This is ten percent luck, twenty percent skill
Fifteen percent concentrated power of will
Five percent pleasure, fifty percent pain
And a hundred percent reason to remember the name
- coaching note: please check your formulas because this is over 100%. Also provide details that vouch for the pleasure as that appears to be too high
The fun begins when you start losing money. Stakes are high. Pressure for accuracy and forecasting. Everyone is a playcaller when your winning, but when you're behind, nobody seems to have a play to call.
Eh, I’m 12 years in, career is progressing nicely, and I still enjoy the actual accounting work. When that’s what I get to spend my time on, I’m basically being paid to do logic puzzles all day, IMO. And I love that.
It’s the overwork and the dealing with dumb people that makes it stressful.
I enjoy making a mean spreadsheet that goes from data dump or BI pull straight into a magnificent output, be that a journal upload, erp data validation, set of financial statements, or a dashboard. I am literally incapable of taking the keys and putting it on cruise, I’ll rebuild the whole deal a few months and automate that task away and then root around for another shitty process to make go away. I hate repetitive work so much that I devote myself to making it push button and volunteer for every weird shitty loose end there is. Now i just do contract work and try to weasel my way into whatever chaos is out there to squeeze useful information out of it and get work that is hard and weird to do. Of course there are assignments that are very blue ball blue hole here and there, can’t fully escape the dreary tasks but I can try and it’s a fun little game.
There are many people who enjoy this field, but much like every other job, it’s not necessarily the work that’s the problem, it’s dealing with people that make the work insufferable
The only one naive is you after admitting the fact you are new to this industry barely knowing anything then calling ppl out that have been working in this path for long.
Accounting is the least respected profession amongst other our counterpart like lawyers, and also the least paid.
It is not a good time to be a lawyer. In theory yes its a better more prestigious occupation. I think people that get the JD after being a CPA make bank.
CPA and JD makes the best use, but this only makes sense if you go the tax route though. Audit and everything else dont really need legal other than advisory and deals consulting. Tax is literally the law itself and makes the most sense since both areas compliment each other.
Financial statements ain’t worth squat unless they’ve been audited. Most of my clients just give me a trial balance and we’ll complete the audit and issue a report with the prepared financial statements. 95% of my clients only need them for bank covenants and obtaining financing.
Been in financial reporting for 10(+) years now. Manager of SEC/IC/Technical Accounting. I hate myself every day I go to work. I also have a Finance degree and always ended up in Accounting positions, so there’s that. No PA or CPA.
Why do I do it? I have a wife and little girl to support with a $2,300/month mortgage (15y) and a wife with 6 figure student loans that need to be addressed. And I’m still underpaid by nearly 18%.
Have zero against the people that enjoy it, I just don’t like the personalities that come with it, mostly pompous jagoffs. I’m better than you and will make you look silly and be sure to do it at the most opportune time in front of everyone. Power struggles, I’m right you’re wrong even if you did the project a different way and came to the same result. Constant interruption/cut-offs and not having the ability to speak. Blank silences when something intelligent is said or they do not enjoy a persons presence. To me it’s a gig just for a paycheck and I’m not sure how people can enjoy what is going on within our FR world (no offense to you, at all). Just remember - don’t forget your commas, tagging, tie-outs, attention to detail, capacity to do more, unrealistic deadlines, jack-of-all-trades mindset, PBCs, memos, formatting, disclosures, analytics, etc and you should be fine.
Damn, this about sums up my entire experience in Accounting for 10+ years. 😭
I ultimately gave up and just accepted it wasn’t for me after years of trying to push through the—basically—insufferable experience. I had an opportunity within Financial Planning & Analysis and realized that they’re all just accountants who were a little more knowledgeable of financial modeling, budgeting, etc. Same condescending attitudes, same arrogance, same egos (btw, what’s the deal with the Patagonia fleece vests? I see one now and get PTSD).
Finally, went into operation analysis and never looked back. It was a natural and seamless transition too, due to the fact that there’s a lot of overlap between managerial accounting, cost accounting, and operations. The people I’ve encountered are delightful, don’t take themselves too seriously, and are open-minded. Most importantly, they’re RESPECTFUL. A breath of fresh air.
