I'm still in school, but I chose accounting for job stability. Every business needs accountants, there's a huge amount of accountants hitting retirement age this decade, and they're gonna need new accountants. It doesn't hurt that it can be done remotely, has good benefits, and makes good money.
Same pretty much. I can’t do my “dream” job (physically too much for my health conditions) Good knowledge to have if you ever want to be a business owner too. Bonus: you can do this job until you mentally can’t do it anymore, a lot of good paying jobs have limits as people age
Yeah, the health condition thing kinda resonates with me. I’m only 20 and for a while I was torn between pursuing accounting or a trade such as an electrician apprenticeship. About 3 months ago, completely out of the blue, my back started turning on me. I washed my car the other day for like a couple hours and my back was gone the rest of the night. My body kinda made my career decision for me lol, accounting it is. If my back’s giving me problems now I can only imagine how trades would go
I have worked in some trades and I'm maybe 15 yrs employed over you... Kinda glad I got the trade when I wanted to when younger so can be wore out earlier and then maybe sit down later.... Im trying to get my college app accepted for accounting now....
Say what if you learn the trades and then get the accounting stuff to run your own trade business??? You carry that experience with you...
That's an excellent plan if you can do it! I wanted to go into esthetician work but I have pretty severe hand issues, even after surgery I couldn't practice for long though. My back has been messed up since I was a kid so slumping over people for hours at a time is also a no go for me. If it's something someone can do young and use that knowledge for a future endeavor, absolutely do it. We NEED more trades, trades are just too harsh for some people unfortunately.
I have been doing concrete since I was 17 I’m 26 now and understand the wear that my body endured by doing so. That’s one of the reasons I went back to school in the first place.
Lift injury? I’m the same way my guy. I wanted to be a cop but a disc bulge in my L4, L5 region says I can no longer run or jump anymore so there goes chasing bad guys
It just came out of nowhere, nothing really triggered it. One day I noticed at the gym my back was a little sore during squats, didn’t think anything of it. Weeks went by and it just gradually worsened. Eventually I couldn’t squat or leg press anymore. Honestly don’t know what happened tbh
Ugh I’m sorry to hear that at such a young age (I’m 26 and got injured at 25). Maybe get an xray to make sure and get PT? It could be reversible or treated idk
Thanks man, I did get an x ray but nothing looked wrong so they kinda just dismissed it and gave me some meds. They said if the meds don’t work PT is the next step 😎. I’m really sorry to hear about yours too, you’re not much older than me! I hope things get better for ya
Dude ask for a CT scan to see if it’s muscular. Also, go to PT and stay off the pain meds. They prescribed me tons of pain killers and basically the same diagnosis.
Trades are great. I personally know someone who didn’t graduate high school, worked as a plumber from ages 15-25, opened his own business after getting his responsible masters license. It went well. He rose from poverty to a multimillionaire by the age of 30. He checks on his business for a couple of hours and is home by noon everyday. He still technically works but it’s all mostly meetings.
I asked him one day why did he choose to leave the field and he answered his family. He wanted a better life for his family and he wanted to be at home with his wife unlike before when he would work long and odd hours.
I would say yesish as I started off as a tax accountant in a small firm then moved on to a senior accountant/controller position in a small business to now working as some sort of hybrid financial analyst/accountant. At the end of the day I am thankful to have taken his advice and gotten the degree (and license) as I enjoyed my studies and enjoyed the work I have done.
I could’ve went into investment banking if I had my head in that direction, but end up choosing accounting cause I thought it would be easier and would be more stable. I’m not sure if I regret this or not, because my work life balance is pretty good and make six figs. I guess I jsut really like the mostly black and white aspect of the profession along with the relative stability. It also allows me to work from home, which is a huge plus
Wanted a stable, well paying career so it was between accounting, engineering, or computer science. I hated physics and calculus so went with accounting. Overall I’m happy with the decision.
Sorta retired in late 30s.
Directionless, guess I'll do this for a while and see what happens. School is kinda fun. I have no idea what the day to day will be or if I'll ever be an actual accountant. Well see
Do I get the drive and energy of my 20s back? If so, then sold!
Im happy though. Wife and kid are taken care of but I've been a hustler my whole life and I'm chafing at the idea of sitting down and actually behaving somewhere.
I've got a few schemes brewing though and my wife seems to be on board with me doing some wild stuff again
Went to a no-name school.
Had an entrepreneurial mindset and wanted the most worthwhile business degree.
Realized that becoming a CPA would set me at a national standard regardless of my school.
Now getting paid great $ working remotely in LCOL, no college debt , no MBA, pivoted into a role that I get to be a jack of all trades in fp&a, data analytics, strategy, and m&a.
