Want to start studying for the CPA exam

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  • #176059
    sscusc
    Member

    Hello all, I am new to the forums looking for some advice before I officially commit to studying for the CPA exam.

    So far, I have graduated with a bachelors degree in accounting and over 150 hours so I am eligible to sit for the exam. Right now, I am working in consulting however I need to move back home (out of state) for family reasons. So I want to utilize my time by taking the CPA exam. My career goal is to get a financial or accounting analyst position in corporate finance. I don’t want to get into public or private accounting but I think the CPA would be a good way to enhance my resume in the corporate finance area. Would this be a good idea? Also will the state I apply for taking the CPA exam matter?

    I am planning on starting to study in Mid-March. I still have not applied yet but I just don’t want to do anything crazy before I get the opinions of some more knowledgeable people out there! I just want some guidance to get started.

    Thanks

Viewing 11 replies - 1 through 11 (of 11 total)
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  • #396677
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    Hi sscusc, welcome. Without more information it is hard to give you a well-reasoned opinion on if the CPA is the right fit for you professionally. However, everyone on here will tell you the CPA is a highly respected credential that should pay dividends for those willing to put in the hard work to earn it. I can tell you that I work in a corporate finance/accounting role and the CPA is definitely valued at my company, but that is about the extent of my insight. I would take some time to browse the forum further- there are lots of posts on careers and the value of the credential, which should help you answer your questions. Also, I'd look at the AICPA's website for more information on the CPA.

    To answer your second question, yes, the state absolutely matters! It will affect nearly everything except for the actual exam content itself- education and work requirements, score release, how long it takes to get your credentials evaluated, and the lead time between making your initial examination request and when you actually can apply for your first section. You should visit your state board of accountancy's website ASAP so you can find out about all of these requirements so you can stay on your timeline.

    Best of luck!

    #396678
    mdrobbin
    Member

    The CPA will only help your cause, it certainly will only benefit you in seeking a position in corporate finance/accounting. How much it will help will definitely depend on the company and what role you are looking for (finance less valuable to have CPA… in my experience a CMA seems more applicable to some of the stuff I did as an entry level analyst).

    For an entry-level role it is doubtful you would be doing any advanced accounting or finance so the CPA would really be more of a badge of honor that you have a strong work ethic and committment to your career. I'm a financial analyst in corporate and the majority of my work is more heavy on cost accounting as well as analytics/forecasting. There is, without a doubt, accounting knowledge that I use to my advantage and I use that knowledge as leverage to show my ability to understand some of the more complex concepts (cash flow forecasting, capital investment analysis, accounting treatment, etc.).

    I look at my management and I see that a lot of higher up people hold their CPA… which is fairly common because I think a lot of people in high up private positions started out in public accounting and moved over to private after establishing themselves through public accounting work. My boss is a CPA, his boss is a CPA, etc. I think it becomes more important the higher up the chain you move.

    I think the other important point to keep in mind is the increase in flexibility you have. If you do decide down the road that you want to move into Public, it would be great to have the CPA already under your belt. It also adds to your credentials to move around as you move up to higher positions… again, at entry-level, you won't need to understand advanced accounting concepts but as you move up the ladder, they start to come into play.

    Just my 2 cents…

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    #396679
    sscusc
    Member

    Hello all who have posted to my thread.

    Thanks for taking the time to reply.

    I work in DC right now however the Virginia state requirements in work experience seem to favor me over the requirements for NC. I want to work in NC in the near future. Would it be wise to go with Virginia here?

    Also, I will definitely go for the CPA. I just wanted the assurance that I was on the right track. I do have an accounting background, however my 1 year of work experience is not accounting. It's more compliance work in financial services.

    Basically, I have no accounting experience so far, and I do not plan on getting public, private accounting experience. Rather, I want to pursue corporate finance positions.

    #396680
    WACCadoodle
    Member

    As far as which state–you must know if there are Residency Requirements to be able to apply. If the state you want to be a CPA in requires 1 yr residency, you will not be able to apply until after that time period.

    Assuming you will find a residency requirement in your way:

    What you should consider is looking into “Reciprocity” requirements of the state you eventually want in the future and see what the additional requirements will be (it may be as little as time requirement or taking a couple of classes…depends) But, apply for the CPA in the state you have current residency in, assuming you meet all other requirements.

    You can take the actual test in any state.

    FAR 79
    REG 81
    BEC 75
    AUD 76

    #396681
    sscusc
    Member

    Thanks for the guidance.

    According to this website: https://www.thiswaytocpa.com/exam-licensure/state-requirements/

    I do meet the residency requirements for either of the states I am considering.

    My residency is actually in SC…so I think a better idea would be to call the board and ask them if they will be able to transfer it to NC, i suppose.

    My other question is work experience requirements. I want to make sure that I wont face any surprises once I Finish everything.

