 Hello everyone. Today I am interviewing Courtney Errington. She is a fellow CPA, also a fellow YouTuber. She is the founder of the YouTube channel called Accounting Blog. Courtney started in public accounting. Obviously, she's a CPA now. Now she works as an accounting and an investment company. But what she does also is help social media influencer and business owner grow their business. Today she's going to share with us her journey from being a school graduate of from Virginia Commonwealth University to being quasi self-employed and entrepreneur. Thank you very much Courtney for joining Farhat Lecture's interview. Thank you so much for having me. I appreciate that. It is definitely a pleasure. I am a fan of your work. Thank you very much. Actually, the reason I found you the first time is one of my mutual subscribers. He or she I don't remember because you know YouTube name you can't really tell mention that you mentioned me on your channel and this is what I went and I got to know I got to see your channel which is very impressive and very, very interesting. You do a great job with your videos. Absolutely. And I want to talk about this a lot in this recording because I want to let the viewers because what you do is different than what I do. So we can help. We can our YouTube channel will complement each other. But let me start with you because most of our viewers are accounting students. I want to know your story. Why did you start with why did you choose accounting as a degree? I'd like to think that accounting chose me. I didn't really choose accounting. It was a mistake. So I basically started out as a business major and I was pursuing a career in fashion merchandising. And then I the school that I was going to they lost their accreditation. So when I started over at VCU, I was starting from scratch. And I had to just kind of pick general courses and of course under business, you know, accounting is a mandatory course. And when I took the first accounting course, I really liked it. I thought it clicked. I thought it was like very important stuff. I was like, wow, this is really interesting. I feel like no matter what I do in my career, this is going to be something that will be useful information. And so that's why I kind of wanted to continue on that path. And I decided to major in accounting. And of course, once I got into like the upper level accounting courses, I was like, oh, this is way more intense than I realized it was going to be. But I still really, really loved it and have continued to enjoy it over the, you know, over the years. And now that I'm in the application part of it and I'm working in accounting, I like it even more. I mean, it definitely is a challenge, but that was what how I kind of got into accounting. Absolutely. I love the story when something happened by accident. And I always tell my viewers in every life meeting that look at the things that happen on the peripheral. What happened is, you know, your school lost accreditation for the degree you were trying to get. And I'm pretty sure you were upset initially, but that ended up being the best thing for you, in my opinion. And believe me, you don't want to be in the fashion. And it's not, you don't want to be, but being successful in that industry is much, much harder than being a success in an accounting and the accounting field, which is you are very successful in my views. And I'm pretty sure you still have a lot of room to grow. But I love the idea about you did not really decide to study accounting. And this is when people, this is what I don't like when people make a judgment. Accounting is not for me. Accounting is numbers. You really don't know. You have to try it. Take a course, take two courses, give it a chance. So I really appreciate that. Now you studied accounting, that's good. Why did you decide to go into public accounting and pursue your CPA? I feel like public accounting would be the best place to start. I didn't 100% know where I would want to end up. I always kind of had an entrepreneurial spirit, spirit to me. And I always kind of thought that that would be the route that I would go. But I felt like since I didn't have an extremely clear view on what I wanted to do in accounting, I knew that I wanted to kind of test out the waters and try different things. And public accounting allows you to do that. So I started in tax and I was able to see all different types of companies. I worked on partnerships. I worked on corporations. I worked on all different types of industries. A lot of individuals. So I got a lot of practice and a lot of exposure. And I was able to kind of get a feel for what I liked, what I disliked, what I would be more interested in. And the reason why I left out of public accounting is because I felt like I was, it was just, I wanted to kind of go in a direction that was a little bit more specific. And when I did that, I missed the interaction with clients. I didn't really have it so much in the in public accounting because you, as you go up to like a manager or a partner level, that's when you're interacting with clients. But as an associate, you don't really interact with them one on one. But that was the, that was something that I really wanted to be able to do. And I missed that. So that's how I ended up kind of going back into now serving the public, but just on my own, with my own company. Now you are the partner. You are this everything, the manager, the senior manager, the supervisor. Absolutely. That's interesting. And Courtney, you and I and everybody that's listening to us know that the first year or two in public accounting are