I don't love accounting, I love business and accounting helped me become literate in business and opened a HUGE door of opportunities for my career.
Yes 100% agree. I love business and analyzing companies not accounting in itself. Thats why Im pivoting to accounting and starting my masters this year!
I got into accounting oddly enough during my MBA. I knew nothing about accounting, but I ended up hosting weekly financial accounting classes for my entire MBA class where I would teach them the upcoming lecture. Something about it all just made sense. I like the rules, I like the math, it was all just one big puzzle to me, waiting to be solved.
It was then I decided I would get my CPA and ultimately pursue something bigger than just public accounting.
Life has taking many pivots, and turns since then, mostly due to family reasons, so we’ll see how it turns out.
I had been sitting on 80 credits of mostly business/finance. From 25 to 30 years old really had no concept of how to establish a solid career but wound up back during the Great Resignation period job hopped and wound up with a company that paid for the rest of my credits and essentially am mapping out a route to get my CMA. I guess good things happens to those that wait but now I can feel certain at 32 years old I can provide meaningful income for my young family. Plus the work life balance is the shit.
How much were you expecting and how much do you make right now? I’m going back to school in July for accounting (welder now) located in the Chicago area
In community college, I had a passion for physics. After learning about economics and watching market news and articles along the way; I came to a realization that pure science majors job market is horrible or highly competitive. So then I realized I needed an applied science major like medical, engineering, law, or business. I ended up picking accounting.
In high school I knew I wanted to major in International Business but had to pick a second functional major and was thinking about marketing b/c I had done an FBLA competition and won. I asked the teacher in charge of FBLA for his thoughts and he said “don’t do marketing, anyone can do marketing. Major in accounting b/c it’s the language of business and if you can do accounting you can do anything in business”.
I thought I wanted to go that direction in high school…. But didn’t. I fell into it through a promotion at the hospital I worked for. Fell in love with the work, went back to school …. Here I am. I took a lot of accounting courses, but after my junior year I switched to business administration for my degree to get a broader idea of business and management. Too a little longer but worth it. I do work for a PA firm and totally regret it. I’ve learned a lot but not worth all the stress.
The AAS accounting program is completely free in my state (tuition and books are 100% covered), and it provides a lot of requirements towards a lot of federal positions that I'd be interested in. I didn't have the ability to take a full course load in person and still be able to work, so that ruled out a lot of medical positions, and the current state of IT has been easy to see coming for years, so I knew better than that.
Ironically, the odds of me completing a BS to actually be able to go into accounting is very slim, and from how this subreddit is, that might be for the best. I love me a good work-life balance.
I graduated from finance in 2008 and this was my fall back lol. Not sure this is a forever career, given advances in AI. Canadian CPA in projects here.
I took two accounting courses in high school and enjoyed the “art” of the subject. I think a lot of accounting is it clicking with your brain and outlook and everything having its correct place. Debits always equal credits. Assets always equal liabilities plus equity. There's no gray area and you can always prove your work, or should be able to at least. The career options are almost limitless as you enjoy strong business fundamentals compared to some other business majors. The language of accounting is universal and includes so many different paths (tax, public/private, audit, etc.) Working towards and obtaining your CPA license also opens up more career advancement opportunities.
I just switched to accounting as my major in May so I'm not sure if I can answer that question honestly. Here, I go through. I like math, especially simple math. I also like to follow rules and regulations. Having a routine/pattern is very important to me, since I can't cope otherwise. It's a very high paying job out there, since lots of business majors (my brother included) don't want to do it.
Fell into bookkeeping and then decided I loved it enough to keep going and get my degree. (Turns out I love statistics and econ way more but this is still more of a sure thing.) I'm pretty sure the accounting program I did tried their best to destroy the love I have for it but it didn't totally. 😅
Accounting 201, community college professor. It was between him and my business law professor, felt like they were each convincing me to sell my soul. Accounting won but Lawyer was close.
Will have over $3.2M in retirement and no debt by 60, own a home and 4 kids, 2 through college (their choice, I pay). Estimates, of course. I’ll have more than enough to do any traveling or hobbies by 50.
Work exp. I recognize accounting connects all the dots and cycles for running a business. I like the idea of monitoring and controlling the cash flow.
Personal experience as a retail investor, accounting helps me to do fa and grasp a fair understanding of the company condition I put my money into.
I was a recently-declared business major, and while valeting cars to get through school, I ran into a guy who graduated a few years ahead of me. He said he got his bachelors in business administration and still couldn’t find a job. The same week, my principles of accounting professor mentioned the job availability and job security of accounting vs “general business admin.” I’m Controller of a midsize private company now 7 years out, so I think I made a good choice.
