Thesis Title

What else can somebody with a CPA license do?

A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of theRequirements of the Renée Crown University Honors Program at

Syracuse University

Sydney Sokol

Candidate for Bachelor of Science in Accounting from the Martin J. Whitman School of Management with a Minor in Data Analytics from the School of Information Studies

and Renée Crown University Honors ProgramMay 2020

Honors Thesis in Accounting

Thesis Advisor: ______________________________ Ginger Wagner, Professor

Thesis Reader: ______________________________ Robert Spichiger, Graduate Student

Honors Director: _____________________________ Dr. Danielle Smith, Director

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ABSTRACTOne of the biggest problems in modern day accounting student’s lives is that we are

pigeon-holed into starting our career in a large accounting firm. The main four firms, also known as the “Big 4”, recruit the most on college campuses compared to smaller firms or even other companies that accounting students could go into. These “Big 4” are names that are recognizable to almost anybody in the professional world. Yes, these firms are great to start to a successful accounting profession. But there are other places accounting students can go to begin their career. Accounting majors should know that there are more options than just a big, public firm. Having the knowledge of doing more with such a specific major can make students feel more comfortable with their choice of major that could lead them down many different paths. Young graduates are mainly thinking about what they are going to do right after college, which typically includes employment at a large financial firm. This first choice as a job is completely fine, and an amazing starting point for a great future.

I am currently doing what all my accounting peers did or are doing, which is intern at a large firm during the summer before final graduation. This would then hopefully lead to that firm extending me a full time offer for after graduation. I am doing research on these potential career choices to become more knowledgeable about what the degree I am pursuing could turn into. I know, right now, I do not want to stay in my first job for the rest of my career.

This project is to explore all of the options accounting majors have once in the real world. Many students do not think ahead of what they are going to do after their first job, let alone their second or third job. This research is important for students to know what goals they could have in their career. The methodology used is interviewing current, past, and future professionals across accounting and similar industries. The data collected will show how many options there are for accounting students once they graduate. The survey results showed that many professionals start out in a large firm then move onto something else. This could be starting their own firm, going to a company that is not in the financial industry, returning to school, or something completely different. Before students graduate, they should know about potential jobs to try and steer their path in the direction they want.

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARYAs I start to think about what I am doing after graduation, I realized that the vast majority

of my peers and I are doing the same exact thing. This means we are all getting jobs in one of the

“Big 4” firms of the accounting industry and obtaining our CPA license. This is a typical start to

a career in our field. If you ask somebody if they want this job for the rest of our professional

career, he/she would probably respond with a ‘no’. This project is aimed to those students. The

ones who do not know what else is available after a few years of being in a large firm. This

research will help me, and my peers, think about what more I could do than stay in a large firm

for the rest of my career.

The Certified Public Accountant License (CPA) is a certification for accounting and

finance professionals within the United States of America. This is a desirable certification for

professional due to the high standard of the CPA requirements. To get one, somebody has to pass

all parts of the exam, complete the needed college credit requirement, and finish the certain

amount of work experience. All of the specific standards are set by the specified state, and some

are stricter than others (Boyd). Students are advised to become a CPA as soon as possible

because it is hard to obtain. There are many steps, especially taking the exams. It takes a while

for an aspiring CPA to study for the exams, finish the necessary college credits, then finish the

typical year or two of work experience. Students who are accounting majors are usually headed

towards getting their CPA while they are in their final year of studying. This means studying and

taking the CPA exams during the school year. Once someone completes all of the requirements,

it is easier to get a job and perform tasks that a non-CPA cannot do, like audit a company or sign

off on a tax return as a paid preparer (Boyd).

The “Big 4” accounting firms make up about a third of the global accounting services

industry. It is also where almost all accounting students go to work right out of college. These

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companies, ranked from largest market share to smallest, are Deloitte Touché Tohmatsu Limited

(Deloitte), PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), Ernst & Young International Ltd. (EY), and KPMG

International Cooperative (KPMG). These companies do all types of accounting and financial

services, like auditing, tax, and advisory programs. Audit services are defined as “Reviewing a

company's financial operations to ensure regulatory compliance” and it makes up about 40% of

all accounting services. Tax accounting is defined as “The reporting of information required for

compliance with tax regulations” and is responsible for about 23% of the total services of

accounting firms. (Gonzales, 2019). There are other services accounting firms offer that pertain

to the industry, like consulting services, risk management services, forensic accounting services,

and technology-based consulting services. The large firms are expanding to include a variety of

jobs that people can do with the same type of knowledge.

