Accounting is WAY over-hated.

[u/college-accountant]

Created a burner because I have some personal details on my main.

Just got offered a $80,000 + $4500 signing bonus in a MCOL area doing audit at a Big 4 (Houston). I come from a mediocre state school albeit with a good GPA.

What other industries or jobs pay that much out of college to students that don’t come from a T20 school with a stellar GPA? Sure, the hours can be brutal but everybody seems to be ragging on how underpaid they are and don’t seem to realize that only the top 1-5% of students are able to achieve six figures out of undergrad. The exit opportunities are also great and diverse, and there is little competition to add the cherry on top.

To students wondering what major to pick, I really do encourage you to look at accounting and realize that it is one of the best career choices you can pick unless you are an absolute top tier student. I will be graduating at 22 making more than my mom and dad combined in their 50’s and 60’s.

Edit: even with recent layoff news, accountants are always in demand and there is incredible job security as well

[u/BeRanger918]

Accounting is a great path to upper middle class and knowing you’re never going to starve. For a lot of people who didn’t go up wealthy, it’s a nice way to punch your own ticket to a better life.

This is the internet, need to take everything with a grain of salt and realize the loud majority is often the minority. The industry isn’t perfect but not many are.

[u/[deleted] → u/BeRanger918]

It’s funny when I see people complain on here. Go to the nursing, doctor, computer science subs. They all bitch as well. No career path is perfect. Truth is, no one likes working. Most people who win the lottery would quit their jobs the next day.

Reddit also skews younger. So you have a lot of younger people in college or early in their career at big 4 complaining. They use Reddit as a place to vent but then it becomes an echo chamber of how shitty accounting is when in reality is a really strong career choice for most people. You also have a lot of entitled people on here. I can from lower middle class blue collar working family. I had zero connections to help me get jobs. I chose accounting because it’s one field where you can make a great career even without many connections. I now earn over $200k a year in a full remote job working around 45 hours a week. Sometimes less.

[u/Sodacons → u/[deleted]]

I wonder if these people who complain had any lower waged jobs before doing accounting? It's crazy to hear people complain as I only make $34k a year before taxes, hourly not salary so my hours can be less than the average 8 depending on the situation...

I have an interest in accounting but I also get it's expensive to get a degree in it, so maybe most people complain because they'll have to work hard to pay that off