Different roles in corporate finance & moving up?
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If you're interested in corp. finance outside of Strategy and development, you're better off starting out at big 4 audit. They generally have quicker promotions after paying your dues in big 4. This is why you see a lot of young professionals in executive positions. Also, have to factor in the company reputation to see how easy it is to transition from big 4 to F100 Corp. Finance
hi Bearcat, I've heard that starting out at big 4 is a good way to start this career, but the reason I'm sort of drawn away from PwC, Deloitte, etc. is that they seem to focus more on accounting. I'm more interested in risk, project financing, determining allocation, etc (basically, a lot of the roles D M mentioned below). Is this still a good fit for big 4?
FLDPs are also a good way to start out. As far as groups are concerned, think about it a little bit: what does a company need? Accountants, finance analysts, auditors, dev guys and analysts.
Then break that down further. You need cost accountants, tax accountants, specific facility accountants, etc. You need guys that can estimate future earnings, determine how to allocate funds, determine project financing, etc. It's not that complicated, like I said above, think about what's crucial to a company's operations and those are the types of positions that will likely be available.
I'll give this a shot.
In my company we basically have accounting roles and finance roles.
Finance roles involve analysis, forecasting, operations finance, purchasing, integrated-development finance, treasury, strategy, etc. We have different roles for our different business units and sometimes a corporate (or consolidated level).
Accounting roles include: division accounting, consolidations, internal audit, external reporting, division controller
There is a cross-over between these two functions if you are a plant controller. (We are a mfg company)
If you are more interested in the finance side, I disagree with one of the posters above who says Big 4 audit is the better starting point. In my company, former Big 4 auditors tend to come in to audit, consolidations, or division accounting roles, and are not treated any better or worse.
For my company the fast trackers are former FLDPs. These programs tend to give you experience in both finance and accounting roles. It makes you much more well-rounded and gives you exposure to different jobs. In my company, those who are moving up, generally move every 1.5-2 years. Often times you will see people take both finance and accounting roles at the lower levels before settling into a finance or accounting track.
I'm curious how true this is about FLDPs. A lot of what I've seen makes it seem like FLDPs are the way to go, though I have seen a couple of negative responses, too.
i've heard both very positive and some not as good things about FLDPs too.
what are some roles in big 4 companies that might be similar (or be a good channel into) a corp fin career?
GoIllini is giving pretty good advice. However, I will add that there is a lot of overlap in the "accounting" roles and the "finance roles". If you really want to advance you should be at least pretty decent at both. The only exception to that would be if you plan on staying in one centralized group, Treasury for example.
FLDP is definitely a great way to get into a company and get a wide variety of experiences. These employees are often some of the quickest to advance.
In my opinion Big 4 is a good way to get into corporate finance. Advancement can be quicker at the Big 4 and you definitely don't have to come in to an "accounting" role. I started in Big 4, did some other consulting and then came in to one of the "finance" type roles. Many others at my company do as well.
i see that big 4s have corporate finance/ transaction services, but what exactly is the difference between these roles and investment banks?
and do you mind sharing what kind of consulting you did at your big 4 & your experience? basically, i'm looking at finance because i'd like something that requires numbers and quantitative analysis.
I believe that the Big 4 transaction services arms usually revolve around doing due diligence for companies. One of my buddies just joined such a practice so I'll have a better idea of what exactly a day to day workflow looks like soon.
I agree. Just to add on. You want to have knowledge of both the finance and accounting operations regardless of which side of the coin you work in. Having a good accounting foundation really helps. I would suggest double majoring if you're interested in corp fin.
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