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Started in financial planning as an assistant who was working towards licensure. It’s mostly sales and lead generation. Hated it, but the actual planning and working with clients was interesting!
I think the FP&A work is much more interesting and has the potential for great money.
Think FP&A is better, but you could pursue your financial planning interests on the side and later decide if it’s worth it to pursue FT
Yeah I guess I’m so used to having no time for interest on the side after work and CPA. Good point.
With financial planning, you'll start off with low pay, so you'll want to work your way up and get better clients. Nothing wrong with it, just be aware of the challenges. FP&A is definitely the more common route of the 2 options you mentioned and pays more (at least in the beginning).
Someone with 2 years vs. 3 years isn't going to make a huge difference. That additional year is great for more "project management" and "leadership/delegation" but for technical skills (forecasting and modeling), you aren't all of a sudden going to be learning finance in that 3rd year. That 3rd year holds more value if you go into staff accounting or financial reporting.
So there's no real answer to your question. I think senior title and CPA (and B4 if that applies to you) help a lot when you apply, but there's no saying exactly when is the right time to go for it. Personally, I say start applying the second you are officially senior. If you're not having luck, then spend the next year networking and upskilling, before you jump back into applying again.
Was tax, went to a financial planning firm and got my CFP, now I’m back in tax. The pay is lower starting out, and it’s a very cutthroat and dying industry.
Not sure if I’d enjoy FP&A as I’m honestly not sure what it entails, but I know they get paid better then audit.
Financial planning seems more interesting and you get to meet interesting people and help people, but I’m not sure if it would make good money or how to go about it honestly.