partners make while paying us 1/3 of what we bill and they get the other 2/3 of everyone's billing. So sort of a mix of money/status/job function. The only challenge would be building a book of business, but I'd hopefully get around that by inheriting a book from a partner retiring at one of these firms that have a "fast track" to partner opening. I've talked to my dad about that before and the issue is his clients back there are all aging out and it'd be tough to try and retain most of them if he's out of the picture and I live in Austin. And I don't have time between work and actually having a life (humblebrag) outside of work to try and get enough clients to start my own business here. One of my good friends that used to work at my firm did it but had a girlfriend with that basically paid for their cost of living while he built a client base for 2 years. What roles in industry provide good upside opportunity I guess is what I need to figure out first and foremost. Hard to sift through all the job postings out there. See a lot of "Senior Accoutant," "Fixed Asset/Commission/AR/etc" Accountant, Assistant Controller / Controller, and then general Accounting Manager. Lots of financial analyst jobs in Austin but they all seem to require 3-5 years of finance experience and/or financial reporting/analysis which I don't have. That's where the transition over is kind of confusing to me. Don't think I could get into something asking for that kind of experience just by saying hey I'm a CPA the aptitude is there just trust me I can do whatever you're asking of this position
Don't dare look at a Senior accountant role. Don't dare look at a GL role either. You have enough experience to land a nice reporting role. I'd start either there, or with an assistant controller role. Can you work remotely with your dad's firm? If so, do that for a couple years while you build your book. "My name is tlau and I'm working on an Austin location for my dad's cpa firm. 30 years of experience...good track record, etc". I think this is your best option. With all the girls you run thru, you're bound to find some start ups that'll need a firm.
My wife's friend moved out there and took a boot camp coding class and now codes for Expedia. Yet to see you match with her on tinder though.
I’ve been in public accounting/tax for 4 years. At this point, I’m completely over it. No real opportunities for advancement at my firm and would like to try something new. Possibly in the finance field. Does anyone have suggestions for leaving tax and getting into a new field? I’m pretty much miserable doing tax work.
Have an interview at a "tech" company on Monday. They explicitly said they're casual and business casual is just fine for the interview. Suit or just roll business casual? I don't want to appear stuffy as the whole casual thing is something I'm looking for but I'm a little weary of breaking, "always wear a suit to an interview."
Leave the tie at home. Maybe go with a blue coat and khaki slacks? Or take them at their word and go dark slacks white shirt.
If they gave explicit instructions to dress business casual then I would dress business casual. Though given that business casual is kind of vague, I would dress on the fancier end of the business casual spectrum (i.e. wear a jacket).
Pretty excited at work rn. I'm running the show on getting the Q out the door for the first time. Earnings to be released next week. I'm upset at the tight turnaround, but....i set the quarter close calendar a couple months ago so that's on me.
EQR on my public company audit job got pulled a couple weeks ago....and heard it was gonna be for a juicy reason...... SEC Charges Audit Firm and Suspends Accountants for Deficient Audits FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 2018-302 Washington D.C., Dec. 21, 2018 — The Securities and Exchange Commission today filed settled charges against national audit firm Crowe LLP, two of its partners, and two partners of a now-defunct audit firm for their significant failures in audits of Corporate Resource Services Inc., which went bankrupt in 2015 after the discovery of approximately $100 million in unpaid federal payroll tax liabilities. The SEC's order against Crowe finds that its audit team identified pervasive fraud risks in connection with its 2013 audit of Corporate Resource Services yet failed to: Include procedures designed to detect the company's undisclosed payroll tax obligations; Properly identify and audit the company's related-party transactions; Obtain sufficient appropriate audit evidence to respond to these fraud risks, support recognition of revenue, and otherwise support the audit opinion; Evaluate substantial doubt about the company's ability to continue as a going concern; and Conduct a proper engagement quality review. The order also finds that Crowe was not independent as a result of an ongoing direct business relationship with Corporate Resource Services. According to the order, the audit deficiencies occurred despite the involvement of Crowe's national office, which was aware of the high-risk nature of the engagement and the inability to obtain appropriate evidence. The order also finds that Crowe's engagement partner, Joseph C. Macina, and engagement quality reviewer, Kevin V. Wydra, caused Crowe’s audit failures. A related order finds that Mitchell J. Rubin and Michael Bernstein, former partners at Rosen, Seymour, Shapps, Martin & Co., LLP, engaged in fraud and performed a highly deficient audit of Corporate Resource Services' 2012 financial statements, which amounted to no audit at all, and that Bernstein caused the firm to lack the required independence when he failed to comply with partner rotation requirements. "The audit standards are designed to ensure that public accounting firms have reasonable procedures to identify and respond to illegality and issues that pose material risks to the integrity of an issuer's financial statements," said Anita B. Bandy, Associate Director in the Division of Enforcement. "As set out in our order, the pervasive audit failures of Crowe and these accountants left investors with a misleading picture of Corporate Resource Services' financial condition." The SEC's orders find that Crowe violated the audit requirement and accountant reporting provisions of the federal