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Switch over from Banking to Accounting?

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Newbie
Sep 27, 2017
84 posts
37 upvotes
Vancouver

Switch over from Banking to Accounting?

I have been thinking about my situation for a while and any insights in either field would be appreciated.

I have a Business degree (Majored in Finance) and I am currently an analyst in commercial banking (for a regional bank, not big 5). I love what I do and the work/life balance. However, I always wanted to complete my CPA and so I went back to school (UBC DAP) to complete my required accounting courses and received an audit position offer for next Fall in a national firm (I did not apply for big 4).

Here is my dilemma – I will be 28 next year and I don't want to start over again. I can definitely obtain my CPA from my current job, but I feel I would be at a disadvantage in future jobs compared to a CPA who has actual audit experience. I have looked into the CFA and other designations and I honestly feel that the CPA might be more align to what I do or what I want to do in the future.

Do you think its worth it to switch over? I mean I can re-assess in ~ 3 years after I am designated. I have no plans to stay in public practice and will definitely go back to industry (whether that's in a FP&A or a banking role)
14 replies
Deal Addict
User avatar
Dec 24, 2007
1811 posts
2410 upvotes
BC
28 and you're thinking you're too late? You've barely even began your working life as you have more than 30 years to go before even thinking of retirement. If you honestly believe that the CPA is more align with what you want to do, go for it, otherwise you will regret it later.

As for CPA with audit experience vs one without, there might be slight advantage. People make a big deal about audit experience but it is primarily a lot of tedious work vouching and gathering documents to support the accounts. It is work done mostly by junior CPA accounting staff without much experience. Having 3 years of that experience (rinse and repeat) doesn't make a CPA in public practice that significantly better than getting a CPA in industry. They might get more exposure to many different accounts depending upon the size of the audit client but honestly IMO if you obtain a CPA with work experience in the industry you will likely have your career in, you are probably better off than an auditor that just have some general audit experience.
Jr. Member
May 24, 2017
180 posts
242 upvotes
WetCoastGuy wrote: 28 and you're thinking you're too late? You've barely even began your working life as you have more than 30 years to go before even thinking of retirement. If you honestly believe that the CPA is more align with what you want to do, go for it, otherwise you will regret it later.

As for CPA with audit experience vs one without, there might be slight advantage. People make a big deal about audit experience but it is primarily a lot of tedious work vouching and gathering documents to support the accounts. It is work done mostly by junior CPA accounting staff without much experience. Having 3 years of that experience (rinse and repeat) doesn't make a CPA in public practice that significantly better than getting a CPA in industry. They might get more exposure to many different accounts depending upon the size of the audit client but honestly IMO if you obtain a CPA with work experience in the industry you will likely have your career in, you are probably better off than an auditor that just have some general audit experience.
Agree that being 28 is not too old at all. Still got lots of time and as long as being subordinate to younger colleagues doesn’t bother you than should be no issue.

I agree that being an auditor in Big 4 may not result in greater technical ability or translate to OP being a better accountant but Big 4 offers a consistent promotion path for all new hires; in industry it is a total crapshoot. Also maybe OP would want to branch into other areas such as tax/transaction services... not sure industry would provide that option.

I say try and get into audit (doesn’t even have to be Big 4) optimal place to start your career.
Sr. Member
May 24, 2007
552 posts
213 upvotes
I disagree with the part about audit being mostly vouching and agreeing #s. This is jr work. You vouch and perform data manipulation 80 percent of the time as a jr. however you also participate in control walkthroughs, understanding processes and learn how to ask questions. IMHO, walkthroughs is the most valuable part of the audit experience as a jr and year 2.

Once you progressed to a senior, you should be doing very little testing (if you are delegating and doing your job well). You should spend most of your time supervising, planning the audit and discussing complex accounting issues with mgmt and engagement team.

You are doing it wrong if you are still vouching by the time you already got your cpa and is a senior. Mgr and sr mgr is altogether a different ball game. You are doing staffing, hr, coaching, helping with bidding on jobs...etc....
Deal Addict
Oct 25, 2008
2321 posts
393 upvotes
North York
Like other poster, I doubt the value of auditing experience unless you yearn for such type of experience (which many don't frankly).

