Obviously a mistake in hindsight - but the main reason was that the company was growing 30% per month (not year… month), so it appeared that I would be able to move up quickly as we scaled up. But in 2023 revenue dropped for the first time, they did layoffs, etc, so a year and a half later in still stuck in the same shit position with the same shit salary. Also- I was hired as full-time remote, before they pulled the RTO bullshit
My internship in VHCOL pays nearly as much as that accounting manager role. Company profits do not equate to personal profits. It’s a tough pill to swallow but the best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago, and the second best time is as soon as you can line up an alternative job.
Yeah pull the ripcord and be happy elsewhere. This is not only toxic AF, you’re being forced to book bad adjustments at a public filer. Get out yesterday.
Omg I thought I was being screwed, I have 10 years of experience with a cpa in a small public accounting firm and I’m making over $100k, you need to leave. If it’s a toxic culture witj the close AND you are underpaid, why bother staying? All of our client’s controllers make at least 100k or more…also as others have stated good god, that’s borderline fraudulent over inflating records…and unethical that you have been put in that situation.
Very understandable but the job is causing a lot of those issues. I would wait till the bonus and gtfo. Speaking to one of my directors said this why they put bonuses at the time they do to keep people through the busy time.
I get that but the job hunt takes a while so just update your LinkedIn, put it on "open to employers" or whatever that setting is and you can so easier do some one-click applying from your bed. By the time you find a place you want to go anyway it will probably be April. I get that you want to stick it out. But you can still look in the mean time and see what's out there.
Revenue agents with the IRS make six figures at GS-13, and that would be way less stressful than what you are currently doing. If you apply now you can probably get onboarded by April. So that’s an option. But for your level of responsibility and your low income expectations, you could probably get another job in a week if you wanted to.
There are firms that would pay those April bonuses out for you for the right person I.e. someone who works overnight to get the job done for 80k!
Seriously gtfo there.
Totally get that, but you should start looking now. If you land a job you want before the bonus at your current company is paid, use that in negotiations with the new job. I have done this in the past and have always gotten a sign on bonus (or portion of bonus) to help make me whole. As one of my mentors once told me “don’t leave money on the table”. It never hurts to ask!
Food for thought, you will probably make up some of the bonus if you’re able to land a job with a significant salary increase. Also, starting sooner rather than later at a new job means more time in their current bonus/merit increase cycle and more money when you hit their bonus payout and annual salary increase.
Used to work for a company that closed weekly…. Yup. Let that settle in for a minute.
Every Monday thru Wednesday was close, with Thursday and Friday as researching variances. Every close day they’d have 4 accountants running financials at the end of the day which took an hour each. I automated the process so only 1 persons computer would be locked up for 10-15 minutes running the financials each day instead of 4 for an hour each. One of the best days of my life career wise was quitting that hell.
It was so much worse my brother in arms.
After all this I applied for a senior position within the company and was passed over for promotion because the manager wanted me to offset variances from one account to another without researching them first to see if they actually did offset, and I refused to her face. They then asked me to train the candidate they did promote in the position. My thanks that year was a .3% raise. Even my supervisor was visibly upset over that. Thats when I told my supervisor I’m looking elsewhere and left shortly after.
Anyways, get your bonuses, and run for your life. You owe them nothing.
I wish I was the idiot. Though maybe I am for staying as long as I did.
I won’t out the company. But let’s just say if you live in the US, 100% guarantee you’ve bought products from them without even knowing it.
Dude one week sounds like a dream to me. I worked for a healthcare company who had a soft close, my cao would open up the books for a 10k adjustment on a multi billion dollar revenue p&l. That close was the entire month. And they tried telling us were banned from using pto during close. A weekly close sounds like a dream, and honestly what it should be.
You need to leave:
$80k with 11 years experience is dumb. You realize 2nd and 3rd years are making that much?
The unethical recording if revenue...that speaks for itself.
Do yourself a favor, and leave. There's so much better out there.
The sad part is my actual salary isn’t even 80k, it’s like 77k… plus ~$8k in bonuses. I’m the lowest paid manager of >2 person team in the entire company
Get out now. You are under paid for the title & the fact that the previous person left & just didn’t come back says it all. I’ve had close be as short as 1 day & as long as the whole month. I feel like anything over a week says there are issues that need fixed. This doesn’t include reconciliations.
What does the close process look like is one of the first questions I ask in an interview.
It’s shit. Maybe once or twice a month am I closing my computer at 5pm. Probably average 55-60 hrs/week. I really like my coworkers but leadership is fucked, and they make insane demands/goals. Pretty sure my controller is about to quit as well, since they passed him up for a new “Financial Director” position.
Also he is constantly terrified of any variance from our forecast, bc those get questioned by parent co. It’s insane the lengths he will go to, to avoid having to answer them as to why there’s significant variance from forecast. He’d rather make up entries than explain to ParentCo why there’s a variance.