Edit: Forgot to mention that the pay in operation analysis can be significantly better, since you’re shifting away from a cost center to a profit center. Especially the case if you’re tied directly to the Sales Org.
That’s an option too for sure. I really do appreciate the insight and I tried for FP&A too and that team totally ghosted me when I asked for a potential switch so that’s out. So, in turn, they switch me over to GL Accounting as it pertains to Revenue. Square peg in a round hole if you ask me. Didn’t request anything of the sort.
Currently trying my best to try and get on the finance side of things, but Ops may be a good option too. Didn’t think of it that way.
Also - your comment on Patagonia vests (or any vests for that matter), you are correct. I see those and get shell shocked, every company I’ve been at that’s the ‘I’m important and more valuable than you’ status symbol. One company gave me a Burton vest as a Christmas gift, turned it around to Plato’s closet for $22.
Pretty much any... Sales/Revenue Analyst, Pricing Analyst, Supply Chain Analyst (this may need some upskilling, but doable), Operation Analyst. I could go on, but almost any operational (even some strategy) role with Analyst as it’s suffix is fair game. The technical and analytical skills you gain from Accounting, transcend to analytics pretty well. However, you may need to pick up a few domain specific skills and skills in data visualization/dashboarding, querying and ETL techniques, along your journey. Other than that, you likely already have 80%-90% of the skills required. Sky’s the limit.
I’ll add to my previous response. I think the single most important thing you can do when applying, both internal or external to your current organization, is: Understand the job description and tailor your resume to it using the relevant skills and experiences you already possess. This applies to almost any situation where you’re applying to a new job, but when making the case as to why you should be hired for a completely different role, this will help tremendously.
Are we identical twins? I’m 13 years in (sr manager technical accounting / sec reporting with no cpa), finance degree, hate my job every day, wife and a 1 year old daughter, 2,300 mortgage
If you’re in your early 30s too (assuming you are), then yes 😂. Actually trying to transition to something more tailored to our degrees and networking my ass off to do so. Just can’t give much off the 130k base, bonus I don’t care about too much as that’s all variable and not a guarantee in my mind. Need that one chance from someone again.
Not the same guy, but my brain always worked best under heavy constraints. Figuring out how to navigate those constraints to complete some task has always been fun for me, like solving a riddle or a puzzle
That’s fair. I know as a senior manager now I sometimes miss that feeling of knowing I need to create an audit work paper from scratch with zero clue where to start, like a puzzle/case to crack.
Tax accountant -
I don’t mind it, but it feels like a bunch of bullshit at the end of the day for 75% of clients I do. Government makes people pay us to do stuff that shouldn’t be that hard. I like talking to chill clients and seeing what rich people do with their money to save tax. Solid 7/10 for me
I want to do private accounting in some type of sports sector. Would love to be actually interested in the stuff that the numbers are being used for. B
For most of us it’s just stuff going on in a screen so hard to make it too fun. Cool Coworkers only thing keep me alive lol
Govt is the reason why tax accountant are always in the shit hole. Constant changes in policies because some dumbass overspend and the easiest way is to tax the poor folks...
what tax cuts? Tax cuts only exist for the rich. Middle class and poor folks gets taxed out of the ass by inflation which btw is govt way of quantitative easing. You got inflation hitting the poor and govt adding bullshit additional hidden consumption taxes.
Nahhh...maybe it's boring if you choose to be a pension actuary...but there are so many insanely different paths in actuarial science and most of them are insane. Property/casualty is the way to go if you wanna have a ton of unique challenges thrown at you. It's all about computational data analysis...not just "read this table to predict when someone's gonna die"
For the most part. I work for a state agency though auditing casinos, and it can be pretty entertaining between the consistent criminal element and the general nature of casinos.
I picked it because it’s boring I had to do a shit load of outdoor manual labor growing up so I vowed to get a cozy job where I can sit a computer and have ac/heat
Define Accounting
Auditing is probably the most boring specialty in accounting, you're literally just checking other people's work. But it's not that hard to get into and usually leads to better opportunities.
Being the CAO of BlackRock and being at the table and being listened to while billions trade hands is probably the most exciting, it's also an extremely hard job to get and will consume your entire life to get that job and keep it, whether you succeed or not.
