Is CMA worth getting after getting the CPA? Or is it better to get the CFA. Also don’t have much finance background so I don’t know if I can pass the CFA will require a lot of hard work. Interesting in hearing people’s thoughts.

I have no plans in leaving PA anytime soon but I figure maybe I should look into another certification that holds value and makes me more marketable compared to my peers. Appreciate any thoughts and advice.

- Also considering going to a t14 MBA in future.

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Ehhh I think CPA is enough for 99% of jobs. CFA if you want to do finance and get completely out of accounting

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To add - for the finance side of things, CFA helps only for particular parts of finance too. Places like Corp Dev, IB, and PE care more about prior M&A and modeling experience. Plus if you’re trying to break into finance, that t14 MBA or FDD experience (to a lesser extent) will be your best bet.

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https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2021-08-17/wall-street-s-cfa-program-is-a-colossal-waste-of-time

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I briefly looked into getting the CMA and it seems like it's not worth it if you have the CPA. Instead, I'm picking up technical skills like SQL and Python. Not sure what I'll do with it yet but it keeps my mind busy.

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I personally have my CPA and passed the CMA exams and I would say don’t do it. There is so much overlap between the CMA and the CPA exam materials and CPA is way more valuable. I probably won’t apply for my CMA license. I think it’s only valuable for industry accounting professionals that don’t want to get their CPA.

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They’re all great programs to learn things at very affordable prices, however, I don’t think that you’re main reason for considering these certifications is to learn. If you’re trying to leverage them to switch into a more high-finance oriented job then you’re going to be disappointed as getting an opportunity in high-finance is more about who you know and less so what you know. You should try to figure out exactly where you want to be and make a more proactive plan to get there. Your odds are so low that even if one of these certs increased your odds by 100% you’ll be going from say a 1% chance to 2%. The cheapest way would be to cold email everyone on LinkedIn who works in something that remotely resembles what you hope to do. The more expensive route is going through the MBA. You’ll prob have better luck with the more prestigious firms with MBA recruiting. Neither route guarantees a job. Again, these certs aren’t bad, but if they could guarantee you a job the certification bodies would price it in. The CFA would be charging you $200k if they guaranteed that getting the charter would put you on a major IB team.

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Appreciate all your responses super insightful and helpful! Thank you all for the advice.

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