Any accountants, or bankers here?

[Syclone892]

So I have been contemplating a career change and was wondering if I could get some insight from people in the business.

Currently I am an assistant fleet manager at a traffic control company, I like the job but I think I am ready for a change. I have liked #'s for quite a while and have been curious about having a career in that field.
I have also been curious about the business management field and what that all entails.

I am 30 and have not gone to college so I know I am behind in that part and I would most likely only be able to take night classes or online classes. My sister is doing the university of phoenix online classes and she really likes it.

I make 55-60k currently and just got my work to give me a work vehicle so now I don't have gas or insurance to deal with

I just wonder how the day to day stuff is and where people work and a general salary range I could be looking at. I have worked at my current job for also ten yrs and feel like I am about maxed out in the company and frankly I would like to get paid more got lots of projects I need to fund

I am sure I am missing some key info so if I did let me know. Thanks everyone for any advice you can give me I greatly appreciate it

[ricer]

I used to be a broker for a mortgage company (the guy responsible for when you close with say Bank of America, but your first payment comes from Citimortgage b/c your mortgage was sold...that was what i did). Now I am a Financial "consultant" for a supply chain company mainly responsible for responding to RFP's/etc.

I have worked in the banking world and deal with accountants all day long. The classes you need aren't necessarily easy but are very boring even for a numbers person and can be very confusing. I went to school for investment banking and with 3-4 more classes can get another BS in accounting. Typical starting salary depending on the area is upper 30's low 40's but with a little bit of time under your belt you will be back to where you are now. once you get to the senior level you should be easily 75K+ (sr accountant, not manager etc).

Work load wise expect to live in excel or another form of accounting software. Mostly dealing with general ledger entries, month/year end close, and auditing. The larger companies will typically give one G/L account to a team to manage because of the overall size of the accounts smaller one will have you doing everything for one or both sides (AP or AR).

All the major news sites say accounting/finance people are in demand but myself and others have been testing the waters and having very little success, so take those sources with a grain of salt.

hope this helps somewhat, BTW don't expect a company car in this industry

[dylanCamaro582]

I just graduated from college with a B.S in Accounting,and it is hard to get a job because everyone is looking for someone with two or more years expericence and ready to take the CPA exam or have it. Its a hard market for recent grads in that industry.

[Chad-1stGen]

If you are asking about such general concepts as "accounting" or "banking" you still have a lot of research to do.

So I started to type out a super long reply talking all about accounting careers. There is too much to cover and too little known about what you really want to do. If you want accounting then your "surest" shot at success is starting in public accounting and getting your CPA. I know *some* successful people who didn't but magnitudes more who did it this way.

I'm a CPA, been doing accounting about 12 years now. Spent over 9 years in public accounting at a Big 4 firm. That is 9 years going dozens and dozens of company's and auditing them. You get a good feel for the background of the people at the top and very few did it with no public accounting background.

I'll add one other thing. Long term if the cost of labor remains extremely different in countries like India and China compared to the US and they continue to pump out far more college graduates than us then I think accounting is ripe for off shoring at the lower levels in large firms (which is were the money is). So if you want to be successful long term you need to be in a position of management or very key judgement.

Small and medium sized business won't necessarily do this but accounting pay at small and medium sized business is awful. You don't get rich being a CPA but they only way to make good money in an accounting department is working for the big companies.

Damn this reply is getting long again. If you have specific questions I'd be happy to answer.

[ricer]

Originally Posted by Chad-1stGen

I'll add one other thing. Long term if the cost of labor remains extremely different in countries like India and China compared to the US and they continue to pump out far more college graduates than us then I think accounting is ripe for off shoring at the lower levels in large firms (which is were the money is). So if you want to be successful long term you need to be in a position of management or very key judgement.

good point chad....our company just went this route and do all of our "basic" accounting and RBE's through them in India. Then in the US do all the finalizing/auditing stuff. In car terms kinda like a crank/rod being forged in china but final machining done in the US

[Syclone892]

Thank you guys for the insight, you have said kinda what I was thinking. I don't want to jump into a new career and find its not what I want was thinking.

I like doing our family budget every month and in general like playing with numbers but I have a feeling it wouldn't be a career I would love after a while.

So off to thinking of another career that would suit me if only I could start up a shop like roadster shop then I would really have a career I love
Thanks again guys!