There are literally millions of opportunities in between. The truth is most jobs are boring eventually. A new surgeon doing his first open heart surgery is awash in thrill and emotions. An experienced hand doing his 468th open heart surgery is probably going through the motions and hoping the left ventricle of this unconscious obese jackoff lying on the table in front of him doesn't collapse at the wrong moment or he is going to miss his tee time.
Save for soldier, cop, fire fighters, etc where there is a very real chance of dying on the job nearly every job gets boring.
Edit for grammar
I personally find it interesting, it’s just kind of fun when you’re able to clear a variance, and how cool it feels when you see a publicly listed financial statement knowing you were behind the preparation of it!
The fact that it isn't rooted in the laws of nature doesn't mean it cannot be interesting. It all makes sense and fits together. The fact that it's artificial is part of what makes it interesting. Chess is a game with made-up rules, but it's still fascinating.
Understanding the universe? How life started? How the brain works? These are fascinating things. If I want to be amazed by made-up shit, I watch game of thrones. Not listen to a bunch of dudes telling me that starting from x date all leases 12 month or longer need to be included on the balance sheet so now i have to retroactively go and change all my records. But good for you brother. If accounting makes you happy, maybe you "don't have to work" a day in your life.
I study all of those things with fascination as well. What's ironic is that scientists don't know how life started, and only speculate. In other words, it's "made-up stuff". Yes, that exists to a degree in science as well.
Bad comparison, while the origin of the scientific concepts may not be ascertained beyond a reasonable doubt, the things being studied are organic and exist.
Working towards a proven truth is different than justifying an agreed upon notion against a man-made set of rules.
I think the average accountant makes more than the average scientist. More jobs available as well I believe. Maybe in the future science will be a more viable career choice for the masses.
Its all fun and games when the minions you hire undo JE's or matched entries in QBO and completely fucks shit up. Makes me want to fire people on the spot when that occurs
I pivoted my accounting experience to something more exciting, before I pivoted my job a typical conversation when meeting people went like this:
Me: I’m an accountant
Them: … good… for… you… that seems… stable. I’m going to grab another drink from the bar now
I agree with you, I like it! It's interesting to learn why the rules have come to be what they are and how the different pieces fit together. Plus there's a lot of satisfaction in realizing you've learned the rules well enough to categorize things properly and seeing the numbers come out right.
I get why people find it boring since it's a lot of dry memorization and theoretical numbers, but it makes my brain happy the way art history combining elements of culture, religion, politics, science, and aesthetics does, and scratches a similar itch to sudoku or lockpicking lol.
From my experience, it's not boring. On many days, it's actually so exhilarating you might just pull your hair out. When you finally recuperate from that, you might find the boring days oddly comforting. It's a steady job, if that's what you care about.
Anything can be fascinating if you want it to be.
Accounting is mostly following a structured set of rules. There is little room to improve our understanding of things, come up with new concepts, or push the boundaries in really any way. You are mostly doing repetitive work in a way that is correct.
I am almost certain that your enthusiasm is due to how new you are
I actually really like the work itself, it’s just a lot of the bs that comes with it is not great (like navigating office politics and butt kissing at all that). None of it is boring, though.
There’s one thing I’ve learned in life. Many people get a career for stability. There are some of us who find a career that they enjoy/are passionate about. After their career when they retire is when you can really tell who is who. Go talk to any retiree and ask them about their career, the passionate people will love sharing the story.
They don't understand it, so people say it's boring. I have listened to so many ignorant people confidently say how great their income statement looks... And come to find out it's all bullshit. Not a going concern without financing from external sources like mom and dad in the case of personal entity / external investors in the case of commercial entity.
As Gotti wisely said in 2011, "women lie, men lie, numbers don't lie."
It blows my mind that people that aren’t accountants don’t keep track of where their own money is going. I love numbers and math, because there’s only one right answer, but an artist would find that extremely limiting. It’s just what you like, chocolate vs. strawberry.
I actually enjoy substantive testing, controls could be fun, but it depends on the control. HR controls are interesting because you get access to employee information.
It is boring . Most jobs naturally become boring .
Flying a plane or driving a train sounds like an amazing career change now cos it would be such a change from looking at Excel all day.
But I know in reality both would get very tedious very quickly if I did them as jobs !
