Just wondering if there is any accountants on board....my self finished with 2nd year and looking forward to finish it up/ quitting

 

Unfortunately or fortunately - haven't figured it out. I'm a bean counter too.

I'm about 3 months from finishing up my CPA cert. Even doing it full time, its been one HELL of a workload. That test is a beast.

Accounting is a great backup career in its most common form. IOW, the demand is generally high and you can go from furloughed, unemployed, etc to making over 40k within a week. The hours tend to get pretty high, especially during tax season. However some firms allow you to work less hours during the off season under the logic that it evens out during the busy season. I have yet to find one myself that does this, but I've heard of them.

If you decide to stick with it as a primary career, it can pay nice dividends. As for me, I've spent a cumulative total of about 2.5 years sitting at a desk. I am just not meant to sit at a desk - I've figured that much out. However, if it is "MY" desk and not someone else's, I'm OK with that. If I later choose to not go back to the airlines, my plan is to open my own practice within a few years and run my own show as a tax guy/business consultant. A lot of guys call themselves "business consultants". Its a saturated field. But having the CPA lends A LOT of credibility to your name.

Being able to make my own choices rather than be the effect of crew scheduling has its advantages.

In summary, the doingness of the job is fairly boring and mundane. However, there is a scant chance that you'll go hungry or not have a reasonable level of discretionary income. The job is more secure than many. The CPA license is unique in that it is quite easy to branch off on your own. Capital startup costs are fairly low to start a business - just clear out a room in your house, buy some tax prep software (the most expensive outlay, likely), get some malpractice insurance, and buy a couple ads in the Yellow pages, make a webpage, etc and get to work.

I've spent a lot of time thinking about what I want to do long term and it hasn't been easy. I've come to the conclusion that airline flying and accounting are almost perfect opposites to each other. Airline flying is fairly fun - that is the flying part itself. But when its over, you end up in a hotel by yourself, family at home, etc. Accounting is fairly boring and mundane, but when you are done, you end up at home with your family and your own house that you pay so much for.

When not actually working = you are on personal time. With the airlines, when not working, you are likely dealing with logistics of hotel vans, wondering if the hotel has a restaurant nearby, sweating about whether your commute flight home has seats on it, trying to eat away the long 18 hour overnights in Podunk, USA, etc.

I believe things happen for a reason. As for me, if I never go back to the airlines, having spent just under two years flying a jet for a regional will at a minimum give me a sense of personal pride and quiet my head down a bit when I remember that I've "been there, done that", as I am tolling away on tax returns.

Will that be enough? Time will tell.

Both doors are open - well, in general (no hiring in airline world right now).

 

hey thanks for the heads up.
I pretty much thought about it just to stay with accounting. well my whole family is in the accounting/finance business and i am still not sure if that is what i really wanted YET i am not looking into getting onto any airlines unless someone comes to me and say that hey buddy i am from airlines and i want you to fly my airline WORD, that is never going to happen.

At-least now I have a back up in case if i end up in no job position. I took off this semester to finish up CFI and about 40 credits left towards my BS in Acc...and looking forward to finish up by next year .... and yes i took over 50 CPA Practical Tests and Failed every single one of them LOL

 

I've just taken a couple accounting classes since I've been out of college, but I'm seriously considering pursuing the academics to sit for the CPA exam in the state of Indiana, as a fallback career/second income stream AND to increase my own marketability as a business aviation pilot.

Our CFO who is your average CPA/MBA literally asked me "are you nuts?" when I told her I was thinking about this!

I should probably work toward an MBA or MSSF degree in conjunction with any CPA bright ideas I might have, but undergrad accounting/business courses are MUCH cheaper than grad business classes...

 

I've thought about the same route. I think having solid aviation credentials coupled with a CPA cert might be a winning combination in the business aviation world. If a businessman is hiring you directly, not some outsourced personnel dept, it might cause your resume to jump to the top of the stack.

The beauty to the CPA credential is that it is the most widely recognized accounting certification that one can get. There are others out there that could be argued as being tougher, EA, CMA, CIA, etc. Anyone who understands the business world will admit that its no cakewalk to get and it does command a level of respect among business professionals.

