Hello everyone. I know at many of you are accountants and/or very wise in the ways of the academic and professional world, and any advise you could give me would be greatly appreciated. Basically I have 2 options for taking the classes that fulfill the requirements for the CPA exam. I am in my mid 30’s. Currently I’m going to community college, but I also have the option of getting a masters of accountancy at a couple other schools in the area - thing is, tuition is nearly 10X the cost. What exactly would I be getting in return for that? Networking opportunities is all I can come up with.
You can get a Master’s from a community college?
I think you are actually asking if you should stick to the undergraduate level or continue to the Master’s level. Is that correct?
This community college offers all of the classes required to sit for the CPA exam and it is accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools. This particular community college has a few interesting things such as study abroad, honors programs, automatic acceptence at certain high ranked 4 year schools. This is one of the other unusual things about this particular 2-year school. I don’t think many other 2-year colleges have this.
Maybe I just lucked out living in the right area. So, yes, they have all the graduate level accounting classes I would need. FTR I’m about where you are in trying to figure out how it makes sense.
I only have 1 or 2 undergraduate accounting classes I need, and then it’s all graduate level.
Depends on what sort of career plan you have. If you want to go to work for one of the big firms, then you need the most prestigious degree you can get. If you just want to work in the industry with a smaller firm or on your own, anywhere that can get you ready for the licensing exam will suffice.
Other than the fact that I’m wackadoodle, my age precludes me form working at a Big 4. I just want to work in the industry. Smaller firm is good, I might consider going on my own after I get some experience, another thing I might be interested in is non-profit work. Thank you for the input, you’d be surprised at how difficult it can be to get a simple answer on this.
Interesting conundrum! Yes, you are rather lucky to be able to do graduate work at a Community college. Usually, you’d have to move into a 4-year state university system to continue at the graduate level. I don’t know much about the CPA biz but I think these are some of the questions you might want to consider:
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Is there an employment advantage to having an actual Master’s Degree, vs. merely completing the graduate credit coursework needed for for the exam (to from what you are describing, the CC offers the correct coursework but does not award an actual masters degree, and it appears the Masters is not required for the exam, just the coursework). If many jobs are “master’s preferred” than this might weigh in favor of the 4-year U.
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Are any of the local 4-year Us of such stature that their name opens doors? ie, when you’re comparing Generic Chicagoland CC vs. The University of Chicago, there’s a pretty big name-recognition bonus in U of C. Same for any flagship state school. People will think you’re smart and capable just by seeing it on your resume. If the 4-year Us are of no special prestige, as long as the CC is not widely considered terrible, this would weigh against 4-year U.
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Does the 4-year U have on-campus recruiting, or other greater/more convenient/more expeditious job-seeking opportunities or services than the CC? Normally I would assume 4-year U would be far superior, but your CC seems pretty on the ball. If there’s no extra support offered at 4-year U, that would weigh against 4-year U.
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Does 4-year U offer greater range of internship/externship/research opportunities than CC? if yes, is this important at all to your ability to find work with your CPA?
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What else does your tuition at 4-year U get you, and will you have the opportunity to use those services? universities usually provide on-campus medical care, therapy/psychological support, rec center/gym, tutoring, resume help, etc., free or at little cost. Will this add to your life or save you money on something you’re currently paying for? If yes, deduct those savings against the cost of 4-year U. While you should never go to 4-year U for the gym membership, I know people who have saved thousands of dollars by buying needed medications at the school’s subsidized pharmacy, so it can be a real offset. Ditto for counselling, resume services, etc. .
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Will any of the 4-year Us offer you a scholarship or partial tuition waiver?
Just my thoughts on the matter, I do not have CPA myself but I do have a graduate professional degree (JD) in which prestige and name recognition are a big consideration but one that has to be weighed against the burden of big debt, especially if the plan is NFP work.
TL;DR: The one thing I would strongly advise against is paying full tuition for a professional graduate degree at a mediocre or low-end 4-year university.
I’m guessing some of the accountants on the board will correct me if I’m wrong, but accountants are sort of the plumbers of the business/financial world to some degree; it’s a bit more pedestrian than marketing or any of the other things people go to an MBA program for.
It is kind of like learning a language from what I can tell. The CPA is one of the most rigourous professional exams from what I have heard, and many accountants never get that license. I have read where tax attorneys found it harder to pass than the bar exam - but that will vary from person to person depending on where their particular individual strengths are probably. So, getting your CPA license trumps or is on par with many other markers of accounting ability, and probably trumps getting an M.A. CPA’s can also do certain things other accountants cannot. I think the desparity between lawyers in regards to school prestige and financial success follows more of a 2 peaked salary distribution whereas accounting has more of a normal distribution.
The recruiting, networking opportunities and preparation for interviews (e.g. recorded mock interviews analyzed by professionals) are all things that the M.A. program I visited has in much greater degree than the 2 year college; but I don’t think this comes close to making up for the price difference.
