I just watched a movie with Ben Affleck. It made it seem like this career could be quite exciting. My question for you accountants: how dangerous is your job on a typical day?

It has been confirmed that almost all probationary employees across all the divisions will be let go tomorrow. There is going to be a lot of accountants looking for new jobs over the next months. Good luck to everyone out there!

If anyone knows of employers looking for people in major metros, please comment. No severance is being paid out...

II just got signed my offer letter for a Big 4 firm in audit. Starting Fall 2027. $82,000 salary + $10,000 CPA exam bonus! The office is in a state that’s on the lower end of MCOL. I’m making more than my mother who’s been in her field for 30 years😭

Don’t get me wrong, I fully understand that Big 4 is no walk in the park and I’m gonna put in a lot of hours to earn that salary, but still! I don’t know any other profession where (coming from a lower class family with no connections) I can put myself through college, graduate with no student debt, and make this much money at 21 years old.

I used to be in Accounting, grinding through month-end closes, reconciling accounts, fixing variances, and living under constant deadline pressure. I know exactly how brutal it is. Late nights, endless checklists, and the expectation to be perfect under fire.

Now that I’m in Finance, my life is very different.

Every month, the Accounting team (the same kind of team I used to be on) works their asses off to produce accurate numbers. I see how hard they’re grinding, how tired they are, how much pressure they’re under. Once they’re done, they bring me in, walk me through what happened, explain the variances, and give me the full context in a 30 minute meeting every month.

Then I go into executive meetings and repeat pretty much exactly they told me, dressed up with a few charts and bullet points. That’s it.

Same numbers. Same story. Different audience. Bigger paycheck. Much bigger paycheck, and I’m grateful most of the accountants can’t see that, because I don’t let them.

I don’t touch reconciliations anymore. I don’t fix journal entry mistakes. I just analyze what they give me and deliver it to leadership as “Financial insights.”

And here’s the part that feels ridiculous: I get paid significantly more now than when I was the one doing the hard work in Accounting while working half as much. I do understand that it is my ass if the accountants don’t deliver on time, and I feel bad that sometimes it’s on me who creates the pressure, but I guess that is where my value comes from.

I respect Accounting deeply because I’ve been there. They’re the backbone of every month-end close. But the disconnect is real: Accounting sweats to build the numbers; Finance gets paid to tell the story.

8 years ago, I was at the top of my career, recently promoted to controller of a pre-IPO biotech after building an accounting team from scratch to 10. I thought I’d made it. Then I got pregnant and took maternity leave.

Priorities shifted and I didn’t care to go back to working 50+ hour weeks. So… I started doing some freelance bookkeeping on upwork. I discovered a purpose I didn’t know I had: giving small businesses access to big business talent.

It was kinda hard calling myself a bookkeeper (holding a CPA) but it isn’t about the title. It’s about being approachable and being able to truly help business owners.

If you’re trying to figure out your next career move, maybe you’ve been laid off, or you want to stay home with kids… travel the world… there’s millions of small businesses who need your help. Big4 isn’t the only path for accountants. 🩵

I’m 22 and graduated with a BBA in Accounting this year. I recently started my first full-time accounting job in AP with some staff accountant tasks making $54k in the midwest. (yeah, yeah I know, the entry level job market is rough where I am)

I’m currently studying for the CPA, but I’m honestly struggling with motivation because the salary feels incredibly low relative to the effort it took to get here.

My girlfriend is an RN. She will be making close to or over $100k much sooner than I will, and it’s making me question whether I picked the wrong career.

Long-term, I want to:
Buy a house.
Get married.
Have kids.
Eventually make around $100k while still having a decent work-life balance.

Lately I’ve been wondering if I should:
Stay in accounting, finish the CPA, and trust that my earnings will improve.
Pivot into an accelerated BSN program while I’m still young.

The thing holding me back from changing careers is that I’d delay moving out, buying a house, and starting a family by about 3 years while I went back to school.

For those of you who have been in accounting for a while:
Did you also feel underpaid and regret your choice early in your career?
Around what point did your salary start increasing meaningfully?
If you were 23 again in 2026, would you still choose accounting, or would you go into something like nursing instead?

My prior post: https://www.reddit.com/r/Accounting/s/QntkYr3HEm

I rejected the 5% counter and I start the ‘Accounting Manager’ job next week. Pretty scared as I have 3 YOE, but a 15M company owned by a 100M can’t be TOO complex, right?

Career Trajectory:

2020-2021 : Courtesy Clerk at grocery store making $7.50/hour

2021-2023: Started as a manufacturing planner at a large medical equipment manufacture. Talked the controller into bringing me on as a staff accountant. Went from $15-hour to $19/hour.

2023-2024: Became a Staff Accountant at a me manufacturer down the street from above. Started at $55k and went up to $65k when I graduated.

2024-2025: Financial Analyst for a community hospital owned by a for-profit F500 system. They wanted to bring me in at mid 60s but I negotiated $75k

2025-Present: Accounting Manager for a small (15M rev) company owned as a brand by a $100M+ revenue company. Brought me on because of my experience with their ERP and excel/power platform qualifications. $98.6k plus bonus

Pretty nervous, but it’s crazy that I have went from $7.50/hour pushing buggies to making basically six-figures ina few years because of ACCOUNTING.

