Accounting - What sort of jobs? Type of Work etc (1 Viewer)

[djgil2]

I've had work experience for a couple of weeks at a small tax accounting firm and to be honest - really disliked it. I'd only just finished first year so was not able to do all that much, but I just wondered are all accounting firms the same and all jobs within accounting very similar? e.g. chasing up clients for things they did not send in, working from their books (which are normally wrong) and restructuring accounts so on so on.
Any feedback views anything would be appreciated!

 

[Affinity]

Obviously... if clients are doing everything correctly most accounting firms will not be in business

 

[Shukie]

I've had work experience for a couple of weeks at a small tax accounting firm and to be honest - really disliked it. I'd only just finished first year so was not able to do all that much, but I just wondered are all accounting firms the same and all jobs within accounting very similar? e.g. chasing up clients for things they did not send in, working from their books (which are normally wrong) and restructuring accounts so on so on.
Any feedback views anything would be appreciated!

I've worked for small, mid-tier and big 4 firms and the thing about accounting is that the work is always the same, no matter where you work, it will be the same debits and credits and tax returns or auditing, just some places have clients with more money than others...the thing about workin in a small firm is that it's usually very small, disorganised clients who don't really know or care about their finances so you're left to chase a lot of things up...in mid-tier, it improves a bit but generally the clients are still pretty messy and you're left doing the same thing - filing people's tax returns and doing accounts for small companies/trusts/superfunds...big 4 is a different league altogether, the clients are paying heaps and are quite involved in their finances so the stuff is usually very organised and you get more of a chance to do consulting style work e.g. tax structuring and business advice rather than the mundane compliance work...i have only worked in business services and tax, so that's my perspective of those two...not sure about audit although i'd think it'd be about the same wherever you go...

 

[La Divina]

I've worked for small, mid-tier and big 4 firms and the thing about accounting is that the work is always the same, no matter where you work, it will be the same debits and credits and tax returns or auditing, just some places have clients with more money than others...the thing about workin in a small firm is that it's usually very small, disorganised clients who don't really know or care about their finances so you're left to chase a lot of things up...in mid-tier, it improves a bit but generally the clients are still pretty messy and you're left doing the same thing - filing people's tax returns and doing accounts for small companies/trusts/superfunds...big 4 is a different league altogether, the clients are paying heaps and are quite involved in their finances so the stuff is usually very organised and you get more of a chance to do consulting style work e.g. tax structuring and business advice rather than the mundane compliance work...i have only worked in business services and tax, so that's my perspective of those two...not sure about audit although i'd think it'd be about the same wherever you go...

Hey thanks for the insight.

I currently work in tax services, doing tax returns and distribution calculations for trusts and some other mumbo jumbo. I don't work in an accounting firm though, its in a global bank, but I am considering going into one upon graduation.

So could you please explain a bit more on the tax services provided by a big 4 firm. I know that they are our clients, but do not know exactly what they do.

 

[Shukie]

Hey thanks for the insight.

I currently work in tax services, doing tax returns and distribution calculations for trusts and some other mumbo jumbo. I don't work in an accounting firm though, its in a global bank, but I am considering going into one upon graduation.

So could you please explain a bit more on the tax services provided by a big 4 firm. I know that they are our clients, but do not know exactly what they do.

Tax services in big 4 is pretty broad...they have a lot of divisions which come under the broad heading of tax...basically there are 2 types of tax work, compliance and consulting. Compliance work is similar to what you do - tax returns for individuals/trusts/companies/superfunds, dealings with ATO, registering companies under ASIC etc - basically making sure that clients are complying with the law whilst also being tax effective (minimising tax), consulting work is much more interesting imo, it's a lot more research and writing up tax advice for clients, it can be pretty varied and as big 4 get the biggest clients, it's usually interesting work but it can be things as simple as FBT advice to relocation of employees overseas or it can be specialised tax advice e.g. indirect taxes - GST, stamp duty, corporate structuring, mergers & acquisitions etc from what i've heard at the moment a lot of people are losing jobs in the more traditional 'consulting' roles as the demand for it has dropped, however roles with a more compliance background seem to be faring well...i worked in private client services which is probaly 80/20 compliance/consulting, it's a pretty interesting area and it gives you a broad overview as you get to deal with all kinds of entities so you get a good foundation for tax law before specialising...it really depends on what you're interested in, but i hope that helps a bit

 

[La Divina]

Wow, a great response. Consulting does seem more interesting, but as you say it is not in demand now. Perhaps in another two years it may pick up when I start full time. I think compliance will always be secure, legislation and rules keep changing with the economy, and compliance has to keep up with that. So I'll see where this job takes me till grad applications open up next year and I still have a lot to learn about tax.

Thanks for the info =)

 

[La Divina]

it's not THAT bad...

 

[La Divina]

None of those roles are in accounting though =(

 

[La Divina]

I never said that tax was interesting. It's just where I ended up. But I agree those jobs are much much much more interesting than tax. I just thought I'd stick to something I have experience in.

 

[La Divina]

Thanks

I do find finance infinitely more interesting than accounting, I'll look into more careers in that area and see where I can apply.

Say, out of curiousity, in what area of commerce do your interests lie?

 

[La Divina]

Somewhere in finance. I can't say where, I haven't had enough exposure.

I really really wanted to be a funds manager. I heard the work was interesting. IB sounds fun, but too competetive and life-sucking. I guess just any financial consulting job really, which is very broad I know.

 

[La Divina]

For you? Your the boss?

haha, where do you work?

 

[Enteebee]

been had money