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Accounting Degree

Discussion in 'BBS Hangout' started by NBAHOU713, Aug 19, 2004.

  1. NBAHOU713

    NBAHOU713 Contributing Member

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    Im starting school, and my major will be a Accounting. Anyone in here have an accounting degree. What do you best recommend in order to get through this? I've heard alot of stuff, specially that it can be really hard.
     
  2. Davidoff

    Davidoff Contributing Member

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    My good friend just got out of college and now works for price water house cooper(SP?) and he had to work his ass of for the CPA test and he was in the top 5% of his class...Damn smart guy and if you stick with it, it will pay off..
     
  3. JayZ750

    JayZ750 Contributing Member

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    How do you know you want to have an accounting degree when just starting out college - accounting is such a specific rule based speciality that I don't see how someone can say...oh, let's be an accountant.

    That said, it can definitely be a useful degree to have. The question is, how much previous accounting experience do you really have. What I found most of all was that accounting is one of those skills that all of a sudden makes a lot more sense when applied in the real world.
     
  4. lost_elephant

    lost_elephant Contributing Member

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    You will always have a job if you get an Acct. degree. This is because the average job cycle for an accountant is less than 3 years. You will be asked to work your ass off.....which is why there is such a turnover rate in the workforce. If you're good you can always have the option of going independent and starting your own agency....and if that works out well, just hire some highschool grads to handle the easy bookkeeping and take friday off and go golfing.
     
  5. Pole

    Pole Houston Rockets--Tilman Fertitta's latest mess.

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    Hopefully you didn't assume that accounting would be a good area for you because you're good in math.

    Accounting is the antithesis of math.

    Math is a science. Accounting is art (no offense to art majors).

    That being said, you'll probably be able to get a job with that degree. Try to get the best grades....try to get summer internships with big four firms. Partners at big four firms can make every bit as much money as partners at decent law firms.
     
  6. 4chuckie

    4chuckie Member

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    What's your career goal? Keep in mind if you want to be a CPA you know need 150 hours (meaning it's more like a 5 year degree). This is not bad because most schools have set up programs to get a masters in Accounting or most of a MBA completed within the 150 hours.

    If you aren't interested in the CPA thing then it is a 4 year degree.
     
  7. Rivaldo2181

    Rivaldo2181 Contributing Member

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    Cool, my bro works there now...he interned last year and then was offered a full time position. He is at Disney World for some sort of training.
     
  8. AlexVanderpool

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    What school are you going to?

    I know UT Austin, Texas A&M and UT-Arlington have 5 year programs that get you a masters and bachelors, and prepare you for the cpa exam. I think alot of schools are adopting this program, so your should look into it at yours. The usual name for the program is PPA or PPIA standing for professional program in accounting.
     
  9. Tenchi

    Tenchi Contributing Member

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    Most Texas schools have the MS in Accounting program. They just call it different things. UH is one of the best at helping you prepare for your CPA in Texas. If you do accounting then you pretty much have to get your CPA so, after the general accounting classes you would need to take Intermediate 1 which is basically a the weed out type class for accounting. Then Intermediate 2. Some schools have an Intermediate 3. Those are all Financial Accounting. Advanced Accounting is about consolidating financial statements, its different but not very difficult. Cost Accounting or Management Accounting has been the same for like over 100 years so its pretty much memorizing the algorithm and doing the problems. Accounting Infomation Systems deals with some database stuff and you go through flow charts and maybe work with Peachtree or Quickbooks. Auditing is well, auditing... you get to learn about Sarbanes/Oxley thank Enron for that. Taxation is more than just doing your income taxes, and doing taxes will pay for your meals if you can't find any other job out there. Governent and Non Profit Accounting isnt very difficult course, once you get the hang of Fund Accounting and I don't think there's a lot of it on the CPA. You don't need to take Oil and Gas, because its not on the CPA. Although a course in Understanding Financial Statements would be useful. And after July 2005 then you will be required to take an Ethics course. So thats accounting... just make sure you take 30 hours of accounting and 150 overall college hours and then take your CPA, and you're good to go. Oh and Accounting isn't hard. Its just a lot of work, do your homework and you'll get through pretty easy. You won't feel like you understand anything while you're taking it, but one day while you're talking to someone about money or something things will come to you and you'll have that DAMN! I understand this crap. Why'd I think it was so hard in class. feeling.

    Good Luck.
     
  10. Davidoff

    Davidoff Contributing Member

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    Cool, yeah he like your bro gets to go to all kinds of cool places for recruiting and other things...seems like a great place to work.
     
  11. Icehouse

    Icehouse Contributing Member

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    Good career move man. I majored in Accounting from day 1 and have my CPA. If I can do it, anyone can. :)

    If you know you are interested in business, then you can never go wrong by majoring in Accounting because it is the most marketable business degree, and it's skill sets are easily transferred into the other business disciplines (Finance, Marketing, Management). Just remember that Accounting isn't necessarily a number crunching discipline. It really deals with the placement of numbers, checks and balances, etc. If you plan on having a career in auditing, it involves more communication skills that most think.

    Tenchi gave an excellent post on what your classes will be like. If your grades are solid and you come out of a decent program, you are pretty much guarenteed a job. Hell, you are pretty much guarenteed a job all the time (might not be your job of choice, but you will be working). I used to work for the AA office in Houston, and even though I was there when things blew up, I NEVER MISSED 1 DAY OF WORK. All of our clients still needed audits, so we jsut went to whatever firms the clients were going to. That's the beauty of Accounting. No matter if the economy is doing great or poorly, businesses and individuals will still have to do their books.