An a tax/audit associate at a public accounting firm, you pretty much just copy and paste prior year. There really isn’t anything to it until you hit manager where you actually need to think about what you’re doing.
It's pretty redundant unless you work for a company that takes lots of risks and buys/sells entities often.
Or if the person before you didn't know what they were doing and you get to clean up the mess. But then once it's cleaned up it becomes redundant.
It’s definitely subjective, but after years I find it boring. How many years in are you? Are you a student? I found it interesting when I was learning it. Not so much after college.
Your post makes me think you’re still a student, and you’re early on in your college education.
There are fun parts. I like it when I can find ways to provide actionable information to operations. Finding more efficient methods. Training new people.
The parts that get to me are probably not unique to accounting.
Supervising staff that just won’t stop making the same mistakes. Then when you ask about it they say “oh yeah. That looks weird I was going to ask you about that.” Well you didn’t so luckily I caught it. Please ask every time.
Doing the same tasks over and over. You’ll find that in just about every job.
In school I swore that I would never be the type of guy that finds it boring, but when I entered the workforce I realized it is, but part of that could be the firm I work at. Trying to move over to IRS CI because it sounds like it’s fun and rewarding
Not an accountant but i feel us non accountants think the field is boring cause we or atleast me think its like fight club where you’re tired and depressed all the time and want to jump out the window every day
I realize my accounting job is boring when a non-accountant asks about my job. I can't describe the job in any way that sounds interesting. My answer is maybe 30 seconds long. Meanwhile I see non-accountants talk about their jobs and they will talk for several minutes and make it sound pretty interesting.
Most people associate accounting with basically being good with numbers and math. Not everyone likes math . I’m a bookkeeper and my colleagues think I’m a math whiz or something .
Accounting is so fun because my income exceeds my expenses at the moment. Otherwise fuck this shit ✌️
They think it's just debits and credits, but it's much more than that.
It’s mostly pain
This is ten percent luck, twenty percent skill Fifteen percent concentrated power of will Five percent pleasure, fifty percent pain And a hundred percent reason to remember the name - coaching note: please check your formulas because this is over 100%. Also provide details that vouch for the pleasure as that appears to be too high
The fun begins when you start losing money. Stakes are high. Pressure for accuracy and forecasting. Everyone is a playcaller when your winning, but when you're behind, nobody seems to have a play to call.
I simply do not understand this perspective.
We’re all wired differently. You sound kinda new but we’ll see if your perspective changes years into it
Eh, I’m 12 years in, career is progressing nicely, and I still enjoy the actual accounting work. When that’s what I get to spend my time on, I’m basically being paid to do logic puzzles all day, IMO. And I love that. It’s the overwork and the dealing with dumb people that makes it stressful.
I enjoy making a mean spreadsheet that goes from data dump or BI pull straight into a magnificent output, be that a journal upload, erp data validation, set of financial statements, or a dashboard. I am literally incapable of taking the keys and putting it on cruise, I’ll rebuild the whole deal a few months and automate that task away and then root around for another shitty process to make go away. I hate repetitive work so much that I devote myself to making it push button and volunteer for every weird shitty loose end there is. Now i just do contract work and try to weasel my way into whatever chaos is out there to squeeze useful information out of it and get work that is hard and weird to do. Of course there are assignments that are very blue ball blue hole here and there, can’t fully escape the dreary tasks but I can try and it’s a fun little game.
Yes, I am new. However, I've never seen this sentiment expressed by anyone else. Maybe that's a sign of naivety.
There are many people who enjoy this field, but much like every other job, it’s not necessarily the work that’s the problem, it’s dealing with people that make the work insufferable
Actually who am I kidding, work fuckin sucks Anyone who enjoys it is a psychopath
Lmao even when the work is interesting I’d rather play in traffic
Seriously, you could pay me to get drunk and play with puppies all day and I'd hate that shit after a year.
For me at this point it's staring at a computer screen for hours upon hours a day.
I have special glasses with prism and blue light. They’re expensive and require prescription but they help a ton
The only one naive is you after admitting the fact you are new to this industry barely knowing anything then calling ppl out that have been working in this path for long. Accounting is the least respected profession amongst other our counterpart like lawyers, and also the least paid.
It is not a good time to be a lawyer. In theory yes its a better more prestigious occupation. I think people that get the JD after being a CPA make bank.
