The Number 1 Reason People Don't Want To Be Accountants

IN THIS EPISODE: Why AICPA's 12-point plan won't solve the CPA crisis; Earnings reports from Intuit, Sage, and Xero; Ramp adds AI features to spend management platform; why grads are ditching jobs at the Big Four; 70% of Gen Z employees would switch jobs for better tech.

Get your weekly accounting and bookkeeping news roundup with episode 335 of The Accounting Podcast!

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[cravenmoorehead]

I left accounting after eight long arduous and torturous years. I went into cyber security and I’m now making double and working half the hours.

[syafasmo]

I dont understand why alot companies let you work long hours or overtime to finish the bookkeeping of the day.

I finish my bookkeeping from yesterday, in the morning of today and today’s bookkeeping in the morning of tomorrow.

I do work in a family business as the finance guy. So i have the flexibility

[NoMoney]

There are other reasons including the lack luster of the profession itself. However, i do believe the current “solutions” are not going to cut it.

[wannabedal-adx]

1) This encourages me to get my EA and open my own practice!!! I can start scooping up clients that trickle down from firms that can't get business because of staffing shortages!
2) If you are going to make accountants work long hours for less pay, then besides tech, they will go to Mgmt Consulting or Investment Banking. While the hours suck even more, both compensate their staff better!

[ashfordj]

IMO: too much work, too much stress, too little pay, & constantly changing standards that frequently feel more like busy work than actual improvements to disclosure. The ideal path is literally burn a couple years in AUD and hop to a client in @ senior lvl FP&A (if you really like analytics) or sr accountant/accounting manager (if you really like accounting). The increase in the testing window might help increase the number of CPAs a bit, especially if older, experienced workers go back to pass the test if life kicked off before they did so, but it doesn't solve the undesirable parts of the profession. Pay isn't competitive relative to the stress and responsibility.

[queensgambit]

The number one reason is because of the difficulty of work respective to compensation especially at the high level. Logic analysis and reasoning . I know many people dropped accounting and switched to law because they could not pass intermediate 1 .

[BobRooney]

i regret ever getting into the accounting field. they pay is at the bottom of all professional jobs. dont expect to make more than $65k initially, basically the poverty line. the degree is worth less than soiled toilet paper. you get treated the worst in any company. they see you as a waste of money because you are just overhead. and because of that, they keep dumping work on you, constantly, the longer you stay. ultra mega long hours too. expect to work at least 12 hours a day without getting a dime in OT pay. that means you are basically working for minimum wage. also companies abuse their accountants more than any other field. accountants always feel like they are working for a toxic company. yes its easy to find another job, but who wants to continuously do that all the time? you literally have no life because of the long hours, and are not respected. everyone outside the field feels compelled that you can do their taxes for free. i should have become a real estate agent instead. what a horrible field accounting is. imagine being forced to sit in a chair for hours and hours day after day. guaranteed you will develop chronic illnesses.

[elbertdc]

Anybody who wants to be an accountant, just don't do it! don't waste your precious life counting others people money and being paid by peanuts doing it! Be a doctor, Engineer, Programming, Data engineer, Sales & Mktg etc. Get this degree then get a masters done.

[CPATuttle]

If they lower the credit hours and make getting CPA easier then the value goes down to zero. They need to pay CPA’s more!!

[stacim]

Ya the accounting reddit is full of threads showing that the wages haven't moved. It's fucking bonkers. Like isn't it fucking rich they aren't addressing the numbers 😂

[allprolemontonz]

Definitely more the hours than the pay in my opinion

[leekastle]

AICPA are so arrogant. Plus, like it or not, the CPA has lost its relevance.

[cyndawu]

What's the point of an accounting degree if I have to spend another 3-5 years doing another few more accounting qualifications? Nurses, Doctors, Computer Science can go straight to the job field, and they pay you well.

[UNIQUEONE-ebzs]

yhe people are mean too

i was told to figure it out
i am a cpa and i cant get a job