Accounting Firms Scramble to Push Out AI Acceptable Use Policies
Ever since ChatGPT exploded onto the scene late last year people of all stripes have been using, discussing, exploiting, and fearing it. Which category you fit in depends on your age, profession, familiarity with technology, knowledge of decades-old conspiracies about robots taking over the world, and most importantly your willingness to embrace the new and […]
Former EY Employee Is Coping with the Loss of a Large Vacation Carryover Payout
A couple of weeks ago, on the same day Adrienne was writing her post based on a tip we received about a CPA exam taker’s missing FAR score, another tip came through the inbox: My Big 4 firm is screwing me out of a hefty vacation carryover payout. I submitted my resignation 12/26, it was […]
PwC Would Appreciate It If Staff Would Stop Getting Drunk In the Office, Thx
In a former office of mine that shall remain nameless, we had a liquor cabinet. Working long hours, it wasn’t unheard of for my colleague and me to pour ourselves a drink at 5 on the dot, sipping vodka Red Bull as we tied up the day’s tasks. The arrangement worked well as we got […]
What Are Small Accounting Firms’ CPA Exam Policies?
From the mailbag:
I work for a local accounting firm and am part of a committee to revise our CPA exam policy. [C]ould you do a story on other firms’ exam policies and what CPA exam candidates find the most motivating and helpful and like/dislike about their own firm policies.
I [am] looking for the bonus and reimbursement policy. I am interested to see how many smaller firms pay for study materials, reimburse for the exam, what type of bonuses they give, etc.
What we’ve generally heard is that it’s a mixed bag when it comes to small firms and their CPA exam policies. Bonuses are fairly common although the exact amount of the said bonus varies. Likewise, we’ve heard that firms will reimburse your costs for taking the exam, although there’s a cap on how attempts for each section (e.g. after you bomb FAR twice, you’re SOL).
Where the smaller firms are especially stingy is the cost of your review course materials. Hell even the Big 4 aren’t shelling out the cash for Becker, Roger, Wiley et. al like they were back in the mid-aughts.
Anyway, the readership knows better than us. If you work for a smaller firm, do share your firm’s policies on reimbursement, bonuses, etc. And as a more general question, what policies does your firm have that actually motivate you to crank this thing out? Does the bonus do it for you? Is the carrot stick take the form of a raise after you knock out the fourth section? Explain in excruciating detail. Our reader thanks you.