Post: #1

Is there big motive (£) to do this job? Do you travel while working? I do accounting at highschool and i was thinking if i should continue to study at University?
Opinions?

Post: #2

There is money but people do accounting for the stability. Its not too hard to crack 100k by the time you are 35 or 40 in acct though. You can travel quite a bit as an auditor. Some jobs even feature up to 50% travel. I think if you are built for it and like it, then its quite useful. I have rarely though meet a happy Controller though...

Post: #3

I was an accounting major my first semester in business school.

I quickly realized how boring it was and changed my major the following semester.

The main two motives for people being accountants is

1) Guaranteed job out of college

2) Good starting salary, sign on bonus, benefits ect.

Should you continue it in college?

Well that would depend on if you like siting at a desk on a computer crunching / analyzing numbers all day everyday.

On the bright side there is jobs with accounting firms abroad.

Post: #4

I studied accountancy in college and still regret the decision. I find it quite boring and repetitive, like most jobs I suppose. True, accountants are well paid, but most would work 60+ hours a week.

Post: #5

Get your degree in Finance at a top ranked University then after you finish school don't get a job. Become an entrepreneur.

Post: #6

^^

Dont need a finance degree to be an entrepreneur.

Just need some capital

Post: #7

I failed two accounting classes in college. That subject is dry as 80 y.o nun pussy. It takes a special breed to make it in that profession.

Post: #8

The degree is beneficial

Post: #9

Better way of putting it is

you need SOMEONE'S capital lol

Post: #10

Omg O.O
So if you don't feel kind of enthusiastic about it eventually you are gonna fall? I take regular breaks and sometimes i do it while standing.
Will i survive when my feelings for accounting are neutral? How do you work? Alone in your own office? Do you work in an environment that doesnt bore your eyes? How is your social life when doing this job? Can you travel and work and make decent money?

Post: #11

Andreas get an internship, that will answer all your questions. Better still go on campus and sit down with 4 guys who have had them.

Post: #12

I never met an accountant that wasn't boring. Some are like boring lawyers except make less money.

Post: #13

It's a horrible profession that pays well....it is boring and has high turnover...if you work for big accounting firms you are measured by billable hours you bilk clients with not just the work...very stressful....If you like the work do it but I would recommend working for a corporation or non-profit..stay away from the accounting firms...also..stay away from auditing...travel is constant and clients give you shit...

Post: #14

I've heard some of the same things in the real world about accounting. A few people said it's boring as hell. Like suicidal boring

Post: #15

I got a Masters in Finance and Accounting (dual major). Started with a Big Four firm back in 2001 @ around 50k, then moved on to another and was making around 90k at the manager level. Quit in 2007 because I got fed up with looking at numbers all day.
The 60-70 hours a week is only during busy season, which is several months a year. During the summers it was always 40 hours and I even took off early every Friday to go the beach.
Most people at work quit after putting several years of this on their resume and started in industry, usually the industry they were involved with when doing public accounting. You make some connections among your clients and they basically offer you a job sooner or later.

Post: #16

Man i feel doomed. I dont have any fucking idea what i will be doing in the future. I heard so many negative things about Accounting. I'm gonna work on my uncle's firm and see how it really goes.

Post: #17

I failed accounting one time before getting an A. I got A's on both accounting courses. But it's very boring and tedious. I'd hate to have to do that every day.

Post: #18

(09-19-2011 09:50 AM)Pete Wrote:  It's very boring and tedious. I'd hate to have to do that every day.

Practice makes perfect!

Just think of how good you'll be with crunching numbers with all that homework.

Post: #19

Whats funny is many aspects of accounting have nothing to do with numbers / math....

Accounting is the language of business to get anywhere you are either going to have to learn to speak the language or make enough to outsource that function....

Post: #20

This will sound douchey, but as an investment banker, I honestly view accountants as smart, numbers oriented people who wouldn't be able to cut it in finance. A lot of the core classes and knowledge bases are the same. I'm very well versed in accounting concepts. But when I look at my college friends who I began business school with and see which ones ended up choosing accounting vs finance:

Accounting - females, and beta guys
finance - driven and cutthroat. May or may not be beta when it comes to women, but very alpha in the business arena.

As for my advice to the original poster, if you like accounting, take the next step and go for finance. 1st year analysts in investment banking make 100k+ straight out of undergrad.

Post: #21

Accounting people can go into finance but not the other way around. Remember that...

Post: #22

(09-24-2011 03:31 PM)zoom Wrote:  Accounting people can go into finance but not the other way around. Remember that...

But why would you want to go from finance to accounting? Less money, way less interesting (at least to me). If it's an hours/quality of life thing, I'd just go into industry.

Post: #23

(09-24-2011 10:24 AM)Laser Wrote:  This will sound douchey, but as an investment banker, I honestly view accountants as smart, numbers oriented people who wouldn't be able to cut it in finance. A lot of the core classes and knowledge bases are the same. I'm very well versed in accounting concepts. But when I look at my college friends who I began business school with and see which ones ended up choosing accounting vs finance:

Accounting - females, and beta guys
finance - driven and cutthroat. May or may not be beta when it comes to women, but very alpha in the business arena.

As for my advice to the original poster, if you like accounting, take the next step and go for finance. 1st year analysts in investment banking make 100k+ straight out of undergrad.

Trade off is you work 80+ hour weeks. I think at that point you're killing yourself for that extra 50k since you have to make up for the same output per an hour.

Everyone says they'll head to buyside afterwards and life will be peachy keen. But work life never gets better. Just marginally so. But, hey if you want to make money, I can't say that's not a legit method.

Post: #24

(09-25-2011 07:11 PM)cibo Wrote:  

(09-24-2011 10:24 AM)Laser Wrote:  This will sound douchey, but as an investment banker, I honestly view accountants as smart, numbers oriented people who wouldn't be able to cut it in finance. A lot of the core classes and knowledge bases are the same. I'm very well versed in accounting concepts. But when I look at my college friends who I began business school with and see which ones ended up choosing accounting vs finance:

Accounting - females, and beta guys
finance - driven and cutthroat. May or may not be beta when it comes to women, but very alpha in the business arena.

As for my advice to the original poster, if you like accounting, take the next step and go for finance. 1st year analysts in investment banking make 100k+ straight out of undergrad.

Trade off is you work 80+ hour weeks. I think at that point you're killing yourself for that extra 50k since you have to make up for the same output per an hour.

Everyone says they'll head to buyside afterwards and life will be peachy keen. But work life never gets better. Just marginally so. But, hey if you want to make money, I can't say that's not a legit method.

I totally agree with you man. The extra 50k just doesn’t seem worth it. My older brother is an investment banker he told me that its real stressful and cutthroat.

Post: #25

Right now in my school i study economics, accounting and maths statistics. What is the most ballanced job i can get in terms of making money and being in the 40-50 hour zone?