<p>I will be starting with a large accounting firm doing audit work next year, and plan (assuming all goes well) to stay there for around 4-6 years. I know I don’t want to stay in hard accounting work for the rest of my career, and I think I would like to eventually transition into some type of corporate finance work. Not the investment banking/private equity/ whatever else people think of when they hear finance, but more budgeting/planning/analysis work for a corporation. I still want to use my accounting skills, but don’t want to just report the transactions that occur. I want my work to be apart of the basis for making that decision. I’m not even really sure what the name of this position would be (financial analyst??), but I am considering going for an MBA later on after I get burned out on public, but is an MBA necessary, or would my experience in public be enough? I guess I just want to hear some general input and advice from you all.</p>
<p>bump.</p>
<p>give me something people.</p>
<p>First, try not to look too far ahead. If you get your CPA and work 4-6 years at the public accounting firm you will receive a lot of interest from companies for their accounting departments. Budget/planning/analysis are all areas that you should easily be able to transfer into with only your CPA + work experience. If you do well, you certainly could get a Controllership job or even move to VP Finance. You do not need an MBA to do these jobs - your CPA is actually your best qualification. If you are at a large corporation and a) they like you, and b) they think additional education is necessary then the company may pay for your education. The additional education may not be at a premier institution but it’s not necessary if they don’t think it’s worthwile to pay for the prestige.</p>