[Anonymous]

soliciting thoughts / opinions:

background: undergrad accounting major, graduated in 2005. worked in both private and public accounting during and after school. after a year in public, decided i wanted to pursue a different career, and ended up in my current occupation as a commercial real estate lender, which i love. also, recently completed my MBA.

question: thinking that it couldn’t hurt to have a CPA license to fall back on, given the stress in my industry. would a big four firm have any use for an MBA, CPA, with several years of commercial real estate lending experience as a consultant rather than an auditor? does anyone have any input?

[Anonymous]

Absolutely. I worked for EY for a short spell doing just that. Bank audit engagements, in particular banks with large CRE portfolio exposure, have a need for people with lending/credit experience. I had over 8 years of CRE lending/credit experience (MBA in finance) prior to going back to school to take the classes I need to sit for the exam, and my experience definitely enticed firms with banking clients. Even though I was technically on the audit team, I worked in more of a consultative role in that I focused solely on lending/credit and how those impacted the LLL, loss provision, charge offs, and overall credit quality. While my CRE experience was instrumental, I also have a good foundation in FAS 114 and 5 calculations, special assets, etc, all of which are in the forefront of bank audits. I knew more about lending than anyone on the audit team (partners included), so my skills and knowledge were relied upon quite a bit. EY also has a transaction real estate group that does consulting work for clients, but the group is typically located in bigger cities (I was in a regional office) and travels quite a bit.

In the end I was only with EY for seven months…working as a Big4 senior accountant with two small kids just wasn't conducive to my family life. Plus, I took a substantial pay cut leaving lending. I'm back in banking, but on the risk side, which has allowed me to marry my public accounting skill set with my lending skill set. I think a CPA license, if you have the time, energy and money to pursue, is never a bad qualification to have. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

AU1222:

Wow. Thank you so much for eliminating any doubt I had about whether or not it's worth the effort to pursue a CPA. Your story is very compelling, and it couldn’t be more on point with the dilemma I am facing. Congrats on finding your way back to the banking world, as I completely agree that life as a senior accountant is for the birds (I hope I didn’t offend anyone on this site with that comment). However, a short tenure with the transaction real estate group might be kind of interesting, but frequent travel would get old quick. Ideally, I continue to survive this protracted downturn and keep my cush CRE lending job… knock on wood. At some point it would be nice to start making loans again though, rather than the prevailing mantra of restructure, remargin, reprice. If you don’t mind my asking, where are you located and what bank do you currently work for?

Thanks again. I really appreciate your valuable input.

Dave

[potatogun]

Haha, people are not seniors in Big4 because they enjoy the work. Don't worry about offending anyone.

FAR 92 - AUD 91 - REG 94 - BEC 86

[Anonymous]

@Dave-I'm in Birmingham, AL. I hear you on getting back into business mode. All we've been doing is portfolio management and workouts. I was recently promoted to my bank's East Region CRE Underwriting Manager, and, while I am glad to have the monkey of production off my back, the credit side brings a whole new set of issues. Lately I've been working longer hours than I did at EY, but at least I'm getting paid for it.

I think it's a smart move to go for the CPA. Even though I have been miserable for two years (part of which was in school), I am glad that I pursued it. Partly because it is something I have always wanted to do and partly because I know it will benefit me in my career. I'm also pretty damn proud of what I've accomplished (going to school, working full time, studying for the exam with kids, husband, etc.) and think I've set a great example for my boys when it comes to perseverance and goalsetting. Again, good luck!

Jennifer

[Anonymous]

@Jennifer, you have no shortage of things to be proud of, and you've certainly set the bar high for your children. I wish more people in this country were like you… not that this is the time or the place to start a political rant. Congrats once more on the promotion, I'm sure it's a sign of things to come. Just remember Dave the CRE lender from Los Angeles when you rise to the top of that unnamed bank in Birmingham. I'll trade palm trees for oversized mosquitoes as long as there is a large salary somewhere in the mix, haha. Til then, keep those greedy lenders in check. Now is the time to underwrite uber conservative deals and get paid for the risk! Let's unify and agree not to let things spiral out of control. 90% LTC construction loans at L+175 should stay in the history books. Appraisal land equity, how about no!… Best of luck in the future, even though you don't need luck. I admire your accomplishments.

Dave

[Anonymous]

@Potatogun – thanks for not taking offense. Impressive scores. May your senior stint be short, and promotions near.

[Anonymous]

@ Dave-HA! I was the queen of 100% LTC and lending into appraised equity. Hell, it was the only way we could get deals! The bank I worked at for 5 years was GA based and one of the biggest bank failures of 2009. I got to know the OCC and FDIC in ways that still give me nightmares. At my current bank, we're not doing anything new unless there's AT LEAST 20% going into the deal the debt yield is over 10% (which in many cases means 25-30% going in). DSC doesn't even matter anymore, which is foreign to me. ZERO A&D. I work for the international bank with its US base in B'ham, not the B'ham bank that's on the verge of failure…

Thank you very much for your kind words! Please keep us posted on what you decide.

[Anonymous]

I have never heard of anyone saying “Gosh I really regret getting my CPA.” I have met dozens who regret not doing it. If you want it, go for it!

[Anonymous]

@Jennifer. CONGRATS on passing your last exam. Very exciting. And yes, CASH EQUITY is the new black…

Does the international bank with its US base in B'ham have offices in LA? If so, do they have CRE book out here? Let me know as I'm always looking for fellow CRE lenders to participate in deals and also never hurts to know people…

Shoot me an email. dt.molnar@gmail.com.

Again, congrats. Awesome accomplishment. Hopefully I will join your prestigious rank next year at this time… Definitely going after it. Probably will start taking tests this spring.

[Author]

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