[TexasRed]

I know when I finish my bachelors that I hope to work full time and pursue a masters at a program that enables to you pursue the degree as well as working full time(2 classes per semester). I also hope to prepare and take the CPA exam during this period. I know to qualify for the license I will need to work a year or two in the public industry. I’m assuming I could knock that out while working on my masters.

However my real ambition is to work in private accounting and hopefully obtain promotions there. So should I just get the experience I need and move on? OR should I stick it out like the internet seems to implies (like 3 or 4 years?) then move to private accounting? What makes this option viable? Is public accounting mainly auditing? How in the world would that make me marketable and able to perform well in the private world (excuse me but I have not taken an auditing course yet)?

Also how does the B4 recruitment work? I know they recruit here and its time for me to consider getting interviews. Grades set aside, does the B4 want to see a CPA in progress say during you junior or senior year? Or does not it not matter and one could do it during their masters such as I’m planning?

[Anonymous]

The experience requirement depends on the state you live in. I am in Louisiana and we are required to have either one year in public OR private as long as your immediate supervisor is a CPA and you have relevant experience. I have never worked in public. My CFO was (recently went into retired status) a CPA and my experience qualified me without having to spend any time in public.

[Anonymous]

@TexasRed

Education advice:

If you want to work in public accounting, get your masters in accounting and your CPA. If you want to work in industry, just get your 150 hours (just take the additional classes) without the masters, and get your CPA. The CPA is important in both public accounting and industry. The master of accounting is only important in public accounting.

Career advice:

Since you're going to be a new graduate, with the job market these days, I'd say take your first job offer regardless of whether it's public accounting or industry. And from what I've heard, most people who start out in industry stay in industry, and most people who start out in public accounting eventually transition over to industry. Hope that helps.

[Jaimcpa]

Being on an audit engagement, you see a lot of different business processes companies go through (from many different industries in the beginning). A lot of people recommend starting off in audit as it is a pretty good “eye opener”, plus it will reel in a lot of experience pretty quickly. Most of the successful people I know started off in audit.

Also, B4 is not the end all be all. The top mid-tier (McGladrey and GT) will offer similar experiences (- the fortune 500) that people look for. Plus if you start with them and decide you want specialize in a certain area even more so (at a fortune 500 level), the B4 snag the seniors from these two firms quite a bit.

Also also (lol), I've learned a lot in my Masters program that I feel would greatly benefit me if I were to ever go into industry. Not to mention all the great connections I have made. I don't feel I have wasted a penny with my decision.

FAR- 73, 10/07/2013
REG- 8/31/2013
AUD- TBD
BEC- TBD

MAcc
Main: Becker Self-Study 2013. Supplements: Ninja / Wiley TB / CPAExcel (Bought before I received an offer).

[FlipACoin]

Tex..While the poster might have been specifically referring to the MA in Accountancy, I highly disagree that a masters degree is less important in private accounting, no matter what specific degree it is (MA, MBA, MS). In fact, there are some companies that won't even consider you (internal or not) for a manager position or above without a masters. In corporate accounting the CPA is of course important but most people I've met under the controller level don't even have that (I would say roughly 25% do). My thoughts are that the CPA becomes less important and a masters degree even more important in corporate because as you are promoted in corporate accounting it's important to show that you have a higher level knowledge of the material and the ability to communicate that understanding and knowledge (which is really all a masters degree is). Also, if you ever decide to the make the switch to Corp Fin, and a lot of people do along the way, all of the sudden a masters degree is of huge weighting and a CPA is minimal at most (for most corp fin jobs…there are some that are heavily GAAP related and they usually like the CPA).

As for your question regarding auditing, I can't speak from personal experience to be honest. From friends of mine that are hiring managers in corporate accounting though, auditing gives you two very critical skills. In depth knowledge of the financial statements and some experience communicating what is sometimes complex accounting thoughts to higher level accounting/finance professionals. This gives you a huge advantage over somebody who has had say two years of only private accounting experience where they have more than likely been focused on one specific area of the financials, and stuck away in a corner somewhere only really discussing accounting thoughts to their manager. Also, they tend to like the fact that you are used to a 65 hour week, so moving to a 50 hour week is like a vacation:). Long story short, you will be much more polished than somebody who has had equivalent experience in private only. Now, as far as length of stay, I think the general consensus is 2-4 years and out unless you want a public accounting career. Speaking from a corporate perspective, 2 years should be plenty if all you want is the “big 4” on the resume…good luck!

[Author]

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