Can my current work experience contribute to the CFA members experience, University, electrical, equipment, director

invic

Hi, guys,
I am a level 1 candidate.  I am 24 years old and I graduated from University majored in Finance in 2011. Since then, I have been working at a small-medium sized company specializing in electrical equipment. My title is administrative assistant. I know it seems to be totally unrelated to CFA at all. That was the title I was hired for. But later on a controller replaced the admin director who left the company. I now work very closely with her. My daily tasks involve lots of Accounts payable and receivable. I make invoices every day and keep track of the flow of A/R and take charge of potential client’s credit application. I am responsible for the complete AP cycle from entering the supplier invoices to issuing checks. I enter business transactions in excel model every month for tax-claiming purposes. I undertook a project to analyze an account discrepancy (only one so far) for the president and VP to find out where the problem lies and propose solutions to tackle down this specific problem. Then, little by little I start to gain the exposure to the company’s general ledger account.
I know they do not relate to any money management. But as I read from the sample member job titles, accountant is one of them. I am wondering if the fact that I work a lot in accounting can contribute to the membership once I passed all 3 levels.
My next step, after passing level 1, is to find a job more related to CFA. But I am not interested in managing money (financial/investment advisor), nor those kind related to selling mutual fund, securities, etc.  After passing all three levels, I want to pursue a CMA as well. I am wondering if anybody knows what kind of job can match work experience requirement of both CFA and CMA?
Thank you very much in advance!

infinitybenzo

Hi Guys
I am 27 year old and currently working as RM in Retail Banking from last 2.5 years. I am CFA level 1 candidate and I have done my MBA in finance. It would  be really helpful if some one can answer or comment on following questions
1. Whether CFA would help me in giving a growth to my carrier?
2. Will my current work experience will add any value ? As CFA is totally different to what I am doing right now.
3. What jobs can I get with this experience after clearing my CFA level 1

skycfa

My job qualified, and its rediculous.  However, I made sure to talk about all the money I manage.  Bingo.

Colum

Someone feel free to correct me if I am wrong, but I am pretty sure title has nothing to do with it.  I was under the impression that at least 50% of your work had to relate to investment decisions.  I work in the investment accounting and reporting department for an asset manager and in my opinion most of the roles in our department would not qualify.  Right now my team advises on the accounting for specific new deals, consolidation, and impairment decisions on investments. So I feel comfortable my accountant title will apply, but this is solely based on my day to day work and nothing to do with title.

thommo77

Don’t list your title.  

Focus on talking about how you spend all day working with financial statements, excel and managing money.  BS a little.  Nobody is gonna really verify it.  Also if your supervisor will back you up then there really is no way you can get called out for embellishing.

ayaz_mahmud369

It depends a lot on where you live.  If you live in New York City, then my answer would be different than if you live in Wamsutter, Wyoming.
Also, I would worry less about whether the experience “counts”, and worry more about what you want to do.  Do you want to work in FP&A?  Do you want to do A&D?  Do you want to work in a hedge fund?  Do you want to work as a portfolio manager for US Trust?  You’re 24–you’ve got 40+ years to get experience.
One last thing–getting four years experience means nothing if you don’t pass Level 1, Level 2, AND Level 3.  Pass the tests–starting with Level 1.

JonnyKay

Accountant is listed, and when the day comes around, I plan on using it for the charter experience. I’d say that what you’re doing right now doesn’t, or shouldn’t qualify. I think there are more detailed descriptions of those job descriptions along with a paragraph justification of what you did in that job. For instance, when I worked for a public accounting firm I spent time working with mark to market calcs, derivatives, stuff like that that is more applicable to CFA. Full cycle AR/AP is more bookkeeping and isn’t really applicable to CFA.

himanshumh

They do list accountant.  And I think if you were working with individuals on transfer tax planning, then that might qualify.  Also, if you were in the financial reporting department of a company, that might qualify.  If you were accounting for acquisitions/divestitures or accounting for derivatives, that might qualify.
However, I seriously doubt that AP, AR, and credit and collections would count as “investment decision-making”.  But you never know until you try.
Also, I think that if you have the CFA Charter, the CMA would probably be of marginal value.  However, if you’re hell-bent on getting it, then try looking into a Corporate Development or FP&A (Financial Planning and Analysis) role in one of the big companies in your area.