securities laws and that Macina and Wydra caused those violations. The orders find that Rubin and Bernstein violated the antifraud provisions and caused violations of the audit requirement and accountant reporting provisions of the federal securities laws. The orders also find that Crowe, Macina, Wydra, Rubin, and Bernstein caused Corporate Resource Services to violate the issuer reporting provisions of the federal securities laws. Additionally, the orders find that Crowe, Macina, Wydra, Rubin, and Bernstein engaged in improper professional conduct. Crowe has agreed to pay a penalty of $1.5 million, be censured, and retain an independent compliance consultant to review its audit policies and procedures. Macina, Rubin, and Bernstein each agreed to pay a penalty of $25,000, and Wydra has agreed to pay a penalty of $15,000. Macina, Wydra, Rubin, and Bernstein agreed to be suspended from appearing and practicing before the SEC as an accountant, which includes not participating in the financial reporting or audits of public companies. The SEC's order permits Macina and Wydra to apply for reinstatement after three years and one year, respectively. Crowe, Macina, Wydra, Rubin, and Bernstein, who settled without admitting or denying the findings, also were ordered to cease and desist from future violations. The SEC's investigation, which is continuing, has been conducted by Sharan K.S. Custer, Ernesto Amparo, Regina Barrett, and Kam Lee, and supervised by Ms. Bandy and Kristen Dieter.
Yeah the guy I worked with (Wydra) got a pretty minimal fine and 1 year suspension....from how it was made out it was a really tough spot for him with a client that was just covering up important information as best as they could Doesn’t really affect me, new EQR on the job but our client has been pretty solid for the time I’ve in charged. Found issues in the previous year with excessive restricted stock awards to the CEO and improper recognition of revenue, but they weren’t fraud related just due to the ex-CFO being a dumbass
There are five LLC members. Each owns 20%. Member 1 and Member 2 are transferring their interest in the LLC to Member 3 and Member 4 in equal shares. Once that transfer occurs, Member 3 and Member 4 are each transferring a portion of the interest they just received to Member 5 so that they'll each now own 33.3%. What are the tax consequences for Members 3, 4, and 5? Oranjello
So in step 1, M1 and M2 both transfer 10% to M3 and M4? The result of which is M3 and M4 each owning 40% and M1 and M2 each owning 0%? And in step 2, M3 and M4 make transfers to M5 resulting in the 3 remaining members each owning 1/3? If so, what is being exchanged for the LLC interests? What does each member receive? What does M5 give up? Must the transaction be done that way to effect the parties’ economic deal?
Correct on the first question, but I guess there's a little more to it so sorry for that. M1, M2, M3, and M4 each own an interest in Business 1. M1, M2, M3, M4, and M5 each own an interest in Business 2. Business 1 is splitting up. Basically just a 50/50 split of assets with M1 and M2 taking half and going one way, and M3 and M4 taking half and going another. But as part of that split, M1 and M2 are transferring their interest in Business 2 to M3 and M4, who will turn around and reapportion the interests so M3, M4, and M5 each have 33.3% of Business 2. M5 isn't giving anything up, just gaining a bigger interest in Business 2. I'm wondering what the tax consequences are if it goes down like that.
Always is. Who is the client here? I’m rusty on my partnership M&A and don’t do much of it really. We’d need to know more about the business and tax accounting of Business 1 to be sure, but it’s dissolution could potentially be tax free but it’s hard to say without knowing the history of the business. If not tax free, then likely minimal taxes triggered. The bad tax facts have to do with M1 and M2 transfer of their Business 2 interests and also M5’s increased ownership. Again, we need to know more about the business, it’s history and it’s tax accounting to really have any idea about the actual tax consequences tho. Fortunately with proper planning the taxes on that transfer can probably be mitigated to an extent or maybe even entirely avoided. Similarly, a lack of planning could leave the partners with taxes depending on the business and its tax history. I am home for the night, but if you want to DM me I could fit in a phone call tomorrow and think through it in the meantime.
5 is no immediate tax consequence, just an increase in basis for whatever he paid for the membership units 1.2, 3 and 4 would recognize a gain/loss on their transfers
You tagged the wrong tax attorney. I assume each business is in a separate LLC? For LLC 1, will the partners continue the business in a partnership? If so, likely a partnership division. You need to work through the 708-1d rules to determine which partnership is resulting and which partners get a distribution. Lots to think about in terms of anti deferral rules. Has any partner contributed appreciated property to the partnership in the last 7 years? Need to think about whether any distributee’s share of ordinary income in the distributed property is different than it’s share of gain on a hypothetical sale of the partnerships assets immediately before the distribution. For LLC 2, sounds like a sale of interests 1 and 2 to 3, 4, and 5. I would suggest ignoring the form and treat the transitory ownership by 3 and 4 of the portion of the interest they transferred to 5. If you don’t, you’re going to need to make sure there is a 754 election in place or you’ll have some odd results under 751a where 3 and 4 will likely have some capital gain/loss and offsetting ordinary income/loss even though they just bought the interest and should have fair market value basis. On the sale, assuming you don’t respect the transitory ownership of 3 and 4’s portion that goes to 5, not much gain/loss to think about for 3, 4, or 5. You’ll want to consider whether you should have a section 754 election in place. How are they dealing with the new partnership audit rules? I’d make sure 1 and 2 aren’t the partnership representative for the year of the sale. You’ll likely want to make a push out election under 6226 if the year of the sale is audited.
