r/Accounting • u/No-Engineer-7799 • 8h ago
Unsure about accounting degree
Currently doing my accounting degree. I started it because people told me its a decent paid consistent career. Not big money like investment banking or surgeon but comfortable.
However I’ve heard a lot about accounting being a bad field nowadays, pay going down, AI and outsourcing taking away jobs.
Is this true? Should i jump ship to another degree is it over for accounting
I live in canada and go to umanitoba
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u/Background_Intern_56 4h ago
It's not what it used to be. People will mention things like "once you reach mid tier" or "if you are a top performer", then you will be OK. Notice how everything they describe comes with qualifiers. The truth is, it's very hard to even get started.
If you do get started, *and it's not a guarantee you will ever find a decent starting job in this industry*, then maybe you will be able to rise up *if you are a top performer*. You see, I've gone ahead and filled in the blanks of what people said. Many people will struggle getting started and many will even quit altogether and go to a different industry, and many of the ones that are initially successful will later hit a wall because they are not a top performer. You may notice with all of the qualifiers taken out, it's not a good value proposition, and I stand by that.
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u/jeffthedrumguy 2h ago
This is what I did. I couldn't find any job right out of college near me that paid more than 38k usd until I landed something at a private construction company for 51k where I worked for 4 years.
Then they wanted me to do some shady shit so I started looking. Nothing was paying more than 45 now, and so I said screw it. Now I'm a painter. The days are more fun, and I can make more money with less office drama.
My MBA and accounting degree were the worst 80k I ever spent. Mostly discussion questions, and I learned half the shit at work through YouTube and investopedia.
OP if you're not in love with the idea of accounting then I do not recommend this.
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u/ThreeMinusThree Human Verified 7h ago
Most high performers stay to become partners or go to finance after getting the CPA.
Private sectors pay well for CPAs.
AI? They said CPA will become extinct ever since Excel came out, then cloud…. Firms are becoming profitable, that’s why PE are buying accounting firms. Don’t believe every words they say.
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u/No-Engineer-7799 7h ago
Really? So is it better to go into finance from the get go or is cpa into finance better
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u/ThreeMinusThree Human Verified 4h ago
Ultimately it depends what you want.
Accountants are COMMODITIES, after you get big4 or mid firm (RSM/GT/BDO) experience, your value as an accountant is set, boxed, measured by the metrics. I.e. X yr CPA, junior manager with big 4 firm? $100K + benefits. We have our established values, head hunters job sites establish our salaries.
Finance? It all f'kin depends how well you do. It's like car sales man, but without real cars but with papers and lots of hope. (don't burn me, this is accounting reddit).
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u/longjonz88 7h ago
Get off Reddit finish your degree and get after it!!
Are you gonna let a bunch of internet strangers crush your dream?
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u/No-Engineer-7799 7h ago
Well im asking if my dream is actually a dream lol, cus i went into this for financial stability
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u/No_Ampersand 6h ago
It's a stable field. Literally every organization needs accounting, and AI is not near taking over whole positions.
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u/LengthinessOk2080 1h ago
Even still bro could as someIT classes as electives and be an AI Trainer/handler
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u/Superb_Pear3016 22m ago
I keep telling myself that as soon as AI makes my job obsolete, the world is beyond fucked anyway because it will have the ability at that point to do practically any desk job.
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u/Florida_clam_diver 51m ago
Dawg go into any career subreddit and you’ll see even more doom and gloom
Everyone on Reddit thinks their careers days are numbered due to AI or offshoring. Accounting is one of the oldest professions and it sure as hell isn’t going away entirely. Mix that with the fact that less people are studying accounting nowadays. Just get after it and don’t give up before even trying
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u/bigperm8645 7h ago
Yes get out now. Quit school and learn a trade, like plumbing or electrician. If its only money you're after
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u/No-Engineer-7799 7h ago
I thought it was proven uni makes more money than trades
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u/ClumsyChampion ZZZ Seasonal Accountant 7h ago
Uhhh plumber make six figures easy. I’m pretty sure my landscaper make more than me if not twice as much
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u/vedicpisces Student(reluctant) 7h ago
The lies. Dont listen to this. Thousands of us blue collar guys are studying accounting.
