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?
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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.
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