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There are multiple ways of doing this, dependent for which type of company you work for, whether it's big corporate company or any of the big 4 companies or some public company that simply has an accounting department, but you would like to differentiate your self and rise up in the career ladder.
Got your CPA? What's next?
Advice #1 Reach financial Freedom goal doing something that you are already good at...
So the question what are you good in? You are obviously good in... analyzing numbers and math behind the numbers, after all that is what CPA folks do all day. Help folks save money on taxes, help folks count their money.
What if Rome Wells told you that there is another way to make money beyond your typical CPA full time job....?
What if there was a way to reach your financial freedom goal within 3 to 5 years? What if there was a way to jump outside of your full time job into the world of making money vs attempting to save money... for other folks...
What if I was to tell you something that you perhaps already knew but never took action upon? Or perhaps felt skeptical about? Yet in reality... can help you become wealthy, and retire with confidence.
So what exactly am I gearing you towards? I am gearing you towards the very same thing that I gear other folks towards, from other industries who are not accountants, such as lawyers, IT engineers, project managers, teachers, doctors and other folks out there who slowly beginning to realize that... the middle class is gradually becoming extinct... and that the salaries are beginning to converge to the peak value for of $125k to $150k...
So what is the whole deal with middle class salaries?
The interesting part about the salaries is that no matter how smart you are, no matter how good you are... the consequences of your intelligence rarely matter.... and that even the person who is less intelligent and is not an accountant, but let's say a waiter in upscale restaurant... all making very close similar salary of no more then $150k... per year.
You may say... to me Rome Wells that is not true... what are you talking about... If you don't believe me, look up salaries across different type of professions and see what is the peak value.. for these professions... and you will realize that... even if you are super duper person doing all the work you still won't get more then the base of $150k...
If middle classs salaries make every1 eqaul... then what is the pont of working hard?
So then comes the obvious question... why? Why working your ass off and getting the same as the other folks in different professions who maybe working half as hard as you are, or have lower level of intelligence when it comes to working with math... and not getting rewarded as much as you should be getting rewarded?
In fact the entire concept of democracy the way it stands today, makes the long term prosperity of medium class questnable to the level of... why am I doing what I am doing today... and how can I make more money and be more rewarded for what I do?
This is the questions many folks now days asking across multiple industries and professions. Many folks realizing that the prices are going up, yet the median salaries are not shifting as much as they used to in 1960s, in 1980s etc... Don't believe me? Watch tons of netflix documentaries about middle class no longer being the middle class and gradually becoming extinct and being converted with the poor class.
So what can you do to not work as hard...
So what is the solution here Rome Wells? Solution here is to get out of the rat race and jump to the rich class.
Think about it... your jobs of being CPAs... are well.. gradauly becoming.. limited.. think about new law that just was declared recently... to make standard deduction to be 12k for individuals and 24k for married couples vs itemized deductions... what do you think will happen with the demand for having to hire accountants, when now days anyone will just simply be able to do taxes online on their own (not always the case but.. yes it's true think about it...)
Before itemized deductions helped accountants do what they do best, count deducations and help folks save money...
Now this is becomes less of a factor... in case if you do not know why it's probably good idea that you get familiar with latests tax laws.
So the problem is.. basically a lot of accountants work hard at their full time jobs and don't make good money or make money same as other folks in the professions, even though accountants have harder times and more responsibilities vs other professions (obviously depends on profession)
CPA folks took their time to take the CPA exam and reach their monumental goal, all that for what? Just so you can be equal with other folks who work not as hard as you or less intelligent then you...
What's the point of constantly working full time as CPA until the day you die, when you can do so much more.
What's the point of working full time non stop as CPA... when you can just be HVAC tech or... a plumber or a waiter or electrician... and make closely the same if not more? I don't know about you but what is hapenning in US today.. remind me of what was hapenning in Soviet Union during communism...
I remember the days when my dad was the head of the city architecture.. and had many people reporting to him and during his time was like the top of the top type of guy working hard super hard, being very smart with numbers... yet... the regular worker at the factory... who is fixing refrigerators would be getting paid the same if not more then what my dad was getting paid...
This was just plainly insane... that is primarily the reason why Soviet Union disintegrated, in 1991... however.. the reality of such equal pay is what I Rome Wells seem to be discovering in USA today!