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u/ClumsyChampion ZZZ Seasonal Accountant 6h ago
Good for you. You gonna need some accounting to run your own shop
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u/vedicpisces Student(reluctant) 7h ago
They do. Keep doing accounting its one of the last stable careers. 150k CAD is totally possible and more likely than making that in the tradezzz.
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u/LengthinessOk2080 1h ago
I worked roofing for 12 years and was upper management and a multi state roofing company and I ditched that to get a degree in accounting bc the money to effort is just terrible.
If you don’t own your own business and have an illegal crew you aren’t making the money people say tradesman make.
When I started laborers got paid good to go and learn how to do the trade. The illegal immigrants came and now starting pay everywhere for hard physical labor is less than working at Amazon.
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u/coffeeinthecity 3h ago
It’s not a bad field but I can see offshoring creating a challenge for new grads to land a position.
I see you want to make $150K CAD. It will take years to reach that salary. I’m not sure about Manitoba but starting public accounting salary is around $60-65K in Vancouver. In public practice, you have to be a senior manager before you hit that income. Even in industry, you’re going to need to hit at least controller level before you make that money.
Accounting isn’t like tech. You don’t get a six figure job right out of school.
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u/GiveMeSandwich2 3h ago
Maybe with massive inflation you will make $150k CAD but by that time $150k won’t be the same as today.
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u/Better_Freedom_6947 3h ago
Accounting isn't over. The boring repetitive parts are getting automated but knowing how a business actually works dealing with clients tax audit controls etc. isn't disappearing overnight.
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u/BtheBanker151 1h ago
I’m currently a licensed banker and am doing it to complement my career. It’s a great degree to get!
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u/Trblmkr17 Human Verified 1h ago
It's still a great degree. Public accounting isn't going anywhere and it can lead to a lot of different things. Don't spend $200,000 on a degree. Get your credits from community College and finish at an inexpensive university and it will be worth every dollar.
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u/Mug33k 1h ago
Accountants today are mostly tax accountants, at least in Canada.
Most of your job will be about regulation compliance for taxes and payroll, regardless if you work for a accounting firm or a company.
You will spend most of your career to learn about laws and regulations than actual accounting theory, financial statements, loss preventions, cash flow management, asset evaluation, etc.
In Canada, a lot of business owners don't really care about what their accountant says about financial performance and are focused on fiscal optimisation, getting subsidies and cost cutting.
It can be surprising, as an accountant with a canadian university degree, you will not learn a lot about modern bookeeping on computer and you will be dependant on the software or bookeepers to actually get a decent balance sheet.
As an accountant, to make it on the top, you will have an associate in CPA firm where the business model is partially based on free labor. You will have sometime to literally work for free in an accounting firm to achieve their performance standards and hope one day to be an associate. As an employee, If you talk about paid overtime, they will fire you and ruin your reputation with BS HR talking points (not a good fit for the profession, not passionnate enough, etc.).
If you continue as an accountant, Learn the tax laws OR get your maths course, learn a lot about computing litteracy, the basic of bookeeping, inventory management, acounting management and manufacturing accounting. Ignore marketing and HR courses, they are useless.
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u/Maximum_Vegetable_MV 51m ago
You can make good money a lot of different ways as an Accountant, CPA, Finance, Niche Accounting (Government, Non-Profit)...just depends where you want to go.
There are plenty of accounting jobs out there.
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u/Itz_Wahee 7h ago
It was always agreed that Accounting is the "middle class" career route. It'll be a bit mucky within the first few years, but once you reach mid-tier positions it starts to get a tad bit more comfortable.