Is It Time To Break Up With Your Big 4 Firm? A Quiz
Some of you are familiar with the ubiquitous Cosmopolitan Magazine quiz and for those of you who aren’t, well, sorry you’ve never quantified your sex life using a five question quiz developed by some sassy intern. Today we’ve got one of our own. Is It Time To Break Up With Your Big 4 Firm? Pick […]
Do Accounting Firms Care if You’re On Drugs? Part III
12 years ago my former colleague Caleb Newquist published a post titled “Do Accounting Firms Care if You’re On Drugs?” A good chunk of that post describes Wall Streeters getting blitzed at real estate investment trust companies because back in those days accounting news was extra slow and we wrote about a lot more finance-adjacent […]
Ask GC: Is It OK to Renege on a Previously Accepted Offer For an Offer From a Bigger Firm?
Back in the day, advice emails were our bread and butter. Well, more like my esteemed former colleague Caleb Newquist’s bread and butter. He loved cranking them out while I really had to be in the right mood otherwise I’d end up telling some poor intern to go fuck themselves just because I could. The […]
Just How Difficult Is It to Break Into Accounting As a Second Career?
Around these parts we like to focus on the “traditional” accounting track: school, degree, Big 4 job, CPA exam, and exit to greener pastures, usually in that order. It’s how it’s always been for accounting majors and likely how it always will be because as we know, it’s Big 4 or nothing in the world […]
To Partner or Not to Partner: That Is the Senior Manager’s Question
A while back, a Big 4 senior manager reached out to share his plight. In short, this person told us making partner in a big firm is nothing but a game; in this person’s words, “[There’s a] Game of Thrones-esque BS that goes on in the firm as people try to jockey to be promoted […]
How to Handle a Mistake After Receiving Offer From Big 4
Ed. note: A conundrum from the Going Concern mailbag we’re throwing out here for the readers to answer. Need advice? From us or from anonymous strangers on the internet? Email us at [email protected] To whom it may concern – I was recently charged with a DUI-D (driving under the influence of marijuana) in a southern […]
Should You Acknowledge Every Email?
When it comes to email, the moment where proper etiquette morphs into a pet peeve is difficult to pinpoint. How many exclamation points are too many?!!!!! The correct answer is: more than one. Should you use the HIGH PRIORITY button? The correct answer is: No. Never. Okay, maybe if you’re about to mauled by a […]
Let’s Get Worked Up About: Email Pet Peeves
Email. It’s the most annoyingly omnipresent element of our working lives. When trying to enjoy the holidays, a nice vacation or even a relaxing Sunday evening, many people can’t get the image of an overstuffed inbox out of their minds. Especially so if you’ve forgotten to turn notifications off which is something you should absolutely […]
Would New York Ever Require a Master’s Degree to Become a CPA?
What’s this, now? Two CPA exam questions in one week? Must be our lucky day! If you have a question, or just need to vent, or want to compliment me on my hair, get in touch and we’ll do our best not to screw your life up. Hey Adrienne, Is it true the NY is […]
How To Pass the CPA Exam With a 20 Year Old Accounting Degree
It seems like after all these years together, we’ve answered just about every question possible. Plus, with the addition of Open Items, you can now post your questions directly and have them answered immediately by the GC faithful versus sitting in our inboxes for however long it takes for us to get around to it. […]
Accounting Career Conundrums: Put Down the Pot or Take a Gamble on Another Offer?
Sometimes I feel like I don’t know. Sometimes I feel like checkin’ out. I want to get it wrong. Can’t always be strong. And love it won’t be long… call us Ultraviolet, we’re here to light your way. If you have a career question, life question, ethics question and/or dumb question for us, go ahead […]
Accounting Career Conundrums: The Path to Becoming an International Accountant of Mystery
This week, a newb discovers GC and solicits career advice. Which is pretty much every day around these parts. If you just happened to Google the right combination of words to land in our lap and need career advice, first please look around a little to see if your question has already been asked. Then, […]
Help, My Friend at EY Makes More Money Than I Do at KPMG
You could go ahead and substitute any firm for any other firm here, but for this particular reader question, it’s KPMG v EY. Let’s make a little popcorn and see what’s going on: Hello, I hope you’re well. So about a month ago, I heard that EY gave second round raises to the entire West […]
The Easiest Solution To a Common Cube Dweller Problem
Need some help? Just need to vent? Want to discuss whether your business card is ecru or eggshell? Give us a shout, we might be motivated to help you. Hey GC Busy season is just getting rolling, but I’ve got a loud problem on my hands. A manager (not on my team) has a cube […]
Potential Firm-Jumper Wants To Know Just How Bad is KPMG Anyway?