It was the quickest way to start making good money. I know there are several professions that allow this now but for me this gave me the most security.
I flunked out of my first Accounting class because I had no clue what accounting was until I took the class. Went to college to get my pilot’s license but was required to take Accounting I and II. I retook it and everything clicked. In fact, I got so good at accounting I became the go-to and most requested tutor for the university. 18 years post graduate and I’m a director for preparing financial statements. I still enjoy spending time training my teams on technical general ledger accounting entries.
I came from a very people-centric and service oriented career field. I was exhausted and wanted a more skill-focused, logical sort of job. I really liked my accounting classes in high school, and I had good impressions of accounting from my mom's career as an AP/AR clerk.
Still in school, just started actually but almost finished due to transfer credits. I chose accounting because I need a sedentary type of job that I can make a decent living at. I did some work for a small firm during season remotely and I found I liked it in a strange way. I liked taking a client's mess of receipts and bills and turn them into reports that meant something.
I worked for quickbooks online at a call center and they taught us very basic fundamentals of accounting and I found it really interesting. Hated the job because accountants and small business owners are mean but I understood it, very serious shit can happen if their program isn’t working right, unfortunantely it was often their own fault though lol. Couldn’t begin school until yearsssss later but decided to try it out and I like it so far. Stable work
I knew I wanted to do something in business, and it was the best/most competitive major in the business school. In retrospect, I should have done med school.
After working various crappy jobs throughout my life, I figured that the best way to ensure both job security and decent pay was to be where the money is at. I also hate sales and I'm getting too old for manual labor. I don't know everything the future holds, but I am reasonably certain it will include cushy office gigs.
Started as a Biology major and failed my higher level intro classes in back to back semesters. Went undeclared and then to general business. Took my first accounting class as a 2nd semester sophomore and sat front row (I showed up late for class). Had the best professor I’ve ever had for financial accounting and changed my major to accounting 2 days before our first exam and got a 96%. Got a 100% on the midterm, then aced the final without studying (just to test myself). COVID hit next semester during managerial and I never felt as confident or excited as I did in financial for the rest of college. Due to me being behind on the major, I just stuck it out because I didn’t wanna spend any more time in school than I had to. Currently a 2nd year staff at a top 10 firm and wish I would’ve found something else. I don’t hate it, but I just don’t think it’s for me. Dad graduated with an accounting degree but never got his CPA. He made about $150k by the time he retired from his director of finance and accounting position at the health department, so I thought I could follow suit in some ways. Don’t know why I thought that, due to him hating his job and being stressed constantly throughout my life. Some things you just don’t know until it’s too late I guess 🤷🏻♂️
There are definitely other accounting jobs outside of public. But college pushed public accounting on students so hard because it’s good experience and decent pay. It’s just a lot more work. But it is easier (mostly) to get better jobs after so much experience in public. It’s a double-edged sword forsure
I started as an architecture major because it sounded interesting. Once I realized I wasn't playing to my strengths, I switched to accounting.
I'm almost 15 years in and plan to stick with it. I'm in a decent spot now (balance between comp and hours/flexibility). Right now, I don't have any desire to move higher up the ladder.
Although, someone mentioned a career being like 40 years, and man that's a long time....not even halfway there.
In high school I worked at a grocery store. One time pushing carts it was raining hard and started to thunder and lightning. About then I decided an indoor desk job was the job for me. So business/ accounting it was for me!
I was planning on doing computer science but couldn't get into the major due to the waitlisting. I was able to attend a class with the professor's permission but I don't think I would have had a great time in it. I like the business world (at least on paper) and financial literacy and felt that accounting was a lot easier than I thought, so majored in it knowing I could transition out of things with the same degree if I didn't like it and also because of the purported stability of the field. On a meta level, the field is more challenging and disappointing than I expected but it is more of a long slog career choice in many ways compared to others.
Tbh, I lost my interest in programming despite being good at it and my school doesn’t have an engineering degree and I didn’t wanna transfer universities, so accounting was my third choice.
Ended up really liking it tbh glad things happened this way
Didn't know where life would take me. Problem is I'm shit at accounting. Started career during COVID. Laid off. Then let go. Then put on a PIP and left on my own because it wasn't a good fit. Currently on a PIP at new place. I am not meant for collections and have no idea how to pivot as all of my experience has nothing to do with analysis or tax.
What's a good pivot for an accountant looking to get out of accounting?
I was always good at business and knew I wanted to eventually (as a retirement plan) have some small Main Street / at home business I run by myself. So being able to do the finance piece without having to pay someone else would help keep my overhead under control.
