Do you ever look back and ask if accounting was actually “worth it”? Not just financially, but in terms of time, stress, and opportunity cost. It’s a solid path for sure, but I sometimes wonder what things would look like if I took a different route earlier on. Curious how others think about that tradeoff.

Putting all my years in public paid off with a super cushy industry job. But I wouldn’t be as good as I am in tax if it wasn’t for all those hours and the mentoring I received. But I was really lucky with a good team and partners who would spend time to teach if you showed initiative when i was there.

No. Regardless of what you want to do in business accounting will always be helpful. You are in control with your career and when you leave public accounting has a lot of impact (generally) on what your options are. I made the move to TAS after three years in audit then went into industry, but came back to client service. Coming back was the best decision for me.

It's not exactly a job that makes my heart sing, but I have no regrets. I can't think of anything else I could be doing that pays well, utilizes my skills, and gives me a lot of flexibility.

Yes. Though I didn’t enjoy some aspects of work (admin, billing and collection), I liked 80% of it: project based nature, exposure to different industries, a lot of talented people. Yes, it came at a cost but when you young one has a lot of resilience and health to handle it. When I turned 50, I felt tired and exhausted more often after long and unpredictable hours. However, I created a good personal wealth that I hope would allow me to enjoy life and explore some other opportunities.

From what you wrote, it sounds like you’re really weighing the tradeoffs of choosing accounting — the time, stress, and the lack of recognition or upward movement that can come with it. It made me wonder whether accounting was something you genuinely chose or something you ended up in because it seemed practical or stable at the time. A lot of people in the field reach a point where they start questioning whether the path still lines up with what they want long term. With me, I ended up regretting it. I handled everything in accounting but never really moved up. I was always told I was great at what I did, yet the pay stayed low. Each time I left a role, I had to start over from scratch — still doing advanced accounting work, still underpaid, and eventually leaving again. That cycle made the tradeoff feel less and less worth it.

Didn’t always feel worth it, but now surely does.

I am not too stressed about the job, but I have never worked for any of the Big 4. About the only thing I have stressed over, in recent months, is the lack of growth opportunities.