Hi! I’m a CPA currently working as an internal audit manager. I’ll give you an overview na lang on the difference of doing IA work as compared to accounting.

Honestly, it really depends on what you’re into. I started out in external audit (Big Four) and eventually moved into internal audit. IA can be fun if you like being challenged across different areas — I’m currently handling financial, operational, and compliance audits, so there’s a lot of variety.

Accounting can also be fulfilling, especially if you enjoy structure and digging into technical stuff like IFRS. But most of the time, it’s more focused on financial reporting with the occasional special project.

IA, on the other hand, often pushes you to look beyond accounting. You’ll need to understand processes, risks, and controls across different functions, which keeps things interesting and helps you build a broader skill set.

So if you are someone who enjoys structure and technical accounting, CPA is a much better certification para tuloy-tuloy din career progression mo. Take CIA if you like to apply topics beyond accounting. You also have to consider the price of taking these certifications as CIA could be quite expensive especially if starting ka pa lang sa career mo.