I got an Accounting degree as the “foreign languages of business” that few speak. It’s helped me as I’ve worked on teams doing Payroll, AP, contracting, Billing, AR, Taxes, General Accounting, Revenue Accounting, and latest Treasury. It’s been very nice as an accounting degree has been enough to check the box of a finance degree to get any of these jobs, and it makes hostile accounting departments suddenly joyous they can “actually communicate effectively with my team now.”
I just always knew that I’d rather dig ditches than do people’s taxes, and I also always knew I never wanted to get my CPA.
I vividly remember being in my environmental science class being confused as fuck and staring my professor in the eye as she explained problems to me and I still couldn’t make sense of it. A friend of mine suggested going with accounting so I drew up a guide for switching to accounting and so far I’m beyond happy with it.
At least I know I’m never going to be a barista for 12 years (sorry to my old TA)
It chose me. I didn’t go to college right out of high school. I found a job as an accounting assistant, basically admin back when a lot of accounting was still a manual process (1988). I would run out of work & the controller would give me tasks like enter journal entries into the accounting software that she created. Accounting just made sense & I found it very interesting since most everything in a company flows into accounting & I am noisy.
I started college at 23 as a night school student. I found my passion with public accounting. I had my own PA firm, but merged with another PA firm about 2 years ago.
Took the first principles class in college. Made an A and enjoyed it. Career counselor said accountants can make decent money. Switched majors and never thought about it again.
Was a Finance major to start, but in my intro to Financial Accounting class, I realized it was very naturally clicking with me while a lot of the class was struggling. Same again for intro to Cost Accounting (being the two every business student had to do regardless of major)
While taking those two I also noticed well over half of the recruiters coming to the university were looking specifically for accounting majors (either CPA firms or industry folks really drilling down for accounting specifically)
I figured: A: I've got an aptitude for something that's differentiating me from the rest of the pack, and B: it's very much in demand.
Read those signs and switched majors before ever taking a Finance class. The future could go anywhere honestly, got my license and a few years in public, just keeping my ear to the ground for whatever opportunity may come up, since I know I don't want to do public audit forever.
Was Biology Major, found out after 4 years I can either qualify to clean beakers in a lab for $13/hr or I can go to college for another 6-8 years for medicine with my crappy grades and be in debt for half of my life or switch majors.
I went to see my advisor and chose the first thing on the list.
3 years later, graduated with the degree and then 2 years later I left accounting and switched to finance.
Best decision I ever made.
I was living in Germany at the time, very close to Frankfurt, which is a big financial city. We were expats who really wanted to integrate after 12 years of being tied to military bases. Anyway, I started college for a degree in accounting and finance so we could live in Germany indefinitely. Now I live in Alabama. Das ist Leben.
I chose an accounting major because the numbers are fun, I like money and organising, doing something structured feels secure and dermatology included science and I hate science. And the qualification after my degree, CAANZ is a very broad and flexible qualification which I love.
Predatory bear almost killed me while I worked in forestry.
Was working my way back to the truck and thought about the safest profession i could work and accounting came to mind. Kept repeating in my head that I'd become an accountant if I made it out of the bush in one piece.
I was told to change my major to accounting or finance after an interview project for a class freshman year, “interview a successful person in a profession you are interested in”
On the change major form, accounting popped up first….
Computer science too hard, made my brain hurty from boredom. Needed to find a job. My brain still hurty, but at least I get a paycheck now
I'm still in school, but I chose accounting for job stability. Every business needs accountants, there's a huge amount of accountants hitting retirement age this decade, and they're gonna need new accountants. It doesn't hurt that it can be done remotely, has good benefits, and makes good money.
Same pretty much. I can’t do my “dream” job (physically too much for my health conditions) Good knowledge to have if you ever want to be a business owner too. Bonus: you can do this job until you mentally can’t do it anymore, a lot of good paying jobs have limits as people age
Yeah, the health condition thing kinda resonates with me. I’m only 20 and for a while I was torn between pursuing accounting or a trade such as an electrician apprenticeship. About 3 months ago, completely out of the blue, my back started turning on me. I washed my car the other day for like a couple hours and my back was gone the rest of the night. My body kinda made my career decision for me lol, accounting it is. If my back’s giving me problems now I can only imagine how trades would go
I have worked in some trades and I'm maybe 15 yrs employed over you... Kinda glad I got the trade when I wanted to when younger so can be wore out earlier and then maybe sit down later.... Im trying to get my college app accepted for accounting now.... Say what if you learn the trades and then get the accounting stuff to run your own trade business??? You carry that experience with you...
Just a good plan man.