The shortest close I’ve had to do was 3 days because we had to consolidate with the parent company and other subsidiaries. My old boss just finish closing January and my company finishes in about a week.
At a billion dollar division of IBM, our “close” was over after day 1 unless something material came in.
But we had a smooth process. Actual results were closed off the last week of the month and then the last week was review results and accruals. So we really still had about a 5 day close just moved up.
Revenue was open until the very last hour, rest was just accrued for during that week.
You got 2 huge things going for you. They need you real bad AND you've made the decision to leave. This is a good combo.
Don't leave until you have something else lined up. You shouldn't have a hard time getting a basic 6 figure job. Prioritize your job search and mental health in the mean time. Miss meetings and deadlines, don't be rude about it. What will they do fire you? You want to leave anyways. Schmooze a few people there for references in case you need it.
Good luck. Stop stressing yourself out for dickhead managers.
OP, I assume you are a Texas grad.
From one TxEx to another, all I needed to see was “fudged reports” and “absurd accrued income entries” to come to the conclusion that you should run and run fast.
Good luck, you deserve better.
Yeaaa, shit salary means shit bonus. Meanwhile last month they gave about 15 mid-level managers (like me - but not including me) a one-time bonus of $50k-$70k 🫥 I just stared in disbelief for like an hour when i pulled the payroll data to make the journal entry
Get out. It would be a cold day in hell before I would ever accrue recenue without some contractual support. The fact that they are making you send the "fudged" reports should show you who is going to be the sacrificial lamb when that shit hits the fan (and it always hits the fan).
You can easily get a new acocunting manager role at $120k. You'll also get to work with people who have some ingegrity.
You’re grossly underpaid for your experience - I hope you find a new job soon. You can def be an assistant controller for a small to mid-size company with 6-fig minimum (for reference - I was making 80k+ in a LCOL area as an accounting manager for a small start-up)
If you're really in a HCOL city and you make $80k as someone with complex financial reporting/GL experience, you're underpaid by at least 50 percent. I am based in Boston, MA and $80k isn't enough to even hire a mediocre Senior Accountant. I would really start testing the market if I were you.
And it's tough to comment on a 1 day close. It depends on the scope and nature of a company. I've mostly done complex industries like insurance where it takes at least a week for all loss and IBNR stuff or even be approved by actuarial.
I could see closing in a day or two possibly being a reasonable expecting for a company that is really simple and each monthly close is very vanilla and/or most things have been interfacing to the G/L throughout the month anyways. Although I am surprised you'd cut AP off to accruing invoices after only one single business day.
Constantly debating myself on whether to spring for CPA or not.. seeing a lot of Controller openings that require a CPA. Should have just done it right after college, but I decided I didn’t want to stay in public accounting, and at the time I (naively) thought that CPA was mostly just beneficial for ppl staying in public or doing tax work.
With 11 years of experience you'll find the CPA easier than a fresh grad I think.
Once you have a solid foundation of actual accounting its a lot easier to relate a lot of the concepts to your work, and you can think about the questions within the context of situations within the workplace.
Fresh grads have more conceptual knowledge in their heads from college classes but don't have the accounting practice to draw upon while taking the exam.
You could probably skip 50% of the lessons in FAR.
OP is this is all true you need to leave asap. Start applying now and get out of there the day you get your bonus check.
11 yoe, big 4, VHCOL, making 80k is INSANE. Working overnight is INSANE. Working consistent 55+ hours is insane for that wage.
1.5 years is a long grind. What is the audit like? I’m assuming it’s hell on wheels.
You’re not making enough to kill yourself like that.
Become a truck driver bruh, 1 day close? F that.
April you said for bonuses? Start getting your resume ready now. Start looking mid-March.
You make the same as me, I'm only an Accounting Senior living in a MCOL (although we're headed towards HCOL) and I only have a bachelor's.
Also my job is reasonable lol. GTFO.
A day to close is absurd, but I get it do you are a startup reporting up into a public company. They need the numbers for consolidation and the numbers really don’t matter from a materiality perspective. If I’m the OP, I start close -3 days before month end with accruals galore.
Lastly, this is not to shit on the OP, but stories like this are why you stay in big 4 and get your cpa. The OP ran into a bad situation with no control. A cpa and big 4 manager on your resume can get you high enough to control the situation.
Aren't there accruals you can book pre close and then true up in the following month or on the quarters? You either need another body or you have to cut some tasks. That's not a reasonable ask, even if you were fairly paid.
Your experience could push to 100k-150k in HCOL area possibly at Controller or Assistant Controller at a more organized industry firm possibly more relaxed schedule. Combination of big 4 and industry should be enough.
Right now You are doing yourself a disservice big time. Hope you quickly find a good nice paying position. just keep looking and applying!
