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Question for the Group: How Does One Get Into Cost Accounting?

One of our Twitter followers Markied85 asked us the following:

How would you suggest getting into cost accounting? it seems like one of those positions you fall into with experience.


Good question! Personally speaking, your humble editor only had a brief stint as a financial analyst that involved compiling internal reporting for a COO and that was after we had done our time in public/Big 4, so your thinking is on the right track.

If you accept an entry-level position with a private company, chances are you wouldn’t be tasked with providing reports to managers. However it is possible that you would be responsible for compiling these reports and depending on how the department is set up, one of your superiors would review and present the reports.

But what do we know? Like we said, our experience is limited so we just took quick shot in the dark. What we do know is if you are an in-house cost accountant, a CMA is good credential to set you apart from the rest in your group (plus, you’ll probably get more money).

If you’ve got good experience with this transition or you’ve been in a cost/managerial accounting role your entire career, let’s hear about it.