[mhenry900]

I’m looking for opinions on Big 4 experience and if it’s necessary to attain a controller/senior level position in accounting. I have over 12 years experience in consulting solely in procurement, AP and AR. My traditional audit and tax experience is not at the level that I believe company’s are looking for in these roles. I want to see if I need to prepare for an investment in this experience to reach this level.

Please let me know your thoughts.

[fuzyfro89]

No, it's not required. It can maybe help, but given you already have 12 years of experience, I'm not sure I see a path where it would help you at this stage of your career to go back into audit (I'm assuming, since you want to be a controller).

Another option would be to get into a technical accounting type-role in industry and move upward. As you progress and get promoted, the skills start to mesh together quite a bit and become more general rather than specialized… especially in larger companies.

Do you feel not having public experience is holding you back from moving ahead? Can you elaborate on what you do now and what you have done during your career? Also, is there a compensation level and/or company that you are targeting in the next 5 yrs?

[Missy]

It depends on what type of company you want to be a controller at. If you're looking at working at a F500 company, they're going to prefer big 4 experience. If you're looking at smaller companies, particularly private companies, it's absolutely not necessary.

Old timer,  A71'er since 2010.

Finance manager/HR manager

 

 

Licensed Massachusetts Non Reporting CPA since 2012
Finance/Admin/HR Manager

[mhenry900]

Quick backstory, my previous position was with a consulting firm who stated that I needed to relocate if I wanted any promotion. That was not in the picture so I changed companies but while interviewing for new roles most of them stressed big 4 (or minimally smaller firms) experience. I ended up taking a position with a great company and recently finished my CPA. I'm now looking to move forward, but almost all the positions I”m looking at state the big 4 experience.

I appreciate the feedback and I will look into the private companies and see how they respond. CPA designation should help to get more interviews in regards to these roles.

[Missy]

Its important to remember two things. The first is apply to jobs that say big 4 required if you're otherwise qualified. Truth is people get jobs ALL the time that are lacking one or more of the “requirements” in the listing (My first two professional jobs required a degree in accounting, I had a high school education.) The second thing is that its as much about your competition as it is about you. Chances are whoever is hiring has 20-60 resumes in front of them, most of which meet the minimum requirements for the job. Many of the resumes are completely overqualified and just as many are underqualified. A person who does not know any of these candidates is deciding “does mla11692 look like a better fit, or does mhenry?” even though we both have a CPA license and years of experienice. If the company does DoD contracts, they'll gravitate to me because that's my wheelhouse in addition to the other credentials. If the company specifically wants someone with more procurement expertise, you're the better candidate. For that reason it is very important to tailor your resume for each position you apply to.

Old timer,  A71'er since 2010.

Finance manager/HR manager

 

 

Licensed Massachusetts Non Reporting CPA since 2012
Finance/Admin/HR Manager

[fuzyfro89]

“I'm now looking to move forward, but almost all the positions I”m looking at state the big 4 experience.”

Don't take job descriptions as a list of “requirements”… they are more like a wish list for a “perfect candidate”. More likely, every candidate has some strong areas and some areas they need to develop, but they need to know you can swim the day you walk in the door and not drown by having too many weaknesses.

[Author]

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