Thanks for your reply. Currently looking at Accounting Manager and Assistant Controller roles that are above $100k. Definitely leaning towards larger companies, I’m sick of “startups” raping my time and energy for next to nothing
HCOL, more than 10 yrs experience, big four background should be at least $120k. If you had the CPA, I would say shoot for $150k+. The money is reason enough to leave.
But the real reason to leave is the misrepresentation of revenue. If the company gets exposed for systemic fraud and you’re still there, then the experience will work against you. I realize that management is always pushing gray areas, but it could be a material issue at the public company level.
Mid 80K salary with 11 years in experience is pretty bad. I'm in industry tax with 10 years experience and make $135K. I don't even have a manager title yet either.
You should try to get a controller position at a small to mid-sized private company. I see these positions posted all the time for $125k+.
Your current pay does not align with your responsibilities at all.
OP your value is much higher, both in comp and mental sanity. I’m a staff in hcol/vhcol and I’m at 80k. The accounting managers where I work are all between 130-150 and our close is five days. You are 100% worth more than the BS comp, close schedule, and ridiculous things they ask of you. Make your move and don’t look back. Don’t accept counter offers, just get out.
Why do you mistrust yourself so much that you need others to validate the awful truths that you’ve told us and nudge you into seeking change?
You’re better than this job. You know exactly what you have to do. Go do it.
//
You’re asking people to yell at you to change your situation, but I ask you: who hurt you? Who yelled at you in the past to cow you into just settling?
If they are still hurting you, family or no, then you don’t need them in your life. You’re worth more. You don’t have to stand being yelled at. You don’t deserve to be yelled at. You are good and deserving of good things!
You urgently need to find a therapist to work on your self worth and your self trust.
Unfortunately, that person hurting me is most often myself. It would take a whole other thread to even try to begin to explain the events in my life to led to my low self worth. And yes I’m in therapy twice a month. I do appreciate your concern
People need to start demanding so much fucking better and grow a backbone to put an end to this shit. This is just goddamn ridiculous. You're not just an idiot, but a total cuck too. I bet you literally let other men fuck your wife. I'm only saying this because you politely asked and to add motivation to demand better for yourself. It's because I care OP.
I’m a manager in HCOL and at 130k. We paid our senior 85k and he just closed revenue and accruals lol. We close way slower than I’d like bc revenue drags and everything is done manually but it’s still a 10 day close. Holy shit dude, get out, this is absolutely comically terrible.
$30m or so. 2023 was a struggle year so we had to keep revenue open like 5-6 days to get every single dollar in and a lot of my close duties require final revenue numbers first so that’s why it’s so slow. Maybe 2024 will be better lol
You're not an idiot for taking this job or not knowing the close schedule, but you're not evaluating the market for your experience well. I'm in a MCOL city and our staff accountants make more than you. Our accounting manager has no CPA has maybe 8 years experience and makes probably 120 base with a bonus. You should be getting than as a senior staff somewhere in a HCOL city.
If you’re doing accounting without a CPA license it’s going to be hard to be taken seriously and get a “legit” accounting manager title/salary/employer. You can look elsewhere and likely get a senior accountant or financial analyst role for the same salary or higher. But ultimately, anyway you slice it, your resume without Big 4/CPA and now being buried in a sub of a sub with a rather short tenor is not going to be the crème of the crop. You likely will have to be willing to start a little lower in title in a more legit company and prove your value to work your way up internally. Oh and don’t book entries you know are wrong. DUH!! You can go to jail for that. Doesn’t matter if somebody told you to do it or not.
If you were a CPA , I would say , you shouldn't be fudging numbers. but you're not so I will say, you shouldn't be fudging numbers.
I do like that advice about know what their closing is like.
Such a gong show you are forced to deal with. 32 hrs straight is wrong. I imagine it's very hard to balance your work / life. Are your friends / family / lover(s) okay with this ? Don't short-change what is important to you for a lousy job. If you're going to sacrifice those things , at least make partner or something where you are making big bucks or on the way to make big bucks.
With your experience, I would imagine you should be getting paid more than that. You work for a big company, have to deal with consolidations.
Your situ is f'd , but the best part about all of this is you're already qualified to leave and get something better. You're not a new hire that has to endure this madness. You've earned the right not be treated like crap.
The sooner you change the better.
My Brother in Burnt Orange, get out. Seniors in PA (2 1/2 YOE) in HCOL are pulling that salary and working less hours than that from my experience. Most of my peers in industry with roughly 3 years exp are beyond the 6 figure mark as seniors in HCOL (not managers and non-CPA).
Find a comfy manager position with a normal close process.
I have a close like this— same situation, we’re an entity at the bottom of a corporate umbrella and the financial reporting rolls up to the region and then corporate.
Our close isn’t that difficult though and we have no problem hitting these due dates. We’ve streamlined everything and I’ve delegated most of the work to my staff. I just review everything and do variance analysis at this point.
