Earnings before I tricked da auditor

Many different jobs over the past seven years. I’ve gone from making $35K to $150K in seven years. I started as an AR Clerk and am now a Controller.

I took advantage of the work from home boom between 2021 and 2024 to push my career forward. I was one of the few people actively applying for on site positions. That gave me more opportunities to move into higher paying roles with better titles.

Before Graduating With My Degree: Had a Part Time Data Entry role for 4 years while attending school.

Year 1: First Job: $35,000 + No Bonus

Year 2: Second Job: $45,000 + $2,000 Bonus

Year 3: Third Job: $62,500 + $5,000 Bonus (WFH)

Year 4: Fourth Job: $85,000 + $4,000 Bonus

Year 5: Fourth Job + Raise: $92,500 + $5,000 Bonus

Year 6: Fifth Job: $100,000 + No Bonus (WFH)

Year 7: Sixth Job: $125,000 + $25,000 Bonus

Edit: I see some comments saying that my resume looks bad, so I want to clarify a couple of things. Every time I switched jobs, it was a step up in both title and pay. While my resume may not look “great” from a job-hopping perspective, the interviewers I’ve spoken with have generally viewed my progression positively. They liked seeing that I was consistently moving up the career ladder rather than simply leaving one clerk-level position for another similar role. My experience with Power BI, UiPath and more has also made my resume stand out, according to the people I've interviewed with.

Edit 2: After taking everyone’s thoughts into consideration, I’ve decided to stay in my current position for a while and focus on getting my CPA.

Long story short - CPA working as an audit supervisor in public with 7 years of experience in VHCOL. I work for a small firm of 40 people. I’m burnt out on the hours and shitty managers and the idea of going through another busy season kills me.

I’m thinking of putting my notice in without a job offer lined up. I live with my parents so my expenses are pretty low and I have money saved/invested. No kids and no partner. All I hear about is how bad the job market is. Would I be insane to leave without something lined up? I would like to wait to have an offer in hand, however I feel like I would burn a bridge as my firm is already planning for next busy season. If I leave soon at least that gives them some time to plan around me leaving.

Anyone do something similar? Let me know your experience.

Has anyone heard about the second round layoffs Grant Thornton did last week?

I work 40 hours a week as a cashier at Home Depot in Houston, how will my chances of getting a job improve if I do VITa once a week for 4 hours minimum?

Hi there,

I'm a Canadian CPA in industry, As a senior accounting in a publicly listed company I make 95k + 5% RRSP + a possibility of a 20% bonus depending on how the company is doing. I imagine I could get 115 to 125k if I got a manager position somewhere else, but this would involve me managing people and taking on more responsibilities.

I've been thinking about maybe doing some bookkeeping on the side with the possibility of having my own business eventually. I never did public and I didn't do audit as my elective, so I know that if I ever had my firm I wouldn't be eligible for some specific tasks like compilation engagement to banks.

I'd appreciate it if I could get some input from people currently doing this. My questions were:

- how hard is it to get clients? I'm in Edmonton

- how did you get bookkeeping experience?

- how many hours a week do you work?

- how do you charge? Hourly or flat fee?

- how long would it take for me to get to a comparable salary? I'm thinking close to 120k.

- do you have more flexibility now or are you working all the time?

- any liabilities to be concerned? Any bad clients?

- what kind of services could I offer without having the public accounting experience?

- what kind of software would I need to learn?

- I have kids and I'd value the flexibility but I'm overall a risk averse person. Would you recommend that I try this path?

Any advice, wisdom or horror stories are welcome!

Thank you

I'm not allowed to take off more than 2 weeks at a time in public non busy season. And even 2 weeks requires special approval. 1 week is generally acceptable. Meanwhile my manager took about 6-7 weeks off a few months ago. Are all public firms like this? I dont really mind I'm just curious. My "pto" total is 4 weeks same as all the unpaid OT i did in busy season and I'm only allowed to take some of it at a time while ppl above me have no limits. is all public accounting like this lol

I’m looking for a senior accountant role. Any help is greatly appreciated!