If you’re close, I’d do the CPA exam first. Then you can fart around with the Masters at your leisure.
And maybe you can find an employer who will help with the cost.
I’ve met a few people who did it that way, but I’d be happy just to work for someone for minimum wage just to get the 2000 hours. When you’re young and smart the odds of having an employer help with the costs are good. If you’re some washed up old guy with a shoddy resume going to community college - well you know the saying “beggars can’t be choosers.”
Touché Inna Minnit. Didn’t even consider that angle.
On a resume, a CPA is way more valuable than a masters of accountancy. It’s not even close. A CPA trumps any undergraduate or graduate work when going into industry.
I’ve hired many finance/accounting people. I don’t consider a masters of accountancy much more valuable than an undergraduate in accounting. There is a narrow set of options where a masters in accountancy is valuable over an undergraduate degree. Teaching, certain government jobs, and perhaps some public accounting doing tax preparation, and maybe if you are going for the partner track at a big 4. Other than that, it’s a waste of money, IMO.
At least in reference to considerations I put forward, the question was not, which is better: CPA or Masters of Accountancy?
It was, which is better, CPA or CPA + Masters of Accountancy. Does an MA confer a benefit on top of the CPA?
In my mind, no. If you have a CPA, the only other thing that matters is work experience and what you did with it.
Thank you for your responses. Do you happen to have any advise for getting initial work experience? I’m 37, I actually became interested in accounting a few years ago when I owned a small bike shop - I found I was more interested in the way the numbers all worked than the bikes after a while. The shop wasn’t too profitable - I was sort of eeking out a living - partly due to my complete lack of any formal business business training.
It depends on what your end goal is. What type of job/work do you want to be doing? You should know that before you set your path on work you will be doing in the near term.
This is a function of what kind of work you enjoy/are willing to endure, how much pay you want, and type of work environment, and how each ranks against the other.
I’m interested in working for a small or mid-sized tax firm and preferably one that works with small businesses. I would also be interested in working for a non-profit if the first choice I mentioned is not possible. Eventually I think I would want to go out on my own, or partner in a small firm. My years of working in the cycling industry have made me accustomed to doing seasonal work where parts of the year are intensely busy but other parts are equally slow - so tax work would probably be a lifestyle I’m accustomed to. I have no interest in working for big 4 or a large firm; I know they can offer more prestige and wealth, but I think I would be a much better fit a the other types of places I’ve mentioned. I think I have the potential to bring the most value to an employer that needs an accountant in a customer facing position working with small to medium sized business clients.
If you want to work at a firm and have the ability to sign tax returns as a preparer or sign review or audit reports, you will need a state license, which will require you to pass the CPA exam and get the necessary number of hours being supervised by another CPA.
If you don’t intend to ever work for a firm or company that legally requires you to be licensed, then you may want to pass exam self accomplishment and resume’ purposes. Many companies seek out CPA’s for senior financial positions because it demonstrates a technical mastery of accounting.
I let my license lapse many years ago, but I keep my certification up and am a member of the AICPA because of the latter reason.
Working at a tax preparation firm and eventually starting your own firm, you will be required to have an active license. Keeping your license active is relatively easy, it requires certain types of continuing professional education and there are lots of avenues to get it. The initial license is the hard part.
As for your question on advice for starting out in this career path, I would suggest passing the exam as soon as possible. You are a marketable employee for CPA firms if you have passed the exam already. You would probably target smaller local firms. Many times these firms will struggle to get candidates and when they do for folks starting out, they will have little experience and not passed the exam yet. The first couple years of employment for those folks would be struggling to do so. You would have a leg up on them.
You’d be looking at seasonal work only to the extent you are doing tax work. Many of these firms will also do review, compilation, and audit work as well and I would expect to be put on those types of engagements also. In the beginning, without a lot of experience you’re a warm body that can do grunt work. Expect long hours, low pay, some travel, etc. I consider this phase the vampire phase. You often start work before the sun rises and get home after dark.
The flip side is after 2-3 years you’ll be able to get certified (requirements vary in all states, so be sure to understand what the requirements are for you) and you’ll learn a lot about the business. Learn as much as you can, take on as much as they will let you.
Once you are certified with that experience set, you pretty much have job security forever unless you do something very bad like commit felonies. If you do not have a plan to sign reports, prepare returns, or start your own firm, being certified (even if your license is inactive) is still valuable as a resume booster. There are always jobs in corporate accounting that CPAs fill nicely, and they pay well too.
One thing to add…working at a small firm, or even your own firm down the road, takes a tremendous amount of work. Unless you are passionate about it, working in industry is much easier. The people that have a drive for public accounting usually have a very high monetary goal in addition to the work itself. Otherwise it’s just not worth it unless you really like it.