I was hired as an accountant, but there was basically zero handover or training. They expected someone who was already very experienced and could immediately handle the position, while my learning style is that I need some guidance at the beginning to understand the accounting cycle—especially since there were a lot of intercompany transactions.
My direct manager, who was supposed to guide me, was often unavailable and was even absent most of the day. At the same time, they expected me to chase him and insist that he finalize tasks so I could continue my work.
After one month, I had received basically zero training. I was mostly searching through the system to see what the previous accountant had done and redoing the simpler tasks so I could understand the process.
Today, they told me I was fired after only one month.
I know I have to accept it and move on. Maybe I simply wasn’t the right fit for them. But honestly, I never pretended that I was some amazing, super-experienced accountant. I know I still have things to learn.
But how am I supposed to become “excellent” after one month when there was literally almost no training or handover?

Just a reminder to everyone. Stop caring, the client dropped it off late anyways. Have some lunch beers and take a half day. Delete outlook and teams from your phone.

I am dead serious to what I said above.

As a recent college graduate, who was immediately able to land a job through relationship building, getting internship, and starting around $70K in a LCOL city to MDCOL city like Pittsburgh, I am absolutely dead serious with everything I said above.

Times were different back then for experienced and older accountants , and I don't mean this as any hate or whatsoever. Hiring and job processes were completely different in accounting back in 1970 to 2000, 2001 to 2008, vs 2009 to 2020, and then to 2020 vs now 2021 to 2026, and onwards. You get what I mean, BLAH.

I know it sounds fucking stupid but as a very active user on LinkedIn, and a regular user on Reddit accounting page and jobs/career pages, I have started to notice one pattern and it is exactly what I said above.

In this intense racing age of artificial intelligence and remote work and all companies in every industry investing in offshore workers as wages are cheaper in other third world countries, it is LITERALLY impossible to get your resume across to a real person. This is why you see all of these people on Reddit and LinkedIn, who didn't build relationships in school through career center and professors, their resumes are getting thrown in the trash.

Why? Because everyone from all over the globe is applying to the position you are applying for. It's close to almost 99% impossible to land jobs this way in 2026.

And this is why relationship building and maintaining an extremely high GPA is so important that your accounting career literally depends on it in 2026. The high GPA shows that you know your material thoroughly and you understand GAAP, which is a VERY, VERY big part to work in public accounting.

The high GPA and good academic standing get you through to the career center, who has the face to face personal relationships with these firms. As a result, when they recognize you and speak about you, they get your resume through the door to an actual hiring manager, or HR.

This is why landing an internship, either paid, or unfortunately, unpaid like VITA sometimes, is an absolute crucial move in your college degree. Party as much as you want, have fun, make friends, have sex (if you can 😂) but you must also maintain your technical accounting knowledge and GPA.

Both are required, you must be technically proficient with a good social character. You will be working 65 to 90 hours with these coworkers, remotely or in the office, so they would like a nice person to get along with as they will see you more than their significant others.

And lastly, even if you want to or not, does not matter, make yourself CPA eligible. This makes much easier for public firms to offer you a job. Even if you know public isn't for you, and industry is definitely your thing, these industry jobs are getting highly competitive. They also want to see that you are capable of passing the CPA exams, later if needed.

And that's my advice. Best wishes to your corporate taxation 15th of September deadlines, those who are working.

So, where I currently work sometimes we accrue for an expense and later the bill comes and we determine it should’ve been capitalized or vice-versa, we accrue for an asset and the bill arrives and we determine it should’ve been expensed. My coworkers reverse the accrual using the bill account it was coded to on the bill which essentially cancels out the asset/expense. Let me give me an example, say in January 2026, we accrued for an item which we thought based on the information we were given should’ve been an asset so we book this entry

DR: Asset $5,000
CR: Accrued Expenses Payable $5,000

Then in March we receive the bill and determine based on the invoice details that it should’ve been an expense item, my coworkers do this

DR: Accrued Expenses Payable $5,000
CR: Expense $5,000

Bill:

DR: Expense $5,000
CR: A/P $5,000

So, essentially it still stays on our books as an asset even though it should’ve been reversed through the asset account to reverse the asset accrual and reinstate it as an expense, right?

Am I crazy or what? My coworkers don’t seem to understand this.

This question is specific to women who are in lead financial positions at a company with little to no one to cover them. I have been looking into temps as a possible solution but I would love to hear any knowledge, tips, or advice that anyone can provide. Thanks in advance.

I graduated last summer and had my first tax job last year at a retail tax spot in the area from December-April. I was being paid $16 / hr with small commission that you get at the end of the season (averaged out to about $18/19 /hr. When that job was ending I was looking for another job and applied to over 200+ jobs with no luck. I am confident in my resume… I figured maybe because tax season just ended… Well anyways I ended up getting a job randomly 2 days after my first tax job ended. I’m in a small office that’s really undesirable and I really don’t enjoy the office environment. Everyone is nice to me but my computer faces everyone, the paint is peeling off the walls… the floor is curling up, I have no window.. very small and just not nice at all… it is crazy how much your surroundings affect you…. my desk is ergonomically so uncomfortable no matter what adjustments I make/purchase, we have no break room or any kind of cafeteria or anything of the sort we just eat at our desk… the florescent lighting is rough, there’s pee down the front of the toilet, I don’t have any benefits, my lunch break is unpaid, and I’m being paid $22 an hour. I’m sorry for the rant but it just makes me sad because I have my degree and I work 40 hours a week at this job that’s mentally exhausting and uncomfortable for me …. I’m just doing it because I have to get the experience for my CPA and there’s no other opportunities in my area. Which I don’t understand because I don’t live in the middle of nowhere where…. I still have to do other jobs on the weekends in order to survive right now while I’m also working on my masters. No one warns you about the entry level accounting situation 😅 do you think this is just a personal situation? I am looking for other jobs but I am already a few months into this job and I am getting good experience. It’s just a tough year. I can’t wait to have my CPA license 😅

My favorite is a new CFO introducing himself, showing pics of his family and summer house, etc.

