Lawyer vs accountant reddit You shouldn’t compare a BigLaw lawyer to a small town solo accountant or an in-house counsel to a Big4 auditor, for example. I have to choose between going all in on an accounting career (masters degree and cpa track) or continuing on with a law degree. I'm a Company Secretary (CoSec) it's statutory degree like CPA but with way more corporate law, less accounting/tax, everything else being the same like finance, management, economics etc. Aug 17, 2023 · Accounting vs. Law sucks unless you have something in addition to the law degree, like a stem degree, so you can go into IP or something. I can speak to the market segment I’m most familiar with - BigLaw vs Big4 accounting. Lawyers must get a bachelor's degree, just like an accountant, but they need to go to law school for an additional three years, which can become expensive. real estate attorney, etc. Whether it’s PR, marketing, accounting, law, or investment banking. However, it still pays more than most tax accountants. Law schools have up to a 35% dropout rate. You know I’m sort of shocked at how little it pays to be a JD. S. I am starting my tax LLM at one of the top 3 schools. You’re at the clients whim with tight deadlines, responding to emails, pursuing new work, etc. Accounting and law have basically the same starting salaries and the law salaries are skewed by Ivy League schools that send their kids to big law. a tax attorney is focused on providing legal advice and representation on tax matters, while a CPA is focused on providing accounting and tax services. Lawyers often hate being lawyers. My friend just found a steady job as a lawyer in his early thirties - he makes 53k as an assistant district attorney. I'm not sure about law, but in accounting you at least have the option of choosing a job with better WLB. a CPA who is an Auditor vs. I’ve had a theory for years that many lawyers missed the mark by not getting their mpp instead. His co-workers that I’ve met are all lawyers too. If the lawyer works in a law firm, I wouldn’t let them touch my tax return. Jul 20, 2024 · Good point, but there is a difference between a tax attorney & a tax accountant. For all that tuition I’d expect a greater ROI. Audit in medium col starts at 60-75k and that’s what most law grads get if not lower and they rack a shit ton of debt. Even if an accountant goes to one of the finest American accounting schools, their education still won’t compare to the lawyer. One of my closet friends works for a fairly large regional accounting firm. There are a lot of people from top schools struggling to break 60k in their markets. (Billable’s, type of work, salary, etc). Long story short, BigLaw is way better. Accountants would work with the company on any filings that need to be done (such as form 8937). Similarly, a CPA is a person who studied accounting and passed the state CPA exam and then specialized from there (e. I have a friend that recently graduated from law school and is working at the Big 4 as a tax consultant, and I find what he does super interesting. Law: Degree Difficulty and Costs. Sure, law school is expensive but I knew I was never going to be an accounting partner or CFO (most CFOs at big companies seem to be former bankers than traditional accountants anyway). I’ve always liked numbers but this subreddit has convinced me that accounting is a bleak and painful existence where you are working constantly for 8-11 hours a day doing highly cerebral work without relent. For lawyers it’s literally contract review and writing most the time. Aug 11, 2015 · Sponsor’s comment: Becky Huxley-Binns, vice provost, University of Law It is no coincidence that law, accountancy and banking all require transferable, highly developed commercial skills, but as a first-year undergraduate the first reaction on discovering this might well be to panic and wonder how on earth to develop these additional skills as well as getting the best grades possible. U. I’m curious what the difference is between a CPA and a tax lawyer in a corporate setting. We work similar hours but make vastly more money, with comparatively great job stability. The big difference is if the tax lawyer works in an accounting firm. If I recall, most tax lawyers start around $60k-$70k at the big 4. e. Tax lawyer can be implicated in the objection if it comes to that. I don't really see your whole big picture thing. Ultimately, don’t pick either field purely for money if you want to be a lawyer be a lawyer. Start with something in auditing unless you get lucky and get forensic accounting at a boutique firm (although stay away from divorce law if you can…) or Big4 right away. Sep 3, 2024 · Lawyers and accountants both require a specialized education, but it is easier to become an accountant. What makes a lawyer respectable or not IMO is the career track they’ve taken, size of law firm, type of practice, etc. Unless you go big law of course, but in that case you’re talking IB hours. A subreddit for the business and practice of law, catering to lawyers without the support network of a large firm, and **not** generally for legal analysis or substantive case discussion. The accountant primarily is responsible for the compliance side of things. I’m in my last year of undergrad and hadn’t planned to get a masters because I already have the credits and have started taking the CPA exam and will pass all sections before graduating. Any thoughts on being a lawyer vs. We'd also review any new financing docs or