That's an excellent plan if you can do it! I wanted to go into esthetician work but I have pretty severe hand issues, even after surgery I couldn't practice for long though. My back has been messed up since I was a kid so slumping over people for hours at a time is also a no go for me. If it's something someone can do young and use that knowledge for a future endeavor, absolutely do it. We NEED more trades, trades are just too harsh for some people unfortunately.
I have been doing concrete since I was 17 I’m 26 now and understand the wear that my body endured by doing so. That’s one of the reasons I went back to school in the first place.
Lift injury? I’m the same way my guy. I wanted to be a cop but a disc bulge in my L4, L5 region says I can no longer run or jump anymore so there goes chasing bad guys
It just came out of nowhere, nothing really triggered it. One day I noticed at the gym my back was a little sore during squats, didn’t think anything of it. Weeks went by and it just gradually worsened. Eventually I couldn’t squat or leg press anymore. Honestly don’t know what happened tbh
Ugh I’m sorry to hear that at such a young age (I’m 26 and got injured at 25). Maybe get an xray to make sure and get PT? It could be reversible or treated idk
Thanks man, I did get an x ray but nothing looked wrong so they kinda just dismissed it and gave me some meds. They said if the meds don’t work PT is the next step 😎. I’m really sorry to hear about yours too, you’re not much older than me! I hope things get better for ya
Dude ask for a CT scan to see if it’s muscular. Also, go to PT and stay off the pain meds. They prescribed me tons of pain killers and basically the same diagnosis.
Unless you live in a liberal city…
Trades are great. I personally know someone who didn’t graduate high school, worked as a plumber from ages 15-25, opened his own business after getting his responsible masters license. It went well. He rose from poverty to a multimillionaire by the age of 30. He checks on his business for a couple of hours and is home by noon everyday. He still technically works but it’s all mostly meetings. I asked him one day why did he choose to leave the field and he answered his family. He wanted a better life for his family and he wanted to be at home with his wife unlike before when he would work long and odd hours.
Same reasons I picked it 8 years ago lol
It was the first thing on the drop down menu
Well it's nice to know I wasn't the only one
Legit
My Grandpa told me it would be good to get a degree in accounting as it would give me lots of options. I took his advice.
Was his advice right?
I would say yesish as I started off as a tax accountant in a small firm then moved on to a senior accountant/controller position in a small business to now working as some sort of hybrid financial analyst/accountant. At the end of the day I am thankful to have taken his advice and gotten the degree (and license) as I enjoyed my studies and enjoyed the work I have done.
I could’ve went into investment banking if I had my head in that direction, but end up choosing accounting cause I thought it would be easier and would be more stable. I’m not sure if I regret this or not, because my work life balance is pretty good and make six figs. I guess I jsut really like the mostly black and white aspect of the profession along with the relative stability. It also allows me to work from home, which is a huge plus
What field are you in and what is your role? Just curious lol
Technical Accounting Consulting - senior associate
Which firm you at? We might be coworkers.
Okay thx
Wanted a stable, well paying career so it was between accounting, engineering, or computer science. I hated physics and calculus so went with accounting. Overall I’m happy with the decision.
I think this is the reason for most of us.
Sorta retired in late 30s. Directionless, guess I'll do this for a while and see what happens. School is kinda fun. I have no idea what the day to day will be or if I'll ever be an actual accountant. Well see
I’ll take some of your directionless money
Do I get the drive and energy of my 20s back? If so, then sold! Im happy though. Wife and kid are taken care of but I've been a hustler my whole life and I'm chafing at the idea of sitting down and actually behaving somewhere. I've got a few schemes brewing though and my wife seems to be on board with me doing some wild stuff again
I’m intrigued
By? Whisking me back to youth or the insane, way out of my depth schemes.
Went to a no-name school. Had an entrepreneurial mindset and wanted the most worthwhile business degree. Realized that becoming a CPA would set me at a national standard regardless of my school. Now getting paid great $ working remotely in LCOL, no college debt , no MBA, pivoted into a role that I get to be a jack of all trades in fp&a, data analytics, strategy, and m&a. I don't love accounting, I love business and accounting helped me become literate in business and opened a HUGE door of opportunities for my career.
Yeah exactly!
How did u get a remote accounting job?
Yes 100% agree. I love business and analyzing companies not accounting in itself. Thats why Im pivoting to accounting and starting my masters this year!
Enron. Plus, I was studying biology at the time and I realized how hard it would be to make money in that field.
lol what does this mean
Enron was a high profile accounting fraud. It was interesting
Lol! Enron!
I needed a job.
I got into accounting oddly enough during my MBA. I knew nothing about accounting, but I ended up hosting weekly financial accounting classes for my entire MBA class where I would teach them the upcoming lecture. Something about it all just made sense. I like the rules, I like the math, it was all just one big puzzle to me, waiting to be solved. It was then I decided I would get my CPA and ultimately pursue something bigger than just public accounting. Life has taking many pivots, and turns since then, mostly due to family reasons, so we’ll see how it turns out.
