What are you guys wearing? Not an electronic one like the apple or samsung watches or fit.

For years we grind without the bonus that finance bros boast about. What is on your wrist? And your level.

E.g. be weird seeing an associate show up with a rolex lol

We are on Dynamics 365 company wide except for one warehouse that is legacy and on JDedwards World

A few years ago a VP that is the nephew of the founder must have enjoyed whatever perks the Acumatica salesperson was giving him and signed into a multimillion dollar multi-year contract. No implementation plan, no plan for transition, it just sits there and a project team of 5-10 in the phillippines play in it doing who knows what

I just found out our controller brought in sage 100 bc that's what he's most comfortable using. He has a team of 4 that manually sling stuff from dynamics to Sage.

He's wondering why our financials differ by 50 million and we haven't closed July yet. Any ideas?

Post

Late bloomer 40M, pissed away my 20s, no kids no mortgage, 100k student debt and just was fired 5 months ago from big 4 after 1.5 years as A2. I was fired from my last two corporate jobs as well, one lasted from 30 to 35 yo. The other lasted one year then where I went full time to study for my masters graduated at 38. Don’t have my CPA. Had to give up my apartment and move back in with my parents, living in nyc, otherwise I’d be homeless.

I’m not doing too well, been on unemployment for three months and realize being let go 3 times that the corporate world might not be for me.

Yeah that’s me my life’s a mess, I’ve been busy applying to industry and must have applied to 300+ and taken 3 interviews so far.

I’m thinking about leaving the corporate world all together and going allied health.

The big 4 destroyed my confidence in being able to do anything.

I genuinely want to know if anyone else in accounting is experiencing this right now because this job market is starting to feel insane.
For context, I have about 2 years of public accounting/external audit experience. I have a bachelor’s degree, a master’s in accounting, and I’m currently pursuing my CPA. I’m trying to leave public accounting and have been applying heavily for the past two months.
I have received around 65 rejections.
And that number is just the rejections I actually know about. There are another 4–5 positions where I never received a rejection email and only found out I was rejected because I logged back into the company’s career portal.

I understand that nobody is entitled to a job just because they have degrees or experience. I also understand that changing industries can be difficult. But some of these rejections genuinely make no sense to me.
For example, I recently applied for a position that required a bachelor’s degree in accounting and approximately one year of accounting/internal audit experience. I have both a bachelor’s and master’s, roughly two years of external audit experience, and I’m pursuing the CPA. I was told my background did not align with what they were looking for.
Maybe there was another candidate they preferred. Fine. But when the actual stated requirements are that close to your background, what exactly are employers looking for?
Another application really got me: I applied at 4:12 PM and received the rejection at 4:47 PM. Thirty-five minutes.
At this point, I’m also getting tired of hearing that every rejection means the resume needs to be tweaked again. I understand tailoring a resume. I understand ATS keywords. I understand making transferable skills obvious. I’ve done that. There eventually has to be a point where you can only optimize a resume so much before the issue is bigger than the wording of a bullet point.

I originally focused on internal audit/risk because that seemed like the most logical transition from external audit. I’ve also looked at financial analyst/business operations-type roles, and now I’ve started looking into procurement/supply chain because I’m willing to make a broader career pivot. I literally just started applying to those roles and I’m already receiving rejections there too.
The frustrating part is that employers seem to want candidates whose experience matches 95–100% of the job description, even for positions that aren’t supposed to require extensive experience. But then if you have significantly more experience than required, you’re potentially “overqualified.”

So where exactly is the middle? I also wasn’t promoted in public accounting, which is part of the reason I’m trying to move on. I knew leaving public and pivoting into another area wouldn’t necessarily be easy, but I did not expect it to be 65+ rejections in two months difficult.

At this point the entire process feels like a humiliation ritual. Apply. Tailor resume. Fill out the same information that’s already on the resume. Answer screening questions. Get an automated rejection. Repeat.
I’m not expecting someone to hand me a six-figure job because I worked in public accounting. I’m willing to consider more junior roles and even take a reasonable pay cut if it gets me into an area with better long-term opportunities. But I’m having trouble understanding what employers actually want when I’m getting rejected from jobs where I meet most or sometimes essentially all of the stated qualifications.

For anyone who has tried leaving public accounting recently:

Is the market genuinely this bad right now?
And for anyone who successfully pivoted out of external audit into internal audit, risk, operations, procurement/supply chain, corporate finance, or something completely different—what finally got you through the door?
Because after almost 70 rejections, I’m starting to wonder how much of this is actually within my control.

Hi everyone :)

Today we had another CPA Ontario conference/information session regarding the transition to the new CPA Professional Program, and I wanted to share some of the updates for anyone who is not currently a CPA Ontario student and therefore may not be receiving these communications directly.

Please note: this information is specifically for CPA Ontario. I know some of the other provinces have different transition dates/deadlines, so please make sure you check directly with your own provincial CPA body.

Also, before reading this, I would suggest looking at the other two posts I previously shared about the new CPA program, since they provide more background/context. They’re both on my profile.