Guys. Guys. GUYS. Clearly this joke has gone way too far, and this isn’t the first time someone has asked us this: Hi GC and Happy Busy Season to all. I am currently starting my 4th busy season with D&T in an East Coast office and have recently been approached by KPMG about a senior […]
Career Conundrum: Is a Master’s Degree Worth It?
This week we take on a conundrum that comes up for many aspiring CPAs on their quest to earn 150 semester hours: Do the benefits of a graduate degree outweigh the costs?
Accounting Career Conundrums: Disappointed Auditor’s Laziness Is Showing
Here is another career inquiry sent to [email protected] I confirmed with Caleb that none of the text was lost when it was transmitted to me. Staff auditor w/$40,000 pay approaching 6 years at small firm that does complex alphabet soup audits. Boss says not to come in early and not to stay late, created rules […]
Get Answers to Your Accounting Career Questions While the Getting Is Good
Have you recently thought to yourself, “Man, this Going Concern team is a sharp bunch. I wonder if they can advise me on my disaster of a job/career/life?” Yes! We! Can! Will it be good advice? That’s debatable. Still beats asking your narcissistic friends, though. Email us at [email protected] and one of career suicide prevention […]
The Definitive Guide to Accounting as a Second Career
Ed. note: this article was originally published October 8, 2013. Despite its age it is still accurate for anyone thinking about a second career in accounting. We updated a few small details in June, 2022. You may contact the editor if you have any questions about the information below or would like more resources on […]
Accounting Career Conundrums: Should I Quit My Big 4 Job After Only a Year?
In this week’s episode of Accounting Career Conundrums, a reader ponders leaving her job at a large firm with less than a year of experience.
Accounting Career Conundrums: Planning for the CMA, Working on Vacation, and Who Needs a Car?
It’s the week before Labor Day so that means everyone checked out yesterday around 8:30 am. This seems like the perfect excuse to dish out some lightning round advice, so I dug through the mailbag to see what’s what in the lives of the GC readership. If you have a career question, hit us up […]
Your Reward for Winning the Elijah Watt Sells Award Is Winning the Elijah Watt Sells Award (and Maybe Some Cash)
Have a question for GC’s exclusive team of underachievers? Get in touch and we’ll do our best to do the research for you. From the mailbag: Is there any career benefit to not only passing the CPA exams, but aceing them and getting the Elijah Watts Sells award? You didn’t hear? The Elijah Watt Sells […]
Do You Really Need to Buy That $3,000 CPA Review Course?
Ed. note: the following was published in June, 2013 and some of the information is outdated. Reach out to us if you are a current CPA exam candidate seeking answers and we’ll be happy to give you the most current information we have. It feels like forever since we’ve had to point a bright-eyed, bushy-tailed […]
Protip for CPA Candidates: Don’t Schedule an Exam the Day After Memorial Day
Over the years, we (and by “we” I mean “Adrienne”) have dispensed a lot of advice related to the CPA exam. Everything from study materials to chemical assistance to 5-week intensive courses. We’ve even explained how to bomb the exam, if reverse-psychology is your thing. But there’s plenty of advice that we take for granted, so perhaps […]
A Tax Manager Debates Sticking It Out For Just One More Busy Season
With busy season over, many of you are thinking about your next career move. Over the coming weeks and months, we’ll share various career-focused posts to see where your heads are. Some will wait to see what compensation and bonus season holds for them, while others are ready to take action PRONTO. If you’re at […]
Will Running Up the Corporate Card and Not Paying Get You Fired From An Accounting Firm?
It’s a slow day at the factory so let’s pull this one out of the Ask Going Concern mailbag for consideration: Has anyone ever been terminated for not paying back their corporate card? My friend, who wants to be unnamed, has a 120 past due balance on their card (roughly $2,300 balance). He is freaking […]
Accountants: Tell Us Your Busy Season Problems
As many professionals embark on the tumultuous journey that are the busy season months of January, February, March, and April, it is inevitable that known and unknown problems will arise. Some of these are client-initiated and others are co-worker-initiated. Some of them are simple problems; some of them are complex problems. Some involve food odor; some […]
Going Concern’s Guide to a Healthy Busy Season: Because No One Should Die at Work
We get tons of reader questions and while we can’t answer all of them, we want them anyway. Send us your best questions, career conundrums, and work-life problems to [email protected] Not an inside tip, as much as a post suggestion: Busy season diet? What to eat, how to not be fat, etc. This is important question. Sure, […]