[whysocereal]

I started in Big 4 audit 8 months ago after graduating. Although, I don’t absolutely hate it, I am not in love with it either. So, let’s say, it’s okay so far.

I do however know that I don’t want to do this for a long time. I am planning to exit/move from Audit after next busy season by end of which I am planning to finish all my CPA exams and also start on CFA.

I have networked with some people from Valuation and they seem to open to people transferring from Audit.

My question for the board :

I majored in Finance and Accounting, but I am not a total finance nerd. I don’t check Bloomberg daily or keep up with market on daily basis. However, I do like to know how things are going and find finance/econ a lot more interesting than accounting/audit. I am considering valuation as I think it will provide better exit opportunities to Finance field than Audit.

I know big 4 valuation is more PPA and goodwill impairment. So I was wondering how much of a market junkie do I need to be for Valuation? Do I need to know how things are going in every day market?

I am trying to figure out if valuation will be a good fit for me.Career wise, I not looking to go into Investment Banking. But more over to something like F500 Corp. Dev/Finance.

[whysocereal]

bump! Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

[Vlakmir]

You know, maybe this is just because I haven't started work at the big 4 yet, and I was just an intern (which seems to be 1000x better than being an associate), but it seemed like the training programs were really great. I imagine you will have lots of opportunities to train in that area?

Let me know how that goes.

I've been interested in eventually (is it bad that I'm already making post audit plans? haha) trying to get into transactional services of sorts, or advisory…..If you have anyone has any tips or thoughts, let me know! (not to hi-jack, but to add to the thread!)

REG - 92
AUD - 90
BEC - 82
FAR - 82
BISK Review Materials
DONE! /Happydance

[Anonymous]

I have very similar interests, Why. I want to get my MBA within five years of working and possibly transition to my company's valuation practice. I know the company I work for has an extensive client base in regards to valuation, but I hope to move to industry post-MBA.

I start in October at a Big 4 by the way.

[whysocereal]

It's really nice to see that there other people with similar curiosity. Would really appreciate if there are other board members who can help us answer these questions.

@Vlakmir – it's not bad that you're already planning your exit strategy. I think it's smart and planning ahead never hurts you. But make sure that Audit still is your priority until you quit. Because you will need good ratings and people to back you, if you eventually want to make that move. Also, in the mean time, you can learn more about TAS/FAS to make sure that it is what you want to do. At least, that's what I am trying to make sure right now.

One more thing to add here, polish your excel skills. There are different free resources online that can help you on that. As an auditor, you won't need mad excel skills, but if you want to make move into Valuations and such, those would be tremendously helpful.

@Nick – Are you saying that you want to stay in Audit for 5 years, get a MBA and then move to Valuation?

[Anonymous]

Yep, the busy season experience as a Senior will bolster my MBA application. With an MBA from a top 25, I plan to have quite a few options should I not owe my firm a few more years.

[Mayo]

Good MBA + Finance concentration is usually good enough to get into valuation.

OR

Big 4 audit + good ratings > Big 4 TAS > Level 1 and 2 of CFA passed > Big 4 valuation. Not sure of the amount of years requirement meeded at the TAS level though.

Personally, I'd shoot to go into TAS after your third year in audit l. From there you can either go the MBA route after 1 year in TAS or stay in TAS, pass the CFA exams and/or get your ASA/ABV certifications and then go valuation.

If you have 4-5 years of experience it's generally better than 3 or less. For top 25 anyways.

Mayo, BBA, Macc

[Author]

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