[Anonymous]

I currently work as a financial analyst for a company and over the past few weeks have realized that I want to find a job in accounting. I want to get a good base in my career of accounting so I can move up more easily later in my career. I did get my Bachelors and my Masters in Accounting but have never really worked in Accounting. I am also currently pursuing my CPA.

My main question is how can I prove to an employer that I can take my experience in finance and apply it to a staff accounting position? (I have 1.5 years of Financial Analyst Experience and then about 3 years of other work experience not related to accounting or finance).

My secondary question is about exploring what type of accounting I want to go into. I have been looking at tax accounting and financial accounting (staff accountant) positions. How can I decide between the two? I have no concept really of what the day to day functions of both would be like.

[kts1010]

Well I am currently a tax accountant looking to switch to financial analyst position. I see you either want an accountant position or tax position which as a tax accountant I can tell you are totally different. Also going from a financial analyst position to a staff accountant position I feel would be a down grade which will probably result in lower pay, unless you get like an assistant controller position, etc.

As a tax accountant you prepare tax returns and do research on tax laws which I feel just don't deal numbers really. With the software available today its more worrying about presentation, so I feel if you are a numbers guy being a tax accountant might not be for you. As say an assistant controller you will be more involved with making journal entries and making sure the A/R & A/P and other members of the staff are doing there job correctly.

I am not sure what you do as a financial analyst at your company, but I am interested to know. I am looking to get into a position in this in which you deal with budgeting/planning/ad hoc analysis for a company which has a lot more to do with numbers which I enjoy dealing with much more than researching through the IRS code and plugging numbers from a trial balance into a return and adjusting the numbers to make sure they conform with the IRS rules.

If you have any specific questions regarding a tax accountant I will be more than glad to tell you.

AUD - 08/20/12 - 82
REG - 10/30/12 - 82
FAR - 01/05/13 - 80
BEC - 04/15/13 - 84

[Anonymous]

I kind of wish I had gotten into financial analysis after doing 5 years of accounting at times because it is the type of job where you get to do a lot of thinking and making decisions that have a small impact. Unfortunately, I am more of a Sales Financial Analyst and we provide A LOT of support to the Sales Reps. The problem with Sales Reps is that a lot of them have very little business knowledge and they never want to do any real work. So you always get pushed into doing simple tasks for them. Also, if you work in a company where Sales Management is more powerful politically than Finance Management you can never win.

Even with these issues the job is still a great job but I feel like it would be very hard to move up in a company with just finance experience.

As far as the day to day functions, get used to Excel and try your best to learn the basics of data analysis. If you could learn about databases then you will definitely be ahead of the curve. My Excel skills are extremely advanced and there is not a day that goes by that I do not use them. I also have basic experience and understanding of VBA which helps out a lot also. The things you need to learn in Excel and mention in an interview are Pivot Tables and Index and Match. Everyone always talks about Vlookups but they are really basic when compared to the power of the index and match function. Learn it and learn to apply it.

As far as Pivot tables they are only helpful when your data is applicable to them but they are SUCH a help when that time comes. The power of pivot tables comes in their ability to display complex financial information in a quickly changeable and easy to read format. Let me know if you have any other questions.

[jelly]

I do a bit of both, and there's different focuses if it's a private or public company, domestic or has international arms. (I'm ignoring individual/personals). A lot of the accounting and operating decisions are shaped by governmental/environmental/trade regulations, and potential tax liabilities. The tax side definitely has more obscure, dense reading to research through in the IRC, state tax laws, and international treaties.

I'd tell your next (or current) employer that you're looking to learn more about a company's big-picture accounting. Also, the Excel functions you described are also used a lot in budgeting, and in internal accounting/auditing as a (poorer) substitute for analytics software.

Couldn't pass again!

[Anonymous]

@charbar

can you provide some resources for one to learn advanced Excel/VBA/business programming? I'm also an entry level accountant working in public accounting but considering the switch to financial analyst mainly for the higher salary..

[Anonymous]

@ CannotPassAgain

I do not recommend that you learn VBA code as I think it will be obsolete in less than 5 years. Plus, you and I are not programmers and should not be expected to be programmers because we cannot add much value in that way when compared with an actual programmer who can write code. VBA code is just a programming language that allows you to automate excel functions. But it is totally specific to a Windows Environment and many modern companies are moving to a less Windows dependent model these days.

If you want to increase your skills relative to complex data analytics and financial analysis then I suggest you get a book about databases. If you know the ideas and math behind a database then you can do anything in them.

Now, as far as Excel goes, I think it would be VERY good for you to increase your skills in excel. The book I would recommend you get is called “Excel 2010 Bible” and was written by John Walkenbach. Look it up on Amazon. The book is expensive but totally worth the price.

What are you eventually wanting to do as you move up? Does Financial Analysis fit well in your plan?

[Anonymous]

@char i'm not sure. but someone i know who started in public accounting worked 1 year in accounting, passed 3/4 CPA exams, moved to financial analyst…and now he's making $90k within 3 years. he's very good at excel programming, and works 9 hour days. but hey…$90k…that takes 6-8 years in public accounting to make that much money..

as for long term, i'm not sure yet.

[kcrc]

I started out in finance and quickly realized that all the good finance jobs were going to accountants.

[Author]

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