Why does Accounting suck? (1 Viewer)

[M@C D@DDY]

Seriously at uni, everyone's gonna talk up their chances of what they might well be in the future, hence the amount of IB talk around. But the truth is that deep down a Big 4 position is still well-renowned by local students as evidenced by the amount of high achieving students doing cadetships in Sydney. Banking and finance is only lucrative at the top level, and as I always say, within the CBD, behind the barristers and high-level investment bankers, accountants would be next in terms of prestige and salary.

Also accounting carries the stigma as being a profession which does not have a long shelf-life (because in reality, there are only so many partners around...) many people simply use it as a stepping stone into better careers, which sorta plays into the hands of the big 4 because they are getting graduates enthusiastic to impress and learn while not paying an over abundant salary for their services.

An accounting position at a Big 4 carries a high level of responsiblity and is not easy to get into either. So my respect will always continue for those who have to take shit from there friends just because they 'work at a big 4'. wait till they graduate and find out that the dollar signs up at Macquarie Back vanish very quickly.

 

[turtleface]

Seriously"]D@DDY]Seriously[/EMAIL] at uni, everyone's gonna talk up their chances of what they might well be in the future, hence the amount of IB talk around. But the truth is that deep down a Big 4 position is still well-renowned by local students as evidenced by the amount of high achieving students doing cadetships in Sydney. Banking and finance is only lucrative at the top level, and as I always say, within the CBD, behind the barristers and high-level investment bankers, accountants would be next in terms of prestige and salary.

Also accounting carries the stigma as being a profession which does not have a long shelf-life (because in reality, there are only so many partners around...) many people simply use it as a stepping stone into better careers, which sorta plays into the hands of the big 4 because they are getting graduates enthusiastic to impress and learn while not paying an over abundant salary for their services.

An accounting position at a Big 4 carries a high level of responsiblity and is not easy to get into either. So my respect will always continue for those who have to take shit from there friends just because they 'work at a big 4'. wait till they graduate and find out that the dollar signs up at Macquarie Back vanish very quickly.

yeah true lol, I think thats a good take on things.

on a slightly unrelated note, I ecently heard that most of the Mac Bank big bucks to its execs were paid in terms of share options. If mac bank's share price gets screwed, it would seem so do the salaries lol.

 

[M@C D@DDY]

The trend towards IB becoming a more viable profession has been largely fuelled by the well being of the economy. I was talking to a friend at UBS and he said that the IB profession is gonna be so dead when the economy suffers a downturn and business activity and investment levels fall. Watch all those execs start exercising their shares options.

The reason i chose accounting over finance (ignoring the fact that i would never be able to hack the maths) is that it's largely about the long term. Whether you would like to be a lawyer, office worker, entreprenuer, accounting knowledge is essential, while finance can hardly be argued in the same category. People like us, in a capitalist economy, look too close to the horizon and fail to see the big picture. Again i hold my respect for those cadets, who took the initiative at the first opportunity to secure a wonderful career opportunity. No doubt they have the choice in the future to go on to bigger and better things, and what's more, they will have 3+ years on all those who went to chase the impossible dream of IB.

 

[seremify007]

LOL well said M@C D@DDY- but even as an accountant, it's well known that turnover is high, and most people, like everyone else says, uses Big4 as a stepping stone. Like the other arguments mentioned, Finance is somewhat restrictive, but accounting- you see people from all backgrounds studying it. I mean, beyond accountants, there are people who work in various fields like engineering, science, etc... who just want to learn something about managing their books. If one goes further to CPA/CA, then even if you choose to ignore the advertisements on TV; the reality is there are plenty of job opportunities for one to make use of those qualifications in the commercial world.

As for the IB dream... it's funny that you mention it because I can think of so many people who are chasing such a dream. I'm not going to say they won't make it, but I'll say that the job prospects aren't that good considering how much work one has to go through just to get in the door, let alone once they're on the other side of the wall. But then some people probably enjoy it so kudos to them.

 

[phrred]

IB hours are actually insane. My friend at ABN AMRO works 33 hours in 2 days during semester, although he does make a lot of money as he is paid by the hour. Could u survive?

 

[seremify007]

In some countries... people work nonstop (ie. no weekends) for months; this isn't just IB- but in accounting too (and other industries). Thankfully there's OTIL

 

[M-turkey]

If you don't want to become an accountant, you could always become a Lion Tamer...

 

[turtleface]

do you think with inflation targeting nowadays, we'll ever have a recession again in the near futures?

cause ibanking is really risky only cause during recessions about 2/3 get fired

 

[jpr333]

We will see a recession, definitely imo. The peak oil phenom will severely weaken existing economies reliant on oil starting with the U.S.

 

[Conspirocy]

I'm sure heaps of people have made the same points...

I do not see how anyone can claim to be a commerce professional, and not have accounting knowledge. If you have any aspiration to being involved in the running of business, starting your own business, etc. Then accounting in my view is a must.

It is so crucial to your understanding of how business works. I can't like so many things fly though my head that it would be useful for that its just not possible to slow down and write them down.

A massive cop out is that accounting is boring, I'm sorry it is not. If you feel that way, it's probably because you didn't pay attention to it as much as others. I'm constantly in my lectures and seeing linkages with accounting and finance, economics, marketing, human resources, etc. It flows into everything, and to be successful, it would be a very big advantage to have accounting knowledge.

I'm not saying that doing other majors will not help you or aren't as good. I do feel that having done an accounting major, when I deal with people who have little to no accounting knowledge, that I will run rings around them (thats just me).

Accounting is the recording of transactions, and in business (big generalisation here) everything is a transaction.

 

[Omnidragon]

We will see a recession, definitely imo. The peak oil phenom will severely weaken existing economies reliant on oil starting with the U.S.

If you know when, mortgage your house and short the market.

 

[seremify007]

do you think with inflation targeting nowadays, we'll ever have a recession again in the near futures?

cause ibanking is really risky only cause during recessions about 2/3 get fired

I think the defintion of recession of 2 consecutive quarters of negative GDP growth will probably be the thing which stops us from having a technical recession- but the effects of a recession are probably what'll hit us. Although, with all the targeting and instruments available, I'm inclined to think that whilst a recession (or something along those lines) will happen one day- it won't be that significant.

 

[Minai]

Minai do the firms care about what students think about Accounting? Or as long as they are getting fresh grads every year they're happy?

Well obviously they wont hire you if you're uninterested in what you'll be doing. But then again, they do realise the reality that many people leave after gaining their CA (most at Senior or Manager level after about 5 years).

 

[SpLaTHoWA]

Hmm... from experience finance is far more boring than accounting... then again thats just me. I understood nothing past FINS 1613. How I managed to get a FINS major is beyond me.

 

[blerkles]

I'm inclined to think that whilst a recession (or something along those lines) will happen one day- it won't be that significant.

Old posts are funny!

 

[Studentleader]

Old posts are funny!

Haha yeah I was reading this wondering how old it was