GUEST COMMENT: ACAs are so desperate to get into banking they're undercutting everyone else
I'm fed up of ACAs desperate to get out of boring accounting jobs who interview for heavyweight roles best left for those of us with real financial skills. These bottom feeders are the cheap option all the rest of us have to compete with. I don't hate them for being bean-counters, I hate them for driving down my compensation.
When I worked in banking, the ex-accountants were the ones no-one wanted to be forced to work with. I've lost count of the number of times my colleagues and I groaned inwardly when we were staffed with the spotty guy who used to work at one of the Big Four firms. As well as the usual stress and last-minuteism prevalent in M&A, it meant picking up their slack and teaching them hard finance.
None of us were particularly surprised when Andersen went belly up. It was just desserts for the industry which became the bag-man for listed companies, signing off on their dodgy accounts and cross-selling them all sorts of other useless "professional services".
These Orwellian institutions have departments with names like "Strategic Performance Improvement" and "Enterprise Applications" which hide a multitude of sinful consulting fees. Clients don't mind paying through the nose since getting the stamp of approval of a big name with a global presence makes their lives a lot easier and removes their own accountability.
Junior ACA's are the soft underbelly of these firms, all pin-striped and firm hand-shakes but with little real financial insight.
I recently received a sellside information memorandum written by one such rocket scientist: typos on the first page, mistakes in the valuation, glaring errors and omissions in the business plan. We heard on the grapevine that the client had paid a five figure sum and waited three crucial weeks to get this sixty-page doormat.
There are of course exceptions to the rule. But since they are used to being poorly paid, all ACA's tend to under-cut the market. In the process, they create a minimum wage which provides an excuse for employers to negotiate lower packages for all.
What can you do if you're an MBA who's bursting to get into investment banking nevertheless?
My advice is to make sure you acknowledge the learning curve you'll face. Be realistic upfront about it. Don't expect those three letters to mean much to me. As the saying goes: it's just another TLA.
And given that no-one wants to get stuck talking to an accountant at a party, make sure you've read a good book or been to a decent movie recently. If I'm recruiting someone whom I'm going to have to talk to every day, the last thing you need is to come across as boring as the "nerdy bean-counter" stereotype suggests.
The author is a former banker-turned private equity professional.
