USA Deciding to become an accountant at 32

[esshesse]

Hello all,

This is my first post.

I am 32 and have had a steady but relatively unsuccessful career in real estate, followed by three years as a professional poker player.

I am getting out of poker and want to get a regular job. I never really liked sales. My undergraduate degree is in philosophy. I am very much a critical thinker, and am very logical and practical.

I believe I would be a very good accountant, because I hate making mistakes, and I have a high degree of integrity and I like doing a good job at whatever I do. Anyway, to get to my point: I have almost zero experience in accounting. As a career move, do you think it would be possible to get an advanced degree (say an MBA) in accounting and get hired, with no experience, to an entry level role?

I am pretty scared for my future at this point, since I am not very good at sales.

Thank you

 

[DTA93433]

Question: Do you like puzzles? Do you reconcile your bank statement every month. You may make a good accountant. If you like things in order......that'll help too. My point being (in my opinion) that these are just a few of the characteristics you'll need in a career in accounting (along with the ones you've already mentioned). Accounting, the #'s really do tell a story. It's an exciting time to get into the field. Go for it!

 

[esshesse]

I do enjoy puzzles. One time a coworker couldn't figure out their paycheck and I figured it out for them. It felt really good. I would like to be respected and valued for being good at something at work I guess accountants are more introverted than sales people which I also like.

What I don't like is sitting and doing some very repetitive thing all the time. I'd much prefer a challenge. But I guess you have to start out doing repetitive tasks? Not sure.

 

[DTA93433]

All those month-end closings....all those g/l reconciliations represents a new challenge. And doing all those repetitive tasks really shows you the importance of the accounting process. Like anything in life, once you see the Big Picture, you can see how all the individual parts (the accounting cycle) have their role. It's the results of all those tasks (ie, the financial statements) where the importance of what we do is really seen. Being able to analyze what the numbers mean gives purpose to all those (boring) bookkeeping tasks. This helps the users of financial statements (shareholders, creditors, loan officers, management, etc.) We do more accounting in our daily life than we think. Lastly, NO software can take the place of an experienced accountant. None!