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It is tough to say. If this was a one time thing, I’d be willing to believe that they may just be a shitty company/looking to cut and finding an excuse. But if both of your prior employers said the same thing and let you go, the evidence is fairly strong that it’s you. I’ve probably seen over 30 associates and seniors being let go and only 2 of them would have been rated better than decent. The odds of this happening to you twice is not likely.
The fact that you are a senior and arguing that you’re super attentive and the only admitted mistake is for 9 dollars doesn’t jive. I have managed dozens of seniors and all of them make large mistakes at one time or another and the majority of them have pervasive issues with attention to detail. When I was a senior, I was the highest rated in my practice and I made plenty of mistakes much more consequential than $9 error. It’s part of the job and learning process. However, the worst seniors I worked with were the ones who were in denial about their shortcomings, were defensive and because they were in denial, took no positive steps to remediate the issue. The fact that you glossed over “too high on billable hours” also jumps out to me…..that’s a big part of the job.
My guess is that you aren’t being honest with yourself on your performance. Maybe they weren’t honest/candid with you either and used a recent example of $9 to poorly illustrate the issue. I recommend speaking more candidly with one or both of your prior employers (somebody you trust) and truly listen to their feedback and thoughts. I’ve continued to mentor many individuals who were forced out of our practice and hopefully there are similar individuals at your prior firms who would do the same for you.
Please suggest some trainings one can do to be a better performer, this has happened to me as well.
Public Accounting is a brutal business. I got out ASAP in my career. Much happier as a Controller with one "client", and I still love accounting. Good luck!!
The role I was laid off from was a controllership at a place that lost a bunch of federal money and was bought out by a competitor. It was the best job I’ve had and I really loved it. I was also very good at it. Just sucks that someone hundreds of miles away dropped the ball and no matter how well we did our work, company still went down.
I have been experienced the same situation. I DON'T WANT TO BE AN ACCOUNTANT ANYMORE. HOWEVER THANK GOD FOR MY EDUCATION AND GETTING MY MASTERS IN TAXATION AND STARTING MY OWN TAX AND BOOKKEEPING BUSINESS. WAITING FOR A JOB I WOULD HAVE BEEN HOMELESS. I FOUND IT TO BENEFICIAL FIND YOUR GREATNESS AND SOMETHING YOU GOOD AND GO FROM THERE. STARTING MY BUSINESSES KEEPS ME ON MY TOES. ALL THE EDUCATION IN THE WORLD AND HAVING THE EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE DON'T MEAN A HILL OF BEANS. WHAT ELSE IS THERE TURN WHAT GOOD AT INTO A BUSINESS AND I CAN DEFINITELY HELP YOU.
Hi
I would like to have my own bookkeeping business, but I don't know where to start. Would you please give me some good courses I could take and start with? Thanks in advance.
Okay for clarification, I was actually laid off from the first job due to budget cuts. I was very fortunate to have a great boss there and he is still a great reference for me even after the company sold. I’m frustrated that it seems I’m always on the job hunt.
Also consider taking on your own clients if you can
AND BY THE WAY I WON LAWSUIT FOR A COMPANY THAT DID ME WRONG. THAT WHY IS BEST TO KEEP A DAILY JOURNAL ON ANY JOB. AND I DID.
Why are you yelling?
Happened several times in my accounting career and I filled in with the most "experience rich" short term consulting projects that I could find: ERP systems conversions, mergers, acquisitions, cash that has not been reconciled in a year, job creation tax credit accounting, raw materials audit testing, the bigger the mess; the better the skills gained. I loved special projects and got to see many top corporate environments without committing long term.
I am not sure if it was said....but sometimes attention to detail refers to not just making the numbers are correct but being able to give your superiors a story using the numbers and not just give them a reconciliation. As a senior, you are expected to do more than just data entry. It is also seeing how everything connects and how that applies to what you do. As a junior accountant or an accountant you, for the most part, do the data entry. When it comes to senior and leads, you are expected to add more value than just numbers.
If the place is not giving you more then just 'attention to detail', they are not looking to grow and keep you within the company. It is possible that it is on them and not you but tough to say as an outsider.
Got laid off mid 2023 and again a little over a year later. I completely understand what you mean by not knowing if you even want to do accounting anymore. Personally I just took the knowledge and feedback I had from the past two places and figured out what went wrong for myself instead of solely listening to others. Overall I would say really consider what type of environment and structure you want to work in and be confident in expressing that while searching for more jobs. If you feel you are capable of doing the tasks your job requires don't rule out the same type of job. It could have just been the company you worked for. And if you really don't like accounting anymore try figuring out your next move, but make sure you have the money to do so
It's Artificial Intelligence! They don't need a salary, nor do they need to drive into the office, eat, take a bathroom break or go home to sleep be with family, be alone. AI is simply- cheaper than humans! Wait until AI asks for a salary. We are competing for rundundant jobs that can be automated..but when AI wants to be paid? Watch out!
