Hi there,
I'm currently working as a staff accountant at a startup and I want to transition into a financial analyst role. It's been difficult because people have been labeling me as an "accountant" no experience in FP&A
Any of you guys have any success making the transition? My duties include overseeing the GL, P&L, Close-end process, and ad hoc. I'm much more interested in analytical duties of forecasting, budgeting, and etc...
Also, Can you guys refer me to a good study material on forecasting and budgeting?
Thanks!
You can definitely leverage that experience to look more FP&A on your resume, which should get you interviews. Forecasting and budgeting are really straightforward, seriously, you will probably find a lot of free excel templates/examples on google.
Are you having trouble laterally internally, or are you looking outside of your current company? The easier way to move to the finance side of things is likely internally.
To be honest, I wouldn't waste your time studying forecasting/budgeting. Every company does it differently and will train you on how to do it. Instead I would focus on being proficient/ an excel ninja.
I'm looking for opportunities outside of the company. Our current finance team is full. We have 2 staff accountants (minus AP/AR/Billing team) including me working on GL.
I just bought the BIWS product so i can learn the operating model+other excel tricks. Also, how important is SQL in FP&A? I've had recruiters ask me if I had any SQL experience.
For my previous employer, SQL wasn't used at all. Excel was king and likely will be anywhere you go.
Moving internally is your best bet. It's certainly possible. I moved from internal audit to FP&A. You just need to talk to as many people as possible and build a network.
SQL is pretty important. Some FP&A groups use it, some don't. It's definitely a plus if you can add that skill to your resume.
One way is to start asking/volunteering to assist those in FP&A to get your foot in the door. You're offering free help (which is appreciated), an accountant's point of view (which is important), and gaining FP&A experience. After you do that, build your networks, and make a great impression, it'll be a lot easier to transition into FP&A.
Assisting the finance team may sound possible but I can't think of a reason(at least in the traditional sense of what finance would take on) why they would look to the accounting dept for help(Not to be a dick, it's just so different). I'm thinking of cross functional projects/work and how a person in acctg would add relevant value to support finance... It's not common. Allowing you to "chip in" general finance duties is even less likely.
Getting an MBA or gaining CFA credentials will help a lot to ease some concerns to potential recruiters/employers since you are looking externally. This may lead to the possibility of jumping in straight to SR FA too which is a bonus, especially if you went and earned your MBA.
If looking internally, like greatlakes said, talk to folks and let it be known. Internal means both depts need to be supportive of this. They may hold headcount for you when they have budget or a backfill is needed. In this scenario, I can see you landing a JR FA role at worst and FA at best.
Just curious as I've been contemplating making the opposite move. FP&A to accounting... What are you comp expectations or what do you know? I've been getting mixed insight on the comp in general. I've heard corp fin pays more than corp acctg. Any insight would be appreciated!
My best bet would be to look externally for JR.FA role. I have about 2 years in acctg. I have looked at the budget file (which is confidential) but Finance people are paid higher than the corporate acctg department. My assumption is that they do more analytic work and that's why they are getting paid more. If i were you, i would stick to FP&A, work seems to be more interesting. Acctg is boring IMO.
Thanks for that.
As you start applying to Jr roles, my advice to prepare for these types of interviews is to highlight your good work experience and an interest in FP&A. That interest will make you stand out against the folks with a similar background or wide eyed recent grads. To drive your interest home, I'd show that you understand the day-to-day of an FPA analyst, how budgets are made and managed, understanding and showing your comfort in reporting/presenting to the leadership level, etc. Just by showing you understand what you are interviewing for, that would really make you stand out. And when talking about your lack of experience, simply show substitute experiences, certs attained, workshops attended, people within the company you contacted, etc that would provide some cover.
Best of luck! Keep this thread updated. Would be great to hear how it goes.
Adding my 2 cents as a previous Director and Manager in Corp. FP&A.
SQL is useful to have on your resume but not required for an FP&A role. Generally, smaller companies will use Excel/Access. Midsize companies may prefer someone who knows SQL. Large corporations probably won't care about SQL knowledge because they will have dedicated data resources.
Some companies have both FP&A and accounting roll up under one "Finance" department - a structure like that would probably be a good place to make a lateral move to a different company now. Not only would it get a "finance" title on your resume, it would also put you working alongside people who can teach you how FP&A works. It should be easy to structure your resume in such a way to apply for those roles.
As for pay, at the lower levels there isn't much difference. Once you get higher in the org, finance will usually make more... but the roles also become more "strategic" which is part of what drives the pay differential.