Now, there is a difference between public and private accounting. A good way to think of

public accounting is being an external accountant because they typically do work that deals with

transparency of a company/person or for regulatory purposes. Public accountants are not

employed by one client, they have their own firm they are employed by. Private accountants do

work mainly for the interest of a specific person or company. These private accountants are

employed by the specified company to which they are giving their services to

(AccountingEdu.org). This distinction is hard to make because they are terms that are thrown

around a lot in the industry. Students who do not know a lot about the industry should know the

distinction between these two things before going into their field.

For this project, I surveyed past, present, and future professionals about their careers. The

questions included were where they went to college, major(s)/minor(s), years working in the

industry, and all about their relationship to accounting and the CPA process. I wanted to gain

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their insights on the industry because they come from all different backgrounds. The information

gathered is from people I have connected with through my hometown friends, college

networking events, and other means of connections I have made in my past. The group of people

are diverse in how they got to their current position, which is exactly what I wanted to show the

future professionals who are just starting out.

The significance of this project is to show graduating seniors and masters students that

having a CPA license can guide a career in a direction other than a large firm. Accounting majors

are given these opportunities for jobs at a large firm right after graduation. These firms are great

as an entry level job. They offer great training and mentorship programs, young company

culture, good office locations, and other benefits that would be attractive to newly graduated

professionals.

 

CONTENTS

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Abstract............................................................................................................................................2

Executive Summary.........................................................................................................................3

Acknowledgements..........................................................................................................................7

Advice to Future Honors Students...................................................................................................8

Chapter 1: Introduction....................................................................................................................9

Background/Context..................................................................................................................11

Personal Experience (So Far).....................................................................................................13

Chapter 2: Research.......................................................................................................................18

Methods......................................................................................................................................19

Design........................................................................................................................................20

Results........................................................................................................................................21

Analysis......................................................................................................................................29

Conclusion.................................................................................................................................30

Works Cited...................................................................................................................................31

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank my Professor, Ginger Wagner, for everything she has done. She helped me compile a list of people to reach out to and has supported me through most of my education at Syracuse.

I would like to thank my reader, Bobbie, for letting me ask him many questions about this project. He helped me realize that this is something I can get through.

I would also like to thank my parents for supporting me throughout my whole education. They did a lot to help me get to where I am today. I definitely could not have done it without them.

I would also like to put in the entire Honors program at Syracuse. They knew that it was hard to finish this thesis while being in the business school. They worked with me through this to make graduating with the Honors program possible.

Finally, I would like to thank all of the participants of my research. They took some time out of their day to fill out a survey. I have also had a few conversations with them about going down my chosen career path. They have helped with making me feel better about becoming a CPA and what I can do with it in the future.

Thank You.

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ADVICE TO FUTURE HONORS STUDENTSTo all of the Renee Crown University Honors Program students, you can do it. I am a

Whitman student. I had to go through doing Whitman capstone and doing this project all in one semester. This was also the semester which was cut short due to a global pandemic. If you start early, this is just something else you can do with your spare time that has a big reward. Even though graduating with honors may not seem like a huge accomplishment, think about all the other students that did not stick with it.

The hardest thing is picking a topic/doing a project you are actually interested in. Do something that you find interesting or relatable. Something you would not mind writing about for many hours during your senior year. That makes it easy to get through. Once you find something that you feel like you can write about for many pages it makes the whole process a lot easier.

Trust me, you can do it. I did it while taking 21 credits my second semester senior year. You will be ok.

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CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTIONAll students want to get a job after college. Is that not the one true goal of going to a

higher institution? These large companies seem like the right choice due to their recognizable

name, logo, colors, and/or slogan. My peers and I (no matter what discipline) want to work for a

trendy company that has cool benefits or a noticeable name. Some had an internship previous to

graduation, so that a full-time job was offered before graduation. Others are job hunting

throughout their final year to get one because they hated the job they had previously. These big

companies are good as a starting off job, but do we want to sustain these same jobs for the rest of

our career? Is it normal to switch only after a few years?

These large firms, no matter what industry, seem to always have the right tactics that

make new graduates want to work for them. They recruit on campus, have easy online

applications, and even hold interviews on campus. The process is very easy for a student who fits

the company’s qualifications and wants the process to fit into their busy student schedule. This

may not be the exact job the student wants to do; it is just what he/she is supposed to do. It is

how everybody else who graduated before them got a job.

