Welcome to public accounting. I will not lie, the chances of making partner are small. Your friends may turn against you and become IRS agents. But there’s a heap of money at the end of the journey, for those who endure.
I think of working in public accounting as a transaction. I give them my time and an honest effort. They give me money and money-like things. Sometimes I get a free headache out of the deal. When work is balanced with not-work, I don’t rock the boat. When I start to hate my job, I makes changes to my job.
I like to help people navigate public accounting. I understand what makes it tick, and what makes it tick is money. Like your intern class’s lame slogan, I teach you to “Think like a partner!”. Even better, you don’t have to sit through an HR-approved preamble with me. Pat’s Wisdom Nuggets are 100% unfiltered and 97% organic. That 3% is just a rounding error, don’t you worry.
If you continue reading this manifesto, I’ll give you three of Pat’s Wisdom Nuggets for free. You can’t afford not to read my manifesto. I think you’ll like my ideas. Pat’s Famous Kool-Aid is at the end of the table, and it’s also free. Embrace the beige and drink up!
Pat’s Wisdom Nugget #1: Making it to partner in public accounting is probably not in your future. Partners are eternal grinders. It takes a rare personality. I don’t have it and you don’t either if you’re reading an accounting manager’s manifesto. Get back to work or you’ll never make partner.
Pat’s Wisdom Nugget #2: Partners make the rules. Most of a firm’s infrastructure is set up to protect the partners or make them wealthy. The faster you learn how to work within that system, the faster you make money.
Pat’s Wisdom Nugget #3: In public accounting, you’re going to work hard. The partners make the rules (see above, for you folks with goldfish memories), and the rules demand that everyone contribute their fair share or more. If you’re going to be working hard anyway, you owe it to yourself to make as much money as possible.
I want to show people how to make the most of a challenging and sometimes boring career. I also have a garage full of Wisdom Nuggets that need offloading. There’s a box of Wisdom Logs that I bring out for special occasions. And if you’re jonesing for Pat’s Wisdom after hours, leave a comment in the manifesto or any of our articles. Everybody’s journey is different. We’ll help you work through your situationship with public accounting.