MBA/CFA/ CPA for CF - FP&A
Hello. Wanting to transition from Ops to FPA/CF. Undergrad was Fin/Acc. What would be more beneficial or helpful to pursue MBA, CFA or CPA to break into FPA roles?
Hello. Wanting to transition from Ops to FPA/CF. Undergrad was Fin/Acc. What would be more beneficial or helpful to pursue MBA, CFA or CPA to break into FPA roles?
Career Resources
WSO Virtual Bootcamps
Career Advancement Opportunities
November 2026 Investment Banking
Overall Employee Satisfaction
November 2026 Investment Banking
Professional Growth Opportunities
November 2026 Investment Banking
Total Avg Compensation
November 2026 Investment Banking
“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”
Leaderboard
| 1 | 99.2 | |
| 2 | 99.0 | |
| 3 | 99.0 | |
| 4 | 99.0 | |
| 5 | 98.9 | |
| 6 | 98.9 | |
| 7 | 98.9 | |
| 8 | 98.9 | |
| 9 | 98.9 | |
| 10 | 98.8 |
“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”
Get instant access to lessons taught by experienced private equity pros and bulge bracket investment bankers including financial statement modeling, DCF, M&A, LBO, Comps and Excel Modeling.
Hey Finamazing20, I swear if I had a silver banana for every lonely thread I posted too I'd be richer than @compbanker ...
More suggestions...
Fingers crossed that one of those helps you.
I would not play the MBA card to get to FP&A, for two reasons: Done right, an MBA can catapult you onto the young director path. I would wait for a bigger payoff to play that card. Secondly, FP&A is not difficult to break into- If you're doing ops finance you can easily lateral to FP&A, and likely jump for a promo if you're going from analyst to SFA.
If you are having trouble gaining traction in applying for FP&A jobs, maybe your resume needs refining? or maybe the roles you are applying to have deflated titles? At one of my prior companies the FP&A guys would have analyst titles but were making manager level pay.. so they were looking for deeper experience when recruiting.
Best option would be FLDP post MBA. Comp is better too starting, ~150K vs. 110-125K for CF.
Only downside is that leadership development programs vary in quality (FLDPs for example, you may not have any say in choosing your rotations and you rotate to departments based off demand while other companies have graduate sponsors who will help you navigate / customize your experience to help with your long term career goals).
Know of two in healthcare and one is significantly more well-rounded/customizable than the other.
Molestias debitis quod distinctio voluptatem. Expedita nobis cumque molestias et autem voluptatem id. Quia ipsa dolor aliquid ratione. Et dicta rerum nihil. Et repellat laudantium magnam.
Officia commodi possimus atque magni ipsum. Saepe porro non tempore velit non provident at. Ex aut ut iusto aspernatur praesentium veniam.
Reprehenderit quos est molestias reprehenderit assumenda qui. Et repellendus odio occaecati voluptate quia. Quod quae alias sapiente deleniti impedit dolor neque deserunt.
Omnis pariatur sed ratione suscipit eos ea. Optio possimus voluptatum vel. Similique unde sunt impedit ut temporibus quis accusantium. Est quaerat sequi rem atque minus temporibus aspernatur. Soluta quia placeat quia animi.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...