What about the jobs that certain majors may not think about when applying for their

future? Who knows exactly what they want to do in their early 20’s? Some students do know

what they want to do. Others have no clue. And, even others, get sucked into a job they do not

want. That was just the only job they could get.

There are majors students choose that tend to give them a job they may not actually want

include my major, accounting. This is due to the CPA license having three overarching

requirements: education, exam, and experience (Boyd, 2019). Accounting majors are lead down

a path they may not even know about when they first start down it.

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Education requirements for the CPA are easy, 150 credits. There are some specific

requirements of how many credits in accounting, finance, and economics. Even more specific are

the type of accounting classes taken. This is probably the easiest requirement because it is

passing classes that teach topics pertinent to the exam.

The exam aspect of the CPA very simple. Pass all four parts within 18 months. If

somebody takes one part and passes it, the passing grade expires in 18 months. Some states do

require a fifth ethics part. Overall, this is probably one of the most straightforward requirements

of the CPA exam. The exam is also the hardest part to get through. The tests themselves are

known to be hard to pass. A lot of studying is needed to get through the exams, but once they are

done, it is on to the next one.

The experience aspect of getting a CPA license gives recent graduates the thought that

they need to work in a large firm to fulfill this requirement. The three general areas are tax, audit,

and advisory accounting. In reality, accounting graduates could go into any type/size of firm

doing accounting work as long as their working under a current CPA holder. The large firms are

just easy to go into because of their strategic recruiting methods that get a majority of students to

sign with them.

Starting in the first year of college, students are encouraged to attend recruiting events

from whatever company is willing to talk to freshman. Some companies hold office hours, where

anybody can make an appointment to talk to a current professional about their career or college

life. This can be beneficial to both the student and the company. The student gets to learn about

potential careers, advice on what classes to take, resume help, or make a connection within that

company. That is, if he/she asks the right questions and then remember to get the professional’s

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contact information. And, hopefully, send them a nice thank you email to ensure that they are on

good terms with this company for the next two years.

There is so much pressure for students to make good, lasting impressions and start

thinking about what they do after graduation before they think they should. The research done

for this project is to show that accounting students can have more to look forward to than just

becoming an accountant at a firm that employees hundreds of thousands of people.

BACKGROUND/CONTEXTIt was almost too easy for me, compared to my friends in other majors, to start looking

for a job. I knew exactly where to look for one and who to talk to. It was not easy for me to

actually get one. I still had to fill out many applications and go through multiple rounds of

different types of interviews. I even got rejected by firms that I had been talking to since

freshman year. It just seemed like this was what I was meant to do, based on the small

community of accounting majors and what they were doing. Thankfully, I did end up receiving

an offer from one in the end.

Meanwhile, my smart friends who were in a similar major, did not have it so easy. The

companies they wanted to work for were not coming to campus during the week with interview

time slots right before class. This was very different than the experience I had because the

accounting firms have a close relationship with the business school. Some of my interviews were

literally a five-minute walk from a class I just left from. I had multiple friends being flown all

around the country during the week just so they could go to interview super days. They had to

miss class just to maybe get a job. I kept thinking about how stressful this whole process of

getting a job is for students who need to look everywhere for one. They do not have a list of the

top 10 firms in the country to apply to. They have some strange job titles, certain qualifications,

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and other unique identifiers that are the opposite of what I did when I was looking for a job. This

is not fair to them, but I guess I chose a field where they were willing to travel to snowy

Syracuse? Just for the accounting majors? I am lucky I picked an industry that always needs

recent graduates, due to current professionals getting promoted and/or leaving the company.

Accounting firms need new employees every year because there is always more work that needs

to be done. It is a whole cycle for accounting firms on when they hire new employees, have

interns, and when busy season is.

What about after the first few years at a first job. When I was just starting out in the

business school, I thought that professionals go into a large firm right out of college and stay

there for most of their career. As a I found more people who had a CPA or started in accounting,

I realized that many people leave their initial firm. They then do much cooler things that I could

possibly see myself doing after my first job.

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This was the starting off point for this project. I do research on what others have done

once they get their CPA license to see what else is out there. I hated being pigeonholed into

going straight into public accounting. Doing this project has already helped me through my

major choice due to the amount of options I have for later in my career.

