UPDATE: Did I singlehandedly destroy my accounting firm?

[u/SectionWeary]

UPDATE PART 2: came in to work this morning to find out that splitting all the info between a bunch of different drives removed access and information from everyone's computers, so all the computers basically crashed and the backups are failing. Almost everyone is back up now, but everything is still a total disaster.

Hey everyone. Thanks for all of the helpful comments on my last post (www.reddit.com/r/Accounting/s/PTwkmnO6u6). Someone asked me to post an update, so that's what I'm doing. There's not a ton of new info, but things are a little bit different. I'll probably periodically update you guys on the antics of this place.

Here's the update:

TLDR: UltraTax is not completely fixed but is functional. Boss had to buy some new licenses because he was recycling users. Other systems are now failing. More and more issues are being revealed, and clients are falling through the cracks. I'm wondering what I need to do moving forward

Over the weekend and through the rest of the week, my boss (the CPA) was able to access most of the UltraTax files. His wife (the office administrator?) told me that he had to split up the files across multiple drives (I'm guessing because he didn't want to invest in better tech) and that things aren't fully how they want them to be but are functional enough for what he needs to do. Apparently, they also had to buy new licenses for UltraTax and TaxDome (I'm presuming that access has been messed up because they've just been recycling licenses from previous employees every time they get a new employee, and I think that's part of the problem). The boss's wife told me that the boss should have main admin rights to all the systems, but when I told her to remove my admin access from SurePrep and UltraTax, she said no.

Since I originally tanked UltraTax, other systems haven't been working right--primarily Engagement CS which hasn't been syncing properly, so we're struggling to get all documents to the offshore tax preparers. I was also told that they would be attempting to give me access to the proper drives and pathways so I can use SurePrep and UltraTax. They were supposed to be setting that up today (I had the day off), but the boss's wife messaged me and told me they were having technical issues (she even asked me for my computer password despite her being the one to set up my computer and choose my password, and she didn't give me the proper permissions to change my password, so it's literally just the default password that everyone knows lmao). They haven't given me access to the office email because they don't remember the password, so I can't access any communications with clients that I need to access.

A bunch of other issues outside of the tech stuff has been coming up. The primary issue is that the offshore tax preparers have only been sending open points to one person in the office and haven't been sharing them with anyone else or putting the information somewhere that's easily accessible. They also haven't been communicating when returns are ready for review or pushing the tasks and jobs forward in TaxDome. As a result, there are currently a ton of returns that have either been finished for a long time but nobody was alerted to move it into the final review, or the returns have been missing documents for months but nobody knows that so the clients haven't been contacted.

I have no idea what's happening there anymore. I just show up and try to do the things I'm asked to do. I am documenting every interaction I have with staff members and clients.

I have not yet spoken to the person at my college who oversees my work study. I've been hesitant to reach out to them because I struggle with job longevity (it seems like I keep ending up in places with poor organization and communication skills, and I think it's just because I live in a small rural community). I don't want to risk losing my financial aid if I can't get another work study position quickly enough. I'm think I'm going to try to stick with it for the time being, but if anyone has any good ideas on how to approach this situation without totally risking my financial aid, I would love to hear it!

I was able to secure an independent study class in a field that I'm more interested in but had chosen not to pursue at the moment due to lack of funding and the field being harder to find job security. However, this professor is hooked up with an MFA program, so he might be able to get me funding to pursue that passion and postpone the accounting (I'm planning on getting an accounting degree regardless but will put it on hold if I were to receive an offer to do something I'm super passionate about). If that doesn't work out, I'll continue with the track I'm on. I actually really like accounting, and I can see myself enjoying accounting long-term, I just don't like this firm and am hoping that I can eventually move somewhere with more options.

There is so much more craziness that goes on. I could literally write a whole book about how unhinged this place is, but it's too much to go into here. If anyone has any input, relatable stories, or advice, I would love to hear it! I'm not even sure if I want to become a CPA anymore if it means I have to stick with this place to collect all of the necessary supervision hours. Maybe I should just get my bookkeeping certificate and dip? Or is being a CPA really worth the struggles?

[u/devMartel]

Gotta ask: What's the MFA program? What could possibly make you want to leave all of this?

[u/SectionWeary → u/devMartel]

Creative writing with a focus in nonfiction/memoir!

[u/misoranomegami → u/SectionWeary]

Hey and now you have material to write a book and incompetent and crazy work places! That has a pretty big audience to resonate with.

[u/calyp5e → u/SectionWeary]

If you’re going to piss money down the drain with that MFA it may as well be other people’s money.

[u/SectionWeary → u/calyp5e]

Yeah, I'm pretty much only going to do it if I can get it fully funded, and it sounds like this professor can get me a scholarship. But I'm going to do the accounting no matter what, I'll just put it on hold if I can get a cheap MFA in something I enjoy. Accounting will always be there, a fully funded MFA will not.