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Corporate FP&A
Financial Analyst
Building the model everyone argues about.
Typical pay
$65k-$130k
How you get in
Bachelor's in finance, accounting or economics
Outlook
Steady
Financial analysts forecast performance, build models and turn numbers into recommendations. Corporate FP&A is more sustainable than banking; the work is Excel-heavy and lives on a monthly and quarterly cycle.
A day in the life
- 8:30aPull actuals, update the forecast model
- 10:00aVariance analysis — why did marketing overspend
- 12:00pLunch at the desk during close week
- 1:00pBusiness partner meeting with a department head
- 3:00pBuild a scenario for a proposed hire
- 5:00pDeck for the leadership review
How to get in
Finance degree to analyst
Duration
4 years
Cost
$40,000-$160,000
Credential
BS in finance, accounting or economics
- Complete a quantitative business degree
- Get genuinely good at Excel — this is the actual screening test
- Land an FP&A or corporate finance internship
- Enter as a financial analyst and learn the business
CFA route
Duration
2-4 years alongside work
Cost
$3,000-$6,000 for all three levels
Credential
Chartered Financial Analyst
- Work in finance while studying
- Pass three levels, each roughly 300 hours of study
- Accumulate the required work experience
- Most valuable for investment roles, less so for corporate FP&A
Accounting to FP&A
Duration
2-4 years
Cost
$0
Credential
None beyond your degree
- Start in accounting or audit where entry roles are plentiful
- Learn how the financials are actually built
- Move laterally into FP&A, which values that grounding
- Often a faster route in than applying to analyst roles cold
What people love
- · Strong pay without an advanced degree
- · Transferable across every industry
- · Clear path to manager and director
- · Better hours than investment banking
What wears people down
- · Month-end and quarter-end crunch
- · Endless version control on models
- · Your work gets overruled by politics
- · Repetitive in a stable business