In my travels, the CPA is more highly regarded than the MBA. If you can do both, then you have the best combination. However, if you can only do one, I believe the CPA is the best route to go. The reason is that the MBA is just more classes. Most of them are just general business case study type of classes. The CPA is very technical. The focused nature of the CPA, IMHO, puts it higher up the food chain than a general MBA. Not to mention the BIG WHOPPING test at the end. There is no such test besides the GMAT (entrance exam) for an MBA.

Both are awesome on a resume, however. If you have an interest in doing it, I'd recommend it.

 

I am currently thinking about switching careers. I am considering an Accounting Certificate Program offered through UCLA's Extension and I would like to know if this is sufficient for an entry level accounting position. Also is it worth pursuing a certification course to become a certified tax preparer and register with The California Tax Education Council (CTEC) to gain some type of experience? I really do not want to pursue another Bachelors or get a MBA.

My ultimate goal is to pursue a CPA or MST(Taxation) or MS in Accounting, but I would like to get some practical experience first after the certificate. When I asked around, the field seems to be saturated with new college grads and out of work accountants right now and if you do not have any experience, it may be very difficult for even a CPA to get a decent job. Unfortunately, my B.A. is in Political Science and my past corporate desk jobs were mainly sales related positions. It is my intention to look for an internship during the program or to work part time preparing taxes through something like H&R Block in order to put some type of accounting experience on my resume. I am planning to get the certificate and some experience in the next four to five years, unless if I get laid off, then that is another situation I have to deal with then. I am in the bottom group of the seniority list and if we have another round of lay offs next year, this will be my last flying job with the exception of CFIing.

I currently work for a fractional, not Netjets, but even if I was there, the life style of being a pilot on the road does not appeal to me anymore. I enjoy flying, but after having worked at 121, 135, and 91k companies, I cannot see myself doing this for another 25 years. In addition, when I reflect back on my CFI years, I kind of miss flying small pistons and teaching people how to fly. Thus for the rest of my pilot life, I want to fly for fun and not for a living. I did not come to this realization until recently, but I may be one of the few oddballs that do not enjoy this as a career anymore. However, although I would not discourage any young person who still wants to become a pilot, I would suggest to him or her to have a secondary practical interest and some academic or vocational training outside of aviation. This could even be done when one has achieved a decent pilot position since there are a lot of part time and internet courses to pursue certificates and degrees.

Accounting and numbers have always appealed to me, and if I could go back in time, I would kick my own ass and force myself to change majors. I always enjoyed math, got good grades in all my math and science classes, but I think in my youthful years, I was interested in international politics and economics. The stupid idealist. My interest in flying goes back to flying on Pan Am as a kid and thinking how cool it would be to be a Captain on the Clipper surrounded by young female stewardesses, sitting on the beach in Bangkok. Now I sit in economy in the middle seat often during my first day, last day, and at times even in the middle of my rotation as my company sends us to crew another plane 1000 to 2000 miles away. Ugh!

Anyways, sorry for the long post and if someone is currently in the accounting field could give me some suggestions, I am very grateful.

Thank you.

 

If you get the CPA cert, you'll be quite marketable. I know the recession has taken a toll on all careers and there are no guarantees anywhere. However, it is quite a task to get the CPA cert and those who make it through are highly regarded in the industry. Experience does help - if you are just starting out, it will be tougher, but everyone starts out at the beginning.

I will be done with the CPA in about 3 months and would be glad to answer any questions you may have. I'll be out looking for a job in about 4 months and have no idea what I am going to run into. I hope I can find something. But I'll be blasting the whole city with resumes on a full time basis, so eventually something is bound to happen!

I am lucky in that my sugar momma (wife) does fairly OK and we can operate just below break even. As long as discretionary spending stays low, things are sustainable for at least another year before I get too nervous.

 

well the best advice is get ur Masters at-least. I would not worry about it since you live in California, in State of Florida you can go head and take your CPA right after masters...2 more years to go waohooo.

 

My wife is a CPA. Does that count?

 

Told you awhile back that with your commercial background to open up your own Airline/Corporate pilot accountng firm. Word of mouth would get you plenty of business. Start at your airline where you were, throw an ad here on APC and you'd do well.