I'm currently in the position to have the CPA paid for (granted I pass all parts) by the big4 firm that I work for. Eventually, I'm looking to move into finance, specifically IB. The markets are crappy, so in the mean time, I am considering just trying to pass the CPA. Does it look favorable if a candidate has a cpa? Or could it even be detrimental? Insight from those in the know would be great.
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As a CPA from a target who is looking in the market now it isn't an MBA so you get considered for First Year jobs mainly if at all. If you can move into transaction services/financial due diligence it might help, or so I have been told. Given that TAS/FDD rely's on deal volume its not so encouraging that my gf at a big 4 says their tas group is pretty much getting coffee and making coffee for the tax/audit groups right now, so its hard to get in the door their right now.
From what I have gleaned in the handful of interviews I have had for both networking and interviewing middle market firms see the CPA as a positive, but the real key is to just network with alumni. BB's will try to put you in as a First year, but you may be directly promoted to an associate (I don't know how often that really happens though).
On the plus side the MBA admissions people I have contacted have said that the CPA is a huge positive for an applicant.
From my experience of talking to bankers, CPA is positively looked upon in terms of your understanding of financial statements. I think it is a good compliment to your finance related experience, but on its own, as IVY CPA said, you will need alumni contacts, and more so you will have to show them that your knowledge is not restricted to accounting.
I'm a CPA that made the switch to banking (I had to come in as a first-year). If you're coming from a big 4, I see no reason not to get your CPA if you have the time. It will help separate you from all of the other staff accountants trying to get into banking and make you more comfortable with financial statements. I can tell you there's never been a day when I've said "man, I wish I didn't have that CPA." Also, building financial models makes a lot more sense when you understand the accounting behind them.
Both of you make good points. I've had a tough time getting interviews. So my outlook right now is to get into something finance related, get my CPA on the side and then study for my GMATs. From what I hear, coming from a top-25 (UCLA) with a cpa and some decent experience would at least put me in the running for a top 20 MBA program. Good to hear that admissions look very highly at the certification. Thanks for the insight.
CPA relevance to IBD (Originally Posted: 02/04/2009)
Hi all,
Just wanted peoples opinion on this topic. It seems that within fundamental analysis and IB analysis it requires knowing the ins and outs of Financial Statements. Would the CPA be beneficial here or is this completely irrelevant.
Knowledge of Accounting is relevant, CPA is not
if you're talking about becoming a CPA to break in, it really isn't worth it
you need years of audit experience to be a CPA in new york - definitely not worth it.
It's not particularly relevant, just one extra qualification that does not add significant skills nor is it a major plus for IBD employers
ibankers who have also passed the CPA exam (Originally Posted: 06/30/2011)
Curious to see how investment bankers who have passed all 4 sections of the CPA exam are including this on their resumes, specifically if you have not become certified due to a lack of accounting hours?
Thanks
Nobody in banking cares about the CFA. Its not very relevant at all, its for portfolio management, if anything. I wish people would get off the CFA already. Huge waste of time.
^^^^
Yeah me too. EXCEPT it doesn't look like the OP was talking about the CFA....
Oops! My bad....well I would concur the same thing in regard to CPA as well. Depends what you want to do, can be very useful if you want to go into the corp 500 world but other than that it doesnt make sense to put that much time in.
If you really want to put it on the resume, it'd go in the "Additional Info" section at the bottom. You could put something like "Passed all 4 parts of CPA exam" or something generic like that.
If you want to use the designation, just register as a CPA in a state that doesn't require any hours. I think Illinois is one of them. But you have to keep it active to be able to call yourself a CPA.
sounds good, thanks for the advice guys. Since I did the CPA exams while I was working at a Big 4 I think it makes sense that I should put it on my resume since it shows some level of certification. I agree that if I had gone straight into IB doing the CPA would have been a waste of time.
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