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Posted by San Diego CPA on December 28, 2006, 8:54 pm
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> I recently learned that I screwed up my S Corp's 2003-'05
> taxes due to ignorance of procedure (I tried to do it all on
> my own rather than rely on a CPA) and the IRS called to get
> me to get it straightened out. After being told what forms
> were required of me I downloaded or ordered what I needed
> and got it taken care of. In spite of the fact that I am
> now taking care of about $5,000.00 in back taxes, I actually
> found the process of doing the taxes themselves quite
> enoyable and satisfying to the point that I think I could do
> this for a living. (Note: I am currently a database software
> developer. The mental relationships between database
> objects and tax forms/schedules are not that different. It
> is all a matter of understanding the rules concerning what
> data goes in a given form and how that relates to other
> forms.)
>
> My undergrad degree is a BA in Economics and I earned an A
> and a B in Acc. Principals 1 & 2. I've contacted the
> university from which I graduated and they said it would be
> no problem for me to come back as a student and take
> accounting classes toward getting a BBA in Accounting
> becoming a CPA. As a result, all I am really lacking given
> my previously earned credits is about 45 hours of credit.
>
> As this is a group for people working with this area of
> life, I am hoping that some people here can give me their
> opinions on whether a move into this field is advisable or
> not. I understand that y'all don't know everything about my
> circumstances, I am just looking for opinions on the state
> of this career field.
Tax can be a very rewarding field on many levels. I've been
a tax professional for nearly 20 years and have done a fair
amount of that time in "tax technology" areas consulting to
large corporations on how to move information from financial
systems not designed with tax in mind to the tax compliance
and planning functions within the tax dept. My point is,
your background with software and database development could
be very valuable because you've already been trained in
analytical and structured thinking.
You mention going for your CPA. Something to keep in mind
is that getting your BA in most states will not make you a
CPA, you'll still need to put some time in auditing in a
firm that does that sort of work. Second, although most
people equate CPA with being a tax professional, probably
less than 30% of CPA's actually are (most are in audit or
other areas of finance). Third, while I've spent my whole
career in tax and used to agree w/ Harlan's comment about
audit being boring, there have been a lot of developments
that have made auditing (and therefore the CPA) much more
sexy over the last few years. Sarbanes-Oxley is a huge
driver now-a-days and the smarter companies are looking to
the CPA's to turn the Sarbox compiance nightmare into a
value driver for the business. This is very much like what
tax professionals have been doing for years with tax
information. Therefore, while saying auditing & CPA's have
become "sexy" may have overstated the case a bit, there's
certainly some merit in going down the path you propose as
it will give you more options for future growth than going
down a tax-only road. As I said above, tax is a very
rewarding field, however, if you're at the beginning of a
new career path, you're probably better giving yourself more
options rather than fewer.
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