Extinction/Convergence of the middle class is your opportunity to discover how you should pivot yourself towards financial freedom goal
What I am seeing today is the gradual extinction of the middle class where professions of no matter who you are becoming equal and that is just not fair. Not fair for the folks such as CPA certified folks or not fair for lawyers or IT engineers or teachers, or doctors, it is not fair.... these professions work hard, really hard.. and push their brains to the limits... yet getting paid the same... as a waiter in upscale restauraunt in Manhattan....
Do you consider your self more intelligent then a waiter? I sure hope you do if you managed to get your CPA and finished school and got your bachelors degree and/or masters degree.
Do you feel being ripped off for obtaining education, going to school.. and getting in debt just from school alone... just so you can be paid the same? Maybe, perhaps not.. or at perhaps at least not yet... or maybe you do feel that way...
However, the reality of it all is that sooner or later you will start feeling ripped off. Simply because you will realize that no matter how hard you work no matter how good you are the avg peak of salary that you will reach will be no bigger then $150k... that is just the reality... in America today, whether you like it or not...
Sure there will always be outilers, there will be folks jumping beyond these salaries, but on avg... when we are referring to middle class is, that is what the reality looks like... at least in the metropolitan area of Manhattan NY or other major city areas...
So now the question is... What can you do? How do you jump out of the rat's race?
The answer is commercial real estate investment... that is the way for you to make money in this world... 90% of the rich folks made their money in real estate... why should you be any different...
Discover my very own journey of learning about commercial real estate and join me in reaching your financial goal, by visiting StudyGuide.net/Real-Estate
Note you may say, Rome Wells, I don't believe that this is a good advice of diving into commercial real estate, I just graduated and just got my CPA, i barely have any money, how on earth can I invest into commercial real estate and working in full time job...
If you are asking these questions... that is even more reasons for you to visit above link and discover how to reach your financial freedom goal in 3 to 5 years.
Note if you don't do it... and change your mindset in the direction of setting up your self for successful financial freedom goal... someone else will, for example CISSP certified folks may do this instead of you (in fact here is the advice i provide to CISSP certified folks very similar advice as I provide to CPA certified fokls.. check it out..)... or Joe on the block may do this instead of you... why watch others succeed when you can be the one successfull... yourself.. and you do not have to quit your job to start learning about commercial real estate investment, and in some cases do not even have to quit your job to dive into it.
The quicker you start learning about it the quicker you can set yourself up for successfull financial freedom goal. Simply visit this link to learn more about commercial real estate and how to analyze your first commercial real estate property which you will one day purchase, rent it out and make money on.
Go here to find out more and discover the journey of making money beyond CPA in the world of commercial real estate with Rome Wells as your guide in this wonderfull financial freedom goal journey. Remember Action, Action, Action is the key...
Saw advice #1? a bit confused? A bit Scared? Ok I get it... you may feel confused scared, but learning about it doesn't hurt does it? What do you have to lose? Check out how I share secrets with folks who are trying to dive into commercial real estate, one of the secrets that I reveal to folks is that you must have great analytical mind when it comes to looking at math and numbers behind the reasons as to why something cost for the price that other people are asking for...
I figured since you guys are CPA certified folks, you would be primary type of folks out there who would be willing to put your already existing skills of analyzing math behind the numbers to your very own use.. and help you understand how to rich your financial freedom goal with Rome Wells help.
Plus you can totally start learning about this part time after work, or while you are on the train, the more you learn the less risk you set yourself up to.
Now of course some of you folks will action upon this advice #1 and some won't... In case if you don't action upon advice #1 consider following Advice #2 or #3 below beyond your CPA cert.
Advice #2 Make Part time income in addition to working full time job as CPA
Now that you passed your exam probably makes sense to actually try to make some of that money back that you lost on college and test prepartion expense by becoming a tutor and teach other students on part time basis Accounting Exam test preparation tactics.
Advice #3 Enhance your skills further into more dedicated field and be more then just an accountant but someone who moves up the career ladder.
You can either expand your expertise a bit horizontally
Consider bunch of other exams if you are thinking of jumping into CFA field if your company where you work allows for such opportunity, if not then you may want to consider grabbing that opportunit yourself by preaparing for that exam and having extra cert under your belt to provide your differentiated skill set in comparison to other counterparts in your accounting department where you work at.
Note CFA is definitely different then CPA field and CFA focused more around financial sector, but if you happen to be in the right company and positioned your self in that direction, the it's possible to obtain good paying position, but once again.... typically they are some what seperate tracks.
