Hi aspiring and inspiring CPA’s. I’m so glad to have found this group and hope to answer as many questions every aspiring CPA has (in the accounting and/or tax field/CPA study advice). You can visit my website for additional material and merchandise. I come from accounting, and moved to tax. I’m a licensed CPA in CA. Let me tell you updated news: Middle Class Tax Refund is now not taxable for fed and (CA) state. WOOHOO! www.alexandraashleycpa.com

Looking to put 10k into ibonds (maybe another 10k next year but not sure yet). Is treasury site easy enough to use? I initially stayed away because I heard it's awful but if set up is doable then I'll reconsider.

Also, should you have a separate emergency fund until you can withdraw your ibonds? Can't withdraw if you have an emergency in the next 12 months.

Heading to Buenos Aires and Montevideo tomorrow. Will be in each city for 1 week. Are credit cards widely accepted or do I need to exchange cash before I go. Thanks!

Do bank managers/loan officers at local branches have any sway in approving loans? I live in a small Midwest town would it be better to go to my local bank and see if people I know there can get a better rate etc on an auto loan?

Do you guys factor in how far your parents live when looking to buy houses? My folks are here but I'm thinking of buying in Louisana. Scared to leave them though, haven't ever lived more than an hour away from them 🥲

Newly minted consultant here looking for financial advice.

So I just moved to consulting after B school, and It's more money than I've made my entire life. After paying for rent and living expenses, I have 6000$ left over every month. My student loan payments are about 1200/month at 7% interest. I still owe another 95K on my loan. I have the option to pay more every month and reduce my overall interest paid.
Currently I put about 3000 towards my loan and 3000 towards my savings. Cont'd...

How does the housing market work exactly, like, what determines whether prices go up or down?

If you were to buy only one, ARKW or ARKK and why?

Any REIT ETFs that people like?

Which service(s) do you use and can recommend to send money to India?

Hoping to max out my 401k this year but i think the market could decline in the first half of the year. Anyone else lowering contributions to start the year off then raising it later on? Or are people sticking with time in the market > timing the market?

Wrapping my head around the equity piece of an offer. Is the equity you are granted in dollars converted to shares right away? So if the stock goes up or down, the totally dollar amount in equity granted when you sign might not be what you actually get over the first four years?

Really regret not selling United Wholesale Mortgages. Very confused on what to do with this one. Unless it gets PT it’s gonna be stuck around the 10 range. Think I may be eat the loss on first say a dividend is available

Getting in the Black Friday spirit...what are your favorite places/stores/areas/shopping centers to spend your hard earned money?

Looking to rent a home in the Central Park area but there are very few homes available for rent on Zillow. Does anyone know of any other platforms that might have listings that are not on Zillow? I imagine most people who are trying to rent out their home/investment property would list on Zillow but thought I’d ask!

How long did it take you to buy your first million dollar home? What were the steps you took to get there?

My dream neighborhood is 10 min down the road but entry point is 1.2m. Currently my house is worth around $550k

I have the opportunity to buy a new build in ATX for 310k at 5.625% 30 year. Should I buy it? I can either:
1) rent it out
2) sell it

It's not my primary and I don't need it to live in. The news about a housing market crash is worrying me. Any advice?

Newbie here. Did any one engage a financial planning service? I’m 34 with young kids, no debt, and $300k in cash. Absolutely no other financial/estate planning and overwhelmed!

For those of you who hold cryptos, what multiple of your initial investment is your current balance?

What things *can you negotiate when purchasing a new car? What things *should you negotiate always? Any differences in negotiation approach when buying used? Seems like I can afford considerably less, given the current interest rates 😭 Currently financing a car at 1.9% and it's killing me to buy, but I've had nothing but issues with the used car I bought.

Is an SDR in tech sales for a saas company typically a very challenging role? Do you feel a lot of pressure? Can the sales skill be learned?

Looking for tips for website design at a basic level. I focus on branding and printed materials so I created my website with weebly and I’d like to clean it up a bit!

Has anyone rented office space over the last year so that you didn't have to be stuck in your home all day? Was it worth it, or did you just feel lonely there?

I was just asked to relocate to a different city. The move will come with a raise and promotion, but I'm conflicted. I enjoy where I live right now and I like being close to my family. Would love some advice.

