Any suggestions how an Accountant w/CPA could get into IT?

A very close friend of mine brought up via the phone today that he wanted to get into IT. He has 7+ years of tax and audit experience, he also has 2 years as a financial analyst with GE.

Is there anyway he could leverage those skills into IT. I was thinking Peoplesoft or SAP FICO modules maybe, but after that I stalled.

He has his BS in Accounting and Finance and a Masters in Accountancy. Both degrees are from a top 25 business school in the United States. He also has his CPA.

Any suggestions how he could leverage that into IT?

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erpadmin

N2IT wrote: »

Is there anyway he could leverage those skills into IT. I was thinking Peoplesoft or SAP FICO modules maybe, but after that I stalled.

Any suggestions how he could leverage that into IT?

If he wanted to break into IT AND get into an ERP as a Functional/Technical person, he would have to learn programming. Only then could he deal with getting into Financials/Supply Chain Module (or SAP FICO).

If he could get into programming, there isn't a job shop (e.g. Accenture) that wouldn't take on a CPA.

the_Grinch

ERP is definitely a great chance for him to get into IT. But I would also say that IT Auditing might be a great avenue as well. CPA + CISA he could probably write his own ticket anywhere....

N2IT

Awesome information I really do appreciate it.

Jason is my friend and a great guy. Thanks a bunch for taking time out of your busy schedules to offer your well respected opinions.

Both of those are wonderful ideas to say the least.

powerfool

ERP or compliance auditing...

Cisco Inferno

my accounting professor is a CPA as well as CIA(audits) and CFE(fraud examiner). He had a strong background in Fraud and auditing.
before teaching at his age, he obtained his CNE(novell) certification and accepted a job as a Security Analyst for the Long Island Railroad.
he originally went looking for an accounting job with them and they offered that once they saw his CNE.

so yea, i figure it wouldnt be bad with some heavy training and certs.

colemic

First order of business is to get his CISA knocked out, or even CISM. He also might look at financial institution cores for opportunities, they love people who can complete SAS 70s.

N2IT

Again thanks for the heads up

He actually has heard of the CISA. He said his professor in grad school had the same exact certification.

I think he is going to look into the CISA. I hope so he makes ~59,000 a year

He should be making way more than that.

N2IT

One snag up. You need two years of IT auditing experience. Anyway to get that waived? It looks like it's 5 and with the CPA and accounting degree it chips off 2-3. I think he may have hit a snafu

Do you think doing the Excel 1 and 2 MS exams have any value for him or is that just silly?