Note don't just take our advice for it and go for it, you must do your research first, in regards to how it ties into your overal goals. I tell that not only to accounting professionals but also lawyers, in fact for lawyers profession, Dave makes a good point about goals in this video.
Or vertically
For example one way to enhance your skills further vertically in the field of accounting, with emphasis on Audit, is by doing something that America needs. The quesiton is... what does America need? The answer is it needs... more qualified Cyber Security professionals who are not far apart from the world of CPAs. Now you may say wow, what on earth does it even mean? Let Rome Wells elaborate for you what it means. Take a look at this below.
Or go here to view visual representation video of what this means. Also don't forget to check our google plus Cyber Security and CPA pages.
Of course you may say ow, what does CPA and IT and Cyber Security has anything to do with CPA? To help you clarify what it means, take a look at my conversation between actualperson who have multiple certs in CPA, CIA, CISA, CISSP. See this post?
Note to Carlos "Thank you Carlos for your contribution in helping future generations of CPAs succeed, and sharing with us Tutoring Services, LLC and Rome Wells your career path journey"
What do you think that post tells you?
It probably tells you there is a reason why... accounting professionals end up going up an extra step in their career... rather than simply being CPAs right? Of course some of you may say why, and what does that have to do with Cyber Crime and Cyber Security and why America needs more CPA oriented IT professionals in information security field?
Well if you listened to the latest president speech in 2017, you get to actually see that Cyber Security related incidents becoming a huge problem for America. The problem that causes a lot of money to be lost!
What Rome Wells thinks about IT industry and why it make sense for CPAs to advance further in IT
Now I will tell you this as both Information Security professional and as someone who is in the IT industry and IT consulting industry and has a holistic view on entire supply demand concept, for what is going to be needed and what is not going to be needed in the near future, and I Rome Wells will tell you with 100% confidence that Cyber Security will be the field to jump into, because that field will explode in demand, if not already exploding.
How can current CPAs advance further to help out America and yourself?
So where does that put you current CPA? That puts you in unique position.... What type of position? The type that you can leverage for your own benefits to do something that America needs and expand your knowledge further in the field of information security, get these additional certs that we are referring to, get your self differentiated from other CPAs, and get ahead of the game. Accounting is a narrow field, the further and further we grow in that field, the less and less of strictly accounting things would be left in this world... in comparison to the amount of CPA professionals that are graduating.
Why seperating accounting from information technology can bring higher cyber crime related risks and what you can do to fight this and move ahead in your career.
Why do i say that? I say that because I believe CPA field can not be seperated from information security and expect to have lower risk in cyber crime, which is why AICPA is adapting new track! Why? Not because Rome Wells says so, but because public came to this very same conclusion!
In fact I Rome Wells say that not because I randomly say that,but because our company actually teaches inter-combination of both business marketing and information security as a bundle.... as weird as it sounds... concepts of marketing and business can not be seperated from Information Security and if they are seperated then the company has a higher risk of getting hacked. In fact our company Tutoring Services, LLC shows that to entire tutoring and test prep industry here
Example of how Information Security can be more effective if it's not seperated from business
Of course this is not a marketing industry this is accounting industry (but conceptually marketing or accounting is all business) that we are referring to here, however one simple item that must not be forgotten is that CPA Certified Public Accountants (CPAs) are public servants and have a responsiblity to keep an eye on the well-being of the public and taxpayers... CPAs are licensed through their states where they practice and make an oath at their state government level, and as a public servant you must learn how to defend interests of your state and how to defend interest of American states, having the necessary skill sets for you to protect your states can allow you to gain upper edge in competitive job market.
Companies who are seperating information security from business needs increase inheritent and inevitable risk of being exposed to cyber attacks at much higher risk level in comparison to organizations that happen to employ type of individuals who do not only understand business concepts, but also understand information security and inter-combine their levels of skill set in Audit profession to reveal weak links in information systems. (For anyone who is reading this and wants to quote Rome Wells on this, feel free to do so. Just give refererence to this site.)
Bridging the gap between information security and business is the step in the right direction, accounting industry happens to be in the midst of this bridging the gap type of revolution. Knowing both sides information technology and CPA can help you stay ahead of your competitors who are only CPA certified, and can help you make more money.