FP&A guy here and I'm consistently stunned at the range of talent in accounting. The difference between the top 20% or so and the rest is astonishing. A good accountant makes my life exponentially easier while the remainder seem determined to ruin it
Top 20% Atlanta guy here too. I'm finally making the move to a finance hybrid role. No more Quarter End!
Only position we have open currently is at $75k and you own payroll as part of it which seems like a nightmare
I honestly don't know exactly what they will do. I assume debits and credits and shit. Most likely journal entries at close, capex tracking and the like. Good chance they spend most of their time coding shit to the wrong accounts and making me track it down during variance analysis post-close so we can book adjusting entries the following month
Can’t say that I did, but I have been given a file with a note on it that said “reconciliation off by $3 for rounding” and that recon was actually off by $3 billion. It frightens me the freedom my company gives to so many people who shouldn’t have a job
I am leaving the military in two years and thinking about going into accounting for my next career. I'd start on a masters in accounting now and would need about six undergrad accounting classes as well. Am I crazy for wanting to do this? I'd be 38 before I could start a new job.
I love accounting. With that said, what is your end goal? Like controller? Audit partner? CFO? FPA? Director of FR?
While that's certainly not the typical entry age I've worked with several people who came to accounting as a career later in life. Any preference between audit and tax? Depending on where you go for your masters I'd make sure to work in some tax classes if you can and are potentially interested in going that route.
That one is tough. I’d suggest starting regional firm, then network with local guys. The reason I say regional is to get you a blended experience, as big 4 is going to stick to F500 and billion dollar companies. And you don’t want to start local, as the exit opportunities are tough. You’ll get pigeon holed big time if you start small, on average and depending on market. Honestly though, networking is your best bet. I wouldn’t go into private if owning your own practice is your end goal. My experience only. There’s a fair amount of old timers hoping to sell off their local business to someone who is going to keep it intact. They tend not to like to sell to other bigger guys as they pay less and will pick off the good clients and leave the little fish along. They prefer someone come in and keep the business as is. If you want the generic best starting point because you want time to figure yourself out, I’d go big4 auditor. I wouldn’t recommend it if you want to go tax, or eventually own a local, but anything else, that’s probably what opens the most exit opportunities or gets you the interview. With that said, accounting is a somewhat linear industry. Experience is a big factor, especially since there’s so many noches within the field. You’ll have to make up for lost time, so I suggest you make up for time by really giving a ton of thought to what you want to do.
Thanks for the info. Would a Big 4 hire my old ass? I look like I'm in my late 20's. I spoke to the Audit Director at my current agency and he said he'd hire me starting at $62,000 as soon as I had the minimum number of required accounting classes (24 hours).
Yes, age discrimination and such. It was less common when I was at EY but still happened. The work/life balance is so atrocious I think most people who come to it later in life probably don't want to deal with that. I'm at a fairly large regional firm now (I think we're around 20ish maybe?). Many more people in your position here. They also don't have the same "up or out" approach the Big Four does. If you don't want to get your CPA license you can basically be a senior associate forever if you're good at your job or if you don't want to be a partner (or age out of it being financially wise for you) you can just stick around as senior manager.
I had a staff when I was 25 year old senior that was 36. They’ll hire you. They’ll grill you though that you know about the hours. Most people like Jimmy says that come into it late in life don’t think it’s worth it. There’s no early promotions. It’ll be probably be belittling to be told what to do by 25 years olds and managers that are oscillating around 30.
Honestly, I'd go big4 and get some Lease acctg experience. You can basically name your price right now. I'm moving to a lease heavy role beginning of August. I'll move to consulting at year end and get paiiiiiiid.
"Hey, just got my MAcc, put me on the best engagements for lease accounting." Yep, that's exactly how it works. Roast If you want to go Big Four make sure you understand the type of clients the office serves and the general idea of what your area's clientele consists of. I started my career in an office right outside NYC. We had everything. I transferred to Phoenix and after a year my largest client that I had been working on for 3 years (across both offices, strange set up) merged and 1,000 of my chargeable hours were gone and irreplaceable in the market. When my career advisor told me I'd have to "fight for" hours during that fall busy season I knew it was time to GTFO.