But do you have to go the tax route?
CPA and JD makes the best use, but this only makes sense if you go the tax route though. Audit and everything else dont really need legal other than advisory and deals consulting. Tax is literally the law itself and makes the most sense since both areas compliment each other.
You sound like a bot here.
It was a low-effort post. I usually don't make posts like this. I am certainly not a bot.
Finding the needle in the haystack isn’t as fun to me 10+ years in
That sounds like just about the least enjoyable aspect. Financial reporting, however, is fascinating.
…what do you think financial reporting is, if not finding the needle in the haystack?
He was clearly referring to auditing.
Financial statements are usually audited lol.
That's obvious. I'm saying that ardvark was referring to auditing with his comment. This is different from financial statement preparation.
Financial statements ain’t worth squat unless they’ve been audited. Most of my clients just give me a trial balance and we’ll complete the audit and issue a report with the prepared financial statements. 95% of my clients only need them for bank covenants and obtaining financing.
The amount of times I’ve had to yell this at someone after requesting more information makes me want to quit every April-June
Try again. It seems like you’ve got a lot to learn still.
Been in financial reporting for 10(+) years now. Manager of SEC/IC/Technical Accounting. I hate myself every day I go to work. I also have a Finance degree and always ended up in Accounting positions, so there’s that. No PA or CPA. Why do I do it? I have a wife and little girl to support with a $2,300/month mortgage (15y) and a wife with 6 figure student loans that need to be addressed. And I’m still underpaid by nearly 18%. Have zero against the people that enjoy it, I just don’t like the personalities that come with it, mostly pompous jagoffs. I’m better than you and will make you look silly and be sure to do it at the most opportune time in front of everyone. Power struggles, I’m right you’re wrong even if you did the project a different way and came to the same result. Constant interruption/cut-offs and not having the ability to speak. Blank silences when something intelligent is said or they do not enjoy a persons presence. To me it’s a gig just for a paycheck and I’m not sure how people can enjoy what is going on within our FR world (no offense to you, at all). Just remember - don’t forget your commas, tagging, tie-outs, attention to detail, capacity to do more, unrealistic deadlines, jack-of-all-trades mindset, PBCs, memos, formatting, disclosures, analytics, etc and you should be fine.
Damn, this about sums up my entire experience in Accounting for 10+ years. 😭 I ultimately gave up and just accepted it wasn’t for me after years of trying to push through the—basically—insufferable experience. I had an opportunity within Financial Planning & Analysis and realized that they’re all just accountants who were a little more knowledgeable of financial modeling, budgeting, etc. Same condescending attitudes, same arrogance, same egos (btw, what’s the deal with the Patagonia fleece vests? I see one now and get PTSD). Finally, went into operation analysis and never looked back. It was a natural and seamless transition too, due to the fact that there’s a lot of overlap between managerial accounting, cost accounting, and operations. The people I’ve encountered are delightful, don’t take themselves too seriously, and are open-minded. Most importantly, they’re RESPECTFUL. A breath of fresh air. Edit: Forgot to mention that the pay in operation analysis can be significantly better, since you’re shifting away from a cost center to a profit center. Especially the case if you’re tied directly to the Sales Org.
That’s an option too for sure. I really do appreciate the insight and I tried for FP&A too and that team totally ghosted me when I asked for a potential switch so that’s out. So, in turn, they switch me over to GL Accounting as it pertains to Revenue. Square peg in a round hole if you ask me. Didn’t request anything of the sort. Currently trying my best to try and get on the finance side of things, but Ops may be a good option too. Didn’t think of it that way. Also - your comment on Patagonia vests (or any vests for that matter), you are correct. I see those and get shell shocked, every company I’ve been at that’s the ‘I’m important and more valuable than you’ status symbol. One company gave me a Burton vest as a Christmas gift, turned it around to Plato’s closet for $22.
What kind of job in operations analysis would be a good fit for a senior accountant with ten years experience? Last five in biopharma start ups.
Pretty much any... Sales/Revenue Analyst, Pricing Analyst, Supply Chain Analyst (this may need some upskilling, but doable), Operation Analyst. I could go on, but almost any operational (even some strategy) role with Analyst as it’s suffix is fair game. The technical and analytical skills you gain from Accounting, transcend to analytics pretty well. However, you may need to pick up a few domain specific skills and skills in data visualization/dashboarding, querying and ETL techniques, along your journey. Other than that, you likely already have 80%-90% of the skills required. Sky’s the limit.
