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Thought I'd try posting here. Perhaps one of you guys might be more familiar with my predicament. I'm currently a senior at the undergrad level double majoring in Accounting and MIS. I want to work for a Big 4 accounting firm but I do not know what exactly I should do.
I know I don't want to do tax since it hardly involves my MIS degree. So, my option is more towards auditing and advisory/consulting. I want some financial related experience so I get a nice position such as a controller when I switch to private after gaining the Big 4 experience. Not saying I'll make the transition right after, I mean over the years of being in the private industry. With that said, auditing seems the way to go, correct? I keep hearing about IT auditing or "Accounting Information Systems", which I still have very little idea as to what that entails if I go work at a Big 4.
My worry is that IT auditing seems very MIS leaning. I don't want my Accounting degree to sit idle over the years, either! Does anyone know if IT auditing involves (financial) accounting greatly? :/
If you have an MIS degree and an Accounting degree with great grades in both, then you will be worshiped by any Big 4 firm. Our job is becoming more and more technology intensive these days to the point that not only do you need to know the CPA material but now you need to know SQL, database relationships, etc. If youre a senior then you should already be talking to the Big 4 firms. They'll want you to do an internship, do it. Seriously.
I'm a senior and going this route as well, but I can't afford double majoring in both unfortunately. I would also suggest talking to your IS professors and asking them for their opinions. I'm going to see if they can "take me under their wing"... If you have the gpa and the grades (I have low gpa so big 4 will never consider me), then definitely go for it!! Let me know how everything goes!
You definitely need to be talking to your professors, campus Big 4 recruiters, and career services.
That said, if you are recruited by / intern for one of the Big 4, you will either be in Assurance (Audit), Tax, Advisory, or Transaction. The vast majority of associates, especially at the entry level, are in audit and tax, with more in audit than tax. So your accounting degree won't go to any more waste than anyone else's. That said, accounting and auditing in the real world is a lot different than what you learn in school.
It seems to me that you need more information about how Big 4 recruiting / employment / daily life really works, so I would strongly advise that you go speak with a campus recruiter. If you want a job at a Big 4 firm after you graduate, and you haven't been in contact with your campus recruiters for at least a year at this point, you are behind. It's not impossible to get an offer at this point, especially with your double major, but it's going to be more difficult. Are you a member of Beta Alpha Psi? Have you gone to any meet the firm events? If you are going to pursue a MSA (since CT requires 150 hrs to license as a CPA), you'll get a second chance at this, so no sweat, but I still think you should get your info straight from the horse's mouth, as it were, since the recruiters need to start to get to know you, too. (Plus, if you're going to start a MSA in the fall following graduation, you could still snag a summer internship.)
IT auditing is a very small field. It is a subset of auditing and involves testing automated systems to determine if they work and whether proper controls are in place to make sure the data that feeds into the G/L has integrity. The consulting side of this business is to help design or modify these systems to withstand an audit and operate properly to avoid exceptions. They also try to make the systems work more efficient, be more secure, and have sufficient backups.
The people I have met who do this type of work are more on the IT side and usually have some programming experience, but they also act as a liaison or bridge to the accounting or audit staff. When the accounting or audit staff asks for someone, it is valuable that you have a working understanding of accounting, terms and how it works, vs. act like it is a foreign language. But hardcore GAAP knowledge is not necessary. Honestly, if you do this type of work for more than a couple of years, you'll probably have a difficult time to transition to audit or financial reporting type work. The reason is you'll be at a quasi-entry level employee in terms of skills in audit or financial reporting, but no one wants to pay someone at a senior or supervisor level to learn at the bottom (despite your superior IT skills). The flip side is that you'll pretty much be employed your entire career, because there are very few people that can do this type of specialized work. Though making partner is difficult because this type of practice doesn't generate a ton of money outside of the audit and there isn't regulatory pressure to have a partner doing this type of work. I saw usually 1 superstar rainmaker and a lot of "Directors" or Senior Managers in this type of practice, much more than in audit.
A much more common type of practice for MIS majors is where you are hired as consultants paid by clients to help them implement major IT systems. You would essentially be in charge of the how the other systems (i.e. purchasing, billing, customer service, HR, real estate management, etc.) feed into the financial systems and make sure they provide the information the financial and accounting staff needs. This type of work does not need to be done by the Big 4 and SOX has pretty much forced them to divest this type of work. Hiring is kind of boom or bust. When companies are investing in their systems and upgrading, business is flush for these consulting firms. If not, then a lot of layoffs happen. Similar to what I mentioned above, you pretty much are a translator for the accounting staff and programmers and do a lot of mapping.
If you want to be a controller, your best bet would be to start in auditing or financial reporting. If you start in MIS/IT, you have to make the switch by year 3. Regardless of what you do, make sure you stay up to date on the other side with CPE and try to volunteer for projects that involves knowledge of the other area. Good luck.
So, from what I've gathered. If I'm in IT Audit at a Big 4, I need to make the switch to financial auditing within 3 years? If so, won't I start back as a lowly staff accountant instead of perhaps a senior? I know base salary is generally higher in IT auditing compared to regular. I don't know if I would be willing to tank.