The only person I know who works in FP&A and has a CFA spent time in financial services audit followed by advisory. I wouldn't go down that rabbit hole expecting for FP&A roles to fall in your lap. An MBA also isn't needed now but may become a "nice to have from a personal development standpoint" at some point in your career - try to get your future employer to pay for it after you've worked there for a bit.
Good luck!
Hey, smokay. As an FP&A guy, I would be super impressed if you came to me bearing your own forecast for any line item that you work with regularly in your current role (doesn't matter which financial statement). We're always looking for ways to improve our forecasting abilities, and if someone can help us build a better mousetrap, then that could go a long way toward getting your foot in the door to FP&A.
If you're not sure where to start in figuring out a better forecasting method, you could ask the finance people how they forecast the line items you work with. That will give you some context to come up with a more accurate method. Don't be brash about it though... wouldn't want finance to feel like you're catching them in doing something incorrectly. Just be friendly and offer up your subject matter expertise where you have some, and reinforce the message that you're just looking to help them improve the accuracy of their projections.
Thanks for the input. This might be a personal questions but I wanted to ask you what are basis for forecasting method? Is it mainly done from bottom-up level? or by historical? or statistic method with non-linear regression? Where would you start from (revenue, cogs, or sg&a)?
If you're putting together a operating plan, you should start with the volume forecasts, build out revenue forecasts and then go from there. One you have volume forecasts you can build out the manufacturing or cost forecast to go along with it.
It may be easier to jump to FP&A at a smaller company. I moved to FP&A from fund accounting a couple months ago at a relatively small company. The other members of my team were staff accountants who did some forecasting. Once, the company was large enough to require more forecasting work, they started doing FP&A full time.
I transitioned from accounting into FP&A. A lot of FP&A roles actually look for an accounting background so that you can understand the GL and subledger (you will have to look up entries on rev and cos) and month end close is also good as forecasting is sometimes done on a monthly basis. So you kind of work hand in hand with accounting sometimes. You have the PL experiences, which is great. Have you tried to transition within your company or you are looking outside your company? Just keep applying. There are books on Amazon. Some are actually free (kindle version) Just search forecasting/budgeting.
This shouldn't be a difficult transition. Practically my entire team has done it-so long as you're not applying for managerial roles that require x number years of experience you should be fine. During interviews we look for folks who can explain/justify the transition and then go on to demonstrate an understanding of the hows and whys of the process. This reassures us that OTJT won't be a hassle.
I'm not looking to move internally. Our finance staff is full and understaffed in accounting. Having thorough understanding of 3 financial statement, i would assume it would be a easy transition, however I am having difficult time landing interviews because FP&A position is looking for actual experience 1-2 in forecasting & fp&a stuff. BTW, I'm mainly looking for position in chicago and i currently reside in the west coast. I've been taking financial modeling courses on BIWS. Would it be ethically wrong to put financial modeling experience under my current job when i have none? All i do is basically prepare financial statements and the FP&A guys do their own analysis after the hard close.
You can add a section to your resume and call it other experience or accomplishments. Put it above your actual experience. And describe the courses and knowledge you have with FP&A and financial modeling. You can even call it FP&A experience. During the interview or in your cover letter you can leverage your current experience with FP&A that you have learned independently. I think they will like seeing how motivated you are into making the transition. Good luck!
Have you gotten actual feedback that you are not a good fit without the forecasting experience on your resume? I would think you are more likely to not hear back because you are applying for jobs in Chicago but don't live there. Most companies wouldn't offer a full relo package for a candidate at your level without some highly unique experience. If you planning on absorbing the costs yourself, explaining this would be the perfect use of an objective statement: "Experienced finance and accounting professional, personally relocating to the Chicago area in {month} 2016, is seeking ________". Something like that would make it clear that you aren't looking for them to pay $10-30k to move you. Realistically, if you need help paying for a U-Haul, any company will probably throw in a few grand as a "signing bonus" which you can put towards that.
If you aren't hearing back and ASSUME it's because you don't have forecasting experience on your resume, see above. If that is actual feedback, I'd revisit the roles you are applying for. Preparing the financial statements should be enough for any Corp FP&A Anayst role - especially if you understand the basics of finance and accounting. If they don't think they can train someone in how to get variance explanations... there's no helping them.
Don't lie on your resume but if you can explain how you perform financial modeling and analysis within the scope of your current role then go for it. Just don't put it on there if you can't explain how you do it with your current job - they will ask and it's better to leave it off than lie and look like an idiot. If you can say "I prepare the financial statements and investigate unusual/unexpected balances and changes" when they ask, something like that is perfect. When applying as an experienced candidate, expect someone to ask for a real-world work example of any point on your resume. Don't rely on speaking to training in something or using training projects as examples.