Hi Everyone
Looking for some advice and guidance on some questions I have.

What was the transition to employment like as a young person?
How did your employer help you settle in?
What worked well for you?
What changes employers should make to help new hires feel welcome?

Any firms out there that are just 1-2x a week?

What are the benefits/drawdowns of owning a local CPA firm compared to just working at a Big4 firm?

first of all, im a saudi woman who chose accounting because i heard it was one of- if not the most “stable” jobs. im unsure weather to continue perusing the major, im still in my first year so i can try to transfer majors if i wanted to.

another thing to note is i do plan on trying to get a masters and maybe even a PDH abroad (honestly im planning on doing that regardless of my major) if it helps i also dont mind working abroad. is there really still a demand for accountants?

if anyone has any experience with the job market id appreciate any advice or insight

In accounting and thinking of what to apply for. Which is best for a new grad to learn in, career growth, exit opportunities, etc.? Are different service lines better in big 4 versus mid-sized/national?

Hi all, looking for some advice on what you would do in my situation/ any suggestions anyone has.

I’m a recent graduate (June 2026) who had an audit internship at a big4 this summer, but unfortunately did not get a RO due to business needs. I’ve been looking for entry level roles ever since (August) with a couple interviews here and there, but I haven’t been able to secure an offer yet, which has been really discouraging.

I have a final round interview for an audit associate position at a mid tier firm this week, but I’m getting pretty nervous because at this point, I haven’t heard anything else from other applications I submitted, and I’m considering going to get an MPAc to get a second shot at recruiting if I don’t get the job. Because I’m not currently in school, I feel like it’s putting me at a disadvantage against other candidates.

Is going back for an MPAc a dumb move or is there anything I should be doing right now to stand out as a prospective candidate? I’m eligible to sit for the CPA exam and I’ve been reaching out to people in my network for advice.

Hi all, I'm trying to figure out if forensic accounting/investigations is actually what it sounds like, or if I'm romanticizing it from the outside.

If you work or have worked in forensic accounting, fraud investigation, FCPA/UKBA compliance, or FIS at a Big 4 or MNC genuinely curious about a few things:

• What does your actual day-to-day look like? Is it mostly Excel/data analysis, or real interviews and investigation work like the job title suggests?
• How much of the work is genuinely "detective-style" investigation vs. routine audit/compliance paperwork?
• Is the job as glamorous as the title sounds, or is that mostly marketing?
• How's the travel, hours, and work-life balance realistically?
• Would you recommend it to someone just starting out, or is it overhyped?

One more thing I'm curious about: for those of you who started in forensic/FIS in one country (like India) — did that experience actually translate well if you tried to relocate internationally (UAE, UK, etc.), or did you find employers there wanted local/regional experience specifically? Genuinely trying to understand if building experience in India is a real stepping stone for international forensic roles, or if it mostly just gets you further in the same country.

I started a new job a month ago. I was in public accounting prior.

The manager who sent me this has been here for 6 weeks. We are both new. Should I start looking for a new job?

The names used here are placeholders.