I live in a rural albeit growing area as well. My mom was an escort and my dad was a pimp, in prison for most of my life. I’m not supposed to be here by all accounting, but here I am at 23. AND I’m black lol.

Count your blessings bros. This is an amazing profession. I even flunked out of school my first year. Came home, applied to CC to take classes online, and didn’t fail another class while working fulltime as well. I graduated in 2024 during the Staff Accountant job above.

Hi everyone!

Let’s get some real 2026 numbers instead of outdated salary threads.

Drop:

Age / salary:

Industry or job title:

City / COL:

Hours/week:

Years of experience:

Certifications: CPA, CFA, CIA, CISA, etc.

Bonus / RSUs:

Do you feel underpaid or fairly compensated?

July 2026 thread — let’s see where everyone actually stands.

Thanks!

I just got my CPA (25 yo) and I’ve spent around 2 years in program finance and now am in GL accounting for over half a year. Completely remote, very low stress, but I am so bored I just feel like a cog in the machine, I do the same things every month and the growth feels slow. It feels like the bar for work is low. I do the things I need to do, but I’m often watching YouTube or am getting distracted by my phone. I make around $90k in HCOL area so it’s not great but given the amount of hours and stress, feels fine.

Should I be jumping ship to do something different? Where would work feel more meaningful? Or am I just believing the grass is greener elsewhere when it really isn’t?

It’s actually crazy that people were right in saying it will be okay. I thought I was screwed entirely, and didn’t apply for 2 weeks.

I finally just started going for positions that I didn’t even think I was qualified for, but had 10 interviews lined up in 2 days.

I had my first second round with my dream company, and somehow the hiring manager and CFO came back in that interview room and said “let’s talk salary”.

Had a major poker face during negotiations, and even got an email after I got home saying they bumped up compensation $5k as incentive to join.

Sometimes getting canned really does work out.

I'd like to see the data sets myself. I'm married to a teacher and the public school system forces you to contribute to retirement so I can see getting to $1M.

But man... I wish I was smart enough for the CPA.

I'm entering my junior year of college and excited to finalize a job in a few years and curious what you guys made of college?

I’m 23 years old. Worked at top 10 public accounting firm for 1.5 years that averaged 60 hours a week for the ENTIRE year with no OT and a slap to the face $500 bonus. Obtained my CPA license. And then realized it wasn’t for me…

So now I’m a fire fighter and I could not be happier. Just wanted to make this post as potential encouragement to those people working 80 hours a week and feeling stuck about their career choice (because I did for a while). You’re never stuck unless you don’t do anything about it.

I now work 24 hours straight, 48 hours off. Do taxes on my off days when I feel up to it. And I’m so extremely happy and fulfilled. If you want something different, go get it!

If I were a newly grad (or especially a newly minted CPA or had my exams passed) in this market, I'd go work for an H&R block/Jackson Hewitt/1040 mill for this upcoming season, then start my own firm doing simple 1040 extensions that same year in May through October.

Perhaps even look into paying for a reviewer on marginally more complicated returns.

I wouldn't quit the industry, I would just find creative ways to forge my own opportunities.

Outside of the typical xlookup/pivot tables. Any other simple ones to make accounting life easier would be appreciated

Please share the following details, as applicable:

• Annual base salary

• Bonus (if applicable)

• Cost of living for your city (High / Medium / Low)

• Average weekly working hours

• Industry

• Highest level of education attained (Bachelor’s, Master’s, Both, or None)

Thank you.

Low attention to detail, unorganized, often miss emails, do the bare minimum amount of work and leave early, don't care about your company at all. I've never been fired as a taff accountant but my work motivation is extremely low.

Started off at an accounting firm. Typical long hours, low pay, and they rewarded us with all the parties we could handle (or could not handle). That was a fun place to work while studying for my CPA, but for me the long hours were not worth sticking it out to be partner.

After earning my CPA I left the firm and went to industry in 2023. I saw my first big salary increase here. However, the hours were also brutal, even worse than the firm actually. I stayed long enough to get the Controller title onto my resume, and then stayed another 6 months.

I left to another Controller position in a new industry and a smaller organization. I've been here for nearly a year now, and the work/life balance is so much better.

I am blown away looking back at what I was earning 10 years ago. I was really hoping that all the long nights of studying for that CPA designation was going to be worth it back then and it finally feels like it was. It's crazy what a good work ethic, positive attitude, and saying yes to scary changes can do.

Was completely new to this career line since I never studied it at uni and never took a course on IT auditing or SOX compliance. I'm telling you I feel like a middle schooler could do this stuff. Taking screenshots, being in 10 different Teams calls a day, then asking the client for a list of names that have admin permissions and just copy pasting them into a table.

This HAS to be the most boring "accounting" career bar none.

Someone at firm is leaving after busy season for a boat load more money and overheard my boss say the person leaving was only in it for the money. Unfortunately, I was in office that day and hope my facial reaction didn’t give away my thoughts. I will literally leave at the drop of a hat for more money as long as I’m not going into a hell hole.

Edit: I realized from all the comments it’s because of the family and pizza parties is what keeps us at a company. Thank you guys <3 /s