Do you really need a CPA to work in the company?

The current trend is that everyone needs post-nominals, no matter what they are for, what they mean or more importantly, what they can do for an employer.

Let's not get into the pro/con CPA debate again, but I'm at a loss why an employer (non-public accounting firm) would require an ACTIVE CPA vs an in-active CPA.

When I went to college, the accounting career path was: a. CPA for a public practice career route; and b. an accounting degree, or perhaps the rather new (at the time) CMA credential, for everyone else.

Over time, the CPA credential has dominated the accounting industry, and members are classified as "in public practice" or "in business." As Wayne indicates, the trend is currently to have some postgraduate degree or credential -- and it doesn't matter how anyone personally feels about it. It is simply a fact.

Realistically, if (as you said) the reason you get turned down is because you don't have a CPA certification, you have two choices. Either get the CPA certification or change your approach to look for jobs in which accounting certification and experience are a plus but not a requirement.

I never felt the need or desire to go that step - but then again I'm an old lady :) I worked most of my career in corporate positions as Staff Accountants with specialized duties - Intercompany / AR / AP - General Ledger. Since starting my own business and leaving corporate world I can see where it might be useful to be a one stop shop for accounting and taxes but too late, too lazy, not worth it - take your pick. For someone younger and having years ahead of them in the field then why not? If you have the time and funds to further your education then do so. I never really have had a problem finding employment until I started to get classified as an "older worker" which was the main reason I branched out on my own.

When I decided to major in Accounting many moons ago, my goal was to pursue the management accounting career path (Rounders as we were called by our professors.) I was successful in obtaining a position as a cost accountant upon graduation and moving up the financial ranks at a good clip. However. after ten years, and being a life long learner, I decided to investigate becoming a CPA. The private company I was working for had no CPAs on staff at the time, and supported my decision. I became a CPA, then a CMA, and then completed my MBA. Without a doubt, it has been my CPA that has opened doors. While I still consider myself to be a management accountant, my CPA designation has given credibility (rightly or wrongly is not the issue here) to my professional expertise. The truth is, when you look for a job, you will be competing with scores of other financial professionals with experience comparable to yours. The CPA can come down to the tie breaker.

Is it still being given weight by companies? Yes. Is it a requirement to do the job? Unless you are in public accounting/tax.....NO.

I will say this..... Accounting and Finance information or knowledge has been DEMOCRATIZED and widely available from a wide variety of sources, (from FASB, AICPA sites, to forums like this). They are NO longer monopolized by "CPAs". Besides, your external CPAs (if you have one) are just a phone call away.

I do NOT think a designation (whatever it is) is the only measure a company can use to evaluate whatever they think the designation means in a candidate. It is ONE measure, but NOT THE ONLY indication/measure.

It is one thing to discuss these sort of things in a forum and another to put it in practice. For the SMB I serve, whenever I have a Controller vacancy, a CPA is a "NICE TO HAVE" but not a requirement. What matters to me is the personality (the candidate's cultural fit to the finance/accounting team and to the whole company) and resourcefulness of the candidate.

As a disclaimer, I WAS a CPA.

To Anonymous: I was in your shoes once. I decided to get the CPA to further my career. Once I passed the CPA exam and got certified, I got more interviews, and better job offers. My former boss used to always say “perception is reality”. I agree experience counts a lot, and should be the primary basis for hiring. However, until the perception among Human Resources, or Senior Management changes, the CPA is what will open doors for you.

You have a long career ahead of you, so investing in yourself at this stage is necessary. As an accounting major, you can choose the various accounting/tax certifications like the CPA, or you can do an MBA now that you have a few years of experience, or do the CFA is you want to be a finance guy. Just to name a few typical paths.

All these make you better as a person and a professional. As for their career advancement values, ultimately, it is about opening up doors. If you are great in networking, you may not need any of it at all for career advancement. An MBA is a great place to network (its biggest value in my opinion), but I wouldn't do it full time unless you have got into at least a top regional program in the eye of the employers in the same region (e.g. Texas MBA for working in Texas). A smaller program is just not worth giving up your salary for. Online MBA programs naturally waters down the networking value, but there is nothing wrong if you are using it for professional development. BTW, when you are networking, don't just focus on your own profession.

If you are not great in networking or do not want to commit the time and effort to do that, you will be presenting yourself to hiring managers have no idea who you are and what you are capable of and typically get hundreds of resumes for a single job posting (not exaggerating from my personal experience when I hire, and you can see it on LinkedIn which tells you how many applicants there are for a given job posting). You will need to make yourself stand out because the hiring managers can only interview so many candidates (I rarely go more than half a dozen). It's human nature for the hiring manager to make his shortlist based on what school you went to, what company you have worked for, and what additional qualities that separate you from the herd. A certification can be one of the additional qualities.

To sum it up, you need to invest in yourself early on in your career. Anything is a good professional development move, but they don't all give you the same career advancement benefits. Ultimately, your personality and inner-self should dictate which route to take.

Hope this helps.

The simple answer is yes, you need a CPA or other professional designation to advance to any significant level.

A professional designation is the "certification" that you have mastered something.

Can you get hired without it? Yes,

Also remember, you resume is going to some HR clerk somewhere who has to find ways to eliminate resumes from the monsterous stack sitting in fronot of him/her. By requiring a CPA, they can immediately eliminate part of the stack of resumes.

In other words, HR departments don't look for ways to include you in the interview process, they look for ways to exclude you.

Thank you everyone for your valuable advice. Much appreciated.