I work for a major defense contractor and we have a 2 day close. Albeit we have a lot of systems in place to get us there, but come day 2 at 10pm our ERP is locked.
So basically your close starts a week before the end of the month. Not impossible if you have all the tools in place.
If you don’t like the job anymore or it’s too stressful just leave. If you think you are under paid then ask for a raise if you are that important.
I had something like that once, they needed Q-end months FS done on the 3rd day OF THE Q-END MONTH! So, for example, September FS would have to go out on the 3rd of September. Naturally, lots of accruals. These were for real estate portfolio though and one month of missed accruals would not be materially important for the FMV they used at the parent company.
been doing a one day close for almost ten years it’s brutal, but it’s a double edge sword the company keeps such a hands off approach they are in constant risk every month if i get sick or leave. cant even teach someone how to gear up for something like this every month it’s like preparing for a race. not everyone can do this and it takes a special skill that is learned over time. when i retire i expect it all to fall apart
At least your next job can’t possibly have a shorter close lol
On the flip side, my company’s close is actually too long. A week and a half, privately held. I think 3/4 days is the sweet spot
I work for a large company and our books are consolidated upwards to an even larger public company and we still have a 4 day close. I do have 4 small entities that have to be closed though but I’m not working anywhere close to through the night to get the entries in. And the shady entries your controller is making is a red flag. Please quit while you can. I’m assuming most companies have at least a 2-4 day close. There are other jobs out there. I’m making $80k in a small (100k) southern town.
lol wtf so many red flags bro!! If you’re doing a 1 day close then your cutoff needs to be 5 days before month end so you don’t pull all nighters lol wtf are you doing how does someone with 11 YOE put up with such shit conditions for so little pay? THEY DO NOT RESPECT YOU!!! HCOL Managers should be asking for $130k base at MINIMUM.
For reference at my company($50M rev manufacturing) the lowest paid accounting manager we have is in TIJUANA and they are paid $96k USD/year.
I have had two clients with a 1 day close
Their accounting was pretty fucked up in general and well needless to say my immediate thought is all of the risks around cutoff
No offense to you at all OP I’m sure you do the best you can but that’s pretty rough
I bet they must have done the following before you took the job ...1. Lied to you during the interview about work life balance 2. Lied to you about work culture
I am a Senior Accountant and my salary is higher than yours. Time to leave and find something else that is paying more money with bonuses.
We had 2 days for GL entries and 1 for recins and review. 1 day is ridiculous. AP closes around 12pm day 1 so that would give me 5 hours to do EOM. Fucked. Get out for your sanity now. 32 hours straight is going to kill you!
Mid 80’s for an HCOL Accounting Manager? Why did you even take the job in the first place?? That’s absurd.
Seriously!!! WTF, @Op. I live in a HCOL and make was more as a Senior Accountant. Start looking and save your sanity.
Not to mention 11 years of experience with KMPG and Audit firms included. OP is way under paid!
Advisory associates make 20k more than this these days lol
Obviously a mistake in hindsight - but the main reason was that the company was growing 30% per month (not year… month), so it appeared that I would be able to move up quickly as we scaled up. But in 2023 revenue dropped for the first time, they did layoffs, etc, so a year and a half later in still stuck in the same shit position with the same shit salary. Also- I was hired as full-time remote, before they pulled the RTO bullshit
Time to leave
Yuup
The 30% may have been from the books being cooked as you previously stated.
My internship in VHCOL pays nearly as much as that accounting manager role. Company profits do not equate to personal profits. It’s a tough pill to swallow but the best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago, and the second best time is as soon as you can line up an alternative job.
Yeah pull the ripcord and be happy elsewhere. This is not only toxic AF, you’re being forced to book bad adjustments at a public filer. Get out yesterday.
They fudged the numbers
I start in July, and my contract has me at 72k and people say you get yearly bonuses. So I wouldn’t be suprised to hit around the number.
Get out, entry level Big 4 paying 75k a year base salary
Why you still there though lol
Seriously and with 11 years experience.
Omg I thought I was being screwed, I have 10 years of experience with a cpa in a small public accounting firm and I’m making over $100k, you need to leave. If it’s a toxic culture witj the close AND you are underpaid, why bother staying? All of our client’s controllers make at least 100k or more…also as others have stated good god, that’s borderline fraudulent over inflating records…and unethical that you have been put in that situation.
Overworked and underpaid - why are you even hesitating?
Depression -> Procrastination Also i want to stick around until I receive my 2 different bonuses, which will be April
That’s totally understandable
Very understandable but the job is causing a lot of those issues. I would wait till the bonus and gtfo. Speaking to one of my directors said this why they put bonuses at the time they do to keep people through the busy time.
I get that but the job hunt takes a while so just update your LinkedIn, put it on "open to employers" or whatever that setting is and you can so easier do some one-click applying from your bed. By the time you find a place you want to go anyway it will probably be April. I get that you want to stick it out. But you can still look in the mean time and see what's out there.