challenging. Many viewers right now, if they're accounting students, they really don't know what does that mean that the first year or two, at least for most of us. And I'm assuming it was for you. And if it wasn't, let us know how did you deal with that year one and year two where your whole world is upside down? Like how did you deal with that stress? How did you deal with that difficulty? Yes, it was very stressful. It's very difficult. That was actually what led me to start the accounting struggle, which is I started it off as just a blog, writing all of my, you know, opinions and things that I was struggling with and some of the things that I was overcoming and just my journey in general. And then once I got on closer into this or further along in my CPA journey, I started to make YouTube videos talking about just how I've overcome failure, how I prepare for exams, how to study when you're working full time, all of that. I wanted to kind of reach back and talk to people who I thought might be dealing with something similar, because I knew that I wasn't the only person who was struggling in accounting. So I knew that there were other people who had to be kind of dealing with the same thing. So that was what made me start that. I think the first couple of years of public accounting are so difficult, because if you get a job in public accounting, you're obviously smart, you're obviously someone who did well. And lucky and lucky. Yes, you performed well in school. So you already come into it with this expectation of how it's going to go. But because you don't know anything when you start in public accounting, as far as application is concerned, it kind of is like a hard hit to your self-esteem, because you're like, but I thought I was such a great student. I don't understand why it's not transferring over. And so I think you have to give it time. The first couple of years, the first two years for sure in public accounting are all about learning and figuring out what you like, what you're good at. You don't really start to realize the benefits until like the third and fourth year. And if at that point you decide it's not for you, then okay, fine. But I think you have to give it at least a couple of years before you know whether or not it's something that is for you. Thank you, Courtney. This is what I always advise the students at least two to three years. And if anyone listening, which is if you're listening, go to the accounting struggle, because Courtney does give you a good picture about what's going on in those first couple of years. Absolutely. I mean, I don't want to talk about myself, but I agree to everything that you said. And I relate to everything. And I'm sure many of the viewers, there may be, you know, agreeing with us, but give it two to three years, then make your decision. So don't kind of basically, even if you want to exit, escape, do it the smart way. Don't rush, right? Courtney, would you say this because it's worth it? The struggle is worth it. Okay, absolutely off year three, year four, or if you exit and go into private accounting, it's going to pay off or what Courtney and I do now basically help people either get their CPA and manage their business. It's going to help you in so many different ways. So don't give up on the CPA public accounting at least for three to four years. Thank you so much. The foundation that you get in public accounting is actually very useful. And so a lot of people do it just to get it on their resume, but I think even beyond that, it's actually just very useful. If you can manage that heavy workflow and all of those different projects at once successfully, then that will transfer over into just about any career. Absolutely. And that's why employed and many students ask me, why do they say CPA preferred? Well, because they know if you went and if you went into public accounting, you passed the exam and you handle the work, then you're qualified to do anything. This is what a CPA is. So it's going to happen. It's going to open so many different doors for you. Could you please talk a little bit about your CPA preparation because a lot of viewers also preparing struggle, challenges, how did you face them, so on and so forth. You could also mention the CPA review course that you took. I have no preference, so you can do that if you choose to. Okay. So I actually used Becker as the CPA review course. The company that I was working for had a partnership with them. So they paid for my exam materials and so Becker was fine. I definitely still struggled and I felt like I still needed some supplemental stuff. So I was definitely still on YouTube. I was looking at fire hot lectures. I was looking at other videos that I could find that would be specific to maybe honing in a topic or two that I just maybe it wasn't clicking for me. So I think that if you are on a CPA journey, whatever course, whatever review course you use, if you need additional help that it just isn't maybe it's not all connecting and you just want that extra little bit of help. I think that YouTube is one of the best places for that. I call it YouTube University because it's like a whole world of education out there. So I definitely would encourage that. But in general, my journey was very difficult. I did, I talk about this a lot on my YouTube channel about how I failed many sections of the exam. Some of them more than once. Just because I was the struggle of balancing between working full time and in public accounting with such a demanding schedule and trying to find time to really study and grasp the concepts, it was very difficult. But I think