    What school are you at? If I were you, I would join the Accounting business group on campus and start interviewing immediately. Companies should come looking for interns during the Spring semester, so you have all of Fall semester to practice. If you get a solid internship or two under your belt by your junior year, you should have no problem getting an internship with a Big 4 firm (if you choose). Once you intern with one, you basically have a job unless you screw up (which is REALLY hard to do).

    JayZ750

    I knew I wanted to major in Accounting before I got to college because I took an two Accounting classes in high school. I also knew even if I didn't want to be an Accountant, companies typically sought us out first.
     
  12. Pole

    Pole Houston Rockets--Tilman Fertitta's latest mess.

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    There's "doing taxes" and then there's "doing tax."

    The very best and very brightest accountants go to the big four and work in IT (not Info. tech. but International Tax).....usually by way of a law degree....and maybe even an LLM.
     
  13. JayZ750

    JayZ750 Contributing Member

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    Haven't heard of many high schools that offered accounting - much less two courses. My point was just to be sure to include other business classes (finance, statistics, management, etc...) to compliment the accounting major.

    As per your second point, I'm not of the opinion that life is about who can find the "best" job first - do what you love, not what gets you through the day.
     
  14. Tenchi

    Tenchi Contributing Member

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    I agree, most of the time when you just enter college you might think you want to do something but then most of the time people change their mind. I was a CS major before I decided on Accounting and I wasn't too interested in it at first but after awhile it gets pretty interesting, you get to see how businesses work. And I didn't mean to offend with the tax comment. I actually enjoy taxation, with all the section codes and constant changing rules, it kind of feels like you're playing a game, well one for nerds. I just meant that during the times when you're a piss poor student you can go do taxes and make some cash during tax season. But, IT is definitely what I would want to do, but I haven't found many positions available so far.
     
  15. Supermac34

    Supermac34 President, Von Wafer Fan Club

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    Accounting Career Summary Example:

    Option 1

    1. Do a five year accounting program at a decent college. Sit and pass CPA as soon as possible.

    2. Get job at big four firm.

    3. Work your a$$ off for 2-3 years.

    4. Go to an industry job (Shell, HP, Exxon, whatever) and make a heck of a lot more money than at the accounting firm.

    5. Progress in any business career path in those companies as you'd like.

    Option 2:

    1. Same as option 1.

    2. Same as option 1.

    3. Stay at big four firm and work your way up. You will be paid below industry market rates for 8 years or so...then you will see a big ramp up when you make it to senior manager.

    4. Become a partner between 10-15 years into working for that company.

    5. You will be VERY highly paid, and your job is basically to take clients to lunch and play golf.

    6. Retire at 55 at 80% of your last 3 years average salary.



    Cons of option 1: Probably won't have the retirement that option 2 has. You'll have to change jobs. Won't hit the top level pay range of a partner, but you will make more per year in the short-medium term.

    Cons of option 2: Make less per year in the short-medium term. Work 60-70 hours a week for 10 years. Get burnt out. Hard to have a family. If you do get married, you have a high chance of divorce. Won't be able to see your kids, ect. Good choice if you stay single or marry another accountant.

    Of course there are many other options, but these are the paths of many.

    You can also open your own firm...do work on the side...teach accounting because you will have a masters.

    Just go look at monster.com and see how many business jobs like you to have a CPA. CPA is often more valuable than an MBA...and if you have both...BINGO!
     
  16. Tenchi

    Tenchi Contributing Member

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    Wow, I think you've just mapped out the next 20 years for me. Almost done with step 1, now I need 2-5. Thanks.
     
  17. hoopgod13

    hoopgod13 Contributing Member

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    i'm entering my 4th year in UT's accounting program...and it's provided me with everything I expected and more. while my other friends are sitting on their ass expecting a job to just come their way, UT's Professional Program in Accounting has opened several doors to me for internships, and I'll be interning this January in H-Town with a Big 4 firm.

    Damn, I love this school.
     
  18. cur.ve

    cur.ve Contributing Member

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    felt compelled to repeat this. i took a couple of accounting courses as an undergrad and felt them to be very useful. they definitely help you in a high level business career, and i think if you want to start your own venture, they will help also. but it's important to spread out your courses in case you might want to do something else. i know plenty of miserable bankers and consultants and accountants who slug on each day because "that's what they studied in school". once you get on the track, it's hard to change. and the highest paying jobs might not be the best ones.

    that said, know how the three/four financial statements flow. ;)
     
  19. mrpaige

    mrpaige Contributing Member

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    Texas Tech had that when I went there for my accounting degree, which was even back before there was the 150-hour requirement for sitting for the CPA exam.

    Though I got the degree, I never took the exam, so I don't know how good my preparation was (and I didn't do the 150 hour thing. I did a regular bachelors and then went to Baylor for the MTAX program.... which I dropped out of a few weeks into the first semester).
     
  20. mrpaige

    mrpaige Contributing Member

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    MY high school in Amarillo had two years of accounting. I took both courses way back when.

    Interestingly, to me anyway, was how little we actually learned in those two years compared to the college level. Those two years equalled just part of the first intro accounting class at the college level.
     

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