I have worked in a Big Four firm (Big Eight when I started - yes, I am old), for nearly five years, moved on to financial services, and then shifted to small firms. When I made the switch, a recruiter who specialized in working with small firms told me I would find they are good accountants but not necessarily good managers.
He was spot on. Without going into too much detail on what I have experienced, let's just say I am on my fourth firm since January 2021. Two let me go. One was because of the pandemic (though they later rehired me, but I left voluntarily later on). The other lost their two biggest clients. One I left voluntarily. The fourth one I am now a part-time contractor. Let's see how long that lasts, given the firm bought out two smaller practices and agreed to keep the staff of the firms bought out (at least for now).
As for myself, I prefer larger organizations. The key word is "organization". I had fourteen years over two separate stints with a Fortune 200 firm and seven years over two separate stints with another international financial services firm vs. not seeing a two-year anniversary with any of the small firms.
My point is for all the comments that are telling the original author to look in the mirror, while that is good advice, it's a two-way street when employee and employer are no longer a fit.
If they are saying that, my guess is that even after your double checking, the numbers are wrong.
Yeah it just… sometimes I think tax accounting isn’t for me. In fact, I know it’s not. Which is fine, I mean we all can’t be tax accountants. It just seems like that’s all CPA firms around here do. Occasionally someone will have an audit but that’s few and far between with the partners working on those. I have a masters degree in forensic accounting so I thought that’ll help get me into the audit door but no luck. I have a CFE license, still no takers.
Not to be too doom and gloom though. I had a pretty decent interview with a larger firm for an audit position. I straight up told them “I will do taxes if you need me to, I get busy season is an all hands on deck situation. But if you’re looking for someone to just exclusively do 1040’s and 1065’s I am not your guy”. The audit manager was completely cool with that and assured me that I wouldn’t be stuck only doing taxes. Seems like that could work. There’s also a project management position that seems promising. Not traditionally an accounting role but it’s essentially FP&A, job costing, and Cap Ex. All stuff Im VERY good at.
 Well You know darn well nobody can give you advice. You may have a problem with attention to detail or you may not... that is something you have to reflect on.. however it seems public accounting. It's not a great place to work... I used it as a means to an end.
I disagree. For some people, public accounting is great. I've stayed in the profession, although I had some time in private accounting. I hate my experience in private accounting, because I was dealing with a bunch of idiots in multiple private industries. With public accounting, the individuals I am working with are smarter. My private accounting experience also had me working extra hours because of the mistakes the other accounting people were making that I had to deal with. Not saying private accounting sucks. Just for some people its great and for some people it sucks.
Its really hard to know based on what you have provided. We have hired individuals that didn't work out and that was after providing them review notes explaining what they missed. Lack of attention to detail is very generic and a disservice to you, as you apparently don't know what you did wrong.
I suspect they gave you a generic answer because they felt you weren't working out, and they didn't want to give you the real reason for letting you go. There is a shortage of good accountants in our industry. So if you are good at what you do, don't let this dissuade you from being an accountant. The only thing I would say is that if you have the luxury, be more picky in accepting the next position to make sure you feel good about it. That's easier said than done, if you need to work right away.
Is yiur employer the federal government?
Did DOGE have a hand in this?
I can relate to this so much. ❤️
Hello I noticed from your profile that you're exploring new opportunities. Could you please clarify the type of position you're currently looking for?
I’m sorry for you but you should been able to find something
So, let's say it's the employee's fault. What does she/he need to do to figure it out and change? When she is getting laid off, ask specifically what she did to get laid off? Or, let's say it's attention to detail. How do you improve at that? If she is having co-workers check her work and she is double-checking herself. What are other ways to get better?
One time, I got laid off. I waited a couple of weeks and then invited the CFO to lunch and asked straight up what happened. She said I gave up. That is why I got laid off. I definitely needed to wait a couple of weeks to ask because I needed the time. And I did trust that she would tell me the truth and be helpful and not hurtful.
This may be a silly question, but have you asked them exactly what/which details you are missing?
Not a silly question because I have. Many times. And it’s usually something like “you keyed in the number wrong” and it’s one out of like 100 numbers keyed in. Or “you called this person on this day and she doesn’t answer the phones on that day!” And they never told me.
I work seasonally and I've never had a permanent role, 5 years on from graduating. I think I should move away from accounting if I don't get the job I want in a year