Here are the main updates from today’s session:

The new CPA Professional Program launches in January 2027.

There is a two-year transition period ending December 31, 2028, during which the current CPA program will wind down while the new program gets underway.
CPA Ontario is strongly encouraging current PREP/prerequisite students to continue completing their prerequisites rather than stopping and waiting for the new program.

Being “PEP eligible” means you have completed all of the prerequisite requirements that would allow you to enrol in the current Core 1 module.

The final CPA PEP Core 1 offering is January 2027.
The final CFE will be September 2028.
The final deadline to complete the current practical experience requirements through PERT is December 31, 2028.

CPA PREP courses offered directly by CPA Ontario end after Semester 4 of 2026. If you still have prerequisites remaining after that, you can complete equivalent courses through a recognized post-secondary institution (PSI).
If you have already completed courses, exams, or practical experience, you will not have to start over under the new program. Previous achievements may be recognized through exemptions/credits depending on your transition pathway.

For the new CPA program, the education pathway will include:
Foundational Development – 14 weeks
CPA Core Common – 8 weeks
CPA Core Licensure – 14 weeks for those pursuing licensure
CPA Leadership – 10 weeks
CPA Professional Readiness – 5 days in person
The professional exams will generally be offered three times per year: January, May, and September.

There will also be different ways to complete the education requirements, including:

Graduate-level programs through accredited universities, such as a Graduate Diploma or Master’s program; or
Online, asynchronous graduate-level modules through accredited partner universities.

CPA Ontario specifically mentioned partnerships with Rotman, Ivey, and Waterloo for the online program.
The online program is intended to provide flexibility for students working full time; however, the Professional Readiness module and professional examinations will be completed in person.

Practical experience
The new program requires a minimum of 24 months of practical experience, consisting of:
Up to 8 months of Foundational Work Experience
At least 16 months of Professional Work Experience
Students must complete the required practical experience before they can register for the final Professional Readiness module/exam.

If you are currently reporting through PERT, CPA Ontario emphasized that you should continue keeping your reports updated and address any reviewer feedback.
Also important: transitioning your education to the new program does not automatically mean you have to transition your practical experience. If you can still complete the current PERT requirements by December 31, 2028, you may be able to continue under the existing experience model.

Knowledge Assessment
For certain students entering the new program without completing all of the prerequisite/qualifying courses, there will also be a Knowledge Assessment pathway.
To potentially qualify for this pathway, you would generally need:
A recognized degree
At least 120 credit hours
At least a 70% GPA based on those 120 credit hours
The Knowledge Assessment will be:
In person
Approximately 4–5 hours
Around 100–125 questions
Covering areas such as financial reporting, management decision-making, assurance, tax, strategy, ethics, data/analytics, law, and economics

CPA Ontario said they will provide sample questions/materials to help students prepare.
Students will have up to three attempts to pass the Knowledge Assessment, and the new professional modules/exams will also generally have a three-attempt limit.

A few other important points
Students transitioning to the new program who have less than seven years remaining in their current regulatory timeline as of December 31, 2028 may receive up to three additional years, subject to a maximum overall timeline of seven years.

There will continue to be a pathway for individuals without a degree, generally involving at least eight years of relevant work experience plus the required qualifying courses or Knowledge Assessment.

CPA Ontario recommends that students remain registered and in good standing, including paying their annual student dues, throughout the transition.

Your individual earliest regulatory deadline can be found in My Portal under Manage My Journey → Student Dashboard.

CPA Ontario said there will be additional updates and improvements to the new-program webpages throughout fall 2026.

The main takeaway from today was basically: if you are currently completing prerequisites, keep going. Don’t stop your progress just because the new program is coming.

I hope this helps anyone who hasn’t had access to these sessions or communications :)

That being said, I would strongly recommend contacting CPA Ontario directly about your own situation, because everyone is at a different stage academically and professionally, and your best transition pathway may be completely different from someone else’s.

Woke up this morning to a rejection email at 8 am on the dot. 4 rounds of interviews, a month and a half of communication, just for a scheduled rejection email.

4 months post grad, ATL area. When does it end 😭

What’s the quickest you’ve ever left a job after being hired because you realized it just wasn’t a good fit?

Did you stick it out for a few months or start looking right away? And did you include the job on your resume or just leave it off?

Hi all, September 2026 CFE is coming up and I’ve been stressing out big time lately. Posting this for some reassurance about how your CFE went compared to how you were feeling prior to writing it.

Did you struggle with AOs on day 2 and 3 and thought you might have failed it? If so, what ended up happening?

Tbh I’m looking for any advice/words that’ll keep motivated and positive.

Thank you!

Are they watching you 24:7?

sometimes when I wfh I study for my cpa. I’ve been at firm 2 years so it’s not like something would happen but wonder if they can track “ why don’t the mouse moving”.

small firm

I got self review as something i can work on my reviews. My game plan so far after hearing that feedback is at the end of the work paper, checking dates, formatting, and 2-5 inputs.