that one of the biggest things when you're on your CPA journey is just making sure that even if you're not passing, try to understand why you're not and really get a feel for where you're going wrong in the journey and then put some, you know, some measures in place for you to overcome those failures and then you won't have to continuously repeat the process like I did. I think that's really the key. Yes, I definitely do not give up if it's something that you're serious about. Yes. The first thing I ask students when they contact me, I feel, I'll ask them, why do you think you failed? Do you know why you feel like some students, they really don't know why they failed. Some students, they don't want to admit why they failed. Maybe they were not prepared in college. As Courtney said, you have to find out why am I failing so you can fix it. You may not find all three problems, but if you find one problem, you can fix it and work on the other two. I totally agree. And by the way, Courtney, YouTube used to have YouTube University. I'm not sure if you're aware of this. YouTube.com slash university, somehow they remove that section. You know, YouTube, they do stuff randomly. They don't give you an explanation. I'm still to find out why they did that. But it used to be like only YouTube University. So that's interesting. But yeah, YouTube is a great resource. And Courtney, I just would like to add that, not only if you are an accounting student, I mean, I do have far-hat lectures. I teach accounting, but if you're taking finance, economics, math, science, YouTube is out there for you. Like I think of YouTube in terms of education, it's basically, in a sense, it's leveling the playing field. Think about 15, 20 years ago, you and I, Courtney, if you wanted to look up a topic, you either have to go to the library or you had to hire a tutor and pay them. So it was outside your ability. But now, YouTube, people should use YouTube because it's really leveling the playing field. I cannot emphasize this enough. It's not only for accounting, but there's a far hat for everything, you know, Khan Academy format. Well, I do accounting. There's other people that do science. If you want to learn, the resources are there. You just have to take advantage of YouTube and take advantage of those resources. Now, Courtney, I want to talk to you a little bit more in depth about what you do now as an entrepreneur because, in my opinion, successful CPAs, anything successful is an entrepreneur and you are an entrepreneur. So please tell me about your business. What do you do? How did you start the challenges? What do you offer to clients and businesses? Yeah. So I own and operate a virtual accounting practice called Earrington Solutions where I offer bookkeeping as well as tax services and some other services, kind of more along the lines of like consulting to social media influencers specifically. But I also help small business entrepreneurs. I have a lot of clients who are in different industries like the beauty industry. Some of them are in food service. It really just depends. But the reason why I specifically chose social media influencers is because, number one, I feel like, I mean, that's kind of the realm I'm in. I am in social media. I'm on pretty much all the different social media platforms. And now that I've started to monetize on social media, I thought, okay, well, I already know what to do as an accountant, but I know that there are people who are TikTok stars, who are YouTube stars, who their thing is comedy or maybe fashion or something like that. And accounting is not their world or their realm, but they still need accounting. So that I already speak the language, I already understand how the monetization part works. I would love to work with those individuals. And many of them are people who I watch the content that they create. So that was why I chose that specific field. And I feel like also, it's kind of overlooked a lot of big firms. I don't think that there are a lot of YouTube stars who go to one of the big four to get their taxes done. I just don't think that a lot of people are really looking out for them. So that was why I wanted to specifically work with social media influencers. And how I came to start the business is just because people were reaching out to me. And when I left the firm, I was at a place where, okay, yeah, I do have time. I can help you. You know, I'm working full time, but I have, I can help you on the weekends. And it kind of just started off small like that. And then it just has grown and grown just based on like referrals and my own presence on social media has helped it to grow. So that's what I've been doing. And I've just enjoyed it so much. It's incredibly rewarding. Absolutely. I'm very impressed with this type of work that you do. I mean, you took a niche business industry and you're focusing on that. And again, we want to emphasize the CPA aspect. Courtney, you and I know that if you were not, if you did not go through that struggle, you would not be here today, wouldn't you agree? Absolutely. 