Canada Biggest Pain

[J1234567]

Good morning,

This is my first post. I'm considering pursuing a designation and I understand it's a challenging and long road to get there.

My question though is around after you get there. What do you consider the biggest pains that come with being an accountant? Is it the unmovable deadlines? Is it the time demands in general, or something else? If you have multiple things please share if you're comfortable to do so.

This might bleed into my first question but I want to build a strong and healthy family as well, that's my out of the office primary goal. How do you find the work/personal life balance? Has it ever been a struggle and if you did something about it, what was it?

This is probably not the ordinary post you'd see in a place like this but I am really trying to understand accounting on a different level: how it impacts lifestyle, health and happiness. I'm trying to understand how the career would fit into the life I want, I want to understand the challenges I'll face and whether you've discovered any strategies to overcome or mitigate these challenges.

Thanks a bunch,

J

 

[Steve-LevelUp]

Hello. There are two main streams of accounting, public and private. A public accountant works for the likes of KPMG or similar audit firm performing audits and preparing financial statements. The other is working within a private corporation as an internal accountant.

The former can be very lucrative, but very demanding. You work directly for customers and have to meet their deadlines. (To qualify this statement, I have never worked in a public firm)

The latter, being an accountant in an internal company will generally start as a much lower salary, but it is also easier, time tables are well established (thereby, not an issue) and the work is very consistent.

So, I would discuss those two main options with people in those fields to see which you might prefer.