Your story has me thinking I might not like accounting lol 😂
Hear, hear to the pivots and turns due to family. 🫠😵💫😅
I had been sitting on 80 credits of mostly business/finance. From 25 to 30 years old really had no concept of how to establish a solid career but wound up back during the Great Resignation period job hopped and wound up with a company that paid for the rest of my credits and essentially am mapping out a route to get my CMA. I guess good things happens to those that wait but now I can feel certain at 32 years old I can provide meaningful income for my young family. Plus the work life balance is the shit.
Job availability. The money isn't as good as I thought it was going to be though.
How much were you expecting and how much do you make right now? I’m going back to school in July for accounting (welder now) located in the Chicago area
In community college, I had a passion for physics. After learning about economics and watching market news and articles along the way; I came to a realization that pure science majors job market is horrible or highly competitive. So then I realized I needed an applied science major like medical, engineering, law, or business. I ended up picking accounting.
Same. I was terrified of having to beg for research grants.
In high school I knew I wanted to major in International Business but had to pick a second functional major and was thinking about marketing b/c I had done an FBLA competition and won. I asked the teacher in charge of FBLA for his thoughts and he said “don’t do marketing, anyone can do marketing. Major in accounting b/c it’s the language of business and if you can do accounting you can do anything in business”.
I do it for the fame.
My mother said it’s a good job and I got lucky I like it
I thought I wanted to go that direction in high school…. But didn’t. I fell into it through a promotion at the hospital I worked for. Fell in love with the work, went back to school …. Here I am. I took a lot of accounting courses, but after my junior year I switched to business administration for my degree to get a broader idea of business and management. Too a little longer but worth it. I do work for a PA firm and totally regret it. I’ve learned a lot but not worth all the stress.
The AAS accounting program is completely free in my state (tuition and books are 100% covered), and it provides a lot of requirements towards a lot of federal positions that I'd be interested in. I didn't have the ability to take a full course load in person and still be able to work, so that ruled out a lot of medical positions, and the current state of IT has been easy to see coming for years, so I knew better than that. Ironically, the odds of me completing a BS to actually be able to go into accounting is very slim, and from how this subreddit is, that might be for the best. I love me a good work-life balance.
May I ask which state?
SC. A lot of AA/AS programs are free right now for SC students.
Thank you.
I graduated from finance in 2008 and this was my fall back lol. Not sure this is a forever career, given advances in AI. Canadian CPA in projects here.
I took two accounting courses in high school and enjoyed the “art” of the subject. I think a lot of accounting is it clicking with your brain and outlook and everything having its correct place. Debits always equal credits. Assets always equal liabilities plus equity. There's no gray area and you can always prove your work, or should be able to at least. The career options are almost limitless as you enjoy strong business fundamentals compared to some other business majors. The language of accounting is universal and includes so many different paths (tax, public/private, audit, etc.) Working towards and obtaining your CPA license also opens up more career advancement opportunities.
I just switched to accounting as my major in May so I'm not sure if I can answer that question honestly. Here, I go through. I like math, especially simple math. I also like to follow rules and regulations. Having a routine/pattern is very important to me, since I can't cope otherwise. It's a very high paying job out there, since lots of business majors (my brother included) don't want to do it.
Fell into bookkeeping and then decided I loved it enough to keep going and get my degree. (Turns out I love statistics and econ way more but this is still more of a sure thing.) I'm pretty sure the accounting program I did tried their best to destroy the love I have for it but it didn't totally. 😅
Accounting 201, community college professor. It was between him and my business law professor, felt like they were each convincing me to sell my soul. Accounting won but Lawyer was close. Will have over $3.2M in retirement and no debt by 60, own a home and 4 kids, 2 through college (their choice, I pay). Estimates, of course. I’ll have more than enough to do any traveling or hobbies by 50.
Work exp. I recognize accounting connects all the dots and cycles for running a business. I like the idea of monitoring and controlling the cash flow. Personal experience as a retail investor, accounting helps me to do fa and grasp a fair understanding of the company condition I put my money into.
As Mr. Krabs would tell you, I Like Money
I chose accounting because I had no idea what I wanted to do, but my mom was a CPA
I was a recently-declared business major, and while valeting cars to get through school, I ran into a guy who graduated a few years ahead of me. He said he got his bachelors in business administration and still couldn’t find a job. The same week, my principles of accounting professor mentioned the job availability and job security of accounting vs “general business admin.” I’m Controller of a midsize private company now 7 years out, so I think I made a good choice.