How can accounting and IT industry combined fight Cyber Crime and what Rome Wells proposes to American government as the long term solution to fight cyber crime?
Now you may say I am still not sure why accounting industry exactly can help fight Cyber Crime and what Rome Wells proposes to American government as a plan to fight long term cyber crime.
Rome Wells response is simple, to provide long term defense for America in Cyber Crime, Cyber security needs to be improved.
The only way to improve Cyber Security for American states is by educating others who are closet to major financial companies and who can create influencial daisy chain effect on such companies, resulting in ultimate risk reduction of cyber security related events.
Last time we checked..... every major financial or even non financial companies employes accountants (in fact accounting industry is so big that there was even a recent movie with Ben Affleck that was out in theaters called Accountant), also last time we checked... there is cleary a correlation between information technology and accounting and that correlation is concept of Audit.
If we were to arm CPAs who are specializing in Audit with proper level of education that can help them to identify weak links in major company's applications, and systems, then they could create the biggest impact on ensuring that the items that were identified during audiot are addressed.
Wait what on earth does that mean? That means if weak links can be addresses we can minimize risks... risks that essentially are currently not being addressed by many companies as they should be addressed, reason for that is..... lack of education for CPAs.... lack of education from the stand point of information technology. Note Rome Wells is not saying.. that you need to be super IT guru, there is different levels of IT certs that can get you into the hybrid state of CPA accountant and a top notch auditor.
Rome Wells realizes also that you can't know it all, indeed, that is true, but what Rome Wells says, is ... you do not need to know it all... you just need to know CPA and know how IT works and have proper credentials under your belt to be able to understand, what on earth is going on in company's premises and how you can be more effective auditor. Doing that can help us minimize Cyber Security Risk factor and helps us move further into 21st century and beyond.
Of course you may say, wow that is kind of a neat plan, but why would it work? The reason why it would work is because as an auditor and someone who understands business based values, you are in much better position to understand what seems to be a security related threat and what is legitimated business type of oriented transaction.
To give you an example, our company Tutoring Services, LLC has over 50 sites... and hackers visit these sites daily.... what exactly do they do? Well they typically snoop around... and trying to get onto the sites infuse some sort of script into the site or something.... however... we minimize our risk from hackers because we actually know the business models that we are focusing around.... and we know who may seem to be legit type of person or non legit, in fact it all starts out with psychohological analysis of audience, then converges into marketing, and simultaneous information security then into accounting (note none of that means that we are completely prone to cyber attacks, it just means we are reducing our risk doing that, and that's what every company should be doing, because in long term it can save lots of money). In case if you are interested how it's all tied in you are more then welcome to read our marketing study guide here
Note this is no different... why is this no different? Reason is simple... where there are identified business transactions.... there is awareness of what is right and what is wrong. Without having this level of awareness it's difficult to secure anything. In fact, some students asked Rome Wells, well what if i want to really do get to know concepts of IT and information security, how can Rome Wells help me get into it? You see in the world of IT there are many things... that you need to know, but because Rome Wells is fully aware of accounting industry and IT industry, he is the best type of person who can explain to you how to get into it. To start, learning about IT you can read this book StudyGuide.net/SDN
Note there is tons and tons and tons and tons of IT books... and if you get guided in the wrong way you will end up getting sunk... into a deep hole which will be very difficult to climb out of. To be efficient top-notch auditor you need to have concept of IT, there is absolutely no better company on entire planet earth that can explain to you concepts better in IT then what Tutoring Services, LLC can do for you. We make IT easy. That is because we are IT consulting company as well... NetworkConsultant.net we also happen to have actual tutors who can help prepare for variety types of information technology and cyber secruity tests as well, not to mention we also provide actual self guided study options to help you save money on your education, however all that is besides the point.
The main point we are trying to make is... get ahead of your self, and differentiate your self, give your self an upper advancement edge in comparison to other CPAs. Help America fight with Cyber Crime.
Now let me motivate you even more to study for CISSP exam or Cyber Security profession.
Friends and existing CPAs as well as future CPAs. Yesterday America got new president. Message was clear, help America fight with cyber crime. To fight cyber crime, we need to stay educated. Help America stay educated, by advancing further past your CPA status and well into the era of fighting cyber crime.
