BBA in Accounting v. BBA+MPA in Accounting - Not looking to stay in public accounting forever
Hey everyone,
I am interested in entering corporate finance and I was wondering what would be better option for me. I have two possible routes I can take. One would be graduated 4 years with a Bachelors in Business Administration and go straight into corporate finance. My other option would be to get a MAcc/MPA, graduate in 5 years but and possibly enter corporate finance.
The thing about the second route is that I have heard once you get a MPA you are kind of stuck in the public accounting sector of it all with very minimal exit opportunities whereas with the BBA in Accounting its not necessarily the same case because one isn't furthering their prospects in accounting.
With this I was wondering if what they say about the MAcc/MPA is true and secondly and ultimately which route would be the best if I want to go straight into corporate finance without any hassles! Because the last thing I want to do is waste a year when I could have gone straight into corporate finance with the first route!
Thanks
You've kind of said it yourself - why waste the extra year? Especially true if you're in the US, where accountants seem to get pigeonholed pretty quickly. At least in Europe and Asia CAs/CPAs are regarded pretty kindly.
The thing about MPA/MAcc programs is a lot of states require that you have 150 credit hours to qualify for the CPA designation. Since bachelor programs generally only need 120 hours for completion, getting the masters is how a lot of people get to the 150 hour requirement. If you're looking to get your CPA (even though you don't want to go into Public Accounting), a MPA/MAcc may be beneficial to you.
That being said, there could be some benefits to having one more year of school. It gives you one more year to network (which would especially be handy if you're not at a target school or one with great OCR). Gives you an extra summer to have internships for. Also, if you're looking at working for a Big 4 CorpFin division, it's a lot harder from what I understand to get into than a regular accounting gig. You may have to do Audit or something for a couple years before transferring over. A MPA/MAcc may not help you in CorpFin, but it may help you get in the door with someone where you can lateral over.
And if there's one thing I've learned off this board, it's that it doesn't matter what your background is, it's how you can spin it. I'm getting a MAcc myself but I don't sell myself as an accountant (except to Big 4 recruiters). I sell myself as someone who will have specialized knowledge in accounting that will help me in [insert finance-orientated job here].
mccombs
Are you at UT McCombs? Accounting there is top notch (best in the country I believe), but the school is also definitely at least a semi-target for recruiting (a target for Houston offices). I know Evercore in particular recruits heavily from theh school. I'd recommend (if possible) doing both accounting and finance - or just taking a significant amount of finance classes. The 4+1 MPA program is prestigious down there, but I don't think it'll help much for finance. Would stick with just the BBA.
I am indeed in the McCombs School of Business! Does getting a CPA certification kind of boot me out from the finance jobs or does it even matter?
Definitely won't "boot" you out, but I don't think it really adds any value. Texas has a kickass alumni network you would be infinitely better off talking to people in the industry and networking. If you really are interested in finance and dead set on a certification, a CFA might help for hedge funds or asset management positions - but not much for corporate finance (aka investment banking).
Bump! interested as well!
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