CPA to ER?
Hey guys, just wanna start off by thanking pretty much everyone on these boards as I have learned so much over the last couple months after I first discovered this website and it has truly sparked my interest in ER
As such, I was wondering if anyone knew of any stories/experiences/colleagues or could provide any general insight into the path to ER as a CPA? Currently I'm an intern at a midsized accounting firm and so I still have about 2 years until a fulltime position and 3 years until I get my license (gonna study my ass off and pass the CPA but still need 1 year full time experience at a public acct firm to become one)
However, the CPA is simply my safety net (and to please parents/family/etc) My true interest is in finance and more specifically, ER. Therefore, I was wondering if it was possible/common/heard of of a CPA jumping from public accounting to ER? I understand that I would be entry level (which is okay because I'll still be relatively young, 22). My question though is whether or not this puts me at a significant disadvantage/helps my case/whats my situation?
Thanks in advance
TL;DR
Want to jump from 1yr in public accounting as CPA to Associate in ER, what is the route I should take and what should I do to prepare and set myself up for the best opportunities for ER applications?
edited to provide info about myself
Currently majoring in Accounting at a nontarget private university in NY, work at a firm in NYC, 3.9+GPA. Going to be a senior in the Fall and then have one year of Masters and I'll be obtaining my M.S in Accounting (as opposed to Taxation)
If you want to work in ER go straight into it....
I would slow your roll on staying an extra year and obtaining your masters. IMO if your looking to make the jump into ER why waste a year going further down the acct track? Only reason you might consider would be if its covered under your tuition and your not paying any additional $$$. In terms of the actual move, network. I am sure everyone on this site is going to say the same thing, but you have to start having sit downs or lunches or get on the phone with people who can connect you to ER associates or senior analysts. I would also try and write a quick initiation report (1-5pgs) on a company or sector you like and bring it with you when you have any face to face networking contact. Shows the person your meeting with that A) you give a shit enough to put in time and effort B) that you can write, and convey a cognizant investment thesis (lets hope at least) C) your creative and thinking outside the norm
You don't have to be Henry Blodgett but at least have a clear investment thesis stated at the top and empirical data in the following paragraphs to support that thesis. Make sure it flows with ZERO grammatical mistakes and maybe project out an IS at the end. No one is going to care about your fancy DCF. Research (on the sell side at least) is much more about your ability to write and project through words.
Does having a CPA/Big4 experience help at all when breaking into ER? (Originally Posted: 09/09/2008)
basically what the title says
its as if asking if having experience as a research analyst at goldman with a cfa help with getting a job at the big4.
with that said, going to smaller research house..boutiques have this, with valuation experience, may help out. but research requires more skill sets than what just knowing how to do a dcf or read through financials.
i suggest, big 4 -> 2-3 years work + CFA -> MBA and through the recruiting process get into research.
but not really sure what the prospects for analysts in the US will be in the next few years.
not really sure what the prospects for the majority of wall street professionals will be in the few years.
on something that you so obviously have no clue about?
http://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forums/chartered-accountant-breaking-int…
http://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forums/howdy-special-offer-limited-time-…
but i havent.
using two other threads to invalidate my opinion gained from experience hardly makes sense.
With that said, maybe J. Mack has done this himself or has someone close to him bridge the gap. I am impressed by the amount of points he's amassed. I only have 1/3 his points so that also means I have only 1/3 the experience..
anyway, i've had friends who graduated with a technical degree (finance/accounting) went into big4 and got the CPA and never made it into IB or ER no matter the amount of networking & interviewing effort that went in.
I will admit I had one friend who got his CFA after graduation, worked for the Big 4 full time for 9-10 months and went to a BB for research. But in his defense, he worked at a mutual fund doing research for 2 years during school and 1 summer internship in research at BB.
Although, I have had friends over the last couple of years make into trading at BBs. They were auditing CMBS at the Big4 and were structuring/trading CMBS/CDO at the banks.
In addition, I doubt lateraling to any firm from accounting will be happening in this environment. ER analysts have been laid off as well and many have not been able to join other shops and competition for the buyside is just that much more competitive.
so for an accountant with a CPA lateraling into ER at BB will be difficult if not impossible. but then again "impossible is nothing."
I also remember filling out II analyst surveys in the past that asked what post-graduation qualifications analysts had. A significant proportion of them were ACA/CPA.