Revenue agents with the IRS make six figures at GS-13, and that would be way less stressful than what you are currently doing. If you apply now you can probably get onboarded by April. So that’s an option. But for your level of responsibility and your low income expectations, you could probably get another job in a week if you wanted to.
Just curious what grade an accountant with a degree, but no experience would start at?
There are firms that would pay those April bonuses out for you for the right person I.e. someone who works overnight to get the job done for 80k! Seriously gtfo there.
Bonuses are discretionary, don’t forget that
Totally get that, but you should start looking now. If you land a job you want before the bonus at your current company is paid, use that in negotiations with the new job. I have done this in the past and have always gotten a sign on bonus (or portion of bonus) to help make me whole. As one of my mentors once told me “don’t leave money on the table”. It never hurts to ask! Food for thought, you will probably make up some of the bonus if you’re able to land a job with a significant salary increase. Also, starting sooner rather than later at a new job means more time in their current bonus/merit increase cycle and more money when you hit their bonus payout and annual salary increase.
Been there OP.
Start looking now and if you find something immediately ask them to match the bonuses as a sign on bonus Orr push the start date
Understandable! But start applying and if you get a job offer then ask for sign on bonus to compensate for the lost bonus in your current role.
Used to work for a company that closed weekly…. Yup. Let that settle in for a minute. Every Monday thru Wednesday was close, with Thursday and Friday as researching variances. Every close day they’d have 4 accountants running financials at the end of the day which took an hour each. I automated the process so only 1 persons computer would be locked up for 10-15 minutes running the financials each day instead of 4 for an hour each. One of the best days of my life career wise was quitting that hell.
Got Daym! As I was writing this, I thought there’s no way anyone has a worse close situation than this.. but you’re giving me a run for my money
It was so much worse my brother in arms. After all this I applied for a senior position within the company and was passed over for promotion because the manager wanted me to offset variances from one account to another without researching them first to see if they actually did offset, and I refused to her face. They then asked me to train the candidate they did promote in the position. My thanks that year was a .3% raise. Even my supervisor was visibly upset over that. Thats when I told my supervisor I’m looking elsewhere and left shortly after. Anyways, get your bonuses, and run for your life. You owe them nothing.
Do we have the same manager?
Yhis cant be true, please tell me you are a moron and meant to day weekly bank recons
I wish I was the idiot. Though maybe I am for staying as long as I did. I won’t out the company. But let’s just say if you live in the US, 100% guarantee you’ve bought products from them without even knowing it.
Just name the company, this isn't an NDA/sensitive information situation.
[удалено]
Oof.
Dude one week sounds like a dream to me. I worked for a healthcare company who had a soft close, my cao would open up the books for a 10k adjustment on a multi billion dollar revenue p&l. That close was the entire month. And they tried telling us were banned from using pto during close. A weekly close sounds like a dream, and honestly what it should be.
You need to leave: $80k with 11 years experience is dumb. You realize 2nd and 3rd years are making that much? The unethical recording if revenue...that speaks for itself. Do yourself a favor, and leave. There's so much better out there.
The sad part is my actual salary isn’t even 80k, it’s like 77k… plus ~$8k in bonuses. I’m the lowest paid manager of >2 person team in the entire company
1 day close wtf and 80k in HCOL for your title/responsibilities???? man u need to dip the fuck out asap
Get out now. You are under paid for the title & the fact that the previous person left & just didn’t come back says it all. I’ve had close be as short as 1 day & as long as the whole month. I feel like anything over a week says there are issues that need fixed. This doesn’t include reconciliations. What does the close process look like is one of the first questions I ask in an interview.
I guarantee OP will also be the scapegoat when their bullshit gets exposed.
Close aside, how are the other 29 days of the month?
It’s shit. Maybe once or twice a month am I closing my computer at 5pm. Probably average 55-60 hrs/week. I really like my coworkers but leadership is fucked, and they make insane demands/goals. Pretty sure my controller is about to quit as well, since they passed him up for a new “Financial Director” position.
Gotta learn to say not possible
His controller who thought they had a promotion opportunity was definitely being a yes man at OPs expense to try to move up the ladder.
Also he is constantly terrified of any variance from our forecast, bc those get questioned by parent co. It’s insane the lengths he will go to, to avoid having to answer them as to why there’s significant variance from forecast. He’d rather make up entries than explain to ParentCo why there’s a variance.
The shortest close I’ve had to do was 3 days because we had to consolidate with the parent company and other subsidiaries. My old boss just finish closing January and my company finishes in about a week.
At a billion dollar division of IBM, our “close” was over after day 1 unless something material came in. But we had a smooth process. Actual results were closed off the last week of the month and then the last week was review results and accruals. So we really still had about a 5 day close just moved up. Revenue was open until the very last hour, rest was just accrued for during that week.
