[SAO247]

Hello all,

A little bit about myself first (for context related reasons) I am 24 years old, I have a Bachelors and a Masters in Accounting, and I have worked for about 18 months within the financial reporting side of accounting as a Junior Accountant since graduating with my BS in accounting. I am currently finishing up BEC, as my last section of the CPA exam, having passed FAR, AUD, and REG.

I apologize in advance if this topic was already discussed in a previous thread, but I have a few questions regarding Internal Audit and a CPA’s possible career progression choose to enter this field.

My question is: if one enters Internal Audit, and works within that area of accounting for anywhere between 2-5 years, what does the career path look like, and will an auditor be able to move to different fields if desired anywhere between that 3 to 5 years?

I ask this question because I am considering moving into Internal Audit myself. Being that I have not had the opportunity to get into mid to large public accounting firms (despite my soon achievement of a CPA certificate, and Masters degree, and A LOT of applications) Audit is a field I find interesting, since my recent graduation from college, and it is my hope that moving into IA for the next couple of years doesn’t limit my career prospects in accounting fields such as Financial Analyst, or Financial Reporting if I choose to down the road.

Any thoughts and or advice would be highly appreciated!

New Jersey – Nebraska CPA Candidate

FAR 88 Nov’ 2015

AUD 81 Jul’ 2015

REG 84 Jan 2016

BEC April 2016

Ethics TBA

[fuzyfro89]

I wish I could give a blanket “yes, IA is a good opportunity”, but it's not that simple.

Short answer: If a company values talent and rotates you onto various projects, then IA could rapidly develop your skills in SEC reporting, controls, financial analysis, risk management, operations improvement, supply chain, corporate finance, and many other areas. If the company is not a good area for developing people, then you could get pigeonholed very quickly and be perceived internally (within the company to other departments) and externally (to other companies) as lacking of aptitude in anything except audit.

Longer answer: The majority of your career depends on you. Even if a company doesn't “normally” develop people, it really is your responsibility to actively manage your career by getting onto projects that interest you and develop your skills and eventually take new opportunities (hopefully internally, but also externally) to grow your career. There are some companies that will get your way every step along the path, and you don't want to be walking uphill in the metaphorical snow every day to expand your skills. However, it's also impossible to know this ahead of time (with the exception of certain companies who have long histories of executives being grown internally, such as General Electric), so you have to constantly re-evaluate your career trajectory and make sure what you are doing in the near term aligns with that. If it doesn't, then you have to take it upon yourself to have those conversations internally. There are many executives who are very good at their jobs, and developing talent is something they value and put effort toward. There are others who for various reasons do not.

If it means anything, I started my career in big 4 audit. Left after ~2 yrs for various reasons, but the main reason being I came across a much better opportunity to join a corporate internal audit role at a large auto manufacturer. I saw my projects not being all that varied, and told my hiring manager I wanted to move into an operating finance role. Left IA after ~2 years for a Senior financial analyst position in the product team. I've been in this role for ~1 year, and it takes constant effort to make sure I get new projects to develop my skills in improving processes, new reporting, financial analysis, etc. The “day job” would be fairly repetitive after about a year, so without these growth projects I would stagnate. Fortunately, my immediate manager and director seem to continue having interesting projects come up so I can try new things and not get lost in the shuffle of the basic duties, but that never ends.

It can be done, but no one will forever watch out for you and do things for you in your career. You have to seek it out, make your goals known, and let your management team know your goals. If their goals for you align with your goals for yourself, then it's a good match. If that does not, and you don't see it changing, then it's time to look elsewhere.

Hope that helps…

[rp 12]

@SAO247 – I hope all's well. I am NJ as well. I work in an Internal Audit (IA) department as well for one of the large Insurance company. My take is little different. I agree w/ what fuzyfro89 said about IA.

IA in professional services firm(s) is growing quite a bit. I believe there are lot of hours and significant travel (big4, GT, RSM, and BDO). Some firms call it as Risk Advisory Consulting… They are constantly looking for people, and it's very much SOX and process controls driven. I know a friend of mine is at EY working in IT Risk Advisory project for setting up of IA department all together.

IA in industry is little bit different in terms of how companies look at as short term thing – they want you to roll-off to other groups (FP&A, reporting, etc..) after 2 or 3 yrs (based on my interviews I had). In my current job I don't think they put any timeline to roll-off. From what I have seen so far my seniors have been working for 5+ years in same department.

I personally think this is a great field to be in general. But it will depend on your hiring/dept or your reporting manager on what projects you could be working on… etc.

If you end up being in IA for a long term – then CIA will be needed. You have to be your own advocate for your career, seek mentors at your workplace or even outside work, network, etc… Also, you have to let mgmt know what your goals are and express your interest/desire to work on particular projects. I hope this helps you. Good luck!

"Success in life comes when you simply refuse to give up, with goals so strong that obstacles, failure, and loss act only as motivation"

AUD: 68, 62, 77✔ (expires 10/31/16)
FAR: 53, 48, XX (retake 6/16)
REG:
BEC: 53

[SAO247]

All of this is very good and helpful to know! I was worried since I had read once or twice on these boards before that IA is look down upon.

New Jersey – Nebraska CPA Candidate

FAR 88 Nov' 2015
AUD 81 Jul' 2015
REG 84 Jan 2016
BEC April 2016

Ethics TBA

[SAO247]

All of this is very good and helpful to know! I was worried since I had read once or twice on these boards before that IA is look down upon.

New Jersey – Nebraska CPA Candidate

FAR 88 Nov' 2015
AUD 81 Jul' 2015
REG 84 Jan 2016
BEC April 2016

Ethics TBA

[Author]

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