Rome Wells, commonly referred to many students as modern age Mark Twain in the world of educational advocacy, recommends you take arms and educate your self. Discover IT certs that can infuse your career with the top notch level skill set, making you far ahead in the game, in comparison to any other CPAs who do not have such Cyber Security skill set. View career path advice from actual people who went through this career path and here is what these people had to say about what can make you top notch auditor.
Rome Wells, brings CPAs together to fight cyber crime, in their own industry while helping other industries for whom audit is being done, and yet Rome Wells is not even CPA, but what Rome Wells sees is an opportunity for existing CPAs to take the pledge and protect our country by getting your self into auditor career.
Rome Wells is creating daisy chain effect that would reduce impact of cyber crimes in America by getting you current or future CPA on the right path towards, making America great again. Discover more about American values and how you can be an IT hero with great level of CPA expertise under your belt.
Cyber security industry will explode in the near future and is already exploding. It's up to you if you want to be differentiated from others and help America fight cyber crime, while obviously getting more pay, since such individuals are greatly valued, who do not just understand IT but understand business side of accounting and the audit. Find out more visit StudyGuide.net/CISSP and StudyGuide.net/CPA and StudyGuide.net/Cyber-Security and help us Americans fight for America and help your self advance in your career.
Note Rome Wells is not an affiliate with AICPA, however agrees with their public mission. Note it's also important to realize that non AICPA information technology related exams address gaps that AICPA does not address, therefore solid advice from our company in relationship to your overall career path in the field of accounting and information technology with our recommendations of what additional exam makese sense for you to add into your collection of certifications and achievements is something that you may want to consider looking into. Therefore, if you want to improve your career then check out this exam as one information technology types of exams that is in our radar it's called CISSP.
For example enhancing your skill set further, one prediction i made in the year 2014 is that, well there is just not enough adequate IT security methods or guidance for Accounting professionals, and sure enough AICPA decides to actually cook something up.
Note the book is not tailored towards, accounting audience, it's tailored towards IT Network Engineers, but under the hood basic principles of Cloud IT security and Software Defined Networking, because essentially this is what makes IT cyber security risks easier to understand, and unless you even have some basic ideas what exists out there and what does not, this can make your accounting auditing job a bit frustrating.
Sooner or later in your Cyber Security Risk Assessment report for your company where you work at, you will find management talking about certain things in the form that would be very difficult for you to decipher, unless of course you have general exposure from actual practical stand point, of what type of IT systems exist out there, what a heck cloud actually means, and what IT security controls companies offer, how rise of software defined networking makes even traditional IT security professionals become clueless about new evolving technologies. This rapid evolution resulted in what so called, rapid chain of events taking place, such as other companies in all sorts of fields, trying to acustom to it.
It's not suprirse that AICPA finally took the initiative to introduce IT Cyber Security frame work, based on variety type of NIST and ISO standards and packaged it together, to help CPA practioners be able to review IT Security controls in conjuction obviously with IT management responsible for IT Cyber Security Risk assessment to provide level of IT Security assurance against hackers that companies and investors are always so concerned about. Hackers are not going away they are only multiplying with the advancements in cloud and IT technology. Heck I myself Rome Wells happen to be a hacker as well, ethical hacker though, but anyway that's besides the point. Let's focus more on this advice.
This is no brainer that it will happen sooner or later, and in fact new framework is on the works. So what does it mean? That means if you are working CPA you deal with data, some of that data is sensitive and some of that is not. Typical IT security technical experts do not really have holistic view of what you have in your data, making it more and more vulnerable for organizations, take this knowledge from me an outsider to the accounting field, and in fact in better position to provide this advice then any certified public accountant or IT Cyber Security Risk Assessment professional, who doesn't know anything about accounting field.
To bridge the gap AICPA is making the move that they should have done a long time, and finally in the works of creating new frame work and new exam. Exam that is optional for CPA to take, however.. this is what will be one of the differntiating factors that will be asked by Big 4 companies and other major organizations looking for new employee candidates. Differntiating yourself ahead of the game... is probably a good idea...
Personally I am not a CPA, but using any of the learning methods that I provide I can probably become one in the matter of couple months that is not my intent though (using the very same study guides on which you will find reviews on this site), instead I am an IT Security expert and IT Network Consultant and former Network Engineer, Former Certified Math Teacher, and and educational advocate and even a breakdancer in fact check out my site here NetworkConsultant.NET, and I happen to simulateneously know what is going in the world Accounting profession (something that typical CPA wouldn't bother researching other then only focusing on studying actual content knowledge test prep material, think of me as being inside the industry, but at the same time being an outsider who can provide holistic advice from multiple angles, that you wouldn't see anywhere else.