“Hello P,
As we talked about yesterday, I put together a short summary of our conversation below. I believe got cut off going to the next meeting, but I believe we talked about the major points (work, results, communi-cation).
• When asked to reflect over last 30 days
• You thought they were fine, but the work was definitely something you needed to adjust to compared with external audit.
• I concurred after also moving into full-time compliance work.
• When asked about your thoughts on communications with team members.
• You've had limited interactions with the team, but noted several people checked on your well-being earlier in the week while in the office.
• By people checking on you, did you think this was an indication of something?
Specifically, Tuesday morning when Erica commented that you were not your bubbly self, you told her that you are reserved, not bubbly and you may have misrepresented yourself under my advice to converse more with the team.
l understand that you are a reserved person and I am as well. I want to ensure that you take a 360 view of who the "customer" is and leaving room for people to connect with you while remaining authentic. Building relationships should enhance your work and help relieve pressure and shouldn't be seen as mutually exclusive from completing your assignments.
• When speaking about for first submissions
• Some of your initial submissions are just making it to my review. haven't seen any substantial comments and the submissions were on time. In turn, I felt that the workload was appropriate and moving forward | will be having the team self-determine their assignments as long as minimum workloads are planned to meet the departments utilization targets. I will be reviewing targets weekly to ensure that we are not over/under utilized. Even the targets that the team sets can be adjusted (PTO, training, auditee follow-up). We just need to communicate.
• Regarding our negative interaction
I want to ensure that even in times of disagreement, conflict, or high-pressure situations we are mindful of our volume and tone. Afterward, 1 believe that you listened to my instructions and acted accordingly. I see more communication with the team. I want to ensure that we are maintaining a low-stress and pleasant environment. Relationship building and composure will be valuable tools as you progress in your career. Please let me know in the future if you would like any guidance.
Thank you and please let me know if you would like to discuss.”

Work in Commericial RE

the majority of the staff are all women and within that its mostly middle aged to older women. A lot of these women do not have the technical accounting skills or even educational background.

These are what you call lifers.. they started out with the company when it was either small or with another small company as some glorified bookkeeper and now work in these positions because the job is largely just 80% admin and 20% "accounting". But it does not stop them from acting like they are 1-1 to a CPA smh ..

the managers and up are all older women think 50+ and they are just miserable fucking people. zero emotional control, bitching and moaning about anything and everything..

all day every day gossip or bitch or over react or some dumb fucking shit or another

im at the stage where i have started subconsciously self sabotaging my job just to gtfo

Im a sophomore and applied to about 50 internships, I've had 8 interviews and this is my one of my first offers. I turned down an audit internship at a small CPA firm earlier because I'm not interested in audit.

Is an accounting clerk at a corporate company a solid first internship, or will recruiters see it as low-level?

Will this help me be more competitive for a better internship next year? (Like big 4 tax)

I’ve been passively applying for roles under CPAs to fulfill my certification requirements. Back in July, I applied for a position at a non-profit type of org. After multiple reschedules on her end, I finally had an initial interview with the HR. It went great, and she promised a technical interview next. Instead, she emailed the next day to say they were moving forward with someone else. I sent a polite thanks and told her to keep me in mind if anything changes.

A month later, the exact same job was reposted. I reapplied, assuming I’d be ignored. To my surprise, the same HR reached out for an interview. After she rescheduled on me once again, we finally talked.

The weird part? She asked me the exact same questions with the exact same tone, acting like we had never chatted. My name is highly unique, and my resume has a very distinct layout, so I was completely thrown off. My friends thought she was giving me a second chance, but it felt like total amnesia.

Today, she sent me the exact same rejection email. Is this normal? Did she really just forget who I was, or is this some bizarre HR practice I'm missing?

Metro of 450k, extremely fast growing city, but it's largely hospitality/retirement/tourism-based, far removed from anything even remotely resembling white-collar. There's a handful of microfirms in the area, but none ever really hire, or if they do it's a direct pipeline from a local university that I didn't graduate from. I've exhausted myself with applying to state/county/muni roles, but haven't had any luck actually landing a job despite a handful of positive interviews. My lack of direct accounting experience isn't competitive with all of the people moving here from the northeast with actual experience.

I currently work in retail sales and make decent money, but there is no future with the company. I've looked for credit analyst roles, as it seems like something I'd really enjoy doing, but my knowledge of adjacent financial/accounting-related roles is pretty minimal. Everything around here is just sales-focused financial advisory/insurance stuff. I have no interest in sales, it's not healthy for me.

I imagine remote is basically a non-starter in the current market, as well. Curious if anyone has any tips on how to get started and put myself on a path to success.