CPA does not have to always translate to strict accounting experience that requires auditing experience to validate your designation. As a CPA myself, I've worked in the industry and built my experience / network without ever going to any accounting firm. Depending on what you want, growing your career in your industry could prove to be a lot more valuable than spending time in audit. You should ask yourself what values does auditing bring to your career aspiration?
Deal Addict
Apr 7, 2011
2133 posts
756 upvotes
Hamilton
OP is 28 now, probably 31 by the time they finish all the courses they need to before applying into a public accounting firm. Honestly that's old for getting into one of the big 4. They have so many applicants and my experience is that they really want people that fit into a certain mold. Second career types aren't in that mold.
I think that OP is better served by looking at completing a CPA designation within industry where prior experience in finance is seen as a plus. (Most CPAs have never audited nor do they ever go near audit after a few years)
As an aside- CPA Canada's commercials are about as realistic as the next Star Wars movie. You'll spend 80% of your time playing around on Excel.
Member
Feb 20, 2017
337 posts
106 upvotes
Barrie, ON
I'm 29, and probably won't have my CPA complete till mid 30's so nothing to worry about, it was something I didn't think I needed so I forgot about it, but as times changed in my industry I now require one so slowly progressing through the courses, never to old as long as it's worth the end result.
Deal Fanatic
Sep 23, 2007
5654 posts
2168 upvotes
Espress0 wrote: I have been thinking about my situation for a while and any insights in either field would be appreciated.

I have a Business degree (Majored in Finance) and I am currently an analyst in commercial banking (for a regional bank, not big 5). I love what I do and the work/life balance. However, I always wanted to complete my CPA and so I went back to school (UBC DAP) to complete my required accounting courses and received an audit position offer for next Fall in a national firm (I did not apply for big 4).

Here is my dilemma – I will be 28 next year and I don't want to start over again. I can definitely obtain my CPA from my current job, but I feel I would be at a disadvantage in future jobs compared to a CPA who has actual audit experience. I have looked into the CFA and other designations and I honestly feel that the CPA might be more align to what I do or what I want to do in the future.

Do you think its worth it to switch over? I mean I can re-assess in ~ 3 years after I am designated. I have no plans to stay in public practice and will definitely go back to industry (whether that's in a FP&A or a banking role)
I'm a CPA. Let me shed some light.

You took the effort to complete the accounting courses. Never too late to switch. Some of the skills in banking are transferable to accounting, like number sense. So I don't necessarily feel you are starting from complete scratch. Only problem I see is getting your foot in the door. Accounting is going through this phase of losing the entry level. A lot of companies have already switched over to outsourcing their journal entries to overseas. The "transactional accounting" portion is increasingly outsourced or automated. Basically employees can scan invoices/expense reports and someone in India will type up the entries. This removes a lot of entry level work. You basically have just analysts and managers and the focus is on analysis, commentary, and planning. These jobs are not easy to land without experience and losing the entry level doesn't help. The grunt work in accounting is pretty tedious. In some accounting firms clients give you a stack of documents and you get paid slave wages to organize and type them up as the "junior" guy.

As for losing the edge vs people with audit experience, I won't lie. The market for people who went through the Big 4 (CA) route has historically been higher than people who did the CGA/CMA. Now that the 3 bodies have merged, I still don't think the trend has changed. Freshly designated CAs coming out of audit grunt work probably got an edge over you, in theory. But as someone who didn't go the CA route with audit firms, let me tell you that in the longer term, it is your competence that matters. I did my CGA many years ago. My career growth outpaced a lot of the CAs. Not everyone is ambitious and wants to be manager. Some people settle down with a family and want a simple job.

To answer your main question of whether it is worth it, it is ultimately a personal choice. Financially it is generally better to stick with your current career so you don't reset your career to a lower salary and experience level. But if you dreamed of doing accounting, we can't put a price tag on your dreams.

