For those who went from audit to FDD, what is the biggest difference in the work you do? From the look of it, it's basically audit minus control work. I love audit in general but hate controls. Seems like a good move?

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The thing about FDD is that if you go into it thinking you're gonna work in finance, you'll be very disappointed. Heck, the PE firms and bankers you work with literally call you "the accountants" or sometimes even "the auditors." It's not forward looking and doesn't work on financial modeling, but there's a misconception that FDD is a M&A job that does those things. There are many times where the PE firm has already done their due diligence, so FDD is really only coming in as a formality to "check the box" that the accountants verified earnings (sound familiar?).

You spend a ton of time manipulating very s**tty data in excel, creating what's called a databook, and eventually adding that to a deck. The volatility is crazy. You're on call like a banker but paid like an accountant (more than audit but not enough). Your weekend plans will be canceled out of nowhere and there's nothing you can do about it.

All that said, it makes you into an excel wizard and creates better writing/presentation skills. You are more marketable than someome from audit, and it makes the jump into FP&A much easier. There are also some who jump into small-to-mid size IB or even corp dev (this one is more rare but still possible). Some even go into FDD for smaller firms like houlihan or A&M.

Basically, FDD is still an accounting role (although a lot of people in FDD like to pretend they work in finance), but it can be a good stepping stone to a role that may not have been realistic to obtain from audit.

If your end goal is something like FP&A, it's probably not worth it since that's doable from audit. If you want to go into IB, then subsequently PE, it could be an option.

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This is soooo true. Glorified audit

Unpredictable schedule. Be ready to cancel your personal plans

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Interested to hear responses

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