PERSONAL EXPERIENCE (SO FAR)I did everything I was “supposed” to do throughout my four years at the Whitman School

of Management at Syracuse University. What all my peers also did. And even what I was told by

recruiters and professors to do. Even some of my family members told me to do similar things

relating to my future career path. During my Junior year of college, I started applying for what

they call “Leadership Programs”, which was almost three years before I start working. These

Leadership Programs are weekend-long trips to an office where they try to entice you to sign

with them for an internship for the summer after. They all happen during the summer around

May/June. Every firm has one for students who are three years prior to the time they would get a

full-time job. The firms try to make them on different weekends so that students can attend a few

(if they get more than one offer). This is so they can make an educated decision on which

company they would rather work for in the next year.

I only applied to the Big 4 leadership programs because those were the recruiters I knew

on a personal level. Since they are the biggest firms in the industry, they had an easy application

process with interviews on campus in the business school. Even though I attended multiple

events with each firm and met the recruiters, I received only one offer for a leadership program.

One of the firms never responded to my application. The other two I made it to the first or

second round interview, then got rejected. Thankfully, I was able to get one. Because, in the end,

I only needed one. I knew a few people who got to attend more than one of the Leadership

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Programs, to then have to make a decision on one. I was not that jealous, though, because it was

like my decision was already made for me. Also, apparently, I got the one firm that is known to

be the toughest to get.

On a weekend in June of 2019, I attended a leadership program that was in Texas because

I was on vacation during the programs running in New York City, which is and would be my

“home” office. The firm has a huge building/resort/hotel that is used for trainings and

conventions, so they always host Leadership Programs at this place in Texas. This was a great

opportunity to learn about the company, network with the professionals, and meet other students

that were in my same situation of being in the summer before a full-time internship.

I really enjoyed the activities that went on that weekend. We were split into groups and

did some team exercises, had a community service portion, a guest speaker that was an outdoor

extreme sports enthusiast, and many networking opportunities. I met a lot of people and made

friends with people who are on the same path as I am. It made me feel more comfortable with

how my professional career is going because other people were in the exact same boat as me at

the same time.

The day after I got home, on a Monday morning, my home office (NYC) recruiter called

me with an offer for an internship for the following summer. I guess I did everything right. I was

told previously by professionals to not be stupid; Just be myself, socialize with professionals, be

nice, and I would receive an offer for an internship. There were supposedly some students that

got offers for just the leadership program who did not receive offers for the internship.

But this is only June of 2019. I would be graduating as an undergraduate in May of 2020

then attending graduate school for Fall 2020 and Spring 2021. I was happy I got my internship

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for the summer after I graduate (2020). This did not help me at all get a job for the upcoming

summer.

As I was applying for Leadership Programs, I was also applying to internships for the

summer that was less than six months away. Since I was abroad in Australia during the fall, I

thought it would be fine to leave it until I got back. I still had time to apply for jobs during the

summer, right?

I was wrong.

So many internship applications were due before I even looked at them in the beginning

of 2019. Because I knew about the big firm’s leadership programs, I thought other companies

would have thought to put out applications in January/February for the upcoming summer. I

applied to probably 50 internships that were in the accounting industry or had accounting skills

in the job description in the span of the two months at the start of the year.

Luckily, one of the many internships I applied to contacted me. It was a recruiting group

in New York City that loved accounting majors. I did not know what a recruiting group was or

did, all I knew was that it was a job. I was interviewed three times, and by the end of the process,

I got hired for summer of 2019! I was so happy and relieved. All I wanted was a job. I needed

one to graduate. And this recruiting group allowed me to do that.

I started in the middle of July because they just had construction done in the office. I was

fine with it because I went on vacation beforehand. I knew a little about it from interviews and

emailing back and forth with my boss. I was going to be doing data entry, data cleansing, making

lists, and doing other office work.

This is exactly what happened. People in the office would ask me to put lists together,

send emails, review resumes for formatting errors, help cleaning their database, and other office

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tasks like being the receptionist for a day when the actual one called out sick. It was not my

favorite job. There were some days that were boring. I would have the same job to do for days on

end because I was doing work with so much data that needed to be cleaned.

I loved my internship, though. I met so many people that gave me all kinds of advice

about my future. They all wanted to see what I was doing in school and what path I was trying to

go down. I could hear the conversations they were having about which types of people go to

what jobs, along with the reasons why a candidate might be the right fit. It was so interesting to

listen to professional recruiters talk about other people in the finance industry about job

qualifications, experiences, certifications, and other skills that would make them attractive to a

large company.

