[MrHopeful215]

Does anyone have any experience or know of anyone that has had any experience with being a fund accountant and successfuly making the transition to an auditor? I passed my exams and am currently working as a fund accountant now. Looking to get out asap and hopefully into the big 4 or a mid tier firm.

Also, can anyone critique my resume for me? I have been to my schools advising, but I just want to have more eyes on it. Nothing can be more depressing than having your resume prevent you from getting a job.

AUD - 82
REG - 78
BEC - 78
FAR - 76

[Chris]

Peep the name. I was once a fund accountant looking to become a CPA.

I'm sure our experiences will be quite different. I was an FA fresh out of college in Boston, MA. I knew I wanted to leave 6 months in. I had a hard time getting any call backs regarding public accounting positions before and after I started as an FA. I only had a 3.0 when I graduated undergrad so at the time I didn't see much sense in applying to a Big 4 firm. Ultimately, I ended up taking an internship after 18 months as an FA (which was actually paying $3 more an hours, plus OT), to bolster my resume. It worked. I got several call backs, interviews, and was employed the following fall as planned.

You have already passed the exam so I think that will give much more appeal to your resume than mine had. I was also only half way through my masters at the time. Not sure if you have yours or if its even required for you to get licensed.

From a work experience perspective, the job of an auditor and FA are not similar. It will help with respect to working with a GL daily (assuming you do so) and having experience from a “client side” as far as monthly/yearly closes. You won't do any of that as an auditor, but when you have to put yourself in the shoes of a client, you'll be somewhat familiar.

How long have you been working? Was this your first job out of college?

All in all, if you work hard and have a solid foundation of the fundamentals of accounting, you'll be successful. Your next employer should provide all the training you'll need to make the transition. Good luck!

NH CPA
REG: 07/03/2014 - 88
AUD: 08/30/2014 - 73 - Retake 10/16/14 - 86
BEC: 05/31/2015 - 77
FAR: 08/08/2015 - 64 - Retake 11/23/15 - 77

Becker*NINJA Notes/MCQ*

Now I could let these dream killers kill my self-esteem
Or use my arrogance as the steam to power my dreams ~ Kanye West

[Matt Douglass]

I worked as a Fund Accountant then transferred to Fund Administration-Financial Reporting. I know several co-workers from the FR team I was on are now working audit mid-tier firms. One in particular started out in Fund Accounting and is in audit at a firm now. So it is possible. Focus on transferable skills on your resume, I'm sure the fact the exam is behind you will be a big plus.

I also understand wanting out, two years there and I was ready for something different. I was able to get the job I have (NFP) by focusing on the transferable skills and the overall problem solving ability my experience had taught me.

MS, Accounting - Done!

FAR - 83 (CPAexcel/Ninja MCQ)
AUD - 87 (CPAexcel/Ninja MCQ)
REG - 10/16
BEC - 11/16

[MrHopeful215]

Thank you guys for your thoughts and opinions. I have been here for 2 years now. I took the position because I had a 3.0 coming out of college and didnt have any internships under my belt back in 2012. I started working a temp job and got this position through a friend. The job is not what I expected at all, but I tried to make the best of it and learn from my experiences as well as use the free time to study. I will definitely work on included transferable skills in my resume. It is good to know that others have been able to get out and move on to better careers.

AUD - 82
REG - 78
BEC - 78
FAR - 76

[jm962011]

Someone posted their resume via tinypic on a thread a couple of weeks ago. Obviously, take out your personal info and just put in John Doe, 123 ABC St, etc. And for the name of where you work/city, just make something up or take it out and we can critique your format/layout/bullet points, etc.

[Claudia408]

I was a fund accountant in the SF bay area for VC firms and in NYC for private equity. This type of accounting is VERY specialized and concentrated in, you guessed it, SF and NYC… thus, I would recommend against it unless you see this as a life long career path trying to get to CFO level. And, keep in mind VC funds typically has smaller accounting staff (maybe 6-8 people total) and PE firms while larger do like to outsource this stuff, so fund administration is an option. When I wanted out of fund accounting, and even wanted a junior level accounting position in or entry level, NO CALL BACKS! they think I don't know accounting which is kinda true since fund accounting has like 5 items on the balance sheet and the same transactions over and over. lol. good luck!

BEC - 75 (3x)
AUD - 78 (3x)
REG - 67, 66, Aug 1
FAR - 54, Sept 8

[Author]

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