CFA III and CPA cover, before

jcole21

i wanna take level III and CPA at same time. but not sure how to make a good plan to cover both. anyone did this before, any idea?

canadiananalyst

Butt Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> For those people who have dual financial
> accounting/audit & finance (CPA & CFA) or
> management accounting & finance (CIMA & CFA).
>
> I'm quite curious to know your current and
> prospective career paths. How helpful are dual
> certifications in your case and did you already
> have an undergrad degree before you sat in the
> professional exams?


i have cpa and am pursuing the cfa. my experience was big 4 accounting (auditor) but i have since moved over to the consulting side, with a tilt towards complex accounting/valuation issues.

as far as getting the cfa, i honestly really wanted to learn more finance as opposed to being just an accounting guy. For career paths, i could either stay at the Big 4, or move on to either a ratings agency or possibly even equity research (sell side), as they appear to value the cfa/cpa combo

justin88

i am doing investment accounting, so i think it is good to have both, maybe it is good way to go, too many analysts.

Colum

Well I'm currently working at Unilever (Who could've guessed!?) who make their entire finance team do CIMA while I used to work at a sell side equity shop as an analyst (hence the CFA).

What's the use of the dual qualifications? Well to be honest I'm applying to do an MBA at H, W and S and afterwards either move back into investment banking / PE or possibly microfinance. There are clear diminishing returns on these qualifications and it is overkill but I secretly like the challenge...

Zestt

For those people who have dual financial accounting/audit & finance (CPA & CFA) or management accounting & finance (CIMA & CFA).

I'm quite curious to know your current and prospective career paths. How helpful are dual certifications in your case and did you already have an undergrad degree before you sat in the professional exams?

liangfeng

I'm doing exactly the thing in China, which i believe is very tough work, what's more i'm working full-time, with workload 48 hours per week, and i have other reading tasks for myself. i'm now in progress to CFA L3, and passed some of the CPA subjects.

I do trust that it's workable, and is more beneficial than you can imagine. CPA accounting subject helped me a lot when dealing with CFA Financial Reporting Analysis, even though Chinese GAAP has some differences with IFRS, and of course with US GAAP, the studying process led a comprehensive understanding of varying accounting systems.

As a practicer, i encourage that you take the two, while i suggest that, prior to your decision, a strong power of mind and self-discipline should be necessary.

Windjam

I think there is no harm to initiate the process. I did it in parallel with Level 2.
You need a lot of admin process to qualify you to take the exam. There is great flexibility for CPA. You may take one or two subject in Jan/Feb, leave several months for CFA, and take other CPA subjects afterward.

ohai

just bang out one then do the other...why make it hard on yourself

the CFA level III is only once a year where the CPA can be taken in increments yearly, so focus on the less often exam first IMO

and like the CFA, you need audit hours to be awarded those credentials so dont forget about that



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at Thursday, October 7, 2010 at 07:23PM by builders.