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Even though the skills used in this experience may not directly apply to a job, I can

definitely use the knowledge from this job to make better decisions for my future. This internship

also taught me about commuting, working 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, and how to

keep up with that type of lifestyle.

Now, I am about to graduate. It is May of 2020, the middle of this global pandemic. My

experience has slightly changed due to things getting cancelled now. The internship I received an

offer for has now changed from an eight-week in office internship to a two-week online

internship. I was supposed to live in New York City, go into an office every day, and just have

the same internship as my peers have has in the past. Even though this is my life now, I have to

go along with it and see where it takes me. Thankfully, my company did extend a full-time job

offer to me after I graduate with my Master’s. They understood that this is a crazy time for

everybody. I am happy that I do not have to worry about looking for a job while I am in graduate

school.

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CHAPTER 2: RESEARCHI conducted an online survey to gather information about current and future professionals

in the accounting field that have/have had/are going to get their CPA. The Google Forms

platform was used to make and send out the survey. I chose this method of an online survey

because was easy for me to gather information from people anywhere in the world. Emailed links

worked perfectly for this type of information I needed to gather due to the ease of questions that

could be asked through a survey. Also, the Google Forms software made it simple for me to

customize. I made my own questions with an answer type that I wanted for each question. Then,

after I started getting my results, they would show in a visually appealing way. The results would

appear in easy to read tables or a pie chat with what the answers to the survey were.

Through my personal experiences of college, high school, and friends/family, I knew a

few people who were/are in the accounting/finance industry. The people I really wanted to reach

were people who somehow, throughout their past or who want to in the future, obtained a CPA

license. That was the only criteria I wanted because it shows that a variety of people get their

CPA, but then do very different things with it as they move through their professional career.

The people who took the survey included: my professors, family members, friends of my

parents who are at least a few years into the professional world, people I have met through my

professional experiences (internship, professional fraternity on campus), and friends of mine that

are currently planning on getting their CPA right out of college. There were many different

industries represented, like: commercial and investment banking, start-ups, property

management, recruiting, non-profit, real estate, hedge funds, and insurance. Some of the people

were also current accounting majors on the CPA track, who then answered with what their plans

are for the future. I liked getting this range of people because it showed how many industries can

be represented from a simple certification.

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METHODSI emailed the survey link out to everybody. The link then sent them to the survey. The beginning

of the survey is pictured below. This is an example of one of the many emails that was sent out:

Hello!

I am Sydney Sokol, a senior at Syracuse University getting my degree in Accounting.

I am currently doing research for my Honors Thesis. I am answering the question: What else could a professional do with a CPA? I am trying to get as many people who were once in the industry or who are still in the industry to answer my survey. I would greatly appreciate you taking the time to complete it. The questions are about your professional and academic career. It should take less than 10 minutes to fill out.

https://forms.gle/xUdeHhzFfNXfrguQ7

If you have any other questions please reach out!

Thank you!

Sydney Sokol

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DESIGNThe design of the survey was through Google Forms. It is a simple software for

forms/surveys/quizzes (I have had online quizzes in a Google Form). Google Forms also gives

an easy link to be emailed out, it can be directly shared, or it can even be embedded into a

website. I have used Google Forms before to get simple survey results. The software has built in

analytics to show the answers to questions. The results can also be downloaded into a Microsoft

Excel file. Below is a screenshot of the first question and a little summary of the survey. This is

what people saw when they first clicked on the link. The software is also good for the

respondents of the survey. It is an automatic format that is accessible for most people. The fonts,

colors, and navigation of the site is ideal for my specified audience.

The survey questions included:

• Was your first job out of college with a major firm?

• If you started in a major firm, which?

• How many years did you stay/plan to stay at your first job?

• Did you know about different opportunities in college?

• Positives/Negatives about Public and Private Firms

• Did you keep your CPA?

• How many credits did you need to get your CPA?

• How many parts of the exam did you take at a time?

• Do you think your CPA has helped your career?

• Where did you get your undergraduate degree from?

• Did you get your Masters?

• Did you major in accounting?

• Did you ever go back to school?

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RESULTSI will go through most of the questions with screenshots of the answers. I originally

emailed over 30 people who I knew had once had their CPA license. At the end of my research,

23 people fully responded to the 23 questions in the survey. This was a good amount of people

for the number I emailed.

