Any perspective is HUGELY helpful fam! I have been confused between these two options. I have 10+ YoE in Big4 (audit n tax + tech solutions) and in-house (comm finance).. I want to progress towards strategy in corporate I have 3 active offers - all circa $170 in Australia 1) Finance Manager/ controller - Initial stage SaaS start-up.. I will be whole and sole of Finance.. global expansion happening at small scale.. good growth chances 2) FP&A Manager - SaaS in Fin Service sector.. good growth here too.. chance to get exposure to IPO.. 3) Sr. Commercial Analyst - Renewable sector.. Work purely on commercial side.. sitting in strategy meeting.. analysing profitability/ pricing etc.. and not just doing post facto recording.. I like commerical analyst role as its Directly impacting the sales / growth - but afraid if its too junior? What's a better direction? FP&A / Finance or Commercial? #finance
Don’t focus on the title—think about responsibilities and whether you’d find the work interesting
In finance, title matters
Hey thaks.. So what's your suggestion?
Nah. Google SFA makes way more money than Microsoft senior finance manager.
FP&A is narrow so good as niche but for job hunt as less options in market. I think
Nah big options
Just going by raw description as a SWE isn't FP&A looks like the best?
Does SaaS as an industry matter?l ? For future moves.. Or not much
People in saas only want their own. Hard to break into software unless you have experience already or someone is willing to chance on you. Before Google I was from retail and cpg finance. I had a tough time getting interviews with software companies because of this bias.
What’s your goal? Working on something you find interesting or leveling up in the industry? IMO with a 10+ year of audit experience you should at least aim for a manager. FP&A is finance staple and will always be needed in a company. So that’s a safe long-term bet. A finance manager role in a startup can be interesting because you wear many hats (FP&A, auditing, accounting) and to me sounds like the most valuable opportunity in terms of skill gain. A Sr. Commercial analyst role, no matter how strategic the job description sounds, does not usually make any impact in a company. At the end of the day you will be just an analyst who crunches numbers and creates PowerPoint slides.
Thanks Amazon! I have just received Financial Controller at that Start Up.. good salary and stock options too.. I agree after looking at all the suggestions above . M gonna go with the FC role 🤞 PS - my experience of 10+ is not only in Audit.. but Transfer Pricing (International Tax) too.. I think they saw the value in that skill as they're looking to expand internationally
The main reason for the choice is learning opportunities, although can be steep.. as well as leveling up! But at the end can make valuable contribution! I will enjoy the SaaS environment too I guess.
Transfer pricing is a great experience to have. You’ll be a valuable asset to the startup. Hope they raise a lot of funding and $$$ comes your way.
I think taking the FP&A roles in SaaS companies would give you more exit options in the future (and make future job hunt easier) as compared to the niche renewable energy commercial analyst role.
I would go with option 2. Option 1 you will spend too much time on accounting, close, or preparing for the audit and you won’t get time to work on sexy finance stuff unless you want no sleep. Don’t underestimate how messy and a clusterfuck it is to prepare audits and clean up over terrible bookkeeping. If there is a problem you will get asked to prioritize clean up as the sole accounting leader. Option 3 too niche.
Anyone from Commercial Career path? Please comment