Accountant Says They Were Fired After Payroll Mistakes and an Email Error: ‘Should I Look at a Different Field?’

A post shared to r/Accounting on Oct. 12, 2026, asks whether being fired after two mistakes means the end of an accounting career. The poster said the final mistake involved an email that included an unrelated client.

At the time of publication, the post had received more than 688 upvotes and 318 comments.

The poster, an accountant, wrote, “Welp... I got fired.” They said, “I made a chain of mistakes that ended up with me getting terminated.” The first involved a series of mistakes on one client’s payroll. They wrote, “The final straw, I accidentally violated client confidentiality by sending an email and tagging an unrelated client.”

The Redditor asked, “Should I look at a different field?” They wrote that “something like that is a career ender, right?” and asked readers to be honest and not to “sugarcoat it.”

The accountant provided additional details in the comments. They said the firm was small and that the job was their first accounting position, where they had worked for almost two years. They had handled payroll for about as long. They said they had started taking medication for ADHD to help with focus. “I’m currently seeing a therapist for anxiety and depression, while they also manage my meds for ADHD,” they wrote.

The poster said they had lost their health insurance with the job and would no longer be able to afford the medication.

The email contained confirmations for accounts payable payments, the poster wrote. They said they had replied with the information and thought they had copied their account manager and a coworker. “Guess I included someone else,” they wrote. They said they had reviewed the email three to four times and found nothing wrong. “It wasnt [sic] fine.”

The recipient was also the client affected by the payroll mistakes. That client responded to the account manager and tagged the firm’s CFO. The poster said they had been working to address the problem. “Constantly making myself slow down, double check everything,” they wrote. They also said their payroll work and reconciliations were peer-reviewed.

“The singular time I dont [sic] have a peer review, and the worst possible time for me to somehow miss a name on the email,” they wrote. They said their bookkeeping work “tends to be immaculate.” “All my problems have stemmed from payroll, or client interactions,” they wrote.

The accountant said they had a partner and a support network. They also had a small "nest egg" that, combined with unemployment benefits, should last about six months. “I should be okay,” they wrote. “I’m going to build my process from the ground up and internalize it.” They said the work did not bore them. “I love seeing the books tie out just right.”

One commenter suggested the poster consider a different kind of employer. “Mistakes happen but two big ones back to back is rough,” they wrote. “Maybe try a smaller firm where the pace is slower while you rebuild your confidence.”

Another commenter offered reassurance about career setbacks and suggested considering a different company size. “Don’t be overwhelmed, so many people in this field have been fired and went onto [sic] have great careers,” they wrote. “This is not your defining moment, as nobody is defined by their failures.” They added that everyone in the field makes mistakes.

The commenter also asked, “Why don’t you try working somewhere larger?” They wrote, “You won’t have the pressure of wearing multiple hats at smaller companies, and mature processes will help you learn in a structured manner.”

Another commenter shared their own experience of being fired. “I was fired from a local CPA firm just eight months out of college,” they wrote, “and I went on to a very successful career as a CPA. OG need [sic] to always double check their work.”

The Daily Dot was unable to independently verify the events described in the post. The details above reflect the original poster’s account on r/Accounting. The identities of the poster and commenters, as well as the firm and clients involved, have not been independently confirmed.