The other options for people to choose were Peat Marwick Mitchell, Price Waterhouse, Touche

Ross, Arthur Young, and one respondent wrote in “Not accepted yet”.

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These were the 2 major questions I wanted to know the answers to because it shows how

many of the respondents actually went to or are planning to go to a big accounting firm. 87% of

the respondents said they went into a large accounting firm. This is a good indicator of just how

many people go into large firms for their first job. It also shows that there is not just one firm that

takes the most people. There was a nice distribution of firms that people went into for their first

job.

Another question asked was how many years the professional stayed or plans to stay at

their first job. The graph below shows the answers. From this graph, I concluded that people

usually stay at their first job for 2-4 years. Yes, everybody may have a different situation. There

are some people who want to stay at their original company for their entire career, which is a

great choice if they like it there. But there are many people that move on past their big firm after

a few years. There will always be a split of people that stay at the firm they started with and the

others who moved onto a new job.

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Many of the other questions asked were about the CPA exam, their education, their

knowledge about big vs small firms, and the specifications the respondents needed to obtain their

CPA. These were not as important to me for knowing what else people could do with a CPA. I

asked these questions out of curiosity. Since I am going through the CPA process soon, I have

been asking people many questions about it. I wanted to know more about people’s experiences

when getting their CPA license. The pie charts below show the responses to the questions about

the CPA exam, education, and if the respondent has kept or plans to keep their license.

This question was good to show the spread of respondents on how they took the exam.

Suprisingly, taking all four parts at once was the most answered question. This is not typical for

now. Most ot the advice I have received on taking the exam is to take it in parts. I was not

expecting these results, which is always what makes surveys fun to look into.

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I asked this question because I am going to graduate school for my Masters in

Accounting. This is something I want to do to continue my education. It was also something that

I chose to do because I did not want to squeeze 150 credits into only four years. There were some

of my peers that did that. I just wanted to enjoy my undergraduate life and then go on to get my

graduate degree.

This was a question I was curious about because the requreimetns for the CPA have

changed in the last 10 years. This is an indicator of how the respondents got their CPA before

they raised the credit requirement. It was interesting to see who remembered having a lower

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requirement and who does not remember. This is a large part of becoming a CPA, so I thought

more people would have remembered what they had to fo to get it.

This question was important because I always thought hat once you get your CPA, you

keep it. I did not think that over a third of respondents would respond “No” to this question. In

the survey, I also included an explanation box after this question to understand why they

answered this in a certain way. There were many respondents who said nothing to explain why

because they kept their CPA or who have said they kept it because they worked so hard to

originally obtain it. There were even some people who said they do not know why they keep it

because they do not need it in their current job. The people who did not keep their CPA said that

they just did not need it for their future career goals. Once they left public accounting, it was an

irrelevant license. One respondent works at a publicly traded firm, so he/she is not allowed to

keep it. I thought that was interesting because I thought it could only enhance somebody’s career

goals. I never thought that I may want to go into a job that I could not keep a license I worked so

hard to get.

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Another thing I tried to find were the respondents personal opinions on public accounting

and private accounting. These are usually not talked about until somebody trying to find a job

asks about it. Since these terms are used within the industry, I wanted to know what people

thought of these firms, specifically. I wanted these opinions because many students do not know

all of the pros/cons of the potential workspaces they could be going into. Students always have

the option to go into different fields and are always asked about private and public firms. Getting

answers from current professionals and students gets them thinking about what they know about

these firms.

I asked four different opened ended questions. The question was what is one positive (or

negative) thing they could do better at private (or public) accounting firms? Since I broke it up

into four parts, I made a compromised chart of the answers (below).

Positive Negative

Public Exposure to diverse industries, good

foundation, security, teamwork mentality,

good training programs, big networking

opportunity, lots of co-workers, resume

booster, typically bigger clients

Too much work or no work/life balance, not a

lot of diversity in the workspace, could have

too many clients, too big of a firm, stress,

supposedly lower pay

Private Good work/life balance, personalized

attention, more stability in daily activities,

regular hours, good culture, smaller team

Need to broaden staff, not consistent training,

offer in house CPE credit, supposedly higher

pay, career advancement not as straight

forward as bigger firm, adaptability

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Relating to the previous question, I also asked if the respondent knew about smaller firms

when looking for his/her first job. The question was “When you were in college, did you know

about other opportunities you could pursue other than the big 4/big 8? Like small to mid-size

accounting companies, private firms, finance roles”.

