Interview with an Accountant

I was an accounts payable clerk working for a domestic paper producing plant for three years before I became a CPA and moved into the public accounting field in 2008. I have been working as a tax accountant for the last four years at a mid-sized firm dealing with other mid-sized firms as clients.

The description of my job entails so many items. I tend to travel around a lot in order to meet with clients all over my home state of Wisconsin so they do not have to drive for hours to get their taxes and consulting done. I spend most of my time at their locations going through and preparing tax forms, as well as consulting with them about how certain transactions they make and how they allocated their funds can have certain negative or positive tax implications. I suppose you could also call me a tax consultant. Often times, accountants are thought of as stuffy people who do not get out much, but honestly I spend a lot of time traveling around the state and really enjoy being wined and dined by my clients. I am also very fond of spending long vacations with my family when tax season is over.

My job satisfaction is very high. On a ten point scale I would have to rate my satisfaction an eight. I really enjoy traveling and meeting with my clients. It is also very good to understand all of the new tax laws and I find it very interesting getting to know them thoroughly so that I can be informed when a certain event might happen when nobody is expecting it. During January and February, my time seems to get very crunched and I might be making four or five trips per week. Saturdays spent in the office are not uncommon during this tax season either, although our company offers extra vacation time for those who make appearances.

I have never really thought of tax accounting as my calling, but I really do enjoy it. I enjoy traveling the most and I really do like meeting with all different kinds of people and doing taxes for all different kinds of businesses. Who knew that in one state people can be so different?

I think that it is worth mentioning how different private accounting and public accounting are. When I was working as the accounts payable clerk, I did not get out much and really conformed to what people think of when they think of an accountant. I would often feel stressed because there were not many people in my department. We had one accounts payable clerk, an accounts receivable clerk, and a cost accountant for a $300 million dollar per year division. There was just way too much work to do! In public accounting, things do not feel as crunched for time until January or February come around. After tax season is over, I enjoy a lot of time off that I had saved up during tax season and working on Saturdays. I feel as though this portion of my time every year is almost like I am back in college. I can relax and learn the new tax provisions for the next year. It is not so fast paced all year long like my experience in private accounting.

I had always been fond of numbers. Originally I wanted to be an actuary, but calculus was not my forte. As a result, I started taking finance and business administration classes and fell in love with the corporate world. I received my bachelor’s degree in accounting and got the job at the factory. I went back to school and received my MPA degree and became certified, which is when I made my transition into public accounting. I suppose that the only thing I would change about how I went about this would be to go back and get my master’s earlier, springing myself into public accounting right away.

One of the strangest things that has ever happened to me at a job happened just last year. I went to a client’s office and proceeded to write their tax forms. Throughout the day I was approached by nearly every office worker at that firm to do their tax forms for them for compensation. I must admit, I was shocked but very pleased that they trusted my abilities so much.

I get up and go to work every day because I enjoy what I do. I enjoy the satisfaction that I get when I complete a booklet of tax forms for a corporation that may be a hundred pages long. It gives me satisfaction to see the UPS man come and take the booklet away, ensuring that the IRS gets their fair share and the company receives its refund.

During tax season my work-life balance is more geared toward work, but thankfully I love what I do. It can be stressful at times, but I always look forward to late April when tax season is over and I am able to focus more on family and friends.

I feel as though I am very well compensated for my efforts. I get paid a salary of $79,800 per year. This does not included my travel expenses or the wining and dining from the executives of other companies. This also does not include my bonuses, which usually amount to about $3500 per year.

The requirements to get hired depend on the company. The firm I work at requires that I be CPA certified and have my MPA degree. At the other company I worked at, only an associate’s degree in accounting was necessary.

If a friend approached me asking me about my experience and telling me that he was considering becoming an accountant, I would tell him to go for it. As long as he likes to work with numbers and visit customers on a regular basis, then he would enjoy being a tax accountant and consultant.

This is a true story as told to LatPro Learn, where you can find helpful career interviews with a Financial Services Leader  and an Efficiency Expert among others.  Visit to find a career interview in your desired field.