Good luck!
I've gotten one response from big tech company saying that I don't have FP&A experience which eventually turned me down. I landed the interview because the HR manager seemed to like me and my motivation. They were looking at someone with more experience in FP&A. I am willing to fund my own relocation expense if the role will provide me the experience i want. Maybe this is something i should refer in my cover letter. However, I'm finding a difficult time for any JR. Financial analyst roles. All jobs i'm finding on the job boards seems to require at least 1-2 years of experience :( but i wont give up!
I am based in Chicago. I have a great recruiter here that could potentially help you. He has a lot of networks in finance and accounting and FP&A. Is there a way to email you on here? I can give you his name.
I pm'd you back.
At any major company your cover letter will end up separated from the resume. At least recruiting will read the cover letter if the hiring manager has questions about it, but something like that would be ideal on the resume itself if you can squeeze the line in.
Accounting experience should count as relevant experience unless the JD itself asks for forecasting, etc. I wouldn't get disheartened because one company said they specifically wanted it. FP&A can be learned pretty quickly by someone who is bright. Most people realize that and it's that particular manager's loss.
Have you posted your resume on the resume board or used the paid resume review services? When changing focuses it is important to emphasize the right points for the role you want vs. the one you have. You might want to look at the paid ones given that you'd be an experienced hire, but if you post it the peanut gallery will be happy to throw you some feedback. It shouldn't be that tough for you to get interviews.
Staff accountant to Financial analyst? (Originally Posted: 01/20/2016)
Hi there,
I'm currently working as a staff accountant at a startup and I want to transition into a financial analyst role. It's been difficult because people have been labeling me as an "accountant" no experience in FP&A
Any of you guys have any success making the transition? What can I do to successfully transition to FA? My duties include overseeing the GL, P&L, Close-end process, and ad hoc. I'm much more interested in analytical duties of forecasting, budgeting, and etc...
Also, Can you guys refer me to a good study material on forecasting and budgeting?
Thanks!
Bump
Change your title to Financial Analyst.
Or even better, ask your boss if you can change it to Financial Analyst in case you're worried they'll check. Unless you don't do financial analysis, then just suck it up and learn some modeling and other financial stuff and shine in the interview. Most people will hire you for a financial analysis position if they think you can do it.
Thanks for the input. I'm currently using BIWS to learn financial modeling. As i have no financial modeling work experience, how can I put financial modeling skills on my resume to earn future interviews? I doubt most employers would know what BIWS is unless its from big banks. I'm mostly focused getting a FP&A position for tech/healthcare/manufacturing companies.
The tech company that I used to be at had several analysts that had accounting backgrounds. Almost half even had CPA's. It probably depends on the companies you're looking at, but I don't think you should have too much trouble making the forward-thinking transition (may have to get a smaller experience before an f500 though).
Good luck.
Public Accountant to Financial Analyst (FP&A) Is it possible? (Originally Posted: 09/09/2013)
Hi guys,
I've recently left the public accounting profession after about 4 years (I have my CPA) and was curious what options are out there? (Due to the economic downturn and some layoffs, that experience is with three different firms)
I've spoken to recruiters and have the opportunity to apply for some nice staff accountant positions. But are those jobs dead ends? It seems to me they just lead to a life of being full-time debits and credits guy with the vague hope of becoming a controller some day.
I think I've realized I want to do a bit more in business than just accounting (making journal entries and closing the books). So would applying for financial analyst positions be a good idea or feasible? It seems that way I could boast some nice variety of experience on my resume.
What type of jobs would be a good idea to apply for next I want to pick up some additional business skills?
Thanks.
Qui non eveniet sed cum laboriosam laudantium. Asperiores a provident saepe qui voluptas ullam quo. Rerum nisi at ea officiis. Velit quae ipsa eligendi doloremque.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...
Et velit molestias temporibus ut. Non itaque vero error quis. Amet magnam nostrum beatae vitae iste sit rerum molestiae. Veniam architecto eligendi officia consequatur aut in occaecati.
Fugit dolores quibusdam hic excepturi quisquam officiis. Ratione maiores iusto id nesciunt. Cumque earum sit beatae iure. Occaecati voluptatibus et sint similique non. Est asperiores voluptatibus eos sunt consequatur qui est. Maiores soluta sequi quia facere dolores consequatur. Aut nisi veritatis vel voluptas rerum.