FP&A People, what industry are you in?
And how do you like it?
I have solid FP&A experience ranging through 3 totally different industries. I'm mostly likely not going to stay in the one I'm in. So what are you in and how do you like it?
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Healthcare/Pharma - I like it a lot. I probably wouldn't leave unless it was for tech (or a ton of $)
Can you explain what you like about heathcare? I know there a lot of options in the area where I'm most likely going to be living. I've always been somewhat interested, but know almost nothing about what goes on in the industry financially.
Is it tough to get in? I have 7-8 years of finance & FP&A experience, but in totally unrelated industries.
How's the work-life balance? Does it keep you engaged and interested?
How tough is it understanding the different revenues coming from sources like insurance, patients, gov't?
How is the money?
Personally, I would focus more on targeting specific companies (culture, benefits, etc) and focus less on choosing one particular industry, but that's just me. There are good and bad companies to work for in every industry.
And lets be honest, how different can the FP&A work itself truly be between industries? Do the P&L's, balance sheets, and NPV formulas look different when a company is selling iPhones instead of cars?
I mostly agree with the first half of this. The most important thing is really getting with a great company with good opportunities, but I do think industry is a difference maker.
I disagree with the second half. If FP&A is just analyzing a P&L to you, you won't advance very far. The more you advance the more strategic you need to be. At the Manager level my week was spent: - Cross Functional product launch meetings - feasibility meetings and modeling of potential small partnership - Profit/Supply Chain optimization meeting
This isn't exactly my typical week, but it was entirely strategic. All this as an FP&A Manager for a global BU.
Do you see many ex big 4 people in roles similar to yours? I know you came from big 4 also, but I'm not sure if that is more the exception than the rule. Also, at what point do you recommend leaving big 4 to transition to a position like yours?
And people who work for companies that sell transmissions in the Trucking industry spend their weeks in the same meetings. My point is that the principles of FP&A remain the same no matter which industry you work in. The things that are taught in business school (accounting, DCF, strategy, marketing, lean manufacturing) can be applied to any industry. You would be creating the same FP&A model whether your company was launching a new cough drop or industrial tractor.
This makes sense, but I think I'm getting to the point in my career where the next job I take will be the industry I focus on. I've hopped industry 3 times already and it would be nice to specialize in something.
Starting in FP&A for a company in heavy mfg on Monday for their Global BU.
Was in tech. Now am in auto but work in the tech industry of auto. Yeah, I don't get it either.
Not sure whether my job qualifies as FP&A since it's not a US company, job titles and groups have very diferent names. I work as a revenue forecasting manager within the Financial Decision Support group of a top 5 Pharma Company.. It's essentialy strategic finance, we have a lateral group that does more general FP&A type work (Sales Analysis, variance analysis, some accounting for revenue duductions ect...).
Someone mentioned industry not mattering much above. I would agree for many industries, but in Pharma, corporate finance is very different from other industrues. This is due to the complexity of financial modeling required to forecast and analyze Pharma revenue reduction and pricing. So on top of all the general skillsets gained by working in FP&A, you gain a technical skillset specific to Pharma world. I find the revenue (gross to net) pricing side to be interesting, and also adds a lot to job security. Experience in Pharma corporate finance (even on the accounting side) is desireable and suprisingly, few people have that type of experience. In short, choosing Pharma will give you an advantage.
Any specific questions and I'm happy to answer...
And just to hit the can I get there from the big 4 question: I cma efrom big 4 but mostly transaction services background. There are plenty of ex big 4 in some of my lateral teams (sales analysis ect) but no former big 4 folks in my specific role. My gig is all the way to the right on the accounting-------finance spectrum, the work is purely for strategic decision making purposes. I don't even have access the accounting side of things. As such, most of my counterparts come from a technical forecasting/math type background, few have any accounting experience. . In short, my team might be the only one in the finance org that can be a bit out of reach from someone coming straight from big 4 audit (though having audit experience in the Pharma industry might do the trick). I would say my position is something that 1) could lead to or 2) might be an exit op from Pharma equity research. Half my time is spent doing very similar work to ER (sales forecasting, comptitor analysis ect), with the other half of my time spent on decision analysis (working closely with brand and group strategy teams and Corp/Bus development.
Thanks for offering to take questions. Would you mind sharing salary progression as you move up the ladder? harvardgrad08 had an excellent thread of corp dev salaries but said it was unique to the tech world. Would love to get some insight into the hierarchy in pharma, thanks in advance.
Technology. Pure distilled hatred.
Hahaha. Same here. Although I wouldn't say I hate it, it's definitely more interesting than most industries I can think of. There's definitely a ton of complexity and lots of things that no one I can find seems to understand and/or explain to me fully. Very frustrating sometimes.
Why do you hate it?
Check my post on the thread below, i listed out typical corporate finance heirarchy and salary. The salary bands are the same in finance and most other corporate office positions, ie marketing, brand strategy, all the different business jobs we have. Snce our HQ is overseas, CD department is also overseas. We have BD here in the US but they are working mostly on product level acquisitions/divestitures and joint venture type deals. Im sure they assist in all out M&A type sales or full companies. My short term goal is to move into the BD team, then MBA, then ER covering Pharma, then either Hedge fund focused on Pharma or alternatively, back to industry in a Corp Dev role.
http://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forums/the-definitive-guide-to-industry-…
Previously in Renewable Energy, now in eCommerce. Prefer eCommerce.
I work in semiconductors. The group I work in (business planning and analysis) is fairly small given the size of the company so you can have an impact immediately even as a junior analyst. I've found that finance is a valued and strategic function in this industry based on my own experience and people I have talked to who have transferred from competitors. Pay is decent, middle of most FP&A ranges I've seen bandied about on these forums.
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