I Could Not See My Career Path from a UG Junior

duffmt6:

why did you go from ibd to ops?

i know nothing about Asia but i'll take a stab at 4:

I worked with 3 different CFO's at a large fin services company (two business unit CFO's and one CFO of an entire broker dealer legal entity)

1 had a background in audit then went to a corp finance role and worked his way up. CPA i believe. no mba.

1 had a background in the MO. got an MBA from a good school and switched to a corp fin role with a regional bank. lateraled to the firm i was at as a non CFO SVP. CFO of the business unit retired and he took over.

not sure of the full background for the last one. he was in management for S&T at a BB but I don't think his background was in trading. had an MBA from a very good school. switched to corp fin at the firm i was at as non CFO SVP. became a business unit CFO, then promoted to CFO of the broker dealer.

as you can see, tons of different paths you can follow.

Thanks for sharing the stories dude!

It might be complicated but basically coz I just wanted to explore more in finance so I do not care or know much about IBD or Operation before.

For those 3 CFO stories you gave, do you know if they knew they wanted to be CFO or management role in corporation or it just happened as they saw more?

turtle:

you have great experience, why not just go along with the FT (considering you get it) and work away... you could always go back and do a masters

Do you mean go along with the FT in Operation or Big4? If so I would say I am hesitant to do it because I just knew they would not be the "end" or "dream" for me though I like jobs. If I chose to work there as FT I may still jump boat after a few years and it would be another problem :(

Roamer:

The Big 4 audit experience allows you to skip the junior years as an account clerk / accountant in large corporations. Once you got your CPA (3-5 years of audit experience), you would most likely be joining a corporation as at least an account manager or FC (in smaller companies) and then you can work your way up.

Some companies do hire people with finance background as CFO when they wanna go IPO.

CFO and S&T are entirely different career paths....you should probably try to figure out where your interest is first.

As for Big 4 experience, I am assuming you are either targeting HK or China. The reality is that it is extremely difficult to go from Audit to Finance (IB / PE). Your best shot would be to join the Big 4 TAS team or 2 years of Audit the internal transfer to TAS.

Thanks so much! these are really insightful answers and I really appreciate it!

1. "Once you got your CPA (3-5 years of audit experience)" What is requirement of working experience to take an CPA? I thought we could take the CPA within 2 years?

2. If possible, could you provide some insights about how accounting/finance background differ down the road to be an CFO?

3. I understand they are so different, but the reality is that I do not think there is a way to know if I like S&T or not since I just consider being a trader is such a unique job.

4. It seems you know much about BIG4, would you minding giving some exit opps after working in Audit? What if I were doing tax?

Thanks!

1. 3 years in big4 seems longer than I expected tho...and I am not sure if CPA works in mainland China since they use different rules but it might be more recognized in HK?

You know a lot about China lol and indeed many CFO in those companies, even big one are not well qualified and thats why I think the demand of qualified CFO will be high in China.

What are some possible way to stand out since the requirement to be an auditor is low with unlimited supply. It seems audit will indeed helps to build up the qualification to be an CFO and from your given "typical" path I am afraid that I will be stuck in it too long. My assumption is that any audit-related jobs will not have a very high potential income at the 30s or 40s even as roles such as Head of Internal audit in IB or big4 senior-manager?

2. How hard is it to get into the TAS team and in addition to IBD what are some of its exit opps?

3. I haven't interned in S&T before and just have the assumption that that job is so much different from the ideal job I expected but I think I will have more exposure to it as i interact with those traders during the summer.

Roamer:

1. 3 Years of related work experience but it depends also on which CPA you are trying to get. The requirement for CA in the State is different.

2. I dun know much about Europe / State. In Asia, however, especially for HK & Chinese companies, you are going to see some really shitty CFO. For smaller companies (listed) with operation in China, the so-called CFO could be from some 2nd / 3rd tier CPA firm and they don't get paid much. So you might get lucky if you have connections that you would get the "CFO" title in your early 30's but that literally means nothing.

The problem is that the real valuable finance work is done in China (treasury & budgeting).

A more viable route is to do a few years of audit, get your CPA, have your partner refer you a job to a client of the firm. Ideally the client is a Group that is planning a series of M&A. In that process you can learn a lot about deal arrangement and opens doors to higher up position in bigger corporations.

For ex-bankers joining a company as CFO, it is mostly in pre-IPO situations from what I have seen. Client relation probably plays a vital part here too.

3. Have you interned in S&T ?

4. Exit opps are pretty limited. The supply of auditors is close to unlimited and you need to have something extremely unique to stand out among your peers.

Normal career path would be : Audit (Ideal exit point at beginning of 4th year (Audit Senior), 6th year (1 yr after Audit Manager), 9th year (1 yr after Senior Manager) and Post-Partner -> Finance role at a corporation of respective seniority

Other options include going into Internal Audit, Business analyst, ER (hard in market like this), PE / IBD (extremely difficult but not unheard of)

If you are in the tax team, there is close to 0 exit opps. You either stay at the firm to partner level / join Inland Revenue Department / join a client as tax advisor.

I honestly don't recommend you doing audit cos it is too easy to get in and the longer you stay, the harder it is to get out. Try the TAS team at the Big 4 if you may.