Just started working in Tax having second taughts

Kingkong

For the last 2 years in college ive bein happy with picking tax now that i started im gettin a bad felling abt it.

First I do like tax as a subject and am pretty good at it. However I started work about 2 weeks ago and have being turned off it because its 75% women which gets annoying after a while, the atmosphere isnt great (possibly because of the time in year), im really afraid of gettin stuck in a career I dont like and have to retrain to get out of it.

What really got me thinkin was a guy that joined with me is on about moving to audit. Wat should I do can anyone workin in tax give me some advice

animal

Theres nothing wrong with working in tax, however it is a very narrow career. tax is just tax.
I do think that you may be better off doing the accountancy exams before the tax exams. not only would you have a better understanding of tax if you understood the accountancy behind it but as a career it's much broader if you wanted to get out of tax in the future. I know someone in a similar position to you who ended up struggling with the tax exams and thinks it was as a result of not understanding the accounting in the first place.
Audit isn't for everyone either. A lot does depend on the people you work with in whatever area you choose. Often times audit may mean longer hours and weekend depending on the culture of the place you're in. Just be careful there too!!

Kingkong

Im doin tax and chartered together. Im worried about specializing too quickly but dont like the idea of bein an auditor either. I just cant make up my mind!!

chump

yo kingkong, obviously you're in a big4.

If you're not into tax, and not keen on audit - get out now.


No point wasting a year or 2 trying your best and then figuring you hate it and wanting to move on.

Re: audit however, it has to be more interesting and exciting (did I just say that) than tax.

bigjohnny80

Get the feeling its the place you don't like (you mention working with too many women and it being a bit boring) rather than the work

So consider that it may be your place of work rather than tax. I would say tax is a lot more interesting than audit (ticking boxes)

Are you / have you done your accountancy exams yet . . . maybe try to broaden what area you are in.

if you're just out of college, are your expectations of what work actually is too high.

chump

bigjohnny80 wrote: »

So consider that it may be your place of work rather than tax. I would say tax is a lot more interesting than audit (ticking boxes)

hah

cazzy

I dont think you should make a change just because of the area, the women and the like. It could be the same in audit. You need to think long term - what do you want to be doing in a few years - in audit you would be travelling a lot if an external auditor, its vey different to tax. Dont just decide it because someone else put the idea in your head- the grass is always greener on the other side. Starting in any area will be hard as you feel like you dont know anything or anyone so tax dept may settle down.
The tax department in another firm could be quite different atmosphere wise. As tax exams are quite specialised I would concentrate on the general ICAI exams first if you havent got them behind you. Then you will have a lot more career options open to you.

bigjohnny80

chump wrote: »

hah

if you've nothing useful to say . . . . .

chump

well bigjohnny I'd regard it as better to say 'hah' then to toss out naff remarks like "ticking boxes"

each to their own I guess though

bigjohnny80

at a guess you are 'big 4' ticking boxes :eek:

audit REALLY is interesting then, ahem apologies. . . . .

~ future mental note to self - on boards.ie do not use commonly used phrases in the english language in case guy ticking boxes does not like

shall i replace ticking boxes with 'doing repetitive, manual and generally not very interesting work'

chump

bigjohnny80 wrote: »

at a guess you are 'big 4' ticking boxes :eek:

audit REALLY is interesting then, ahem apologies. . . . .

~ future mental note to self - on boards.ie do not use commonly used phrases in the english language in case guy ticking boxes does not like

shall i replace ticking boxes with 'doing repetitive, manual and generally not very interesting work'

Nice attitude bigjohnny. I bow to your judgement on work in audit in the big 4. If bigjohnny says big4 + audit = ticking boxes, then that's how it is.

No learning curve, no understanding accounting, no exposure to interesting clients, no revenue recognition issues, no tough decisions, no variety of clients, no intelligence required - just tick the box.

AOR

bigjohnny80 wrote: »

at a guess you are 'big 4' ticking boxes :eek:

audit REALLY is interesting then, ahem apologies. . . . .

~ future mental note to self - on boards.ie do not use commonly used phrases in the english language in case guy ticking boxes does not like

shall i replace ticking boxes with 'doing repetitive, manual and generally not very interesting work'

I hate this audit bashing lark, maybe this is the case in your experience however i think for the vast amount of people audit isnt as bad as you make it out.
Audit lets you see how a range of businesses operate and involves a lot of self judgement and is not mearly "ticking boxes"