Strawman but I'll bite. You were a f-ing first year analyst last year. One year on you're an expert in an area that you don't even work in? The question is not whether it is hard to do it, it's whether Big4 experience will help.A lot of areas of finance are/will experience big downturns. Research is no different. So if the hiring environment just got more competitive, the more you can differentiate yourself the better. Big4 comes under that.
everybody has a different background, but having 1) a big4 "big" name on your resume will be impressive and 2) having a cpa gives a high degree of confidence in your technical mastery of accounting.
it's all about the story you spin about your background and how it led you down the path of getting into research. it's an easy story to spin and you should be good at evaluating balance sheets and so forth with your cpa. i think they'll like that.
Would it be possible to work at a Big 4 for 1 a year or 2 and then lateral to research or is 3 years+mba the important part?
I previously worked in valuation advisory in the Big 4 and will second Cornelius. I have never personally seen an AUDITOR move directly to a front-office finance role. Not saying it doesn't or can't happen, but I have never seen it. I have seen literally dozens move to operations, fund accounting, and controller roles. The people I HAVE seen move from the Big 4 to front office finance roles came from very specific finance-oriented backgrounds like valuation or certain transaction-related groups.
The fact is that an auditor's job skills are not applicable to finance because they don't learn much if anything about valuation, and what they do learn is entirely in the context of the accounting rules rather than a real "economic" valuation.
Additionally, note that the Big 4 in the UK/EU get a lot more respect (students from Oxbridge regularly choose to get their CA-how many Yalies or Harvard grads work for the Big 4 in the US?) and are allowed to do a wider scope of work, some of which shades into the types of advisory bankers do such as fairness opinions.
Lately there have been a decent amount of job posting for ER and in house M&A/Corp Dev/Bus Dev that want a CPA. A lot of the in house stuff is more due diligence work and wants TA but will take audit experience. Seen some of these job postings that specifically say big 4 not banking experience required. I'd think doing in house TA type work is a lot more realistic than ER, still pays better and more exciting than auditing though. audit strait to it would be tough, but if you can get into TA prob be a lot easier.
Listings will prob get taken down soon but here's a few: https://www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/301436424/ - PJ IB Analyst - " A strong preference for candidates with a CPA and Big 4 accounting experience." surprising especially considering health care most want industry experience or advanced degrees in related areas, maybe the street saw how auditors work and how cheap they work (relative to bankers) figured they can train em a little and still save. https://www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/281660189/ https://www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/276073393/ HP M&A Sr FA - "This job is not suited for those whose primary experience is in investment banking, Corporate Development or FP&A. Strong accounting qualification and experience is required."
Bottom line, yes it will because you will know how all the income statement, balance sheet, cash flow statement work together. It should also help you model companies because if your D&A is super low and your capex super high then intuitively you will know something is wrong (generally). Also some companies have pretty complex structures and understanding the accounting reasons behind them could be helpful.
I made the jump, B4 audit with CPA to ER at boutique. When i was trying to break in, I heard a lot of the same commentary "re-brand yourself" "move to valuation within your co" "go get your MBA" etc etc. Here's a little of my story and how i made it (str8 outta audit). I came from a non target from a state you would have a hard time pointing out on a map. Having the B4 on my resume legitimized myself to people and pushed my small school to the back burner in a way. Having the CPA and good GPA says "hey, this kid can work hard, is smart, can finish what he starts, etc etc (remember your first year of ER you will be taking the series 7, 63, 86 and 87). You're gonna need to get yourself out there by any means possible (networking events, cold emails, recruiters/HHs, etc). It's all about getting that interview, which your experience (and hopefully prior experience as well) should get you (have a good story). Everyone is on the same playing field when you get an interview. I can tell you one thing, if you are passionate about the markets, learning about companies, and have proven record of this passion (personal account, seeking alpha contributor, member of VIC, etc) you can break in. Believe in yourself. Breaking in is tough right now with the industry continuing to shrink, but that doesn't mean breaking in is impossible. If you want it, go get it.
Congrats on making the switch strait from audit, that certainly cannot be easy. Forgot to mention that I commented on an old post because not a lot comes up when you run a search, but I didn't feel the need to start a new thread. I'll be starting in big 4 transaction advisory this summer strait out of undergrad. I'm a contributor on seeking alpha and passed my 65 after my freshman year when I was 19. Similar story about non target as well. I'm not sure where I want to go from TA but am leaning towards ER or corp dev. Did you fill out a U-10 and take your 63 to help with the rebranding issue? I took it when I was 19, barely studied, didn't even finish the one piece of study material I got (a book called "pass the 63" off of Amazon) and missed it by a question. I figure if two years from now after making senior if I want to transition to ER I will probably just take the 63 to show I am serious about it and minimize the "rebranding" issues.
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