[jyoung117]

I’ve been at my current company for about 4 years as an accountant and have been recently offered the role of an analyst working in both financial analysis as well as business. I am planning on taking the position with the mindset that even if I fail at it, the experience will only make me more well rounded as a professional and the fact that I have enjoyed working on the cash flow forecast (our manager of FP&A left in January and I’ve been taking on some of his stuff like the forecast which is why they offered me the position). They said I would be moving away from the accounting side and more in to the finance side, or I could gain more responsibilities working on the accounting side.

Are there any reasons why I should not take this position that I am ignoring? I still plan on hopefully getting my CPA, a brief thought on an MBA if I enjoy the finance side but I already have two exams paid for and lined up so I figured I might as take that down first.

I know coming in without any experience in Finance is going to leave me with big shoes to fill (the old manager of FP&A was the finance dept. however they did say that I won’t be as big of a role as he was), and if I end up losing my job I may go back in to public accounting a a small/regional size firm (I started out at a very small firm and enjoyed it, but the money wasn’t that great, with my experience now I should be able to find something that pays closer to what I have been making and more if I pass my CPA by then.)

A lot to digest, but I figured I would take a second to step away from learning about depreciation in REG.

I took my first exam in AUG 2013, so glad they have access until you pass material updates

AUD - 56, 59, 65, 74, 62, 69, 70, 74, 70, 74, 81
BEC - 74, 73, 75
REG - 74, 74
FAR - TBD

[M123]

I'm surprised nobody has chimed in. Your current company is asking you to take on a new role? That could be a sign of confidence in you and an opportunity for growth. Does it involve a promotion?

I never worked directly with FP&A but I worked closely with them. They were always very hard working at my company and the work they produced was indistinguishable from magic very often (in a positive way).

I think the BEC content will be very good prep for an analyst level role.

If you have a 5 and 10 year plan – the question will be – does that opportunity take you closer or further from those goals. If you don't have a 5 and 10 year plan – get one!

AUD - 77
BEC - 81
FAR - 77
REG - 81

REG - 1. Becker only - fail (forgot to study depr - oops); 2. Becker only - Pass
FAR - 1. Becker only - fail; 2. added Ninja Notes and MCQ - Pass
AUD - 1. Becker videos; Ninja Notes, Audio, MCQ, Becker Notes - Pass
BEC - 1. Ninja Notes, Audio, MCQ, Becker Notes - Pass

[Woland]

I've been an FP&A analyst for two years and find the work to be engaging. To start there is a lot more day to day uncertainty in FP&A than accounting. I'm a contact for nearly 50 managers and get asked questions daily about budgets, forecasts, workforce management, ad-hoc analysis, variance analysis, bench-marking, etc. It can be overwhelming at times, but it's fascinating to interact with senior leaders and get an understanding of how departments function on an operational level. I'll also add that a rapidly growing part of FP&A is data science, BI, and analytics. Popular applications include Tableau, SAP business objects, and Cognos. You should YouTube these and see what you think. I find this stuff to be really interesting, but most of the staff accountants hate it.

The biggest downside in FP&A is the career progression. At my company the FP&A department is only 3 people, Analyst > Manager > VP, and there's a 10 year age gap between each position. I've also been told explicitly that I can't be promoted past manager without an MBA or CPA, which is the only reason I'm taking this exam. The accounting department, on the other hand, has 25 people with a clear corporate ladder.

"To get what you want, you have to deserve what you want"

[jyoung117]

I consider it a promotion, it should be more money (I am meeting with the COO Tuesday and if I still want it then it's mine and then we will talk money), but in reality it is probably more of a lateral movement. They are pretty much creating the role since after our manager of FP&A left, they didn't think it was necessary to have someone at that level.

I think they are definitely confident in me, as I said earlier, the manager of FP&A was our only FP&A guy so when he left, I took more of an analytical role on our cash forecasting and they thought I did a pretty good job. They pretty much came to me to see if I wanted it before they put a job ad out probably because they might be able to save more money moving me over and filling my role.

For goals, the main thing on my mind is passing the CPA, I absolutely need to list out goals both short term and long term, but at the moment I am stuck on whether I would want to go back in to public and aim for a partner position somewhere or start my own firm or shoot for a CFO/CEO position. I definitely think it would be beneficial for the CFO/CEO role and probably even the partner role, with the little exposure to it I've had, I have really enjoyed doing it, possibly because it's new and challenging but it looks like it would be something where it's constantly something new that you are digging into and analyzing.

They mentioned that I would be making suggestions and decisions on different things and where the company goes so that's going to be exciting and scary at the same time but I think ultimately I will do a lot more growing in this position than any of my other positions.

I took my first exam in AUG 2013, so glad they have access until you pass material updates

AUD - 56, 59, 65, 74, 62, 69, 70, 74, 70, 74, 81
BEC - 74, 73, 75
REG - 74, 74
FAR - TBD

[Author]

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