Cost/Benefit of Getting CPA for IS Brokerage Career
I'm an incoming multifamily IS broker at a Newmark, Colliers, Cushman type firm from a target RE program. I graduate in spring with a delayed start date because I want to pass at least two of my CPA exams prior to full-time. I'm graduating with my undergrad in RE and accounting with enough credits to sit for my CPAs. A number of people I respect in the RE industry have recommended that I get my CPA so clients know I have a "financial" background.
What are your guys' thoughts on the cost/benefit of getting my CPA vs. immediately putting 100% of my time into brokerage?
What's your long-term goals with all this? I doubt your brokerage career will get much boost from a CPA, but if you go buyside it could be very valuable (still not sure how valuable a CPA credential is without several years of actual accounting experience as well).
Thanks for the reply! I’m planning on staying in brokerage until I can buy enough units to just own and manage my own properties full-time.
I had offers to REPE, but I like the upside and entrepreneurial aspects of brokerage.
It's not worth the time nor money. A CPA really means that you're legally allowed to sign off on certain things (e.g. tax returns, audit reports, etc.), none of which you will do in brokerage. For what you want to do, I think the real value of accounting is in knowing your debits/credits and general ledger accounts, so you can audit property opex.
I got mine a few years ago, and once I got into REPE, I let it lapse and dropped it from my resume.
Well, I can't say it's going to really propel a brokerage career, but as was said below, it is an interesting way to differentiate (which is not easy starting out). Still, if your accounting experience is "studying and passing tests and college coursework", I'd don't know how valuable the credential will be as a standalone.
All that said, there are lots of ways a CPA and strong accounting knowledge can translate to value creation in real estate, just mostly all buyside roles I'm thinking of. This may sound odd, but I somewhat worry you will regret not doing it in the future, like you foreclosed a path that might be interesting.
Brokerage is very much a commodity business, being different (or even "good") is not so easy. Bridging knowledge from different, yet related domains (accounting qualifies for sure) is one way to make a competitive advantage. But at same time, really hard to say anyone NEEDS a CPA for much of anything in this industry, let alone brokerage.
So, personally, go with your gut on this one. I can legit see both sides.
In PWM, I know a broker thats a CPA. They stay current on reg but they don’t give any tax advice at all.. however, the broker stands out from the pack a significant amount just by being a CPA. It’d be a lot of work, but a unique differentiator.
Love to hear this! Thank you!
Most states have a work experience requirement that you might have trouble meeting. Florida requires a year of experience under a CPA for example, which has to happen after finishing 120 credit hours.
Thank you for the word of caution - I’ve spoken to to the AICPA about this. You’re able to get experience from an “accounting equivalent”. Since I’ll be doing some underwriting in the beginning of my career, they said this would qualify.
If you can get your CPA, get it. You’ll find many of the top brokers have legal / CPA designations. They may, or may not, use it. But it is a way to attempt to stand out in a crowded field. Plus, it never hurts. If you don’t sit for the tests now, you won’t in 5 years. Lastly, if you ever want to transition to the buyside and want to do asset management, many firms actually look for asset managers who used to be CPAs as it is a lot of reviewing, cash flows and balance sheets, etc.
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