It is not hard to learn US accounting and you certainly do not have to clear some tough exam like CPA or ACCA to get started
Most people take 3-4 years to clear such exams, no matter what the coaching centres claim.
You can get the same jobs and same clients even without CPA qualification.
It sounds crazy but true.
If you know US GAAP and operate softwares like Quickbooks, Zohobooks, Xero or Wave, you can already start working with US clients and earn around 2 lakhs per month if you become a successful freelancer, or land jobs in India with big 4 that pays above 1 lakh per month already, without any CPA qualification
Of course, when you are already earning well and want even more growth, you can choose to get your CPA at that time.
However, when you can learn US accounting skills and get opportunities in just 6 months, it does not make sense to start by aiming at CPA or ACCA as the first step. It should only come later.
- Figure out where your skills will get maximum value
- How can you establish credibility and trust in that market
- How can you have inbound services requests
Here is a list of 20 skills
- How to prepare general purpose financial statements under US GAAP: Balance Sheet, Profit and Loss Account, Statement Of Changes in Equity (SOCE)
- How to formalise and regularise bookkeeping and accounting work for a US startup using Quickbooks
- How to create a robust invoicing and recovery process for a startup to maximise timely payments/reduce cash cycle
- How to prepare and enforce financial controls
- How to stay on track with tax reporting
- Accounting treatment of tangible and intangible property including IP and goodwill
- Foreign currency accounting for cross-border transactions
- How to prepare annual operating plan, capex, opex and budgeting
- How to prepare financial models and plans, projections
- How to use Xero and Wave for startup and SME accounting
These 10 skills are already enough to get a job or serve many clients immediately. However, you should continue to learn 10 more important and advanced skills:
- How to do different kinds of financial reporting for private investors
- How to account for Inventories in a practical scenario – manufacturing, assembling or processing businesses (ASC 330)
- How to calculate and report Earnings Per Share (including disclosure requirements) (ASC 260)
- How to account for leases
- How to account for fixed assets – Property, Plant and Equipment (ASC 360)
- How to prepare a Statement of Cash Flows
- How to prepare a financial dashboard/MIS to measure key metrics
- How to prepare a use-of-funds plan for investors
- How to calculate unit economics, profitability, CAC, ARPU and EBIDTA
- How to prepare a cap table for investors
How did we come up with this list of 20 skills?
Have you heard of Pareto Principle? It is very powerful – also known as the 80-20 rule. It has been seen that 20% of effort usually produces 80% of the results. 20% of people own 80% of the wealth. 20% of the companies in the industry corner 80% of the profits earned and so on. 20% of the ads get 80% of the customers.
In some cases things can get even more extreme and 5% of the effort produces 95% of the result. Only 5% of the artists sell 95% of the art. 5% top sports professionals get 95% of the sponsorships from brands. 5% of the startup investments produce 95% returns of VCs etc.
Skill Arbitrage applies Pareto Principle to skill education. We start with the assumption that there are 20 tasks that professionals need to do 80 or 90% of the time.
If we can teach beginners to master these 20 tasks really well, they will stand out from all competition unless the rest of the people also put in the same focused effort. In interviews, in trial tasks, in internships, these people who mastered the Pareto Principle based 20 tasks will win every single time and come across as much more impressive.
The secret to our success is identifying these 20 tasks carefully based on our industry research, interviews with employers and studying freelancer platforms.
Each of these skills can open a door for earning for you. But with all 20, you will be in a really awesome position. So please make sure you have a list of these 20 skills. If you missed it, make sure you join our Telegram channel for US accounting aspirants
If you can identify the 20% then you can avoid the rest, focus all your resources on the few things to learn and make progress much faster than those who do not know about or follow Pareto Principle.
Remember this is true not only for learning skills.
If you pick the right skills, 20 are enough to launch your international career.
If you pick the right clients, 20 are enough to give you financial freedom.
If you pick the right strategies, you can get your first client in just 20 days.
In 20 months, you can have your own consulting firm.
The goal is not merely to keep slogging forever, for 10 or 20 years to the reach the prime of your career. You can produce big results and reach the prime of your career with velocity thanks to the Pareto Principle!
What if you are not cut out for doing consulting business? If you fail to get clients will all these efforts be wasted?
Not at all!
Some of our students don’t like to do business, chase clients, build personal brand etc.
They learn US accounting and simply get a better-paying job from Big 4
They can also get a job with a top CA firm that has good clientele as many fast growing Indian companies in the new economy are starting US entities and need help with US accounting, US tax filing, US compliances
As you get such experiences, it also becomes possible to get physical or remote jobs abroad
Want to get Big 4 jobs in India or US remote jobs?
Learn US accounting immediately
And no, doing CPA is not the minimum requirement. It takes a long time and a lot of effort to clear the CPA exam, and you can do it later. First, get that job, get those clients, and start making money. Acquire the low hanging fruits before aiming higher.
Here are examples of Skill Arbitrage Alumni who got jobs with Big 4
Animesh Goyal, (February 2023 batch) a 2023 qualified CA secured a job as an associate 2 in PwC in October 2023 dealing with taxation, accounts, and financial statement preparations.
Umang Bansal, (September 2023 batch) a recently qualified CA secured a job as a deputy manager at Deloitte in March 2024.
Prem Shrimali, (September 2022 batch) a 2021 qualified CA secured a job as an associate at PwC in March 2024 dealing with financial, tax and regulatory services.
Ashwath Nagarajan, (October 2022 batch) a 2021 qualified CA secured a job as an assistant manager at Deloitte in March 2023 dealing with financial analysis and reporting.
Narender V, (March 2023 batch) a 2020 qualified CA secured a job as an associate at PwC in June 2023.