Are you looking to work in industry (corporations) or you want to work in accounting firms? Industry usually involves the usual office political drivel if you want to advance. If you have experience in accounting firms, you can eventually set up your own accounting firm and basically work at your own pace. Got to find your own clients though.
Deal Addict
Feb 19, 2017
1145 posts
879 upvotes
Sum_guy wrote: OP is 28 now, probably 31 by the time they finish all the courses they need to before applying into a public accounting firm. Honestly that's old for getting into one of the big 4. They have so many applicants and my experience is that they really want people that fit into a certain mold. Second career types aren't in that mold.
I think that OP is better served by looking at completing a CPA designation within industry where prior experience in finance is seen as a plus. (Most CPAs have never audited nor do they ever go near audit after a few years)
As an aside- CPA Canada's commercials are about as realistic as the next Star Wars movie. You'll spend 80% of your time playing around on Excel.
Did you even read the post?
Crypo/NFT-enthusiast
Deal Addict
Feb 19, 2017
1145 posts
879 upvotes
BananaHunter wrote: I'm a CPA. Let me shed some light.

You took the effort to complete the accounting courses. Never too late to switch. Some of the skills in banking are transferable to accounting, like number sense. So I don't necessarily feel you are starting from complete scratch. Only problem I see is getting your foot in the door. Accounting is going through this phase of losing the entry level. A lot of companies have already switched over to outsourcing their journal entries to overseas. The "transactional accounting" portion is increasingly outsourced or automated. Basically employees can scan invoices/expense reports and someone in India will type up the entries. This removes a lot of entry level work. You basically have just analysts and managers and the focus is on analysis, commentary, and planning. These jobs are not easy to land without experience and losing the entry level doesn't help. The grunt work in accounting is pretty tedious. In some accounting firms clients give you a stack of documents and you get paid slave wages to organize and type them up as the "junior" guy.

As for losing the edge vs people with audit experience, I won't lie. The market for people who went through the Big 4 (CA) route has historically been higher than people who did the CGA/CMA. Now that the 3 bodies have merged, I still don't think the trend has changed. Freshly designated CAs coming out of audit grunt work probably got an edge over you, in theory. But as someone who didn't go the CA route with audit firms, let me tell you that in the longer term, it is your competence that matters. I did my CGA many years ago. My career growth outpaced a lot of the CAs. Not everyone is ambitious and wants to be manager. Some people settle down with a family and want a simple job.

To answer your main question of whether it is worth it, it is ultimately a personal choice. Financially it is generally better to stick with your current career so you don't reset your career to a lower salary and experience level. But if you dreamed of doing accounting, we can't put a price tag on your dreams.

Are you looking to work in industry (corporations) or you want to work in accounting firms? Industry usually involves the usual office political drivel if you want to advance. If you have experience in accounting firms, you can eventually set up your own accounting firm and basically work at your own pace. Got to find your own clients though.
Lot of good advice here.

I will just add that most people who state 28 isn't old to start a completely new career path are not considering the full picture. Your 20s are your golden years for saving for retirement. By the time you retire, money you save in your 20s is worth >3X money you save in your 40s assuming just a modest 6% annual gain. A commercial banking trajectory won't be much worse than a CPA trajectory. To go back to year 1 audit slave would likely translate to a decent size pay decrease for at least the next few years.

If I were you, I'd stick to commercial banking, go into a big 5 bank, get your CPA, move your way over to a group that works in the mid-market segment and is close to deals (e.g. Leveraged Finance), build up some trust with one of the owner-managers and then get a controller / director finance gig. This is completely possible and I've seen a few friends do something similar.
Crypo/NFT-enthusiast
Newbie
Sep 27, 2017
84 posts
37 upvotes
Vancouver
Just wanted to bump this thread. Thank you to everyone who replied and shed some light on my situation. I am still on the fence - honestly been stressing out lately because of this.

One thing I want to clarify is that i was hoping to obtain the CPA using commercial banking experience. However, after looking at the competency requirements for CPA, i don't believe my experience would be sufficient. Can someone shred some light here? Before the merger, you can obtain the CMA with banking experience. Obviously, it is different now. I did contact CPA BC and all they did was send me a checklist.
Ethan15 wrote: Like other poster, I doubt the value of auditing experience unless you yearn for such type of experience (which many don't frankly).

CPA does not have to always translate to strict accounting experience that requires auditing experience to validate your designation. As a CPA myself, I've worked in the industry and built my experience / network without ever going to any accounting firm. Depending on what you want, growing your career in your industry could prove to be a lot more valuable than spending time in audit. You should ask yourself what values does auditing bring to your career aspiration?
To be honest, i don't think the experience in auditing would add any value to my career aside from the designation itself and the exit opportunities. The way i see it right now, any value i obtain with Audit experience is similar to what i can obtain with my current role.