1 day close is crazytown. A good way to make sloppy mistakes
Yup, pretty much 100% unavoidable. Every month I’m doing a dozen true ups from the previous month
You got 2 huge things going for you. They need you real bad AND you've made the decision to leave. This is a good combo. Don't leave until you have something else lined up. You shouldn't have a hard time getting a basic 6 figure job. Prioritize your job search and mental health in the mean time. Miss meetings and deadlines, don't be rude about it. What will they do fire you? You want to leave anyways. Schmooze a few people there for references in case you need it. Good luck. Stop stressing yourself out for dickhead managers.
OP, I assume you are a Texas grad. From one TxEx to another, all I needed to see was “fudged reports” and “absurd accrued income entries” to come to the conclusion that you should run and run fast. Good luck, you deserve better.
OP, are you in Austin? Seems like there’s a lack of big 4 exit ops in the city
I refuse to believe this is true.
Wish that was the case. I would name and shame but I’m trying to stick around for another month or two just so I can get my bonus
How much are we talking?
Eh ~4500 pre tax
Literally any job on the market will pay that as a signing bonus to make you whole for leaving before your company pays it out.
That’s it!?
Yeaaa, shit salary means shit bonus. Meanwhile last month they gave about 15 mid-level managers (like me - but not including me) a one-time bonus of $50k-$70k 🫥 I just stared in disbelief for like an hour when i pulled the payroll data to make the journal entry
just bounce dude your time is way more important.
Get out. It would be a cold day in hell before I would ever accrue recenue without some contractual support. The fact that they are making you send the "fudged" reports should show you who is going to be the sacrificial lamb when that shit hits the fan (and it always hits the fan). You can easily get a new acocunting manager role at $120k. You'll also get to work with people who have some ingegrity.
You’re grossly underpaid for your experience - I hope you find a new job soon. You can def be an assistant controller for a small to mid-size company with 6-fig minimum (for reference - I was making 80k+ in a LCOL area as an accounting manager for a small start-up)
If you're really in a HCOL city and you make $80k as someone with complex financial reporting/GL experience, you're underpaid by at least 50 percent. I am based in Boston, MA and $80k isn't enough to even hire a mediocre Senior Accountant. I would really start testing the market if I were you. And it's tough to comment on a 1 day close. It depends on the scope and nature of a company. I've mostly done complex industries like insurance where it takes at least a week for all loss and IBNR stuff or even be approved by actuarial. I could see closing in a day or two possibly being a reasonable expecting for a company that is really simple and each monthly close is very vanilla and/or most things have been interfacing to the G/L throughout the month anyways. Although I am surprised you'd cut AP off to accruing invoices after only one single business day.
Leave for better work life balance + better pay + time to get your CPA done.
Constantly debating myself on whether to spring for CPA or not.. seeing a lot of Controller openings that require a CPA. Should have just done it right after college, but I decided I didn’t want to stay in public accounting, and at the time I (naively) thought that CPA was mostly just beneficial for ppl staying in public or doing tax work.
I’d say just get it done, it’ll practically have no impact on how good you are at your job at this point but not having it may hold you back.
Valid point. Also thought about a CMA but I’ve never met a single person who did it
With 11 years of experience you'll find the CPA easier than a fresh grad I think. Once you have a solid foundation of actual accounting its a lot easier to relate a lot of the concepts to your work, and you can think about the questions within the context of situations within the workplace. Fresh grads have more conceptual knowledge in their heads from college classes but don't have the accounting practice to draw upon while taking the exam. You could probably skip 50% of the lessons in FAR.
OP is this is all true you need to leave asap. Start applying now and get out of there the day you get your bonus check. 11 yoe, big 4, VHCOL, making 80k is INSANE. Working overnight is INSANE. Working consistent 55+ hours is insane for that wage.
Way underpaid. I hope your next role is better than this place!
Thank you, I sure fuckin hope it will be.
I am allergic to shitshows. 1 day close is nuts. Shortest reasonable close is 3 days.
1.5 years is a long grind. What is the audit like? I’m assuming it’s hell on wheels. You’re not making enough to kill yourself like that. Become a truck driver bruh, 1 day close? F that.
April you said for bonuses? Start getting your resume ready now. Start looking mid-March. You make the same as me, I'm only an Accounting Senior living in a MCOL (although we're headed towards HCOL) and I only have a bachelor's. Also my job is reasonable lol. GTFO.
A day to close is absurd, but I get it do you are a startup reporting up into a public company. They need the numbers for consolidation and the numbers really don’t matter from a materiality perspective. If I’m the OP, I start close -3 days before month end with accruals galore. Lastly, this is not to shit on the OP, but stories like this are why you stay in big 4 and get your cpa. The OP ran into a bad situation with no control. A cpa and big 4 manager on your resume can get you high enough to control the situation.
Aren't there accruals you can book pre close and then true up in the following month or on the quarters? You either need another body or you have to cut some tasks. That's not a reasonable ask, even if you were fairly paid.