Would a Masters in Account and CPA change anything for me regarding future positions towards the financial (Controller) side? My biggest worry is being absorbed by one side of my major and almost neglecting the other. If I had to choose between the two, I would prefer Accounting since that opens up many, many doors within the business world in general.
IT auditing is a very small field. It is a subset of auditing and involves testing automated systems to determine if they work and whether proper controls are in place to make sure the data that feeds into the G/L has integrity. The consulting side of this business is to help design or modify these systems to withstand an audit and operate properly to avoid exceptions. They also try to make the systems work more efficient, be more secure, and have sufficient backups.
The people I have met who do this type of work are more on the IT side and usually have some programming experience, but they also act as a liaison or bridge to the accounting or audit staff. When the accounting or audit staff asks for someone, it is valuable that you have a working understanding of accounting, terms and how it works, vs. act like it is a foreign language. But hardcore GAAP knowledge is not necessary. Honestly, if you do this type of work for more than a couple of years, you'll probably have a difficult time to transition to audit or financial reporting type work. The reason is you'll be at a quasi-entry level employee in terms of skills in audit or financial reporting, but no one wants to pay someone at a senior or supervisor level to learn at the bottom (despite your superior IT skills). The flip side is that you'll pretty much be employed your entire career, because there are very few people that can do this type of specialized work. Though making partner is difficult because this type of practice doesn't generate a ton of money outside of the audit and there isn't regulatory pressure to have a partner doing this type of work. I saw usually 1 superstar rainmaker and a lot of "Directors" or Senior Managers in this type of practice, much more than in audit.
A much more common type of practice for MIS majors is where you are hired as consultants paid by clients to help them implement major IT systems. You would essentially be in charge of the how the other systems (i.e. purchasing, billing, customer service, HR, real estate management, etc.) feed into the financial systems and make sure they provide the information the financial and accounting staff needs. This type of work does not need to be done by the Big 4 and SOX has pretty much forced them to divest this type of work. Hiring is kind of boom or bust. When companies are investing in their systems and upgrading, business is flush for these consulting firms. If not, then a lot of layoffs happen. Similar to what I mentioned above, you pretty much are a translator for the accounting staff and programmers and do a lot of mapping.
If you want to be a controller, your best bet would be to start in auditing or financial reporting. If you start in MIS/IT, you have to make the switch by year 3. Regardless of what you do, make sure you stay up to date on the other side with CPE and try to volunteer for projects that involves knowledge of the other area. Good luck.
A small....quickly growing, well paying field. 99% of accountants have no idea what is going on in an ERP, nor do they want to learn. OP you wouldn't be pidgeonholing your career with IT, after all an Internal Audit Director makes serious bank.
So, from what I've gathered. If I'm in IT Audit at a Big 4, I need to make the switch to financial auditing within 3 years? If so, won't I start back as a lowly staff accountant instead of perhaps a senior? I know base salary is generally higher in IT auditing compared to regular. I don't know if I would be willing to tank.
Would a Masters in Account and CPA change anything for me regarding future positions towards the financial (Controller) side? My biggest worry is being absorbed by one side of my major and almost neglecting the other. If I had to choose between the two, I would prefer Accounting since that opens up many, many doors within the business world in general.
If you already have the necessary requirements for your state by the time you graduate (150 credits, etc.), I would go for the CPA right away. You don't necessarily need a Masters in Accounting later on.
But I'm just a student, like you, so again ask your professors and the recruiters haha.
A small....quickly growing, well paying field. 99% of accountants have no idea what is going on in an ERP, nor do they want to learn. OP you wouldn't be pidgeonholing your career with IT, after all an Internal Audit Director makes serious bank.
Sources? Any other resources you'd recommend regarding the growth of the field? I'm considering going into IT Audit later on my career, what with my interests in IS. Then again, I do enjoy statistics and data analysis, so I'm sure there are other career paths to combine Accounting and IS as well.
So, from what I've gathered. If I'm in IT Audit at a Big 4, I need to make the switch to financial auditing within 3 years? If so, won't I start back as a lowly staff accountant instead of perhaps a senior? I know base salary is generally higher in IT auditing compared to regular. I don't know if I would be willing to tank.
Would a Masters in Account and CPA change anything for me regarding future positions towards the financial (Controller) side? My biggest worry is being absorbed by one side of my major and almost neglecting the other. If I had to choose between the two, I would prefer Accounting since that opens up many, many doors within the business world in general.
If you are a senior IT auditor and switch to financial audit, you'd typically stay as a senior in title and pay, but you'd basically be assigned staff level work until you got up to speed at senior level work. I would assume any accounting grad with 3 years work experience would progress faster than a fresh out of school kid. I would say it is going to take at least a season for you to get up to speed, so you'll basically be stuck at senior in year 4 while everyone else is promoted to supervisor. So to get to supervisor it would take you about 4-5 years, instead of 3. Though you would have valuable IT skills that would help you in private accounting. But you'll find it difficult to transfer the longer you wait. Your pay and billing rate in IT auditing will be too high and you'll be too old to be trained by a 23 year old. It makes both sides reluctant to grant the transfer because these things rarely turn out well.
I think IT auditing is just too specialized to be a corporate controller. You could go into general MIS consulting and maybe even go up the IT ladder to CIO, but the path to the CFO would be difficult. IT is important to a Controller and CFO position, but involves more hardcore finance and accounting.
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