I think there's 2 things that contribute here:
– General on-paper preferences and requirements that aren't absolute – a lot of places will say they want or require something because generally, if they were making a list of criteria of their perfect candidate, it would be included; however, in reality, they'll evaluate on a case-by-case basis and determine if someone missing a technical qualification still has the desired abilities. For example, my dad never finished his college degree; however, he's held several jobs that “required” a college degree because even though he didn't have one, he had demonstrate-able competency in the job duties due to having spent many many years in the field. So, maybe their boss would say “In a perfect world, they'd have a year or two in the B4, but in reality, I know they know B4 audits in and out so I'm quite happy with them”.
– Preferences from one manager to another – I can't believe that *all* large-company CEOs and hiring personnel have the same viewpoint on what's required in a CFO, because everyone is different and has different preferences. If I was Microsoft's CEO, I wouldn't place preference on B4 experience. Someone who had been a partner of B4 would get some extra respect in my eyes, but someone who as a new college graduate checked boxes for 2 years isn't going to impress me. If they weren't at a high enough position to be seeing the whole audit, I don't care, cause my CFO doesn't need to be an expert on marking whether or not two sets of numbers compare…! However, even then, if I was Microsoft's CEO, a B4 high-ranking-person who just decided to switch to private would *not* be of more interest to me than someone who had climbed the ladder in private and had experience with various levels of private accounting and management, because being able to audit a large company doesn't mean you're able to manage one. I'd want to see high-level experience in the private world, and then if he's familiar with B4, that's a plus.
So, from what I've gathered, most large companies like to see B4 experience, and that's great. But as the Microsoft examples demonstrate, not all require it…so I'd say anyone who doesn't have B4 but does have a solid resume should still feel confident in their ability to achieve the career goals they have, whereas a new grad with the opportunity for B4 who wants to end up in the big seat should probably take advantage of it since statistically from what I've heard, most folks in those seats do have such experience, so it will probably be easier to get that job with the experience.
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