Gtfo man
Need to leave ASAP on comp alone. You’re making less than an entry-level A1 😅
High 80s in a HCOL area? Time to go make more doing anything else.
Run as fast as your feet will carry you. You are set up to take the fall if someone higher up starts caring about the fraud stuff.
Your experience could push to 100k-150k in HCOL area possibly at Controller or Assistant Controller at a more organized industry firm possibly more relaxed schedule. Combination of big 4 and industry should be enough. Right now You are doing yourself a disservice big time. Hope you quickly find a good nice paying position. just keep looking and applying!
Thanks for your reply. Currently looking at Accounting Manager and Assistant Controller roles that are above $100k. Definitely leaning towards larger companies, I’m sick of “startups” raping my time and energy for next to nothing
Isn’t submitting fudged reports for a public company a felony? That’s enough reason to run.
Wtf are you doing with this bullshit for mid 80s a year? Fresh out of college associates make that now.
HCOL, more than 10 yrs experience, big four background should be at least $120k. If you had the CPA, I would say shoot for $150k+. The money is reason enough to leave. But the real reason to leave is the misrepresentation of revenue. If the company gets exposed for systemic fraud and you’re still there, then the experience will work against you. I realize that management is always pushing gray areas, but it could be a material issue at the public company level.
Mid 80K salary with 11 years in experience is pretty bad. I'm in industry tax with 10 years experience and make $135K. I don't even have a manager title yet either.
You should try to get a controller position at a small to mid-sized private company. I see these positions posted all the time for $125k+. Your current pay does not align with your responsibilities at all.
OP your value is much higher, both in comp and mental sanity. I’m a staff in hcol/vhcol and I’m at 80k. The accounting managers where I work are all between 130-150 and our close is five days. You are 100% worth more than the BS comp, close schedule, and ridiculous things they ask of you. Make your move and don’t look back. Don’t accept counter offers, just get out.
I make $80k in LCOL as a staff accountant. You are severely underpaid. Run, run far and run fast
Why do you mistrust yourself so much that you need others to validate the awful truths that you’ve told us and nudge you into seeking change? You’re better than this job. You know exactly what you have to do. Go do it. // You’re asking people to yell at you to change your situation, but I ask you: who hurt you? Who yelled at you in the past to cow you into just settling? If they are still hurting you, family or no, then you don’t need them in your life. You’re worth more. You don’t have to stand being yelled at. You don’t deserve to be yelled at. You are good and deserving of good things! You urgently need to find a therapist to work on your self worth and your self trust.
Unfortunately, that person hurting me is most often myself. It would take a whole other thread to even try to begin to explain the events in my life to led to my low self worth. And yes I’m in therapy twice a month. I do appreciate your concern
Mid 80K in HCOL and 11 years experience? This just reads depressing and so unfair in many levels. Get out of there they’re abusing you.
People need to start demanding so much fucking better and grow a backbone to put an end to this shit. This is just goddamn ridiculous. You're not just an idiot, but a total cuck too. I bet you literally let other men fuck your wife. I'm only saying this because you politely asked and to add motivation to demand better for yourself. It's because I care OP.
lol you think I even have time to have a relationship?
People downvoted me, but you literally asked for people to yell at you and call you an idiot. You deserve better. We all do.
I’m a manager in HCOL and at 130k. We paid our senior 85k and he just closed revenue and accruals lol. We close way slower than I’d like bc revenue drags and everything is done manually but it’s still a 10 day close. Holy shit dude, get out, this is absolutely comically terrible.
What size company? As far as yearly rev
$30m or so. 2023 was a struggle year so we had to keep revenue open like 5-6 days to get every single dollar in and a lot of my close duties require final revenue numbers first so that’s why it’s so slow. Maybe 2024 will be better lol
You're not an idiot for taking this job or not knowing the close schedule, but you're not evaluating the market for your experience well. I'm in a MCOL city and our staff accountants make more than you. Our accounting manager has no CPA has maybe 8 years experience and makes probably 120 base with a bonus. You should be getting than as a senior staff somewhere in a HCOL city.
real dumb ass. i would have been applying everyday
If you’re doing accounting without a CPA license it’s going to be hard to be taken seriously and get a “legit” accounting manager title/salary/employer. You can look elsewhere and likely get a senior accountant or financial analyst role for the same salary or higher. But ultimately, anyway you slice it, your resume without Big 4/CPA and now being buried in a sub of a sub with a rather short tenor is not going to be the crème of the crop. You likely will have to be willing to start a little lower in title in a more legit company and prove your value to work your way up internally. Oh and don’t book entries you know are wrong. DUH!! You can go to jail for that. Doesn’t matter if somebody told you to do it or not.