But the roles i have been looking at in Vancouver all requires some sort of accounting/audit experience.
BananaHunter wrote:
I'm a CPA. Let me shed some light.

You took the effort to complete the accounting courses. Never too late to switch. Some of the skills in banking are transferable to accounting, like number sense. So I don't necessarily feel you are starting from complete scratch. Only problem I see is getting your foot in the door. Accounting is going through this phase of losing the entry level. A lot of companies have already switched over to outsourcing their journal entries to overseas. The "transactional accounting" portion is increasingly outsourced or automated. Basically employees can scan invoices/expense reports and someone in India will type up the entries. This removes a lot of entry level work. You basically have just analysts and managers and the focus is on analysis, commentary, and planning. These jobs are not easy to land without experience and losing the entry level doesn't help. The grunt work in accounting is pretty tedious. In some accounting firms clients give you a stack of documents and you get paid slave wages to organize and type them up as the "junior" guy.

As for losing the edge vs people with audit experience, I won't lie. The market for people who went through the Big 4 (CA) route has historically been higher than people who did the CGA/CMA. Now that the 3 bodies have merged, I still don't think the trend has changed. Freshly designated CAs coming out of audit grunt work probably got an edge over you, in theory. But as someone who didn't go the CA route with audit firms, let me tell you that in the longer term, it is your competence that matters. I did my CGA many years ago. My career growth outpaced a lot of the CAs. Not everyone is ambitious and wants to be manager. Some people settle down with a family and want a simple job.

To answer your main question of whether it is worth it, it is ultimately a personal choice. Financially it is generally better to stick with your current career so you don't reset your career to a lower salary and experience level. But if you dreamed of doing accounting, we can't put a price tag on your dreams.

Are you looking to work in industry (corporations) or you want to work in accounting firms? Industry usually involves the usual office political drivel if you want to advance. If you have experience in accounting firms, you can eventually set up your own accounting firm and basically work at your own pace. Got to find your own clients though.
No desire to open my own shop. Once designated, I would love to work in industry as a controller/Finance Manager type role.

And this is my dilemma: I am not sure if i would be consider a candidate without actual audit/accounting experience.


Walch1102 wrote: Lot of good advice here.

I will just add that most people who state 28 isn't old to start a completely new career path are not considering the full picture. Your 20s are your golden years for saving for retirement. By the time you retire, money you save in your 20s is worth >3X money you save in your 40s assuming just a modest 6% annual gain. A commercial banking trajectory won't be much worse than a CPA trajectory. To go back to year 1 audit slave would likely translate to a decent size pay decrease for at least the next few years.

If I were you, I'd stick to commercial banking, go into a big 5 bank, get your CPA, move your way over to a group that works in the mid-market segment and is close to deals (e.g. Leveraged Finance), build up some trust with one of the owner-managers and then get a controller / director finance gig. This is completely possible and I've seen a few friends do something similar.
Thanks, this is what I wanted to read. I am in an office that deals with the mid-market segment and I do interact with a few owner occupiers. I am just hoping the lack of accounting experience is not the reason why i would not be considered.
Deal Addict
Oct 25, 2008
2321 posts
393 upvotes
North York
it is an easy check whether CPA would lead to better career advancement or not in your career: Ask around! Ask not just your peers / colleagues, but have a coffee on LinkedIn, ask people to introduce you, to see if CPA would make a difference?.

I was gonna say that CFA may be more relevant in banking sector? Think about this -- you spend years learning audit and tax -- how does that apply to your career? lol

CPA is definitely needed in certain roles like corporate reporting, some kind of internal control and tax ... I rarely rarely see CPA needed elsewhere (but maybe there is an exception to the rule)
Member
Jan 16, 2009
217 posts
95 upvotes
I would say the two biggest things you should consider are:

1 - What type of things do you want to be doing?
2 - Do you plan to stay in the banking /financial services industry, or do you think you'll end up in a different industry?

"Accounting" is a very broad and general term. Audit is obviously more specific. The actual job responsibilities will help determine what type of experience would be most relevant.