    NC experience requirements;

    Option 1: Complete one year of experience in the public practice of accounting under the supervision of a licensed CPA

    Option 2: Complete one year of experience in the practice of accounting under the supervision of a licensed CPA

    SC experience requirements:

    Earn at least one year of accounting experience (equivalent to 2000 hours of part-time work).

    This experience may be in public, governmental or private employment (industry)

    This experience may be full- or part-time

    You may not earn more than 40 hours of experience per week

    Competencies to be included in the experience should focus on:

    Reviews

    Compilations

    Audits/governmental audits

    Prospective financial information

    Taxes

    Financial statements without reports

    Other services

    This experience must be supervised and reviewed by a licensed CPA

    Document this experience on the Certificate of Experience, which must be signed by each CPA who supervised your experience. Include your dates of employment, duties and descriptions of duties.

    This is the confusing part for me. Like I said, I don't want “surprises” and I believe that if I am pursuing corporate finance jobs, I would NOT meet the accounting experience requirements?

    #396682
    WACCadoodle
    Member

    May be someone from your state will see this post and help you out.

    Since you are already confused, I thought I'd go ahead and make it worse….I know you stated you have decided on CPA, so may be this unwarranted, but are you sure the CPA is right for you? Have you looked into finance-based certificates?

    I confess, I know NOTHING about finance, but it seems you should research (unless you already have) other certificates like CIMA, CFA, CFS, or ChFC. Here is some basic descriptions from Investopedia:

    https://www.investopedia.com/articles/01/101001.asp#axzz2KWlKpVXq

    Sorry I can't be of any real help. I wish you luck figuring it all out!

    FAR 79
    REG 81
    BEC 75
    AUD 76

    #396683
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    It sounds like you need to call the Qualifications Division of whatever state your planning to apply in.

    #396684
    jelly
    Participant

    It depends on the corporate entity you work for, and what position you are in. The title “analyst” can run a broad skill range. There are licensed analysts who are really senior accountants/controllers in disguise that can journal the hay out of complex consolidated financial statements, and there are corporate analysts out there who don't understand that a TB=0.

    I don't represent any accounting boards, but here is my 2 cents:

    Find out what “Other services” includes. The compliance work you are doing now can fall under “management advisory/consulting” or “internal audit/consulting.”

    The financial/analytical corporate work you are interested in can narrowly fall under compilations, prospective financial information, or financial statements without reports. Ask how these would be defined in private industry (bug for examples), as professional service firms (aka public accounting) provides these things all the time.

    Couldn't pass again!

    #396685
    sscusc
    Member

    Good point.. Thanks!

    I am set on the CPA because I believe it can get a person some credibility in the corporate finance area even without public accounting experience. The other certifications mentioned on the website just don't seem to cut it for me including the CFA. Having a CPA would allow me to have some credibility in financial decision making for a corporation.

    I will check on the specific work experience with the board. I called the NC board a few days ago, and the gentleman said that as long as I have that 1 year of work experience under a direct CPA, it would be allowed.

    Also, just in case I am not able to get it signed-off, how much time would I have after I pass the exams to get the 1 year of work experience under a direct CPA on a potentially new job? I will check with the board as well but I am asking for this thread's conversational purposes too.

    #396686
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    I had a similar mindset to you and wanted to go into corporate finance and began pursuing the CPA since I feel that understanding accounting would be beneficial to most groups within corporate finance. Now I am working in a role within corporate treasury and while I still believe a strong accounting background can only help your career within finance/accounting, I do admit that I don't see much of a payoff of having a CPA in the role. I was halfway through studying for the CPA when I started the job, and I didn't consider it a factor in getting hired for the position nor do I think having a CPA will necessarily help my advancement opportunities in said role. In fact, within corporate treasury, having a CFA is actually more commonplace and is more relevant than CPA. I definitely think studying for the CPA though helps me build a stronger accounting foundation and in turn helps me understand how some of the work I do flows through to the accounting team that we work with closely, but wouldn't say it has a significant impact on my work performance/advancement. Having more certifications is of course better than having less if you have the time/money to pursue them, but the difficult part I struggle with now is motivating myself to continue studying and finishing up the last 2 sections given the large amount of time investment required and the lack of tangible reward that could come of it in my current role.

    I do plan to hopefully finish up the CPA exams just to keep my future career options open and build my resume, but it definitely is not an easy task to invest hours of studying time into something that I cannot see pay off in my current role now! I guess my advice is to think about which areas in corporate finance you are specifically interested in (since corporate finance itself is very broad – corporate treasury, FP&A, private accounting, M&A, etc.), and whether a CPA would be beneficial in those specific groups/company. Good luck!

    #396687
    sscusc
    Member

    I love knowledge. If I am quitting my job to move somewhere else and I have a gap in my resume, I think I will better utilize my time studying for something and getting something out of it!

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