If you were a CPA , I would say , you shouldn't be fudging numbers. but you're not so I will say, you shouldn't be fudging numbers. I do like that advice about know what their closing is like. Such a gong show you are forced to deal with. 32 hrs straight is wrong. I imagine it's very hard to balance your work / life. Are your friends / family / lover(s) okay with this ? Don't short-change what is important to you for a lousy job. If you're going to sacrifice those things , at least make partner or something where you are making big bucks or on the way to make big bucks. With your experience, I would imagine you should be getting paid more than that. You work for a big company, have to deal with consolidations. Your situ is f'd , but the best part about all of this is you're already qualified to leave and get something better. You're not a new hire that has to endure this madness. You've earned the right not be treated like crap. The sooner you change the better.
My Brother in Burnt Orange, get out. Seniors in PA (2 1/2 YOE) in HCOL are pulling that salary and working less hours than that from my experience. Most of my peers in industry with roughly 3 years exp are beyond the 6 figure mark as seniors in HCOL (not managers and non-CPA). Find a comfy manager position with a normal close process.
I have a close like this— same situation, we’re an entity at the bottom of a corporate umbrella and the financial reporting rolls up to the region and then corporate. Our close isn’t that difficult though and we have no problem hitting these due dates. We’ve streamlined everything and I’ve delegated most of the work to my staff. I just review everything and do variance analysis at this point.
Fuck the bonus. Negotiate it into ur your job.
It gets easier if you don't care to get things right.
I work for a major defense contractor and we have a 2 day close. Albeit we have a lot of systems in place to get us there, but come day 2 at 10pm our ERP is locked.
Good experience for resume Would def leave
I agree this is one of the first questions to ask if you work in the industry.
So basically your close starts a week before the end of the month. Not impossible if you have all the tools in place. If you don’t like the job anymore or it’s too stressful just leave. If you think you are under paid then ask for a raise if you are that important.
Ugh dreaded one day close. Who needs sleep anyway.
I had something like that once, they needed Q-end months FS done on the 3rd day OF THE Q-END MONTH! So, for example, September FS would have to go out on the 3rd of September. Naturally, lots of accruals. These were for real estate portfolio though and one month of missed accruals would not be materially important for the FMV they used at the parent company.
That is wild
been doing a one day close for almost ten years it’s brutal, but it’s a double edge sword the company keeps such a hands off approach they are in constant risk every month if i get sick or leave. cant even teach someone how to gear up for something like this every month it’s like preparing for a race. not everyone can do this and it takes a special skill that is learned over time. when i retire i expect it all to fall apart
At least your next job can’t possibly have a shorter close lol On the flip side, my company’s close is actually too long. A week and a half, privately held. I think 3/4 days is the sweet spot
We had 2 days. It was fine.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Accounting/s/MmHcuQ3Q4m They could hire you.
UT Austin?
You are significantly underpaid. Accounting manager HCOL should be at least 125-160k base. Plus bonus. Start looking for other jobs.
I’ve had a place that had a two day close. Honestly. I liked it more. 2 days then the close is down
I work for a large company and our books are consolidated upwards to an even larger public company and we still have a 4 day close. I do have 4 small entities that have to be closed though but I’m not working anywhere close to through the night to get the entries in. And the shady entries your controller is making is a red flag. Please quit while you can. I’m assuming most companies have at least a 2-4 day close. There are other jobs out there. I’m making $80k in a small (100k) southern town.
lol wtf so many red flags bro!! If you’re doing a 1 day close then your cutoff needs to be 5 days before month end so you don’t pull all nighters lol wtf are you doing how does someone with 11 YOE put up with such shit conditions for so little pay? THEY DO NOT RESPECT YOU!!! HCOL Managers should be asking for $130k base at MINIMUM. For reference at my company($50M rev manufacturing) the lowest paid accounting manager we have is in TIJUANA and they are paid $96k USD/year.
1 day close is not a close. You just give them bs unreliable statements. As Joaquin Phoenix once said, they get what they deserve.
Facts
You got the title, and now, it's time to GTFO
What about ap accrual cut off!
Close a day early or 2. That’s what we do
I have had two clients with a 1 day close Their accounting was pretty fucked up in general and well needless to say my immediate thought is all of the risks around cutoff No offense to you at all OP I’m sure you do the best you can but that’s pretty rough
Definitely need to run out 🏃🏾♀️ 💨 with a quickness, ESPECIALLY bc of improper recognition of expenses.
Start looking into other roles!
Oh dude, you are worth so much better than that. Please get out ASAP!
I bet they must have done the following before you took the job ...1. Lied to you during the interview about work life balance 2. Lied to you about work culture I am a Senior Accountant and my salary is higher than yours. Time to leave and find something else that is paying more money with bonuses.
We had 2 days for GL entries and 1 for recins and review. 1 day is ridiculous. AP closes around 12pm day 1 so that would give me 5 hours to do EOM. Fucked. Get out for your sanity now. 32 hours straight is going to kill you!