100%. Yes, I think that if I had not even, even if I had just taken the CPA exam and not ever done the, the, it hadn't ever been a struggle. Like I took it the first time past it and then there would be no story and there would be no YouTube channel. There would be no visibility. And I feel like all of the clients that I have, all of the, the following that I have on social media, I feel like it wouldn't exist. And so it's not me kind of milking my story. I literally have just genuinely been sharing, you know, every part of my journey. And a lot of people have connected to it because it's been real. I don't hide, you know, the negative stuff. I include that as well. So I think that it was absolutely worth it. And having your CPA to me is the best thing you can do if you're going to go in accounting. There are so many other great certifications, but having your CPA license is all encompassing. So I just feel like, why not just start with that? If you want to get more specific as you go on and get, you know, get a bunch of other credentials, that's fine too. But having the CPA really helps because you get to see a little bit of everything. Yes, it's the struggle. And believe me, Courtney, you cannot fake this. People can see through you if you are not real, you know, you know that. I know that anyone that's that works in social media knows that it's not easy. You know, either people they see through you or they believe in you and you know, your struggle is real. Your story is real. You know, you're benefiting so many people. So that's no questions about it. Absolutely. Absolutely. What would you, what general recommendation you would give to either accounting students, CPA candidate as, you know, final, as a final comment, anything you would like to share with them? What would you tell them? Or what would you tell, what would you like to tell them? Something you, you would like someone told you when you were 21, 22, just graduating some advice. Like I wish somebody told me this when I was 21, 22, because this is who are list. These are the people who are listening to you now. Yeah, I think if someone had told me when I had graduated right before I was going to start that it's okay. You're not gonna, your first couple of years of work, you will not know what you're doing. No matter how successful you were in college, it's going to take you a couple of years to be able to apply everything that you've learned. And now you're at a place where now you know enough to get started with really learning, but you don't know and you're not ready. And that's totally fine. Just enjoy this part of the journey where you are just learning how to be an accountant. That's going to take a couple of years and it's not something that you're doing wrong. It's just the nature of accounting. It's just, it's so much information that it's going to take a couple of years before you can really truly get acclimated and that's okay. Okay. I'm going to say the same thing. I'm going to rephrase but say exactly the same thing. The first couple, couple years you are not going to be comfortable in your seat. You're going to be very uncomfortable outside your comfort zone. You are going to struggle. You are going to learn one thing, how much you don't know, right? Yes. That's normal. That is normal. Don't worry about it. Even 10 years later, you are going to learn how much you still don't know. So the nature of the beast is an accounting and public accounting. As you, as time goes by, you're constantly learning that you don't know new stuff and that's normal. Once you accept this idea, adopt this idea, then you're going to be more comfortable in your seat and more comfortable with yourself and that's why people at CPA firms are always stressed out because if you go to ask someone a question, they may not know the answer themselves. They're struggling with something else. They might be even a senior to you or your manager. They don't know the answer. You have to figure out the answer. So it's a constant struggle but that struggle, again, you chose the right title for your account. That accounting struggle, this is what makes you stronger. This is what makes you grow. So yes, Courtney, this is a great advice what you said last and I wanted to emphasize on this because I experienced this firsthand and I always mention this, but you say in this again, it helps my case. Again, at the end of this interview, I'm going to post your website, your contact information in the description. So I can assure you, Courtney, respond to emails, subscribe to her channel. She's a great resource. You could always reach out to me, but if you're in public accounting, I know you could always reach out to me if you're struggling. Maybe we can have 10 to 15, 20 minute consultation. I'm not really sure if Courtney will do that, but I'm willing to do that. Just to kind of calm you down and tell you what I just told you now, that it's a struggle, but it's at the end of the tunnel, it's worth it, especially if you're studying for the exam. I can help you with the CPA exam. Courtney can help you with your career. So we are here to help, and Courtney, any final words from your end? Yes. No, definitely please reach out if you are on your CPA journey and you need encouragement, or if you have questions about career and where you should take it next, should you stay in public, should you go into private accounting, or if you just aren't needing help with your accounting as a social media influencer or a small business, solopreneur, definitely reach out. I would love to help you. Yes, Courtney is there to help you with that. I cannot help you with bookkeeping, tax services. I closed the door on that. Courtney, thank you very much for giving, for giving four half lectures your time, and I'm pretty sure we're gonna grow together. Maybe we'll repeat this a year or two from now, and things will be much different. I'm pretty sure for both of us. Yes. Thank you everyone that's watching. Study hard, stay safe. It's worth it. It's a struggle. It's a constant struggle, not only the first two years. It's a constant struggle, and check out Courtney's YouTube channel. Bye everyone. Bye.