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MBA vs. CPA: Battle of the Business Designations

I’m headed into my last year of my undergraduate and so I’m starting to be faced with what I should be doing after I graduate. Since I started my business degree in 2010 I’ve known that I will be pursuing a designation greater than my B.Comm. I’ve always seen the Chartered Accountant (CA) designation as fantastic and a great way to further my career. I’ve seen what it has done for my mom and I’ve been very adamant about following in her footsteps. However, with the recent change in the accounting designation in Canada I’m a little unsure as to what it means for me. So I’m looking at either the CPA (which is the new accounting designation, or an MBA (Master’s in Business Association).

The beautiful University of Alberta Campus!

Right now I’m leaning towards the CPA, here’s why:

1. You need two years of work experience before you can start pursing an MBA. With the CPA I will be able to start a few months after graduation. I’m not one to wait around – if I see opportunity I take it and I’ve always been about furthering my career as fast as I can!
2. CPA is more specialized. Everyone and their dog gets an MBA today and while it can be useful I personally don’t think getting an MBA two years out of school does much for you. Every one I’ve spoken with says that an MBA is only useful if you have specialized knowledge beforehand such as an Engineering or Geology degree. No one wants a generalist, if you have a general undergraduate degree and you get a general master’s degree are you really that much more valuable? Likely no.
3. MBA on top of a business degree doesn’t make sense. I already have what I believe to be a strong business education (thanks U of A!), and most of the MBA courses are just undergraduate courses with a different number in the front. Accounting 414 (I’ll likely mark for this class this year) is the identical class to Accounting 614. As I said above, an MBA really makes sense if you have a strong technical background (engineering and geology) and you need general business knowledge. Have your B.Sc or B.A. not sure an MBA will provide the same advantage.

There is a gross misunderstanding that people can walk into their MBA, obtain it and walk out making over 100K a year. In a lot of cases that may very well be true, but again you need to have relevant,specialized work experience and strong technical skills when it comes to operations. You need to different, have something that no one else has. While I could definitely fast-track the MBA program because of my background in business (1 year), and the CPA program is two full years, I just don’t think it makes sense for me. I want to stand out in my career and that’s why I’m leaning towards a tax specialization.  I think new grads need to be careful when picking a designation to pursue. There are so many but if you get the one that everybody has, it’s value diminishes. Ideally, I’ll get my accounting designation (CPA), perhaps look at a finance designation (CFA) and eventually look at personal finance (CFP) and bankruptcy (CIRP).