If you want to do something more standards based, like financial reporting (especially external), audit or tax, then going the audit route will probably help a lot as you'll likely be exposed to a lot of that.

If you want to be doing something more like FP&A or management reporting, I'd probably lean towards staying in your current role, and being "creative" (within reason) on your application so that it satisfies whatever requirements you need for the CPA. You'll still gain transferable skills if you go to audit, but whether it will make a huge difference, I don't know.

If you plan on staying within banking, I personally wouldn't switch to audit. I think the continuity in the bank would be an advantage, and then if you get your CPA, I think some managers may overlook certain types of experience as long as you show progression/eagerness to learn. I previously worked in external reporting at a big bank, and while most of the people that I worked with had an audit background, there were a few that didn't.

If you plan on going to a different industry all together, and you don't have many transferable skills related to the role you want, then switching to audit to gain that breadth of experience would be pretty beneficial.
Jr. Member
Aug 29, 2012
118 posts
6 upvotes
British Columbia
Espress0 wrote: Just wanted to bump this thread. Thank you to everyone who replied and shed some light on my situation. I am still on the fence - honestly been stressing out lately because of this.

One thing I want to clarify is that i was hoping to obtain the CPA using commercial banking experience. However, after looking at the competency requirements for CPA, i don't believe my experience would be sufficient. Can someone shred some light here? Before the merger, you can obtain the CMA with banking experience. Obviously, it is different now. I did contact CPA BC and all they did was send me a checklist.
The most relevant competencies that stand out for me are:

FR4 - Financial statement analysis

FN1 - "Financial analysis and planning" -

"Evaluate the entity’s financial state, including an assessment of reporting systems, data quality and the analytical models used to support financial analysis and decision-making; or
Evaluate financial proposals and financing plans, including an assessment of reporting systems, data quality and the analytical models used to support financial analysis and decision-making"

What other competencies can commercial banking cover?
Deal Fanatic
User avatar
Nov 2, 2013
5697 posts
1522 upvotes
Edmonton, AB
I too made a similar move. I am 28, and spent the last 7.5 years in O&G: field operations mostly, with some consulting and analyst work. I now work in a public accounting and law firm and took a >50% paycut (gross) to start.

- University courses are expensive, especially if you are missing the pre-reqs to be admitted into CPA PEP. The expensive part is the income loss. It cost me $3-4K/mo. to survive to complete my degree and get all the pre reqs, since I could not work full time, or much at all.

You can get the pre reqs online from CPA, but depending on how many you're missing, and how quickly you want them done, you may have to consider taking time off work. This assumes you already have a degree.

- Many firms hire only once or twice a year, and take a long time to respond. You could be waiting months to a year to get an offer-longer if you don't impress the HR princesses. I was very aggressive, cold called, etc. - so I was lucky to start work 2 days after my final exam. Few weeks later, I was getting 2nd and 3rd interview requests from Big 4 firms, but I was already working by then, and those were from applications months before.

- Nature of work depends on the firm. I work on entire files (usually compilation engagements like putting an entire company's mess together from stratch, writing reports, FS, filing taxes, tax planning, telling the client what to do with their business, etc.) where I am, at a mid size firm (approx. 50 employees and 6-8 partners.

There's a shortage of people here and each file tends to be its own animal. Typically we're forced to learn as we go since the others beside you don't have any idea about the file; once you're at the job for a while, the partners carve a niche for you. The work really makes you think a lot with not a lot of time.

There's also the periodic audits where clients need them for compliance purposes (usually for some sort of funding or government requirement). From what I hear, the larger firms have CPA students mostly absorbed in audit work and duties are more rigerosly structured and deligated.

Industry positions tend to be more lax (especially being less stressful, and having less to do) , and (sometimes) pay more. The work tends to be narrower. E.g., you're working on that company's stuff all day vs. Serving many clients. But they are much harder to get into, and advancement is a hit and miss.

- Pay: I can't speak for your area, but here in Alberta, the wages fluctuate wildly. For CPA articling students, Ive seen as low as $18/hr. (Public accounting) and as high as $82,000 salary for industry, non-designated. I got started a bit higher than my peers (mid $5x,xxx base salary + hourly wage for hours over 37.5/week), but i drive 1 hr 10 min. to get to work, though we're allowed to work from home half the time.
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