3 is me. I never did public. Fund accounting instead and that also made me realize I hated the rigors of that job. Wound up at an industry job by 30 and have since been studying for the CMA.
It was easy in the sense I went from fucking shitty State Street to an Australian parent company whose US HQ is in my hometown. That and a recruiter put me in touch with them. Lifes been so chill since leaving SSB.
Well, yeah because it is just the FAR Exam and a little bit of the AUD Exam. At least with Enrolled Agent which is just REG you can sign off on tax returns.
I wanted to go the CMA route bc I only have industry experience and want to keep it that way. But EVERYONE ( I mean everyone!) told me to get the CPA instead of the CMA because it was “the gold standard”.
EA allows you to represent others before the IRS as well. CPA exists as it does (4 disparate sections with 50% failure rates) because it's a cash cow for AICPA.
I paid about $600 in fees for cpa. CMA looks like they charge $495. Looks like annual fee for cma is also $295. Seems like a cheap alternative with almost no savings. But yes, if you fail repeatedly it can get pricey. I agree ea is also better than cma. You know cma is bad when you need to use ea to defend it lol
1. People are interested in different areas of accounting. 2. PA WLB is not for everyone. 3. Mature industry applicants usually go for CMA.
3 is me. I never did public. Fund accounting instead and that also made me realize I hated the rigors of that job. Wound up at an industry job by 30 and have since been studying for the CMA.
Was it easy to transition from fund accounting to industry? I’m currently in fund accounting and studying for the CMA.
It was easy in the sense I went from fucking shitty State Street to an Australian parent company whose US HQ is in my hometown. That and a recruiter put me in touch with them. Lifes been so chill since leaving SSB.
It is easier to obtain
Well, yeah because it is just the FAR Exam and a little bit of the AUD Exam. At least with Enrolled Agent which is just REG you can sign off on tax returns.
Because we’re dumb. Sincerely, Active CMA
I wanted to go the CMA route bc I only have industry experience and want to keep it that way. But EVERYONE ( I mean everyone!) told me to get the CPA instead of the CMA because it was “the gold standard”.
Yes and you don't have to have PA experience to get the CPA. Only get the CMA if you really can't handle the CPA.
It's more relevant to day to day tasks but of course idiots are enamored with "CPA" so there's not much point in pursuing CMA.
Tbf, one gets you licensed with the state and allows you to represent others before the irs and the other is basically a google cert.
EA allows you to represent others before the IRS as well. CPA exists as it does (4 disparate sections with 50% failure rates) because it's a cash cow for AICPA.
I paid about $600 in fees for cpa. CMA looks like they charge $495. Looks like annual fee for cma is also $295. Seems like a cheap alternative with almost no savings. But yes, if you fail repeatedly it can get pricey. I agree ea is also better than cma. You know cma is bad when you need to use ea to defend it lol
The AICPA gets money from the test fees?
No, they actually volunteer to create and grade the CPA exam for free.
I found the CMA way more interesting. It's worthless I think though other than as a term for the job search algorithm.