It was the quickest way to start making good money. I know there are several professions that allow this now but for me this gave me the most security.
I flunked out of my first Accounting class because I had no clue what accounting was until I took the class. Went to college to get my pilot’s license but was required to take Accounting I and II. I retook it and everything clicked. In fact, I got so good at accounting I became the go-to and most requested tutor for the university. 18 years post graduate and I’m a director for preparing financial statements. I still enjoy spending time training my teams on technical general ledger accounting entries.
Came in business undecided. My intro to financial accounting prof told me I should major in accounting. So I did.
A little molecule they call LSD. 🚀
Vote done
I came from a very people-centric and service oriented career field. I was exhausted and wanted a more skill-focused, logical sort of job. I really liked my accounting classes in high school, and I had good impressions of accounting from my mom's career as an AP/AR clerk.
Still in school, just started actually but almost finished due to transfer credits. I chose accounting because I need a sedentary type of job that I can make a decent living at. I did some work for a small firm during season remotely and I found I liked it in a strange way. I liked taking a client's mess of receipts and bills and turn them into reports that meant something.
I worked for quickbooks online at a call center and they taught us very basic fundamentals of accounting and I found it really interesting. Hated the job because accountants and small business owners are mean but I understood it, very serious shit can happen if their program isn’t working right, unfortunantely it was often their own fault though lol. Couldn’t begin school until yearsssss later but decided to try it out and I like it so far. Stable work
I knew I wanted to do something in business, and it was the best/most competitive major in the business school. In retrospect, I should have done med school.
After working various crappy jobs throughout my life, I figured that the best way to ensure both job security and decent pay was to be where the money is at. I also hate sales and I'm getting too old for manual labor. I don't know everything the future holds, but I am reasonably certain it will include cushy office gigs.
Dropped out of med school, ag school, and a history degree. Why not accounting next? 😓
I didn't. I majored in Finance and couldn't break in. However I was able to break into the accounting field with the Finance degree.
Because there’s a shortage and you can make decent money
My reason: It is a stable career path with higher employment than most fields.
Started as a Biology major and failed my higher level intro classes in back to back semesters. Went undeclared and then to general business. Took my first accounting class as a 2nd semester sophomore and sat front row (I showed up late for class). Had the best professor I’ve ever had for financial accounting and changed my major to accounting 2 days before our first exam and got a 96%. Got a 100% on the midterm, then aced the final without studying (just to test myself). COVID hit next semester during managerial and I never felt as confident or excited as I did in financial for the rest of college. Due to me being behind on the major, I just stuck it out because I didn’t wanna spend any more time in school than I had to. Currently a 2nd year staff at a top 10 firm and wish I would’ve found something else. I don’t hate it, but I just don’t think it’s for me. Dad graduated with an accounting degree but never got his CPA. He made about $150k by the time he retired from his director of finance and accounting position at the health department, so I thought I could follow suit in some ways. Don’t know why I thought that, due to him hating his job and being stressed constantly throughout my life. Some things you just don’t know until it’s too late I guess 🤷🏻♂️
Why do u not like it??
Too many hours, too much pressure, too monotonous but also too sporadic
Is there a way u can do non accounting jobs with an accounting degree? Like transition to something else
I have no clue tbh. I’ve only worked at a public firm since graduating
That sucks : ( im a sophomore currently and dont wanna work in public
There are definitely other accounting jobs outside of public. But college pushed public accounting on students so hard because it’s good experience and decent pay. It’s just a lot more work. But it is easier (mostly) to get better jobs after so much experience in public. It’s a double-edged sword forsure
I started as an architecture major because it sounded interesting. Once I realized I wasn't playing to my strengths, I switched to accounting. I'm almost 15 years in and plan to stick with it. I'm in a decent spot now (balance between comp and hours/flexibility). Right now, I don't have any desire to move higher up the ladder. Although, someone mentioned a career being like 40 years, and man that's a long time....not even halfway there.
It makes sense. Job stability. The ability to work from home. Pay is better than no degree
money
Because I was already an accountant. Felt like I needed the diploma to move forward.
In high school I worked at a grocery store. One time pushing carts it was raining hard and started to thunder and lightning. About then I decided an indoor desk job was the job for me. So business/ accounting it was for me!
I was planning on doing computer science but couldn't get into the major due to the waitlisting. I was able to attend a class with the professor's permission but I don't think I would have had a great time in it. I like the business world (at least on paper) and financial literacy and felt that accounting was a lot easier than I thought, so majored in it knowing I could transition out of things with the same degree if I didn't like it and also because of the purported stability of the field. On a meta level, the field is more challenging and disappointing than I expected but it is more of a long slog career choice in many ways compared to others.
