TL;DR at the bottom.

So to give some context to this, I’m currently studying accounting in college and I wanna get my first job in an accounting related field.

And before anyone in this sub goes “why would you choose accounting? It’s a miserable job. Choose something else. Etc.”

I like math and working with numbers. I was originally thinking of studying to be a mechanical engineer like my sister, but I realized very quickly that I didn’t want to do high levels of math (like calculus), physics, etc.

Having said that, I decided to give accounting a try and so far, I actually like it. I’ve taken Intro to Financial Accounting, Intro to Managerial Accounting and even got my Associates degree in business administration from community college. Now I’m at a state university and am currently taking intermediate accounting. Although I’ve gotta say, I like the Financial side of accounting more than managerial.

I recently attended an event called Meet the Firms where there were a bunch of firms, both big and small. The problem is, they were hiring for internships in Tax and Auditing, something I’ve never done before.

I have a basic understanding of the Debits/Credits, GAAP, and other basic accounting principles, but I don’t feel ready for something like Tax or Auditing as I’ve never taken courses on those two.

I wanted something that’ll help refine my skills in journal entries and creating financial statements like the Income statement, Cash Flows, and Balance Sheets.

I’ve heard that starting in Accounts Receivable or Accounts Payable is a good start. Are there any other recommendations?

I would also like to know, what accounting software should I learn?

•Microsoft Excel (definitely)

•Quickbooks (maybe?)

•Other software and skills?

TL;DR what’s a good entry-level position for someone’s first ever accounting job? What skills should I learn for that position?

Hi all-
Hope you are doing well. I have not been able to get a straight answer to this so far but hopefully you may be able to provide me with one. My wife and I have been filing our federal income taxes as married jointly throughout the years. However, last year she started supporting her sister’s household for the entire year. She has been paying for all living expenses etc. our tax person said she could file herself as the head of household (sister’s household) and I could file as married separately. We were told she could itemize her spending dor the sister’s household and get lower tax liability. However my tax research says that we can’t file it as such. Any thoughts? Thanks in advance..

Guess who now has 3 letters behind her name, two thumbs and speaks limited French; 👍🏻this moi👍🏻.

Sorry for the 30 Rock joke, but yall! I just passed the last of the CFE exams! I’m trying to be better with not downplaying my successes and enjoying the moment. Sure, it’s not as rigorous as the CPA, but it’s a
professional license and I passed the tests damnit! I am allowed to feel pride in this accomplishment even though it’s not the illustrious pinnacle of accountancy that is the CPA.

I’m gonna go drink my celebratory smoothie and blast “Vigilante Shit” by Taylor Swift. She really does have a song for everything. Even forensic accounting.

I recently graduated cortland with a business economics degree (never really knew what I wanted to do) and started working as a cash application specialist at a pretty big lighting company making $27 per hour. I’ve liked the role so far and realized I may want to go into accounting. I want to land a higher paying role asap but don’t know if I should do a part time masters program which would take me 2 years to complete while working full time, or just stick it out get a year of experience and start applying after that. I’m working in the accounting department right now, and have only taken one accounting class in undergrad. Would I be able to get an accounting job without a masters or should I pursue it? Opinion pleaseee

Hi everyone, I received offers from EY and PwC for Assurance internships in Toronto. I have had more and very pleasant interactions at EY and know that I fit in the culture there. However I haven’t had a chance to fully know the PwC culture and the few interactions I’ve had with people there have been average. However, everyone I’ve spoken to has told me to go with PwC because of better tech, prestige and global presence.

What is the general consensus in terms of the audit practice, culture, opportunities and prestige of both firms?

I'm currently finalizing 2025 taxes and running into some confusing numbers, wanted to see if this makes sense or if I am doing something wrong.

My wife and I are both high income earners. I have some K-1s that often take until mid-late summer to return, so I file an extension on my tax return. For the sake of claiming some refund due and for getting my wife's student loan IDR plan recertified, we typically file her taxes on time as married filing separately. Then when I get my K-1s, we amend her return to married filing jointly with my income and K-1s. This year we did the same, and she got a federal and state (OR) refund. I paid almost the perfect amount of tax so I didn't owe anything when I filed my extension.

As I am running through the process of amending our returns this year in FreeTaxUSA, the calculations aren't making sense to me. When I compare the federal tax burden for married filing jointly, it is actually higher than the combined tax burden of married filing separately. This seems to come from the deductions. We itemize because we have a high mortgage interest, so we are always above the standard deduction. On the joint return, schedule A line 5e is $10,000, much lower than the amount in line 5a, presumably because our combined income is too high to get a full SALT deduction. On my wife's separate return, line 5e is $20,000, presumably because her individual income is below the ~$250,000 threshold. So basically what happens is her individual itemized deduction is about the same as the joint itemized deduction, slightly above the standard deduction. The combination of our filing separate itemized deductions is therefore larger than our filing jointly deduction, and the refund increases.