Think of me as a IT Network consulting Ninja who just rapidly helps you understand information about accounting profession and it's associated logical links that can help you learn information from multiple perspectives. In fact that knowledge was gained from me actually being an IT Network Consultant, math tutor and an educational advocate)
Plus I can tell you with confidence that such professionals who do have that extra level of cyber security skill set of being able to provide adequate level of security assurance... will be more valuable in the eyes of big 4 or other big organizations then the typical CPA. Companies are not stupid, they are all about reducing costs, if you don't have that little something extra, be ready to be replaced by someone else. I tell that same thing to Network Engineers and PMP project managers.
I am telling you that you can get familiar with Cloud, IoT, Security ahead of the game at least to get basic representation, to be like a super hero in your accounting industry and get that extra level of differentation that employes are looking for.
I am giving this advice to you because I am looking out for you, helping you not only find tricks, hacks and variety of methods to prepare for your CPA exam affordably, by leveraging either our discount coupons or studying on your own with CPA books that you can buy directly from other students in your school through our UsedCollegeBooks.NET site without actually paying any middle man fees or buying cheapest books online.
Or by studying from any of the CPA study guide courses or other resources, listed on this site, or by studying from a local tutor or online tutor, and not having to pay huge agency fees that are just pure robbery with many of the sites that exist out (unless of course they truly provide value. such as for example our local tutoring CPA tutor and student match making business located in CT NY and NJ as shown here. )and only paying for the first lesson $15, then working with the tutor direct withou any middle man!
While all at the same time helping you evolve your self into something beyond CPA and helping you either get marketed FREE of charge on our tutoring helping you make some money teaching other students part time CPA as described here.
No one gave me advice to Transition my thinking into Cloud and IT Security and SDN and think more carefully about this field and what it means what are the implications, while working in my IT Security and Network Engineering industry as a Network Engineer and IT Security Expert and IT Network Consultant, but I am providing that advice to you (not necessarially transition into the field of cloud, IoT and SDN but to actually understand what it all means from Cyber Security Risk Assessment stand point, because this level of knowledge is what can make you be differentiated from other CPAs especially when you get certified in the newly crafted Cyber Security exam. (so stay on the lookout for that exam).
Now you will find entire IT Network Engineering Career is slowly redefining themselves in the direction of adapting to the cloud and new Software Defined Networking concepts, all rapidly trying to adapt. All of that is under the hood of actual IT Systems and all of that will sooner or later will concern you as well especially if you are in AUD sector.
And one day when you will sit in one of your accounting meeting, and get a report from your management showing existing security controls that company has in place, it will be upon you to decipher many of them in conjuction to your CPA practioner role. So you can either stay idle, and wait until it hits you sooner or later.... and i promise you it will... or you can stop sitting idle and enhance your CPA skill set by jumping outside of the box and at minimum get familiar with the major Cloud and SDN and IT security shift and landscape that's taking place, this way you would look like a super hero in your Accounting meetings with your management and can even get a promotion or move up the ladder by having extra skill set under you belt.
Note I personally took Cyber Security Risk Assessment Training and in fact i can tell you there are multiple types of environments that exist today. In fact big 4 companies specializes specifically in auditing companies already today and been doing that for a very long time, and providing that level of security assurance confidence level for public investors, who are looking for that level of confidence. Hence I only will see this field expanding further and further.
Hence word of advice stay on the look out for the new Cyber Security exam for CPAs or even possibly for different profession all together in parallel to CPA, but even before it arrives get familar with what is going on with the cloud and SDN and IoT.
You can check out this book StudyGuide.net/SDN that I wrote, it's tailored towards IT Network Engineers helping them transition into this field, and towards PMP Project managers, but the Cloud and IT Security concepts described in this book are the same for all. With the arrival of Cloud and SDN it's difficult to decipher IT Security associated risks and having someone come up with the book that can clearly describe what the fuss is all about, makes concept of learning a lot easier.
You do not have to buy this book, you can buy any other Cloud, IoT, SDN and IT Cyber Security book out there and read more about NIST cyber security controls read bunch of blogs, but it can be a big waist of time for you, very boring and frankly speaking pain in the ass to understand, especially if you are an accountant.
