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Beyond the CPA, have you thought about a CFA? Would probably help with the transition to ER.
Thanks for the quick response. Yes, absolutely. That's the next step - but one thing at a time, one foot in front of the other. Are you suggesting that a CFA is necessary before a transition? I was under the impression that it requires passing three parts and having 5 years of relevant work experience. Not sure if my acct exp qualifies. Would it be possible to land an entry level ER gig and work towards the CFA while on the job?
P.S. my first post get's answered by happypantsmcgee? Who's next? Ed and Midas? I might just nerd gasm.
Easy with the nerd-gasm there homie...just be glad I'm stuck in the most boring fucking 'meeting' of my life at 9pm.
The CFA isn't necessary but it would certainly help. While your background is good, its good for an accountant. Going after the CFA, at the very least level 1, both shows an interest and knowledge in the field that your previous experience doesn't really illustrate. You will probably be expected to work towards the CFA while on the job (at least that's been my experience though I'm not in ER). I've been seeing the CPA, CFA combo a lot more recently so there is precedent but its mostly in AM.
I just had a lucky thirteen interviews in the last two months and everyone seems to be a hell of a lot more interested in the CFA and most of the people actually asked me why it is that I even wanted to take the CPA exam, which I think is comical...
You have a few things going for you: 1. In order to be good at finance you need to be excellent at accounting. You dont need to be good at finance to understand accounting however. 2. Given that I was a triple degree in accounting finance and economics (actually I swapped econ for finance, but I wont digress) basically, I can say that you had a WAY more intense undergraduate program than like 90% of people in finance out there that are not in a specifically CFA centered undergraduate program. 3. You don't need 5 years of relevant work experience to sign up for the CFA , you just need a college degree... you can sign up immediately if you have the extra cash. Be careful though because there is much more difficult material on it than the CPA as I have taken practice exams for both. Don't fuck it up or your employer wont reimburse you, which sucks, and then you are down 1500 bucks. Don't botch the financial statement analysis section either because you think you know it already. It's a huge section.
I had whiskey with Boesky.
"Y'know, that dance wasn't as safe as they said it was."
"AM?" Can't exactly use the search function on that one.
A go-go '80s Reaganaut like you will just do fine, Cookie. They are afraid of your raw power.
Welcome to WSO.
AM = Asset Management. Obvi.
I forgot to mention -- I feel like if you take the CFA exam considering that it is a 3 year process by the time you have completed it you will have fully transitioned anyway and accounting will simply be your foundation upon which you can build. My neighbor is in charge of a small to medium sized hedge fund in NYC and he actually mentioned to me that most of his CFA holders were also CPA holders simply because they have the discipline to study and take the exam. He told me that compared to the CFA, the CPA was easy. You can do it.
MBA?
http://poetsandquants.com/ http://gmatclub.com/
Silentdud: Thanks for all the info. I appreciate it. How's the interview process going, PM me
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