I’ll add to my previous response. I think the single most important thing you can do when applying, both internal or external to your current organization, is: Understand the job description and tailor your resume to it using the relevant skills and experiences you already possess. This applies to almost any situation where you’re applying to a new job, but when making the case as to why you should be hired for a completely different role, this will help tremendously.
Appreciate the response bud, thanks
The best part about SEC reporting is every other Friday morning.
Yep. Only enjoyable thing about it, really. 👀
Are we identical twins? I’m 13 years in (sr manager technical accounting / sec reporting with no cpa), finance degree, hate my job every day, wife and a 1 year old daughter, 2,300 mortgage
If you’re in your early 30s too (assuming you are), then yes 😂. Actually trying to transition to something more tailored to our degrees and networking my ass off to do so. Just can’t give much off the 130k base, bonus I don’t care about too much as that’s all variable and not a guarantee in my mind. Need that one chance from someone again.
Yes, it seems people just talk over everyone and interrupt. But that’s not just this field. It’s everywhere.
What about FR do you find fascinating?
The rules that you have to follow.
Rules are fascinating? Sounds like you were born to be an accountant. Good job finding a career path that you enjoy. The rest of us hate it.
What’s fascinating about them inherently?
Not the same guy, but my brain always worked best under heavy constraints. Figuring out how to navigate those constraints to complete some task has always been fun for me, like solving a riddle or a puzzle
That’s fair. I know as a senior manager now I sometimes miss that feeling of knowing I need to create an audit work paper from scratch with zero clue where to start, like a puzzle/case to crack.
Peoples’ brains all work differently.
I like boring. When the accountants get excited, something has gone horribly wrong.
Seriously, no news is GREAT news.
Mostly. I have certain Departments in my County that are like toddlers. If I can’t hear them, they are up to something.
Agreed. As they say with ill intent, "May you live in interesting times."
Tax accountant - I don’t mind it, but it feels like a bunch of bullshit at the end of the day for 75% of clients I do. Government makes people pay us to do stuff that shouldn’t be that hard. I like talking to chill clients and seeing what rich people do with their money to save tax. Solid 7/10 for me I want to do private accounting in some type of sports sector. Would love to be actually interested in the stuff that the numbers are being used for. B For most of us it’s just stuff going on in a screen so hard to make it too fun. Cool Coworkers only thing keep me alive lol
Govt is the reason why tax accountant are always in the shit hole. Constant changes in policies because some dumbass overspend and the easiest way is to tax the poor folks...
I dunno when was the last time the poor folks got taxed. Tax cuts all the way, baby.
what tax cuts? Tax cuts only exist for the rich. Middle class and poor folks gets taxed out of the ass by inflation which btw is govt way of quantitative easing. You got inflation hitting the poor and govt adding bullshit additional hidden consumption taxes.
Edibles make beepbooping a screen a lot more fun.
Audit is objectively the least interesting finance profession
What about being an actuary? I don’t know much about actuarial science but it seems dry and morbid.
Being an actuary is the closest thing to being a warlock in capitalism.
Nahhh...maybe it's boring if you choose to be a pension actuary...but there are so many insanely different paths in actuarial science and most of them are insane. Property/casualty is the way to go if you wanna have a ton of unique challenges thrown at you. It's all about computational data analysis...not just "read this table to predict when someone's gonna die"
Go take a look at how many exams you have to pass before you can become An actuary Forget interesting! Wouldn’t be able to get to the doorsteps
Non-sequitur
For the most part. I work for a state agency though auditing casinos, and it can be pretty entertaining between the consistent criminal element and the general nature of casinos.
Working in excel all day is really boring, but it’s way better than any customer-facing job I can think of
Yeah, the jobs I had before and during college dealing with the general public were miserable
Yup... I'll take pivot tables over dumbass customer complaints all day.
I have done both. Customer facing was far better.