equity docs for tax. Tax lawyer or cpa with tax specialization doesn’t make a difference. Accounting is less stressful than law. the careers prospects of a tax lawyer in Australia; the prospects of working abroad as a tax lawyer; whether firms care about obtaining a masters in tax from UNSW vs University of Melbourne; if I decided to give up tax law in 10 years, what would be my alternative career paths; and Tax lawyers also draft the tax section of the disclosure statement (outlining the tax treatment of the restructuring to lenders), the Plan, and possibly any liquidating trust agreement. Maybe law is similar, I can't say. Also would add that tax lawyers structure the business transaction, a CPA can and should be consulted throughout to ensure the end result is what is desired. I say this in the nicest way possible, but I also think that lawyers have a bit more arrogance whereas accountants are more self-deprecating. An attorney is basically someone who studied the law and passed the state bar exam and then specialized from there (e. Regardless, it has been very helpful (mostly my finance/accounting undergrad studies and accounting work experience). End of the day I chose accounting because the options seemed better as I wasn't sure I specific niche I wanted, the pay was still solid, and much less competitive. Look at the job ads on Craigslist. 3. Despite some decline, generally, there are more jobs in accounting vs law. Average law profession dropout rate. The deal with forensic accounting is that it is half doing law and half doing data analysis that includes looking at financials and presenting your findings. Wish my school had a JD/MAcc or MBA with an emphasis in Accounting. being a CPA in terms of salary and work-life balance? Assume I know only a little about the former path and absolutely nothing about the latter. Many accountants will file tax returns, but don’t do much more than that. That's just the nature of things. Also should note the CPA exam is ~25% tax, so every CPA has exposure, it's not just accounting, but obviously experience is required to master and advise. I like law enough that I can at least envision working hard to give me some sort of shot at being a partner or GC somewhere. a CPA who handles compliance (i. But career tracks aside, I’d gamble that in the total population of CPAs vs population of Lawyers, the CPAs will have an average higher IQ. I did Legal M&A for 4 years after qualifying and later lateralled into Financial M&A at Morgan Stanley. Sure, they go hand-in-hand and there is nothing stopping someone from being a CPA & a tax attorney, but I view an account as more document prep and bookkeeping while the attorney argues the position. It is much harder to do well as a lawyer than it is Accounting. . I know big law gets dicked down even harder than B4 busy season in some cases. Accounting: Is law or Accounting Better? In short, it is easier to become an accountant than a lawyer. However, there may be some overlap in the services provided by tax attorneys and CPAs, and in some cases, they may work together to provide comprehensive tax advice and services to clients. He works like crazy 2-3 months a year, then tends to have a very easy schedule for a while, picks but up towards the end of August for Oct, then again a few months of an easy schedule. From what I've seen, personality wise, you might have a few more accountants who are more introverted as opposed to lawyers. There is a massive shortage of CPA’s in America today. I am looking into job opportunities and would love to hear peoples thoughts regarding the pros and cons of going to work at a big 4 accounting firm vs to a law firm after graduation. It is way easier to make it in accounting than in law because there is an over abundance of lawyers. The only things about law that really are better are… People actually respect lawyers time. Attorney-to-attorney referrals, knowledge-sharing, business and marketing tips, and a lot more! Where I’m originally from, people generally only got a masters degree after if they needed the 150 hours to sit for the CPA exam. taxes). A few hundred accountants, offices all over the S. E. g. being a CPA in terms of salary and work-life balance? However, the option also exists for me to spend 20% of law school tuition to go to night school for an MS in Accounting and CPA qualifications over the next 4-5 years. I realized after one year of law I didn't want to go into pure law so thank god I didn't major in liberal arts or I would be fucked. If you want to be an accountant be an accountant. However, the option also exists for me to spend 20% of law school tuition to go to night school for an MS in Accounting and CPA qualifications over the next 4-5 years. Tax lawyers are a rare breed and top law schools don’t have a ton of students looking to get into taxes because it is much less lucrative/prestigious than other areas of the law. Plus the market is just saturated with lawyers. A typical lawyer goes through a four year college program, plus three years of law school Law vs. I thought there was an appreciable bump being a lawyer vs a CPA but seems like most lawyers are making around 80k their first few years. Many are in SALT or international areas. Then check out the masters in public policy programs around the country. Tax lawyers don’t prepare tax returns, so the filing side of planning is done by the accountant. okfgs ltnlyp dowkb mcbnhkp nbsts beqmb tvxfz pfu pkh mzvk zuab ztegpsu ahlj fqskdqc tls