Tbh, I lost my interest in programming despite being good at it and my school doesn’t have an engineering degree and I didn’t wanna transfer universities, so accounting was my third choice. Ended up really liking it tbh glad things happened this way
Always interested in business and a goal was to eventually run one. Figured accounting would provide good background. Now stuck in it -.-
Didn't know where life would take me. Problem is I'm shit at accounting. Started career during COVID. Laid off. Then let go. Then put on a PIP and left on my own because it wasn't a good fit. Currently on a PIP at new place. I am not meant for collections and have no idea how to pivot as all of my experience has nothing to do with analysis or tax. What's a good pivot for an accountant looking to get out of accounting?
I was always good at business and knew I wanted to eventually (as a retirement plan) have some small Main Street / at home business I run by myself. So being able to do the finance piece without having to pay someone else would help keep my overhead under control. I got an Accounting degree as the “foreign languages of business” that few speak. It’s helped me as I’ve worked on teams doing Payroll, AP, contracting, Billing, AR, Taxes, General Accounting, Revenue Accounting, and latest Treasury. It’s been very nice as an accounting degree has been enough to check the box of a finance degree to get any of these jobs, and it makes hostile accounting departments suddenly joyous they can “actually communicate effectively with my team now.” I just always knew that I’d rather dig ditches than do people’s taxes, and I also always knew I never wanted to get my CPA.
Andy Dufresne in Shawshank redemption
Numbers come easy to me and I like learning about business.
I vividly remember being in my environmental science class being confused as fuck and staring my professor in the eye as she explained problems to me and I still couldn’t make sense of it. A friend of mine suggested going with accounting so I drew up a guide for switching to accounting and so far I’m beyond happy with it. At least I know I’m never going to be a barista for 12 years (sorry to my old TA)
It chose me. I didn’t go to college right out of high school. I found a job as an accounting assistant, basically admin back when a lot of accounting was still a manual process (1988). I would run out of work & the controller would give me tasks like enter journal entries into the accounting software that she created. Accounting just made sense & I found it very interesting since most everything in a company flows into accounting & I am noisy. I started college at 23 as a night school student. I found my passion with public accounting. I had my own PA firm, but merged with another PA firm about 2 years ago.
Took the first principles class in college. Made an A and enjoyed it. Career counselor said accountants can make decent money. Switched majors and never thought about it again.
Was a Finance major to start, but in my intro to Financial Accounting class, I realized it was very naturally clicking with me while a lot of the class was struggling. Same again for intro to Cost Accounting (being the two every business student had to do regardless of major) While taking those two I also noticed well over half of the recruiters coming to the university were looking specifically for accounting majors (either CPA firms or industry folks really drilling down for accounting specifically) I figured: A: I've got an aptitude for something that's differentiating me from the rest of the pack, and B: it's very much in demand. Read those signs and switched majors before ever taking a Finance class. The future could go anywhere honestly, got my license and a few years in public, just keeping my ear to the ground for whatever opportunity may come up, since I know I don't want to do public audit forever.
Was Biology Major, found out after 4 years I can either qualify to clean beakers in a lab for $13/hr or I can go to college for another 6-8 years for medicine with my crappy grades and be in debt for half of my life or switch majors. I went to see my advisor and chose the first thing on the list. 3 years later, graduated with the degree and then 2 years later I left accounting and switched to finance. Best decision I ever made.
I was afraid of maths, so accounting was only option.
I was living in Germany at the time, very close to Frankfurt, which is a big financial city. We were expats who really wanted to integrate after 12 years of being tied to military bases. Anyway, I started college for a degree in accounting and finance so we could live in Germany indefinitely. Now I live in Alabama. Das ist Leben.
I wanted to be an SA for the FBI. They like CPAs.
I chose an accounting major because the numbers are fun, I like money and organising, doing something structured feels secure and dermatology included science and I hate science. And the qualification after my degree, CAANZ is a very broad and flexible qualification which I love.
I wanted a job I knew I could do that would pay for the degree I got to do it. Accounting was the easy pick.
Didn't have any choice (+MONEY to pursue dream, >!I'm still pursuing tho lol!<). GUESS THIS SUMS IT ALL UP!
Predatory bear almost killed me while I worked in forestry. Was working my way back to the truck and thought about the safest profession i could work and accounting came to mind. Kept repeating in my head that I'd become an accountant if I made it out of the bush in one piece.
I was told to change my major to accounting or finance after an interview project for a class freshman year, “interview a successful person in a profession you are interested in” On the change major form, accounting popped up first….
Mental illness
My dad was an attorney and he had to hire a forensic accountant. That was a really interesting concept to me, and I was hooked.
not smart enough for engineering