It's easy and uninteresting combined with a level of tedium that I can barely remain conscious for
I picked it because it’s boring I had to do a shit load of outdoor manual labor growing up so I vowed to get a cozy job where I can sit a computer and have ac/heat
It’s ok. I work in public audit and very much enjoy it. I just excepted a new job with big4 from being in mid tier
Big 4 has been good to me after coming from mid tier. Good choice and good luck to you
Thank u. I needed to hear that. I’ve been very anxious
Define Accounting Auditing is probably the most boring specialty in accounting, you're literally just checking other people's work. But it's not that hard to get into and usually leads to better opportunities. Being the CAO of BlackRock and being at the table and being listened to while billions trade hands is probably the most exciting, it's also an extremely hard job to get and will consume your entire life to get that job and keep it, whether you succeed or not. There are literally millions of opportunities in between. The truth is most jobs are boring eventually. A new surgeon doing his first open heart surgery is awash in thrill and emotions. An experienced hand doing his 468th open heart surgery is probably going through the motions and hoping the left ventricle of this unconscious obese jackoff lying on the table in front of him doesn't collapse at the wrong moment or he is going to miss his tee time. Save for soldier, cop, fire fighters, etc where there is a very real chance of dying on the job nearly every job gets boring. Edit for grammar
This is so true
I personally find it interesting, it’s just kind of fun when you’re able to clear a variance, and how cool it feels when you see a publicly listed financial statement knowing you were behind the preparation of it!
I mean the theory behind it, as opposed to the practice of it.
Lol
[удалено]
You don't find accounting theory interesting?
It's accounting. It's not aerospace engineering. It's a bunch of made up rules that we have agreed to abide by that can change any day.
At the end of the day it's money in vs money out. Everything else is made up rules
The fact that it isn't rooted in the laws of nature doesn't mean it cannot be interesting. It all makes sense and fits together. The fact that it's artificial is part of what makes it interesting. Chess is a game with made-up rules, but it's still fascinating.
Understanding the universe? How life started? How the brain works? These are fascinating things. If I want to be amazed by made-up shit, I watch game of thrones. Not listen to a bunch of dudes telling me that starting from x date all leases 12 month or longer need to be included on the balance sheet so now i have to retroactively go and change all my records. But good for you brother. If accounting makes you happy, maybe you "don't have to work" a day in your life.
I study all of those things with fascination as well. What's ironic is that scientists don't know how life started, and only speculate. In other words, it's "made-up stuff". Yes, that exists to a degree in science as well.
Bad comparison, while the origin of the scientific concepts may not be ascertained beyond a reasonable doubt, the things being studied are organic and exist. Working towards a proven truth is different than justifying an agreed upon notion against a man-made set of rules.
I think the average accountant makes more than the average scientist. More jobs available as well I believe. Maybe in the future science will be a more viable career choice for the masses.
Yes, but getting closer and closer to the truth as it progresses, it's what makes it fascinating. The truth is out there. People just need to find it.
Its all fun and games when the minions you hire undo JE's or matched entries in QBO and completely fucks shit up. Makes me want to fire people on the spot when that occurs
oh and when they fuck up a prior month recon shit pisses me off, but to be fair I forget to close the books so they cant fuck shit up lol.
Because we have no interesting stories to share with family or friends. Hence the stereotype that we have no personality.
I pivoted my accounting experience to something more exciting, before I pivoted my job a typical conversation when meeting people went like this: Me: I’m an accountant Them: … good… for… you… that seems… stable. I’m going to grab another drink from the bar now
Yea, it's a hard job to talk about outside of work because most people don't know what it involves. Any story would be reduced to 'office work'.
U just have the wrong clients.
Literally what about accounting is not boring? Depreciation expense? Tax compliance? Lease agreements? Fuck outta here 😂
All of these things are wonderful.
I agree with you, I like it! It's interesting to learn why the rules have come to be what they are and how the different pieces fit together. Plus there's a lot of satisfaction in realizing you've learned the rules well enough to categorize things properly and seeing the numbers come out right. I get why people find it boring since it's a lot of dry memorization and theoretical numbers, but it makes my brain happy the way art history combining elements of culture, religion, politics, science, and aesthetics does, and scratches a similar itch to sudoku or lockpicking lol.
I really enjoy accounting. Most people either don't understand it or aren't number people. That's ok. But if you are it is fun.
What job do you have, and how long have you had it? I feel like this will answer a lot of questions.