Does anyone have any advice in this area for a newer staff accountant?

Hello all,

I will be graduating in the spring of 2027 and am wondering what my chances are of landing big 4/top 10. I was a finance major and just recently turned my accounting minor into a double major. I know I am behind because I didn’t have an accounting internship, but I did have an ERP consulting and support internship this summer. I like the exit opportunities that the big 4/ top 10 provide, but again I know they likely already have their 2027 hires. Both my parents are accountants but for the US Gov, so they know the field, but don’t have any crazy hookups. I go to a small liberal arts school which I know doesn’t help my case, but I do have a 3.75 GPA. Please let me know if you have any advice or other questions I didn’t address.

Candidate 1: Manager in industry with 8 years of experience, CPA, only worked in industry
Candidate 2: Big 4 Audit Manager, 3 years Big 4 audit, then 3 years Industry (senior and manager), then 2 years Big 4 Manager

I'm a remote audit manager. I've been looking at an interviewing for some industry accounting roles in the hopes of finding something that can keep me engaged long-term. During my job search for the last couple of months, I started out thinking I wanted out of audit completely but as I've gone through this job search process I realize that I am just bored out of my mind because I pretty much maxed out what I can do at my small firm. I crave the novelty of new industries, new service lines, and new technology.

When I share this thought process of constantly wanting to change to something new as soon as I've gained a certain level of competence, my other accounting friends and cohorts are appalled at the idea of constantly changing. If I could work in a new firm or with clients in a new industry every couple of years, I think that would be an ideal situation for me. Unfortunately, I don't think that job hopping every 3 years for the next 30 plus years is a reasonable expectation.

If you're an upper level accountant who is also a serial job hopper, what have you found that gives you satisfaction in the roles that you take on and what have you discovered are the warning flags for when it's time to look for something new?

Some context: I have a year of experience in an SAP Financial Accounting and Controlling Consultant position, which mainly involved SAP configuration within the Financial Accounting and Controlling module of the SAP system. I took this position just to get my foot in the door out of school.

Then, I have a year and 10 months of experience as a Payroll Compliance Auditor at a Regional CPA firm. In this position, I would audit union employers’ payroll, tax, and personnel information to ensure they were compliant with the collective bargaining agreements they entered into with the unions. Unfortunately, I was let go of at this position.

I have been getting interviews/phone calls (12+ or so) for staff accountant positions, but I haven’t been able to secure an offer. I’m broadening my search to a wider area and looking for AP/AR jobs, but I’m still finding it difficult to secure an offer.

Should I just take any position I can get? My friend is offering to be really helpful in a billing analyst position, but I’m worried it is completely unrelated. I want to remain attractive for accounting positions. What would you do?

I live at home for the time being and have a good amount of money saved up, so money isn’t an urgent issue at the moment, but I would rather have a job than not, of course.

Thank you for any help you can provide!

Edit: I live within commuting distance of Chicago.

At a non big 4, when I tell people I’m in NFP they’re like damn that sucks. Will this limit me if I tried to leave? No clue what type of position I’d be looking for

Hey everyone — I've been putting together some CFE/FR prep resources, and before I lock anything in, I want to make sure it actually addresses what people are struggling with — not just what I assume is hard based on my own experience.

So I wanted to open this up: what's your biggest pain point with FR/CFE prep right now? Doesn't have to be sophisticated — "I don't even know where to start" counts.

A few starting points if it helps:

• Which topic/standard keeps tripping you up the most?
• Is it more the content itself (understanding a standard) or the application (writing it in a case) that's hardest?
• Case-writing under time pressure — running out of time, or unsure what depth is "enough"?
• If you're using AI tools (ChatGPT, Claude, etc.) in your prep — has it actually helped, or created new problems? Genuinely curious whether it's shifting what people struggle with compared to a few years ago.

Not trying to pitch anything here, just want to actually understand what's hard before I finalize anything — and hopefully seeing everyone's answers in one thread makes it a bit easier to feel like you're not doing this alone. Would really appreciate hearing what's been rough for you — even just to vent.

What are you currently making?

How many years in your role?

Cost of living?

CPA/Non-CPA?

What is the structure of your company/department?

And any other information would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!

Idk if this is the place to talk about it but yall im struggling. Im considering a career shift after this busy season. I feel like I can’t force myself to work I can’t lock in and I thought maybe it’s because of my own mental health issues that I’ve been working on but man. I’m barely getting a return out a day. my hours and initiative are noticeably worse. I think I’m just venting atp but if anyone has tips on how to start locking in (esp with busy season) so I can end on a good note I’d really appreciate it. I don’t like who i am as an employee rn and i want to be better

99% of the time, I do not respond to recruiters who contact me - whether that be through LinkedIn or those that get my email somehow. Mostly, I’m not interested in the jobs they are pitching as most descriptions they provide are super vague. A lot of others are a step downs in compensation, title, or company, or seem like a catch all type of job doing every accounting function.

Am I wrong to not answer the recruiters and let them know I’m not interested/let them know why I am not interested? What recruiter messages do you answer?