It is official - CPA or bust!
12-13-2008, 09:25 PM
#51
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Feb 2007
Posts: 105
Originally Posted by GQpilot
RXS676,
Was wondering if you could answer a question? My degree is a BS in Business/Management and I was thinking of pursuing accounting. I looked into a masters degree in accounting at a local university. I was shot down and told I needed my 4 yr. to be in accounting. Are there other avenues? I can't go back to school for another 4 years.
Was wondering if you could answer a question? My degree is a BS in Business/Management and I was thinking of pursuing accounting. I looked into a masters degree in accounting at a local university. I was shot down and told I needed my 4 yr. to be in accounting. Are there other avenues? I can't go back to school for another 4 years.
I personally knew others at Ernst & Young who had gone to masters programs after earning undergraduate degrees in music, english and engineering.
The University of Southern California in Los Angeles is one of the top-ranked accounting programs. They are consistently ranked in the top five and their masters program is particularly well-known. I just checked their wesbite and they do not require a degree in accounting (or even in business/management).
The point of my rambling is you may want to double-check... or look into other schools.
You don't necessarily need a degree in accounting anyway. (A lot of CPAs are "accounting majors" but really have degrees in business administration with an emphasis in accounting). You might just take the accounting courses on your own to meet your state's requirements to sit for the exam. I'm assuming you have already taken some elementary accounting for your degree in business, so you could probably go straight to an intermediate-level class (maybe you'd need to bone up with some books first). With the exam passed and a few higher-level accounting classes with the business degree, I think that might be enough to get on with a local firm, if not one of the big four.
12-13-2008, 09:46 PM
#52
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Sep 2008
Position: Speaking French
Posts: 385
RXS676 and Ski Patrol thanks for the responses. I was surprised too. They also said the accounting degree had to be from an AACSB accredited school. Oh well, it just would have been nice since they're only 20 minutes from my house. It's good to hear they are not the rule. I have had Accounting I, II, and III. Also had statistics, etc. , etc. Thanks again.
12-14-2008, 04:17 AM
#53
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Jan 2008
Posts: 1,383
Originally Posted by bryris
It just seems a win win situation to get the CPA. I will never work big four, PERIOD. I am a small town guy. My skills are flying and accounting. I'd rather be a pilot than an accountant as regards the actual job duties. But I see a better life down the accountant road (family, being at home, security, freedom of owning my own practice, etc) and I've spent about equal time now in both professions so can give a fair view.
I hope to run my own business in a few years, ramp it up to provide a solid livable income and otherwise fly as much as I can. Perhaps I can work as a part time flight instructor, ferry pilot, etc. I will purchase my own airplane as well, just a 172 or a Cherokee, and fly that way. Or I can try to combine aviation with accounting whether it be a "moonlighting" venture or a specialization in aviation business affairs or heading up a corporate flight department and flying occasionally or getting into an airline management position and being line qualified to fly open trips, etc. Or I can just go back to the airlines as a pilot. But, things will have to be better than this if I go back to the airlines. And I can only imagine that having the CPA would be an extra feather in my cap to put me above the next guy for an interview. Anyone with common sense will understand that it is a tough credential to get and shows many good character traits, as opposed to an aviation science degree from ERAU. I cannot claim to know what goes into corporate pilot recruiting, but I tend to think that the CPA credential would carry significant weight in that environment, more so than the airlines, even if nothing more than a weed out factor.
I wish I had "the route" figured out. But I don't. It just feels right right now to jump off this sinking ship and continue my education while the storm passes.
Who knows where the future will take me?
I hope to run my own business in a few years, ramp it up to provide a solid livable income and otherwise fly as much as I can. Perhaps I can work as a part time flight instructor, ferry pilot, etc. I will purchase my own airplane as well, just a 172 or a Cherokee, and fly that way. Or I can try to combine aviation with accounting whether it be a "moonlighting" venture or a specialization in aviation business affairs or heading up a corporate flight department and flying occasionally or getting into an airline management position and being line qualified to fly open trips, etc. Or I can just go back to the airlines as a pilot. But, things will have to be better than this if I go back to the airlines. And I can only imagine that having the CPA would be an extra feather in my cap to put me above the next guy for an interview. Anyone with common sense will understand that it is a tough credential to get and shows many good character traits, as opposed to an aviation science degree from ERAU. I cannot claim to know what goes into corporate pilot recruiting, but I tend to think that the CPA credential would carry significant weight in that environment, more so than the airlines, even if nothing more than a weed out factor.
I wish I had "the route" figured out. But I don't. It just feels right right now to jump off this sinking ship and continue my education while the storm passes.
Who knows where the future will take me?
Don't worry, it's natural to miss flying when you leave, and you'll see those acft up in the sky and just shake your head that you've been there, done that.
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