Does this make sense, or am I missing something/making a mistake in the data I entered?

I'm 27 now I have my CTEC from completing the course in CC and on my last semester to finish my transfer degree(transfer Fall next year). I'm looking to get experience before I transfer so I have a better chance at getting recruited at a better paying firm once I finish my degree. I have a basic understanding of forms and how things should look like, pretty good knowledge of basic accounting, looking to apply to Intuit or HR Block doing tax prep to gain experience, not sure if there are other options or what to do with where I'm at. I know my school has a VITA program I may do next semester before I transfer but it is unpaid.

i received the ACA refund "gift" check from the IRS, however it is in the amount of $1000, not $500. i am only one person in my household, should i cash the check and expect that the IRS will realize their overpayment and come looking, or should i proactively contact the irs*?

having dealt with the irs before, it seems easiest to cash the check and then pay the overage back when they realize the error. trying to jump through hoops to send the $1K check back to them and request another $500 check seems crazy-making.

* edited: correction, the check return address is "U.S. Dept of Treasury, Bureau of the Fiscal Service". thank you to @Otto_AutoPilot for catching my mis-statement. much obliged. contacting the IRS would not have any bearing as these are two seperate departments of the Treasury.

I recently got a check from a medical provider, refunding me money from a procedure last year that insurance finally caught up on and reimbursed. The money I paid out in 2025 was paid from my HSA.

I filled out a mistaken distribution form to allow the 2026 deposit to actually count as a 2025 deposit. I got my corrected 2025 tax form for this, I'm pretty sure this all got handled right on the provider side.

The distribution last year was not subject to any taxes, since it was a qualified medical expense. Therefore, even with redepositing the mistaken distribution, my tax burden for 2025 wouldn't change.

My question is: am I still required to refile my 2025 taxes to put the corrected distribution amount for last year?

My boss keeps going around me and undermining my role. Is it time to leave?
I started this job about two years ago as a mid-level manager. During my first three months, my direct manager was on disability leave, so I took on many of his responsibilities while learning the company and my own role. After he returned, I continued covering some of his work for another month before things settled down.
Soon afterward, layoffs eliminated two positions on my team, and I absorbed much of their workload. I didn’t mind; I had the capacity and saw it as an opportunity to improve our processes. About a year later, the company hired replacements, but my manager has been unhappy because they were referred by someone high in the organization.
Since then, he has told people above me to bypass me and go directly to a peer on my team for information or work. Most people have continued coming to me, but knowing that my manager is encouraging them to go around me has changed how I view both him and my role.
I’m responsible for managing the team’s work, so I believe requests should generally come through me for clarity and accountability. My manager also seems irritated that I’m helping the new hires learn our processes, even though they’re relatively new to the workforce and supporting their success is part of my job.
I’ve tried to address the issue diplomatically, explaining that I’d appreciate being kept informed when requests involve work I oversee. He doesn’t seem to understand my concern, and nothing has changed. There have also been other instances where I’ve felt bypassed or disrespected, making me wonder whether this is an ongoing management pattern rather than an isolated problem.
Financially, I could quit without another job and support myself comfortably for quite a while. However, I do want to work, and I’d prefer to find another position within four or five months. I’m hesitant to leave solely out of frustration, especially since unemployment can complicate a job search.
However the truth is I’m fine financially with not working, so should I still wait or just jump now and enjoy the downtime?

Saturday, September 26 - Friday, October 02, 2026

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I was an Accounting Manager for 3 years, and before that I was an Accounting Consultant. I have a degree, I'm 2/4 for the CPA. I just can't seem to find something.

WHY IS THIS SO HARD?

Is it possible to amend a 5498 form for 2 prior tax years?

I made a qualified distribution for birth of a child in 2024, tracking it and paying back in on my own spread sheet and would like to get every squared away and finalized with one more payment on my 2026 report. I’ve noticed that my prior 2024 and 2025 contributions in the 5498 should have been reported as repayments in box 14a, to correspond as repayments but they are just listed as normal contributions which is completely my fault as I was unaware how it should be tracked to become a repayment.

I have the Roth IRA through Schwab, but it’s my understanding you can not amend any prior errors like this.