Looking for a dog friendly 2BD or 2BD+Den apt/condo/rental in the Reston/Tysons/Arlington corridor with min 1300 sq ft. For context, we’re moving to the area from a house out of state and need a bit of extra space to store furniture/boxes while we house hunt. I’m open to recommendations as well as any other creative ideas 😌

Do industry professionals involved in M&A sign to close and integration work long hours too or do they peace out at 6

I’m a really good matchmaker. Like...actually really good. I’m thinking about starting a business. Would you consider a matchmaker?

Anyone in eBay? P/E ratio is ~7

What actual stocks you all buying today? Got some cash from settled trades I want to deploy

Hi all! What certifications are good if you are trying to move more into Cyber Strategy or Data privacy consulting? I’ve got to move to New York for some personal family reasons, and I want to get out of federal consulting and move into the commercial side (Accenture, EY, Deloitte etc). Looking to move at the end of March/beginning of April once my lease in D.C. ends. Thank you all for your input and advice!

In what department of accounting can you maximize your income while doing the least amount of work?

Hey fellow professionals, how do y’all feel about cover letters? Are they truly necessary or should I only do them when required?

Hi Gang, really feeling the burnout a bit heavy now after ~5 years in SaaS and Consulting Sales. What are some of the most transferable roles AEs can move to post sales?

I have an annual membership to tryexponent for FAANG and tech prep. I don’t need the membership anymore and have about 6-8 months. I can share my creds for $60. The content was extremely helpful, I made it to Amazon. Let me know if anyone’s interested

I’m making 55k in Chicago. Am I underpaid?

What is the base salary for Senior 1 in Gds tax currently? Anybody please?

I'm the hiring mgr for designers in my org. I recently discovered pay band information given to me by the HR generalist I'm working with on hiring was outdated and updated bands had been released over the summer (prior to my hire date). The outdated information had led me to believe a prime candidate was out of range. Aside from incompetence, can anyone think of a reason why HR might have withheld information about the pay bands? I assume mgrs see the full monty when it comes to pay...right?

I’m so happy to say that after about 5 years of being here, I’m finally done with the exam!!! In a world full of internet trolls, it was so refreshing to be on this thread while we all cheered for each other and pushed each other to climb over our failures and discouragements. Thank you for all who have posted helpful comments, asked poignant questions and left their encouragement! If I can pass, you will pass! Best of luck everyone!

Is it possible to study for FAR/BEC together? I accidentally booked BEC and noticed my FAR NTS is about to expire. Please advise. Jan 2 BEC and Feb28 FAR possible?

SCORES ARE UP!

Anyone take far recently? Took today and have no clue how it went tbh. Sims were pretty toils - felt like I blindly went through them

Just walked out of FAR test, literally cried after submitting it. SIMS were something I got ripped off by, can say clearly 4 out of 8 sims I kind of missed completely...😭😭😭 don’t know if I can ever get over this

Prometric is closed until May 31 all across the country.

I only have Reg left. I failed it once before. For those who have passed Reg what were some of things you focused on? Also if you have any study tips I would really appreciate it, tax has never come naturally to me.

Aside from variances, what other topics did you get for Sims in BEC ? Currently reviewing SIMs with Becker but there’s not a lot of them.

Has anyone submitted a CPA credit extension request to the IL board before? How long did it take them to make a decision?

Planning on retaking reg in three weeks. Got 62 and weaker on all the main section in Q4 2017. I didn’t do well on the time management and sims. Any suggestions? Is it enough time? Need motivation.

Taking FAR soon! Currently reviewing the book and wanted to see if y’all had any advice on what modules/sections to cover more then others? Been hearing Gov/NFP is a big one. Anyone care to share what the exam was like for them and what it mainly covered?

In honor of the upcoming score release this week, what exam are you waiting on and how many do you have left?

Just took FAR for the fourth time today 😂 LOTS of not for profit questions and even sims were not for profit!!!!! Definitely more than 5-15% Becker said!!! I got like 60% was based on NFP!

Taking FAR tomorrow and starting to feel anxious. Any advice?

How's the ethics exam for VA licensure ?

Scheduled to retake AUD in 4 weeks and take REG 4 weeks after. Ready to finish this beast!

I have to pass FAR andBEC before 12/31. What’s the best way to do it?

Does any fish have experience prepping and taking the CAMS exam? I would appreciate any advice on study materials, exam preparation tips, and information about the exam.

I’m thinking about leaving EY before passing the CPA exams. Am I able to go ahead and get the experience form signed ahead of passing the exams? I don’t want to talk to my team after I leave.

If we leave public accounting before passing the cpa exam, how do we go about verifying all our work experience/hours once we’ve moved into industry? Still want to get cpa, but moving into industry