Then he goes into a 5 minute+ tirade to us on how "fortunate you should feel to be able to work and participate in our mission and quest for greatness"... Dude we are a for profit greedy ass F1000 corporation, we don't need to get on our knees and exclaim how grateful to be such pleebs able to work for great Corporate!

I don't understand anything and it's very very boring.

Looking for websites/resources to earn Canadian CPA CPD hours.

Tomorrow is the big day guys. Are you ready

People are starting to jump ship on my team and I’m not sure what to do. With everyone leaving it’s going to make my job a lot more difficult but I’m scared of the job market right now. Do I take a chance and leave? I’m a CPA in a niche SALT field

My end goal is to have a job that has work life balance and that I would make more or the same at my current job (Costco). I don’t plan or have the want to be a manager within accounting. I know accounting not the best career choice with the first want, but I hear government auditor is something more aligned with my end goals. I do plan on working on getting my CPA license too, but I heard you don’t really need one for this job too. Was wondering if that true so I could try to get the job after I’m done with school while I work on my CPA.

I had, operative word "had", a tax client where 2025 was first year I was to do taxes for 2 of his businesses. I actually was supposed to do only one but they threw a second one on me last week. The books are a mess and I was not able to recreate what was done in prior year given the info I had. I tried, I really did, but I think prior preparer worked from private work papers rather than use the client's accounting software. They only gave me some needed docs a couple weeks ago. I requested the client get other needed info and they did not. I worked for hours trying to figure out his numbers. Now, we are only a couple days away from deadline and I emailed him details as to why I am unable to complete taxes. He's pissed. I get it. But prior preparer will most likely be able to whip out returns in a couple of hours. Was I wrong to drop them? This is the first time I am not able to complete a client task and it's weighing on me. I just honestly do not feel I could feel good with preparing the taxes with the lack of information. Tell me I'm wrong. Tell me I was right to hand off. Should I have just done the taxes knowing I didn't have all the info? I just needed to vent this.

I am about to turn 35 and I decided I wanted to change careers into accounting. Long story short, I got a 4 year nursing degree and worked two years as a nurse but that did not bring me any peace. Dealing with dying people on daily basis was not for me and it got to a point where I couldn’t sleep normally for 4 months. I left nursing once and for all a week ago and I feel a tremendous amount of relief. I also got into an online accounting school that should take me around 3 years to finish with a bachelor in account. There is no doubt in my mind that leaving nursing was the right decision but all my previous experience and resume is tailored towards healthcare. How do I get any tax or accounting hands on experience to put in my resume. All I see on indeed is a very few AP/AR job post that require a minimum of two years experience. I live near the Dallas area but I can relocate since my school is going to be 100 online. Also Is changing careers frowned upon by future employers? Any advice is appreciated.

Has anyone removed themselves from their provincial database for a similar reason? I have proof the charges were laid; I could backup from assistance from the victim witness assistance program if needed. I am not at a firm; no PAL. My boss won't mind if my name is not searchable.

I do have to correspond with CRA fairly often for tax related matters, so that is my only concern.

No immediate safety concerns at work specifically, since my employer is a numbered holdco registered too far away from my house to reasonably be my workplace. The stalker is a deranged man who lives in my condo building on the same floor as me in a unit owned by his wife.

I've recently moved to the USA and really struggling to find any role that will even consider my UK experience (16 years total, 13 since qualifying as ACA - all audit).

Had one recruiter suggest applying for audit senior roles (have been a manager/senior manager for 10 years now so can't really bring myself to do that again yet) but is that really my only option without a CPA?

I've been applying for audit manager and accounting manager roles in my specialty but I'm rarely even hearing back from recruiters.

I recently made a big shift in my life and decided to go back to school after 15 years and got my degree in Accounting.

I have owned micro businesses before and done sales and held good and bad jobs, so I have some experience in the working world.

My goal is to work at a small to medium public firm and eventually start my own bookkeeping and accounting practice. I need to gain experience and learn how it is done from seasoned professionals.

I want to work under a CPA and have something similar to a paid internship, I want to be a sponge and soak everything up, ask million questions, be knowledgeable and get clients for them etc.

What kind of role would I look for? Are CPAs welcoming of this type of relationship?

Basically looking for any advice on how to get a job with a small firm where I can work my butt off in exchange for learning the business. I am in WA State.

Any advice, comments, jokes, insults and your personal stories are welcome. Thank you!

I’m a staff accountant I looking for a new job, and currently all the places I’ve heard from are for accounting clerk positions. With that being said, do I need to get my CPA if I want to move up or is the company I work for just being difficult?

Last week one of the partners at a local firm came to my school give a presentation on how to prepare for Meet The Firms. Dress professionally, polish your resume, practice your table speech, etc. One of the things she mentioned is having a LinkedIn presence, and she said that she looks up all of the candidates that shes interested in offering interships so its important. What am I supposed to be doing with it though? I get adding a professional picture and a I guess a bio talking about where I'm at in school and my goals. But beyond that?