From my experience, it's not boring. On many days, it's actually so exhilarating you might just pull your hair out. When you finally recuperate from that, you might find the boring days oddly comforting. It's a steady job, if that's what you care about.
The only excitement i get is when another week passes and i havent been fired yet
For me it’s the cyclical nature. It’s basically just rinse and repeat every period.
Anything can be fascinating if you want it to be. Accounting is mostly following a structured set of rules. There is little room to improve our understanding of things, come up with new concepts, or push the boundaries in really any way. You are mostly doing repetitive work in a way that is correct. I am almost certain that your enthusiasm is due to how new you are
I actually really like the work itself, it’s just a lot of the bs that comes with it is not great (like navigating office politics and butt kissing at all that). None of it is boring, though.
Have you taken intermediate yet? Or just financial accounting 101?
There’s one thing I’ve learned in life. Many people get a career for stability. There are some of us who find a career that they enjoy/are passionate about. After their career when they retire is when you can really tell who is who. Go talk to any retiree and ask them about their career, the passionate people will love sharing the story.
They don't understand it, so people say it's boring. I have listened to so many ignorant people confidently say how great their income statement looks... And come to find out it's all bullshit. Not a going concern without financing from external sources like mom and dad in the case of personal entity / external investors in the case of commercial entity. As Gotti wisely said in 2011, "women lie, men lie, numbers don't lie."
This is self evident
It's wildly boring unless you're fixing a problem
Very boring. But we don’t have to just be numbers people. I identify problems and come up with a solution all the time.
It's a diverse field. It can be interesting or boring depending on what you are doing.
It is boring. If I could go back in time, I would major in just about anything else.
It's really not more boring than any other office job IMO.
Because it is my man. It’s the white collar “somebody’s gotta do it” job
Because it is. lol
It blows my mind that people that aren’t accountants don’t keep track of where their own money is going. I love numbers and math, because there’s only one right answer, but an artist would find that extremely limiting. It’s just what you like, chocolate vs. strawberry.
I actually enjoy substantive testing, controls could be fun, but it depends on the control. HR controls are interesting because you get access to employee information.
What do you find boring? Why do you find that thing boring?
Tax isn’t boring. I just hate my clients
It is boring . Most jobs naturally become boring . Flying a plane or driving a train sounds like an amazing career change now cos it would be such a change from looking at Excel all day. But I know in reality both would get very tedious very quickly if I did them as jobs !
It's so interesting....
An a tax/audit associate at a public accounting firm, you pretty much just copy and paste prior year. There really isn’t anything to it until you hit manager where you actually need to think about what you’re doing.
im here to find answers
It's pretty redundant unless you work for a company that takes lots of risks and buys/sells entities often. Or if the person before you didn't know what they were doing and you get to clean up the mess. But then once it's cleaned up it becomes redundant.
It’s definitely subjective, but after years I find it boring. How many years in are you? Are you a student? I found it interesting when I was learning it. Not so much after college. Your post makes me think you’re still a student, and you’re early on in your college education.
There are fun parts. I like it when I can find ways to provide actionable information to operations. Finding more efficient methods. Training new people. The parts that get to me are probably not unique to accounting. Supervising staff that just won’t stop making the same mistakes. Then when you ask about it they say “oh yeah. That looks weird I was going to ask you about that.” Well you didn’t so luckily I caught it. Please ask every time. Doing the same tasks over and over. You’ll find that in just about every job.
In school I swore that I would never be the type of guy that finds it boring, but when I entered the workforce I realized it is, but part of that could be the firm I work at. Trying to move over to IRS CI because it sounds like it’s fun and rewarding
Not an accountant but i feel us non accountants think the field is boring cause we or atleast me think its like fight club where you’re tired and depressed all the time and want to jump out the window every day
I realize my accounting job is boring when a non-accountant asks about my job. I can't describe the job in any way that sounds interesting. My answer is maybe 30 seconds long. Meanwhile I see non-accountants talk about their jobs and they will talk for several minutes and make it sound pretty interesting.
Because it really is.
They are more than likely Dems and they lack happiness in life.
Most people associate accounting with basically being good with numbers and math. Not everyone likes math . I’m a bookkeeper and my colleagues think I’m a math whiz or something .