Picture it – you just aced the CPA exam, you’ve got a team of like-minded professionals who have your back, and you’re ready to embark on that can-do American entrepreneurial spirit and open your very own accounting firm. Sounds great, right? Not to rain on anyone’s parade, but there’s one big question you need to ask yourself before you get started – where are you going to get the money from? It doesn’t take an accounting genius to know that operating your own small business in America requires a lot of money to get started, and nearly as much money to keep it open. Luckily, these days you’ve ..read more

One of the most common reasons why people decide to become a CPA is so that they can have a greater range of career opportunities. But that means much more than choosing between public and private accounting, working at a big four firm or at a smaller firm, or having the freedom to start your own firm. While you can certainly go far in your career by working as an accounting generalist, specializing in niche areas of accounting has been a growing trend in the industry. There are several areas of accounting that involve concepts and principles that generalists might not be as familiar with. So ..read more

We’re all familiar with the old cliches about needing to keep up with changing technology, right? We’ve heard it from basically everyone, starting with your parents telling you to get a job involving computers before you ever went off to college, but there’s a good reason why it comes up so often: it’s true. There are precious few job fields out there that don’t include some kind of technological aspect, and as we’re all aware of thanks to the amount of times we’ve had to buy new cell phones over the years, technology will march on and change whether we want it to or not. This goes double for ..read more

The Q2 cpa exam passing rates, the first for the revised exam, are in!   Q2 2017 Observations Comparing the numbers to the previous two quarters it looks as if the new exam, if not easier, is more suited to today’s CPA candidate.  I would tend to think it better reflects what candidates are learning or know from school and the working world. FAR is still the toughest section by the numbers as it had the smallest increase. AUD had the biggest gain – 9 points.  This was coming off a particularly down Q1 but it’s still significant. BEC got a definite bounce which is interesting co ..read more

Even after years of steady growth, accounting remains one of the fastest growing industries in the American economy. From individuals who need help with their taxes to businesses that face complex financial regulations, accountants are in very high demand and have a wide range of career paths to choose from. A bachelor’s degree can help you start a career in accounting, but what if you want to move a little further up the professional ladder? Some people might choose to go back to school to earn an MBA or MAcc, but others might choose to earn one of the many types of professional certification ..read more

You did it! You worked hard in your cpa review courses, passed the CPA exam, you’ve gotten all your needed accountant certifications, and you just got your first job at a firm as an accountant. Now what? You’re happy to be done with the all-night studying sessions and test anxiety, but sometimes it feels like you’ve just traded that stress for the daily grind. Trust us: it isn’t as bad as you think! Take a deep breath, get another cup of coffee, and settle in for our five survival tips for your first accounting job: Work on your “soft skills”: At school you probably focused strictly on the aca ..read more

Before you can become an officially licensed CPA, you’re going to have to meet a whole lot of requirements. Not only do you have to pass each section of the exam, you need to meet the work experience and education requirements in your state. Before you can do anything else, you’ll need to get your education requirements squared away. The exact rules for becoming a CPA vary from state to state, but in most cases, you’re going to need to successfully complete 150 credit hours worth of classes before you can start taking the exam. (Some states allow you to sit for the CPA exam with 120 credit hou ..read more

Factors are coming together to change the white collar workplace to an extent we haven’t seen in a while.  How we will work, collaborate and be reviewed are evolving.  Whether this is bad or good depends on the individual but we’ll all have to adjust to a greater or lesser degree.   To better understand this, here are the things causing the changes. Virtual Workplace One of the biggest shifts – and one that the accounting industry is coming to grips with – has to do with “the cloud”.  It’s not only here to stay but is becoming the center of our workplace universe more ..read more

Sometimes the only thing more stressful than taking a test is waiting to see how you did on it. Did I answer every question? Did I show my work correctly? Oh god, what if I forgot to put my name on it somehow? We all get these anxieties whether we we’re taking a spelling test in middle school or waiting to see if we’ve finished college, and this can go double for the CPA exam. One of the most well-known gateway tests in any modern profession, the CPA exams can be a huge source of alternating pride, stress, and anxiety during various steps in the process. Other than good preparation (which is w ..read more

Accounting.  The excitement or allure the word evokes falls somewhere between watching paint dry and having a root canal.  So, why do so many people of every stripe choose it as a career?  Considering the general perception of the job the answers given will surprise you. The Solution The top reason accountants give for liking their job is the problem-solving aspect.  They love using their analytical skills to first figure out what the issue is and then formulate a solution for it.  They also get satisfaction from the manifestation of their work in the real world – seei ..read more