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One of my personal favorite questions was if they could think of other jobs people who

have a CPA have. I asked it as simple as possible: “Other than what your professional path

was/will be, what are some other jobs you know that CPAs have? Please list as many as you can

think of!”. The responses I got were extraordinary. The responses were both specific jobs and the

general industry a CPA could find work in.

Jobs

• Controller

• Chief Financial Officer

• Vice President of Finance/Accounting

• Budget/Financial Analyst

• Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Agent

• Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Agent

• Entrepreneur

• Florist

• Artist

• Engineer

• Financial Planning and Analysis Role(s)

• Accounting Professor

• Recruiting Agent

• Chief Executive Officer

• Valuation Specialist

Industry

• Consulting

• Investment Banking/Stock Trading

• Hedge Fund/Private Equity Fund Accounting

• Compliance

• Banking Industry

• Operations

• Law

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ANALYSISThe questions being asked were ones that I wanted to know because I was in the process

of picking my major not so long ago. I was very interested in what people had to say about the

industry and their own experience through it. I wanted to know about all aspects of their

experience starting in accounting and then going on to do bigger and better things.

87% of the respondents said they went to a large firm for their first job. But then, 17 out

of 23 (about 74%) respondents only stayed there for 4 years or less. This could be an indicator of

how professionals want that big firm experience with their initial job. Then, after it, they move

on to different jobs within all types of fields. More students should know about the possibilities

they have after going into this field because it would be more attractive to some who are on the

fence. This also then ties to the long list of jobs people with a CPA could have. The amount of

answers I got from one of the last questions and the variety of places the respondents have

worked is evidence that many people do not stay in their original path. Obtaining a CPA can lead

to new paths that a professional may not even know about.

The questions that were about the CPA exam were a bit interesting. The chart showing

how many credits it took to get the CPA shows how many people took got their CPA before they

changed the credit amount around 2007/2008. Another question was if they took the test in parts

or all at one. Supposedly, in the past, test takers would try and pass all four parts in one sitting. In

the more recent years, people taking it take one part at a time. This is to make sure they have

studied for only one part and do very well, rather than studying for four parts and maybe passing

them. I think the exam has also gotten harder more recently, so this tactic would not do so well

now. All of the CPA exam questions showed that people care about getting their CPA and work

hard, but then some do not need it anymore. This is something that surprised me. I have always

thought that once somebody puts in the work to get their CPA, he/she would always keep it.

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According to the results, people do not remember what it took to get their CPA and some people

do lose it after a few years. There are careers out there that do not require it and even some

others that do not allow professionals to keep it.

The results of this survey were very interesting. Overall, I found that people came from

many different backgrounds but had similar career origins. The career paths almost all included a

major Big 4 firm. Then, later, another question was about how long the person stayed/is planning

to stay in their first job. The answers to this was a range from 2-5 years. So, even though

somebody worked hard to get their first job, many did not stay with that job (or not planning to)

for long.

CONCLUSIONDoing this research opened my eyes to how many different areas CPAs work in. I knew

that some of them move around the financial industry, but not into almost every other industry.

The variety of places CPAs work amazed me because I was so used to just hearing about

industries similar to accounting, like finance and banking. Hearing that CPAs could be agents, or

recruiters, or even just a CFO of any company, made me more excited to be another professional

with this license.

Also, this showed that there are a lot of professionals who move out of their first job in a

short amount of time. And they move onto careers that are subjectively more interesting than

being an accountant at a large public firm. These are the jobs I wanted to learn more about and

feel more comfortable about pursuing.

This project makes me feel better about my chosen career path, even though it is not

really a path. It is more of a license that can open up even more opportunities in the future.

Getting a CPA license will just let future employers know that I am serious about my technical

skills in accounting and I passed the exams.

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WORKS CITED

Boyd, Kenneth W. “What Is a CPA and What Does a Certified Public Accountant Do?” Accounting Institute of Success - CPA Exam Prep, 22 Aug. 2019, www.ais-cpa.com/what-is-a-cpa/.

Gonzales, Eddie. “IBISWorld Industry Report L6713-GL: Global Accounting Services.” IBISWorld. Dec. 2019. Web. 17 April 2020.

“Public vs. Private Accounting.” AccountingEdu.org, www.accountingedu.org/public-vs-private-accounting.html.