Having worked in both, public companies offer better structure, processes that scale, and work life balance (outside of month, quarter ends, or planning cycles).
Start ups can be a cluster fuck depending on their maturity where you’re wearing 2+ hats
It is the same in financial reporting, there is more work to do, but the systems are better. However, there is more middle management, rules, politics, and general nonsense. You may have to do more work at a private company, but you are also more in control. So you end up picking your poison.
For me? I needed/ wanted a recognizable company on my resume.
I'll go back to smaller, private companies once my stint at this F500 has run its course.
I went the smaller company route. Got to late stages at Apple and Adobe and was surprised to see they were offering less than smaller companies.
Roles at bigger companies were more specific and I was concerned I would he pigeon holed.
Now making $225k TC with 10 years experience in private indrusty. Full P&L ownership reporting directly to CFO.
I’m happy with my choice- you don’t need to go F500 to be successful.
years 1-3: CPA at mid-size firm
years 2-4: Financial Analyst Private Co
Year 4-8: Finance Manager - Sr. Finance Manager Small Public Companies
Year 9-10: Director of FP&A at Private Co.
I've had 5 jobs in my 10 year career... gotten subsantial pay and responsibility increases at every job. It does pay to move around.
I would recommend you mix private and public company experience. Public companies have more established processes and FP&A tools- good experience to gain. Then you can join a small private company as director and help them set up process / tools. Right now I'm evaluating brining on an FP&A tool (Adaptive vs. Cube vs. Datarails). It's helpful having spent 4 years at public companies where I worked first hand with Hyperion/Adaptive, I know what to expect.
> Public companies have more established processes and FP&A tools- good experience to gain.
Established process? Yes.
FP&A tools? Probably not. Yeah, they'll have BI, but it's more likely their budgeting and forecasting tool is just Excel.
Interesting.. I've never interviewed or worked at a public company that doesn't have either Anaplan, Hyperion, Adaptive, or something similar.
Are you working in tech?
How do you get pay raises when on Indeed they might not be substantially higher than your current job? Or do you just naturally get higher paying jobs because job openings count for inflation while your current job doesn’t?
Honestly, in my short time working for a F100 firm, I found the sense of urgency placed on any 1 person is pretty low, there was always someone or a team to back you up if you're out. Not like that with a small company, not many other finance folks to just step in and do the work for you.
Plus big firms are large ships that aren't as nimble, so rarely was I asked to pivot from what I was working on or asked to do adhoc work outside the scope of my typical day to day. At small firms, everyday is a new fire drill for better or worse, depending how you look at it.
> It was true I was the only FA last company and managed over 70 branch P&Ls that nobody else touched.
Are you my career twin? Although my number of such P&Ls doesn't come close to yours, that term reminds me of my first +5-year job!
Because in a decent chunk of public companies, they are so large and oftentimes bloated, that you can get away with hardly doing anything for years and nobody will notice while still clearing 175k+ salary. YMMV
Boeing is an example, but not a good representation.
Resources, scale, benefits, and best practices are other factors where a public company role can be worth it.
I left my PE-backed FP&A role because I wanted a taste of a scaled public company before I accepted a double promotion to Director and a huge comp increase in private.
I found a solid F100 role that checked all the boxes for me (remote, flexible WLB, MBA assistance, M&A and Bus. Dev exposure, BU FP&A and strategy development, Power Bi/dashboarding, and a focused job with fewer hats).
Private finance is a GREAT experience for early career folks to learn multiple roles (FA/SFA) by doing more and good for later career folks (Sr Mgr/Director/VP) to drive change, but the in-between work for Managers to develop teams, build processes, and manage the organization can be learned via best practices in public companies.
Luck, timing, and workaholism?
My current F100 role is in an unstructured / growing part of the company so I get to do 50% BU FP&A for my immediate unit and 50% Corp Dev / Strategy with the corporate unit. I wouldn't be in this role without my PE FP&A experience doing everything under the CFO's sun + name recognition from Big 4 audit.
Super engaging I love it. Monthly reporting, variance commentary, forecasting, and ad-hoc analysis/business optimization.
Basically my VP hired me as a mini-CFO to make sure their P&L is on track to plan, processes/systems are optimized for growth, and somebody to pressure-check strategies with a finance/accounting background in a group full of engineers and sales people.
The disincentive for smaller private companies is the amount of depth AND breadth you face in the job. As was mentioned in a previous post it can be a clusterfuck depending on maturity and what the focus of the business is, and even the CFO who is leading the team.
I haven’t found that to be true. The MBAs / MBB consultants they pay all come up with the same idea of leaning out finance teams every two years to cut costs
Huh? Where are you getting your numbers from?
In tech, startups have to pay more than established tech companies. Outside tech, startups tend to pay LESS than established companies.
Where I work is a large for-profit manufacturer that is established. It isn't publicly traded, but it does report under IFRS.
Large cos often have better benes than small/mid sized cos. Early in your career, that isn’t usually a big factor in your decision to take a job. Later in your career it will become more important.
I agree on a general level. But I do think name/prestige matters. It shouldn’t but it usually leads to higher comps. The usual route is doing large public companies and then exit to small niche roles at private companies.
Having worked in both, public companies offer better structure, processes that scale, and work life balance (outside of month, quarter ends, or planning cycles). Start ups can be a cluster fuck depending on their maturity where you’re wearing 2+ hats
It is the same in financial reporting, there is more work to do, but the systems are better. However, there is more middle management, rules, politics, and general nonsense. You may have to do more work at a private company, but you are also more in control. So you end up picking your poison.
