Career Path: CPA Course after MBA & PGDM - A Complete Guide

Introduction

Most students, especially those with commerce backgrounds, are confused about the best opportunities and career paths for themselves. While an MBA is an obvious choice, additional courses like CPA courses can further boost your career prospects.

For MBA in finance students, CPA is a definite choice to get a better salary and job positions in finance and accounting industries.

Don't know what CPA is all about? Then, this blog is for you.

Know all about CPA certification, course details, why it is useful for management students, required skills, scope, jobs, and CPA salary. Let's dive right in.

What is CPA certification?

CPA stands for Certified Public Accountant. It's the highest level of international accounting certification.

Broadly speaking, a CPA is a licensed certification awarded by the state to professionals who have qualified with certain skills to work as an advanced accountant.

These skills include technical skills such as tax law, management practices, and other significant aspects of business financial operations.

Due to their extensive training and varied skill set in advanced accounting, they are highly sought after by businesses and non-profit organizations.

What Do CPA Professionals Do?

A CPA is a certified finance professional who has the authority to provide accounting and financial services to the public. With advanced accounting and finance expertise, a certified public accountant is proficient in performing duties like taxation, auditing, managing finances, and consulting.

As management students who have done an MBA or PGDM are more into finance, accounting, and consulting duties, they can take up CPA certification to fast-track their professional careers.

CPA Course Details

The CPA exam is divided into four parts, and you must pass all the exams and gain relevant work experience to become eligible to apply for a CPA license with the state board of accountancy of the state where you want to work.

While the specific responsibilities of a CPA-certified professional may vary as per the employer, typical tasks include preparing and filing tax returns, giving financial advice to clients, and preparing financial statements.

Key Skills of a CPA Certification Holder

As we mentioned earlier, CPAs have specific responsibilities; therefore, the skills of CPAs also vary as per their interests and expertise. However, some of the common skill sets of CPA-certified professionals are as follows:

• Technical Acumen: To work as a CPA, you must possess the technical skills and sound knowledge of accounting software like QuickBooks and tax preparation software like TurboTax and Drake Tax to perform your daily responsibilities. As a modern accountant, you must also have cutting-edge skills like programming in Python and R, data mining, and statistical analysis.
• Critical Thinking: Working as a CPA, you must have strong critical thinking skills to analyze the bigger picture. You must be proficient in analyzing and evaluating the data and using it as leverage to offer meaningful advice.
• Analytical Skills: As accountants, finance professionals or MBA students have to deal with lots of data, you should be competent to analyze data and find patterns to spot errors in financial records.
• Attention to Detail: Accuracy and precision are incredibly crucial for accountancy, finance or MBA jobs, as any errors can cause financial consequences for your employer. Take, for instance, if an accountant incorrectly adds up numbers on a balance sheet, the company could lose lots of money without even realizing the problem.
• Business Understanding: As a CPA, you must have a fundamental understanding of how businesses operate, so as to be able to guide them on the financial consequences of any business strategies and principles. Management students already have a strong understanding of businesses, so they can become the best CPA professionals as well.
• Organizational Skills: As a CPA, you have to deal with multiple clients at the same time, so you must have strong organizational skills to organize multiple documents, prepare accurate reports, and track deadlines for tax returns, audits, and other essential duties.

Most of these skills overlap with those of MBA learners - such as business understanding, analytical skills, and critical thinking. That's why MBA professionals have a good scope in CPA certification to diversify their skills and job roles.

Why CPA is Important for MBA students?

Management students pursuing or thinking of pursuing an MBA or PGDM can take up CPA training to advance their careers and specialize in corporate finance and taxes. It will help you specialize and niche down in finance or taxes to get placements in some of the top companies around the world.

If you are eyeing an MBA or PGDM, you can acquire CPA training with PIBM - one of the best MBA colleges in India. What's special about PIBM is that it trains students for long-term careers and senior positions in the industry. With PIBM’s integrated MBA course, you get additional training in CPA to strengthen your skills from the foundational level and get excellent career opportunities when you get into the industry. PIBM is one of the best MBA colleges in finance to gain a competitive edge in the industry.