Note that book does not show concepts that Accounting students need to know, it totally does not, but what it does provide is a good idea of what many of the cloud components mean and where does IT security fits in and how on earth do you actually know if you have good level of assurance or not when analyzing specific reports from management.
Sure some of that you won't need to know AICPA is not trying to make you an IT Security expert that's a totally different field from accounting, because that is just not possible, but having speicalized type of.... CPA with technology IT security audit of risk controls emphasis makes total sense, even more sense than having some random IT Security Risk Assessment expert.
Think of what AICPA trying to do is like creating a bridge, where you CPA is the bridge between these IT Security Generalists and Cyber Security Risk Assessment experts and the management, but they are tying to make it easier to relay cyber security risk state of the entity using their framework.
Being the deciphering ninja can really make a difference in your overall possiblities of getting that extra level of promotion. <---Note this is my assumption.... but that assumption is derived from simple fact that majority of the traditional IT network systems are moving to either hybrid private or public cloud based on the research provided in this book StudyGuide.net/SDN.
This rapid push in technology, creates many uncertainties in IT security landscape and therefore bigger job demand will be needed for accounting professionals with adequate subject level skills to be able to communicate with Management and understanding what they want. CPA exam is evolving and so do any associated exams with it, based on public interest, and as the Education Advocate for Tutoring Services, LLC and the founder, I simply demand for additional security framework to be created to provide that level of guidance to CPA professionals.
We can not as the industry simply rely on IT Security experts, it just never going to work. With so many standards scatterd all over the internet there was no concreate method of putting something together that provides some level of guidance for companies in regards to having that extra level of cyber security assurance especially in the accounting field.
Don't worry though, it's not like that means you will become IT Network Security Engineering doing hacking or any of that as an accountant, it just means you will become more generalistic with that extra level of skill set that makes you be different from other counterparts. In fact that is exactly the same shift that IT Network Security engineers are currently going through and similarly must adapt in their field as well, just like sooner or later you will have to adapt as well.
Here is why you need to adapt ahead of the game
If a boss has a meeting and says, do you understand what I want first time, and then you nod, and then asks you 2nd time and you nod, when in reality you don't understand any of that... then guess what.... they will get instead someone who can understand them better. Don't let that happen to you.
Note that doesn't mean you should go and buy SDN book and then say oh my god there is soo much stuff, it just means if you buy it, you can actually wear other person's hat of knowledge, giving you that extra level of advancement in your overall understanding about audits when it comes to particular nature of analyzing risk and providing adequate level of IT security assurance, from actual practial experience based perspective.
It won't teach you anything accounting related because technically it's not, it's literally another field, but getting that additional perspective... and also getting certified in that Cyber security cert that AICPA is cooking up, can make you shine like start in comparison to other CPA counterparts in your company or accounting department.
To really get the idea what a heck is all the cloud and IT Security and SDN fuss about, feel free to check out the book here. Note that doesn't mean what you will learn in this book will be on your new Cyber Security exam for CPA practioners... no, it just means it will make your life a heck of a lot easier when you do end up studying for your Cyber Security Exam for accounting professionals, and it will make it easier for you in your future career path where management asks you to analyze report showing how adequate IT security controls and provide your opinon on it what you think. In conjuction with actual IT security expert management driven team.
The whole problem with that idea that i see AICPA doing is... that they are trying to give you a weapon without really showing you how to use it.... so it's difficult to understand how to use that weapon... in this case weapon of being able to analyze whether Cyber Security Risk assessment program is adequate for your organization, but not exactly for actual definition visit official aicpa.org site.
However that is currently not their intent and instead what they are doing is providing a framework, and you just need to be familar with how it looks like and what is all the fuss about. However, in my opinion based on what i saw from initial drafts, it looks like it will be difficult thing for typical CPA practioner to be able to do. However AICPA is not asking you to be IT Security expert and become CPA... no.. what they are doing is simply what makes sense... simplifying framework adjusting it towards accounting field and making it formal based wide horizontal approach.
This will result in you seeing all sorts of information in the forms submited by your management related to IT security controls and Risk assessment and bunch of other things, having a good representation about it, makes total sense....
The only thing is to have better understanding you actually must have some level of subject level expertise knowledge of IT Systems, Cloud etc... Plus each organization industry have slightly different IT security controls, for example Telco may have one control other industry another etc... Deciphering them and being a
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