What's accounting like?
So I think the stereotype for accountants is that the job is boring and dull. I'm in operations right now but way way back I did my undergrad in accounting...What's accounting like these days? Do people actually choose to be accountants over consultants and bankers? If they do what's the reasoning? Is it WLB? Or the opportunity to freelance? Thinking whether I should study for the CPA and side hustle as an accountant. Do people even do that like during tax season?
Accounting is for those who can tolerate monotony. Generally, the pay isn’t that impressive especially compared to bankers and consultants. Idk why anyone would choose it over more lucrative careers except that it’s pretty easy for the money. The stuff that’s remotely interesting – client interaction, applying new laws and regulations, process improvements, etc. RE: WLB, it’s a pretty easy life if you want it to be. There are predictable periods that are busier than others (e.g. tax season, year-end audits, month/quarter/year-end close). The cadence depends on your specialty, but it’s generally pretty chill outside of those busy times. RE: side hustle for tax accounting, you’re probably going to want to work PT for a tax firm just to get some experience under your belt before you freelance. Bc why would anyone pick you over H&R Block or any other sole-proprietor firm? Just because you have a CPA doesn’t mean you know anything. Plus, you need to be prepared to defend your client in front of the IRS if your name is on the return. And yeah, some people do only work during tax season. I know a retired guy that works PT like 4 months out of the year just to get away from his wife and extra spending money. Honestly though, getting and maintaining your CPA just for a side-gig might not make financial sense. You’d have to make quite a bit of money to offset the time and cost of the exams, registration fees, and CPE courses.
I’m an accountant now for a fintech startup. An opportunity in business ops presented itself and currently thinking about it. I think most accounting jobs at startups (I’ve been at three) have been crazy and not so monotonous as presumed. There is the month-end close and periodical audits that are expected but accountants get so swamped with projects that you’d think it’s a walk in the park the rest of the month, but in my case not really. It may depend on the industry too. I heard SaaS companies have it pretty straightforward. Fintech is probably nuts since the business’ core is money. What kind of operations do you do?
What type of accounting? It's a huge broad field, and the OP is pretty vague regarding area of interest...