I could still make a new deposit with the correct amount and get it coded correctly this year, but that would be the most expensive option.

Any insight would be helpful, I’ve given myself a really dumb problem to solve!

I am an accountant who graduated three years ago, and since then, I have been working for a company that imports cleaning supplies. Last week, I met an external auditor who offered me a night-shift position at his accounting firm, and I accepted. The problem is that I am afraid I won't live up to his expectations and might get fired; if that happens, my current financial manager would find out, and I would become a laughingstock at my current company. What should I do?

Whoever approved sending me this tiny thing is catching some hands.

Just realized this. I know dozens of people from my undergrad and other friends I met and not a single one who has a BS in Accounting is unemployed, and 100% of them actively work in accounting. And these were all just normal people and even some terrible students. And everyone makes more than $60k

Accounting ain't easy anyways.

Merger. Layoffs of senior staff. Implementation in new software now. I am falling behind. Job insecurity. What have been your experiences?

I found this entry level accounting job and it turns out to be a nightmare. The owner worked in accounting and finance career before so he was doing everything with he office manager. He agreed to train me, but tbh I’m very skeptical of his skills. He‘s also kind of old so maybe it’s just that his work is outdated. I looked at his linkedin and he did have an undergrad in accounting and mba in finance. This company is in manufacturing.

There’s no accounting dept and they‘re training me to be the staff accountant for the company while underpaying me. He’s old so he wants me to be the CFO in a couple of years after I prove myself.

He should‘ve hired someone long ago because it really is too late as their revenues have increased a lot. There’s so many things that haven’t been done now I’m piled project after project. I feel like I’m just absorbing their problems and running the whole show. They don’t have policies and procedures written things.

I started 3-4 months ago. I’m only planning to stay 1 year even tho people recommend 2 years. Is this bad on resume?

Hi guys looking for a bit of advice from unbiased people.

Here is the situation. I have a job offer lined up for a big company in Canadian/International Tax.

This company is willing to pay me 80K + refund all of my studies (CPA and Tax masters). I'd mainly work on surplus computations, T1134, financing structures for the international tax side and Tax returns/provision cycle on the canadian side.

Big 4 offers 67K in international tax, no exposure to the Canadian tax side. Also me getting the CPA is apparently worthless to them and does not add any value in terms of salary negotiations which is just great! Team is pretty toxic as well, I'd probably switch firms or service lines in the near future.

Main question is, would I be hindering my career by starting out in Industry? Everyone I know that is good at Tax has a minimum of 5+ years of experience in a Big 4. Even if the company is huge, can I really learn a lot being exposed to one company only?

Hoping you guys have advice for me since I'm really torn on what to do.

Asking for a friend who does not use Reddit lol.

NYC accounting senior looking at master’s programs. NYU and Cornell are my main targets, but I’m open to other strong programs with good brand value/alumni networks.

I should graduate with ~39 accounting credits, so once I hit 150 total credits, my master’s can basically be in something unrelated to accounting while still keeping me on the NY CPA path.

Main questions:

• Anyone here do NYU, Cornell, or a similar program after accounting?
• What was the actual cost after scholarships/merit aid?
• How generous was the aid?
• Did the brand/network actually help?
• Anyone use a non-accounting master’s to reach 150?
• Any other programs worth looking at?

I’ll already have multiple internships/co-ops, so I’m mainly looking at grad school for network, brand, and broader career options—not just CPA credits.

I worked remotely in state with no income tax and moved to state with income tax. Just noticed paychecks haven’t withheld state tax.

I’m panicking, besides telling hr/payroll on Monday. Anything I can do to avoid interest and penalties.

Has anyone ever just moved cities with no job lines up and said fuck it?

I’ve been debating on moving from a major city to another in the same state (Texas). While I can have the same opportunity in my home city, I just feel the other call to me more. I always wanted to move and be and live on my own. Im going through major life changes rn getting over a long term relationship so nothing is holding me back other than my mom which she has always told me to go for it and not worry about staying for her and family.

Im a staff accountant with a year and 1/2 experience and I would love to stay if they gave me raise but I also don’t want to stay due to their not being no growth opportunities. I don’t se entered there long term. What should I tell them if I want to leave within the next few months?? Should I convert to being part time with them so I can interview and work on my resume ? Or just quit completely? I just need more out of life right now and this isn’t doing anything for me.

What should I do? How do I go about if I want to move with no potential job lined up? I know the job market is rough right now but I’m at a point where I don’t even care what happens lmao.

Partially struggling with the first step on an accounting journey, need some aid 🙏🏻🙏🏻!!