Scope of CPA Certification: Career Opportunities & Benefits

• Globally Recognized Finance & Accounting Credential: CPA is a prestigious certification offered by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), validating advanced expertise in accounting and finance.
• High Demand in India and Abroad: CPA-certified professionals are sought after by multinational companies, consulting firms, financial institutions, and global organizations for accounting and finance roles.
• Diverse Career Opportunities: A CPA certification opens doors to careers in auditing, taxation, financial reporting, corporate finance, compliance, risk management, and consulting across multiple industries.
• Broader Career Scope with an MBA: Combining an MBA with CPA certification creates a strong profile by blending business management knowledge with specialized accounting and financial expertise.
• Greater Leadership Opportunities: Professionals with both MBA and CPA credentials are well-positioned for managerial and leadership roles that involve strategic financial planning and decision-making.
• Enhanced Career Growth & Salary Potential: The combination of management education and CPA certification increases employability, expands career options, and strengthens long-term earning potential in the finance industry.

Top CPA Career Options after MBA in Finance

With a diverse skill set in business and technical skills, CPA holders after completing an MBA in finance can take up multiple roles. They can find significant opportunities in all types of firms, including small and medium-sized firms, large international accounting and tax firms, and even the Big Four - Deloitte, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), Ernst & Young (EY), and KPMG.

Some of the top career options that you can pick are:

• 1. Financial Accounting: As a financial accountant, you’ll be keeping track of the financial records of the company that you are working for. It includes roles and responsibilities like preparing balance sheets, tracking financial operations, and taking care of complete financial transactions.
• 2. Taxation: After acquiring the CPA credential, you can also work as a tax accountant. In this profile, you will be preparing and submitting the tax statements of the clients or organizations that you are working for. Besides, you must also ensure that your client or organization adheres to the tax obligations and regulations as stated by the government.
• 3. Internal Auditing: Working as an internal auditor, you will ensure that all the documents and operations of your organization comply with the laws and regulations of the country. Additionally, you also track potential risks for the organization and suggest recommendations to mitigate risk factors.
• 4. Financial Advisor: As a financial advisor, you will be looking after the overall finances of a client or organization. Furthermore, you guide them to meet their financial goals with the best possible advice as given by you.
• 5. Business and industry accountant: You can also work as a business and industry accountant. With this profile, you can work in companies of all sizes and diverse backgrounds such as financial accounting and reporting, management accounting, financial analysis, and treasury/cash management.

Among other career options, you can also progress to have designations like Tax Manager, Financial Controller, Chief Financial Officer, Finance Director, Chief Executive Officer, Chief Accountant, Chief Audit Executive, Bookkeeper, Accounting Assistant, etc.

CPA Salary

On average, the CPA salary is quite promising due to their extensive skill set in management, accounts, and finances. The certified public accountant's salary increases with years of experience and expertise. According to Glassdoor, the CPA salary on the basis of experience is listed as follows:

• 0–1 Years: ₹8–12 LPA
• 1–3 Years: ₹12–18 LPA
• 4–6 Years: ₹18–28 LPA
• 7–9 Years: ₹28–40 LPA
• 10–14 Years: ₹40–55 LPA
• 15+ Years: ₹55–80+ LPA

Further, the Bureau of Labour Statistics has projected that the employment of accountants and auditors is expected to grow 7% from the year 2020 to 2030, which is faster than the average of all occupations.

Top Recruiters Hiring CPA Holders

Most businesses and firms hire individuals with management backgrounds who can handle accounts and operations as well. Not only corporate houses and government organizations, but individuals also hire certified public accountants to look after their accounts, financial records, and taxes as per the obligations of the country's laws.

Some of the top organizations that hire certified public accountants are:

• Unilever
• Accenture
• Wipro
• Deloitte
• Goodwin
• Infosys
• TCS
• Michael Page
• Gamut HR Solutions

Conclusion

In conclusion, we can say that an MBA with a CPA can be an excellent opportunity for you to build a strong career. With an MBA and CPA training, you will not only get incredible job opportunities, but you can also demand lucrative salaries from hiring professionals. Furthermore, by capitalizing on its global recognition, you can find high-paying jobs in both India and foreign countries.

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