Q:

If you don’t mind me asking, if you had to do it all over again, would you still go the route of the CPA?  I have often thought it more lucrative to do a law degree than the CPA.  But, my heart and my god given skills are more directed towards the CPA than a Law degree and, after all, money isn’t everything (as you are well aware based on your move from California to Arkansas. 

Anyways, sorry to talk your ear off.  You are kind of like the Michael Jordan of CPAs, so I certainly enjoy speaking with you and listening to an advice you may have for a budding CPA.

Sincerely,

A:

You really should do what you feel most passionate about so that your career doesn’t become the kind of drudgery that most people who are W-2 wage slaves find themselves in.

As you may or may not know, I entered college with a major of Political Science, with the intention of going on to law school and then possibly into politics.  I accidentally ended up in a class called Accounting For Non-Business Majors just because at that time Freshmen registered last and that was the only class I could find to take along with the first Poli-Sci class.  It was eye opening for me and it clicked as nothing has ever before.

Looking back those 30+ years, I was indeed fortunate to have found myself in that class and I would not change my career to anything else.

Looking forward, it is obvious that there will never be a shortage of work for accountants, whether in taxes or management accounting.  Tax laws are changing daily and will never reach the level of simplicity that we all wish for.  Our rulers will never allow that to happen.  The levels of record keeping and reporting to so many different constituencies continues to grow almost exponentially, with new laws, such as The Sarbanes-Oxley Act, mandating more accounting details. 

I don’t know the numbers, but it seems that there are far too many lawyers already out there.  There are so many that they have to run all kinds of ambulance chasing style TV ads to recruit clients.  I have had attorneys as clients who openly expressed envy at the fact that my clientele is forced by law to use my services each year, while theirs only showed up for special situations.  

I obviously don’t have the crystal ball answer you may be looking for; but I hope this helps in your career path.

Good luck.

Kerry