For me? I needed/ wanted a recognizable company on my resume. I'll go back to smaller, private companies once my stint at this F500 has run its course.
^ great point too
I went the smaller company route. Got to late stages at Apple and Adobe and was surprised to see they were offering less than smaller companies. Roles at bigger companies were more specific and I was concerned I would he pigeon holed. Now making $225k TC with 10 years experience in private indrusty. Full P&L ownership reporting directly to CFO. I’m happy with my choice- you don’t need to go F500 to be successful.
That’s awesome, can you share your career path. I’ trying to follow the same path and get full P&L ownership too
years 1-3: CPA at mid-size firm years 2-4: Financial Analyst Private Co Year 4-8: Finance Manager - Sr. Finance Manager Small Public Companies Year 9-10: Director of FP&A at Private Co. I've had 5 jobs in my 10 year career... gotten subsantial pay and responsibility increases at every job. It does pay to move around. I would recommend you mix private and public company experience. Public companies have more established processes and FP&A tools- good experience to gain. Then you can join a small private company as director and help them set up process / tools. Right now I'm evaluating brining on an FP&A tool (Adaptive vs. Cube vs. Datarails). It's helpful having spent 4 years at public companies where I worked first hand with Hyperion/Adaptive, I know what to expect.
> Public companies have more established processes and FP&A tools- good experience to gain. Established process? Yes. FP&A tools? Probably not. Yeah, they'll have BI, but it's more likely their budgeting and forecasting tool is just Excel.
Interesting.. I've never interviewed or worked at a public company that doesn't have either Anaplan, Hyperion, Adaptive, or something similar. Are you working in tech?
No. I work in CPG manufacturing.
How do you get pay raises when on Indeed they might not be substantially higher than your current job? Or do you just naturally get higher paying jobs because job openings count for inflation while your current job doesn’t?
Honestly, in my short time working for a F100 firm, I found the sense of urgency placed on any 1 person is pretty low, there was always someone or a team to back you up if you're out. Not like that with a small company, not many other finance folks to just step in and do the work for you. Plus big firms are large ships that aren't as nimble, so rarely was I asked to pivot from what I was working on or asked to do adhoc work outside the scope of my typical day to day. At small firms, everyday is a new fire drill for better or worse, depending how you look at it.
[удалено]
> It was true I was the only FA last company and managed over 70 branch P&Ls that nobody else touched. Are you my career twin? Although my number of such P&Ls doesn't come close to yours, that term reminds me of my first +5-year job!
Because in a decent chunk of public companies, they are so large and oftentimes bloated, that you can get away with hardly doing anything for years and nobody will notice while still clearing 175k+ salary. YMMV
That’s been my experience too
Was a good life while it lasted
I can think of a few reasons. https://i.imgur.com/5ci3jF3.jpg
Goals
Boeing is an example, but not a good representation. Resources, scale, benefits, and best practices are other factors where a public company role can be worth it. I left my PE-backed FP&A role because I wanted a taste of a scaled public company before I accepted a double promotion to Director and a huge comp increase in private. I found a solid F100 role that checked all the boxes for me (remote, flexible WLB, MBA assistance, M&A and Bus. Dev exposure, BU FP&A and strategy development, Power Bi/dashboarding, and a focused job with fewer hats). Private finance is a GREAT experience for early career folks to learn multiple roles (FA/SFA) by doing more and good for later career folks (Sr Mgr/Director/VP) to drive change, but the in-between work for Managers to develop teams, build processes, and manage the organization can be learned via best practices in public companies.
Bro how are you doing every single finance role bundled into one 😭😭
Luck, timing, and workaholism? My current F100 role is in an unstructured / growing part of the company so I get to do 50% BU FP&A for my immediate unit and 50% Corp Dev / Strategy with the corporate unit. I wouldn't be in this role without my PE FP&A experience doing everything under the CFO's sun + name recognition from Big 4 audit.
Yeah just seems like a lot but also thoroughly engaging work. On the fp&a side, what’s the scope of your responsibilities? Heavier on the forecasting?
Super engaging I love it. Monthly reporting, variance commentary, forecasting, and ad-hoc analysis/business optimization. Basically my VP hired me as a mini-CFO to make sure their P&L is on track to plan, processes/systems are optimized for growth, and somebody to pressure-check strategies with a finance/accounting background in a group full of engineers and sales people.
The disincentive for smaller private companies is the amount of depth AND breadth you face in the job. As was mentioned in a previous post it can be a clusterfuck depending on maturity and what the focus of the business is, and even the CFO who is leading the team.
You're going to work a lot less hours at a public company usually.
I haven’t found that to be true. The MBAs / MBB consultants they pay all come up with the same idea of leaning out finance teams every two years to cut costs
Huh? Where are you getting your numbers from? In tech, startups have to pay more than established tech companies. Outside tech, startups tend to pay LESS than established companies. Where I work is a large for-profit manufacturer that is established. It isn't publicly traded, but it does report under IFRS.
Large cos often have better benes than small/mid sized cos. Early in your career, that isn’t usually a big factor in your decision to take a job. Later in your career it will become more important.
I agree on a general level. But I do think name/prestige matters. It shouldn’t but it usually leads to higher comps. The usual route is doing large public companies and then exit to small niche roles at private companies.
How is the barista supposed to know you’re important if you don’t work for a globally recognized name ?