<p>I posted this in the MBA forum as well, but figured there are many accountants that may only read this forum...</p>
<p>Basically I am wondering if obtaining an MBA is worth it for someone that holds a CPA. I work in public accounting and will obtain my CPA after this tax season. I don't yet know if I want to make public accounting a career or jump ship into industry. What kind of doors does an MBA open up for students with a CPA/accounting/tax background?</p>
<p>Thanks guys!</p>
<p>I also work in public and at the end of the day, the only reason you would get a MBA is to make the switch out of accounting completely. Mgmt consulting, ibanking, are things that you can do after ur MBA.</p>
<p>If you are going to stay in tax/public, get a MBT. Otherwise, get the hell out of public 1-2 yrs after you make senior.</p>
<p>What if the end goal is tax director for a corporation. Would the MBT or the MBA be a better route?</p>
<p>What is an MBT? I googled and all that came up was MBT Shoes :)</p>
<p>Masters of Business Taxation</p>
<p>MBT/CPA. Google was hiring for a international tax director position and 2 of those things were a must for that position (according to them).</p>
<p>I know someone who is a tax director for a very large company who only has a bachelor’s degree in accounting. He is also a CPA, but I really doubt most places will care if you have an MBT. The only reason you would really want an MBA is if you’re trying to make a career change, otherwise a CPA and experience are all you need.</p>
<p>One of my friends’ husband is CPA and also got the MBA. Now he is working in marketing dep. and makes good money. And it seems worth it.</p>
<p>Guys but what about getting CPA and CMA instead of getting CPA and MBA. What do you think about this? You might say that if you stay in Accounting then CMA is better, but what about other fields? Does CMA give any advantages?</p>
<p>^Depends on your career aspirations. Don’t put in the extra effort for something you might never use.</p>
<p>I have probably passed the CMA(need score for final part). I would say that the main advantage over an MBA, at least for someone who already has a BBA or other business type degree, is the time advantage. I’m not even finished with my BBA and I had little trouble with the current CMA exam. I have nearly a 4.0 at a decent business school and I’m good at taking tests. Still, even if you need to study you can easily pass the CMA in a small fraction of the time it would take to get an MBA, at a tiny fraction of the cost. The new CMA will only be two rather than 4 parts, though there will be less basic questions and more questions related to budgets and graduate level management accounting type fare. While many idiots on the CMA website(mostly foreigners for some reason) seem to think less tests means easier, for anyone with a BBA who actually learned what they were taught it will make it harder to pass because you can’t just coast to a passing grade on each exam if you ace the easy basic stuff(basic economics, intro to marketing, intro to finance, easy parts of intermediate accounting, etc). </p>
<p>So, to make a long story short, you should be able to get your CMA with little effort and little money in 2010, and probably not that much more effort from 2011 onwards with the new exam. Comparing it to an MBA isn’t an apt comparison at all. The time commitment ought to be closer to that of one or two additional classes at most. So to sum up:</p>
<p>MBA: Everyone knows what it is, at a top school it can be a great credential.
CMA: Many don’t know what it is.</p>
<p>MBA: Takes Two Years as a full time student.
CMA: Ought to take you 20 to 100 hours of study and testing time if you have a BBA.</p>
<p>MBA: Tens of thousands of dollars.
CMA: AT MOST, $1000 in IMA membership, study materials, exam fees.</p>
<p>I took the CMA because: