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Stevie Smith

Lon Schiffbauer

Bus 1010

April 22, 2018

Certified Public Accountant

Job Description:

There are many job opportunities to secure when holding CPA licensure, and the daily routine

can vary depending if you’re a public or private accountant. CPA business duties/responsibilities

include: overseeing budgets, business audits, bookkeeping, tax returns, fiscal recommendations,

legal violations, accounting errors, financial reports, acting as a consultant, data analysis,

forecasting/making fiscal predictions and many more (workable, 2017). They also must keep up

on new government policies and do 80 hours of continuing education every two years. They are

usually in an office setting with a computer and many programs. They can be working for a firm

or for a company as a personal CPA.

General Career Path/General Education Experience:

Usually a CPA begins their career path in college. In most states they require a total of 150 hours

of coursework, which is equal to obtaining a master’s degree, to obtain CPA licensure. Obtaining

this degree takes about 5-6 yrs. on average, and most schools offer the degree as a combined

masters and bachelors. This helps prepare the students for the Certified Public Accountant exam.

They can then pursue their CMA certification, which also requires a bachelor’s degree and two

years of work in management accounting, which would help them advance in their career.
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Generally, there are two different types of CPA’s a public or a private. For a public accountant,

you usually begin in an entry-level accounting position. After many years, you are likely to

advance to a senior accountant and serving time with that title before you advance to a

managerial position. The goal is to rise to be a partner. For a private accountant, you also start in

entry-level and usually move up into managerial positions as you gain seniority. The end goal for

a private accountant is to become the CFO. This can be more challenging than becoming partner

(Half, R. 2018).

Average Salary:

The average salary for a Certified Public Accountant is $62,410 per year (payscale, 2017) or

$69,350 per year (bls, 2017). Positions that pay the most are Tax Consulting and Financial

Analysis. Having more experience doesn’t really affect the income. The higher end of the scale

is $100,000 +, and the lower end is $45,000.

Career Outlook:

As globalization of business related to international trade and mergers and acquisitions grows,

then there becomes a higher demand for accountants. Since businesses have had scandals

recently, they will likely have to face stricter regulations which creates a higher demand for

CPA’s. The job growth rate is expected to grow about 10 percent through 2026, which is higher

than the normal growth rate for all occupations. If you further your education (if you had not

received your masters already) and secure more certifications, then you can advance in your

career. There are many certifications including the CISA, CFA, CMA, CIA, CGMA, and CPP

(All Business Schools, 2018).

Bio of Someone in The Profession:

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Question #1: Why did you want to be a CPA?

Accounting in high school came easy very easy to me, so I decided to stick with accounting

through college. I received my masters and took my licensing test to become a CPA. I went to

school for six years in total, and I had to pass four parts of the CPA exam to obtain my license.

Question #2: What do you like the most about the job?

I enjoy the work environment. I enjoy associating with my clients and being surrounded by many

smart people that my firm consists of. I enjoy being at the office for sometimes over 40/hrs. per

week because I always said I would be happy to work two jobs, so anytime I work under 80

hours in a week I consider myself lucky. The pay is also great and provides for my family and I.

Question #3: What do you like the least about the job?

I do not really enjoy collecting bills from my clients/customers. I don’t do a lot of repetitive

work because I have other employees who prepare the information, some who check the

information, and I do the final check on the more particular clients.

Question #4: Describe your greatest accomplishment since gaining your CPA license?

Providing a good living for my family. This is going to be a long story, but – while I was going

to school, and my wife was working full time, I had to drop off my son at daycare for the first

time. That was the hardest thing to do, and at that moment I decided that I didn’t care if I must

work two jobs I was going to be able to provide for my family and let my wife be able to stay

home with the kids. I obtained my degree and my wife quit her job and we were able to live

comfortably since.

Question #5: How do you keep up with tax law changes?

I am able to travel to seminars, we host meetings at the office for continuing education, and there

is a lot of reading and trainings. You must have at least 80 hours of continuing education every
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two years to maintain your CPA licensure.

Question #6: How do you stay motivated while doing repetitive tasks, like processing invoices?

It’s not very repetitive for what I do in my job. We have busy season every year, but I’m not

doing the same thing every day. I don’t reconcile the accounts or post the ledgers. Every clients

tax return is different, every set of books is different, every client has different issues that you

deal with. There is a lot of variety in what I do. I have the entry level employees prepare the ta

returns, the seniors review those prepared taxes. The partners, which is what my title is, deal with

clients, supervise staff, and review larger returns that need a second review.

Question #7: Describe a time when your attention to detail saved you from making a mistake at

work (e.g. in a report.)

Part, if not most, of the job is paying attention to detail. People that are CPAs generally pay

attention to detail. I can’t think of a particular time that saved me from making a mistake, but we

must review and re-review our returns for some of our larger clients to verify that we didn’t miss

anything.

Question #8: What are the pros/cons of career:

I would say that it is mostly pros. I work with a lot of smart people. I can make a good living- but

you have to work hard in order to gain the benefits. I work with many different people/clients,

travel for seminars, go out to nice lunches for business meetings. The only con I can think of is if

someone doesn’t like telling people they owe money or having those hard conversations with

your clients.

Pros and Cons:

Pros:
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CPA’s have many job opportunities. Almost every business is in need of an accountant. They are

necessary to keep businesses within their budgets. It’s also a straight forward career path. You

have to follow your degree path in order to obtain your degree and certification. They generally

have a high salary, as explained in prior paragraphs. They usually secure a stable position, even

when the economy fluctuates they maintain a stable career. This also means they don’t have to

worry about economic downturns. Lastly, they have flexibility of choosing the boss. Since there

is a high demand for accountants, you can basically choose from any field and company that

you’re interested in (Hill, 2015).

Cons

You need to obtain your education and CPA certification in order to become a CPA. As stated

above this averages about 5-6 years. The work can also become repetitive depending on what

position you are working in, so you may become bored with your job. If you are a creature of

habit, this may not be a con for you. There is a lot of overtime work, especially during busy

season, but it definitely pays. You may have to travel for seminars and trainings. This could be a

pro to people who like to travel for work, but it’s a con for those who hate sleeping in hotel beds

and being jet lagged. Lastly, accounting can be stressful with all the deadlines and having to pay

attention to detail (Hill, 2015).

Your “fit” with this career:

After having done all this research on CPA’s I still am undecided. It sounds extremely tempting

on paper, however taking an actual accounting class is a gamechanger. Growing up I have

always been good with numbers, and I have always thought about becoming a CPA. However,

once I started college and took an accounting class online, well let’s just say it was the first C I

have ever received IN MY LIFE. I had to caps that, so you can understand how surprising it was
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to me how hard the class was. I have still not given up hope on gaining my CPA licensure, in

fact, I am taking another accounting class this summer to seal the deal on whether I need to push

through and work my way through an accounting degree or give up and pursue business.

Everything about being a CPA is enticing to me and I really hope this next class will help me

decide if it’s what I want to pursue.

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path

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