Job Responsibilities
As a Senior Associate, which typically takes about 2 years out of
undergrad to reach, I am responsible for running my own jobs.
Basically, I spend 90% of my time at client locations and am the
lead contact between the audit manager and partner (who may spend
less than 1 day a week out at a client)and the client senior
management (Controller, CFO, CEO). My responsibilties include
setting up the audit plan with the Manager prior to going to the
client, and then seeing the plan through while out at the
client. My clients tend to be slightly smaller and therefore I
spend only about 4-6 weeks at each one per year. People with
very large clients - (think Pfizer, GE) - can expet to spend
almost the entire year at the client location. I'm typically
responsible for overseeing the audit team of 2-3 staffers and the
ultimate responsibility of getting the audit done correctly and
efficiently lies with me. If you have managers that a very hands
off, expect more responsibility. If you have very hands on
managers, or if you're at a very large client, expect less
responsibility.
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Job Requirements
The career path in Big 4 firms is pretty standard. You come in
as a staff accountant (some call this "first-year associate" now,
but it's the same thing). You then get promoted after a year to
associate (or 2nd year associate) - if you were an intern and
they like you a lot, you may get promoted to senior associate
after one year - but I think most people are happy not to have
the significant responsibility (and extra hours) that comes with
the Senior role in their second year. Most people become Senior
associates in their 3rd year, and make Manager after about 4.5 -
6 years. If for some reason you want to stick it out til
Partner, expect at least 10 years.
Education requirements are pretty standard - I think they pretty
much want people with Accounting degrees who are looking to get
their CPAs, but will also hire some without. These firms are in
need of people and I believe that compensation for new hires has
come up a bit.
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Uppers
Experience & Exposure. If you want to learn accounting, work in audit for a few
years. The difference between becoming an accountant in an accounting dept of
some company and working in public accounting is like night and day - spend some
time in public if you can. You also get terrific exposure to senior people at
clients since you'll be dealing with them on a daily basis and you get unique
exposure to how clients run their businesses that someone out of undergrad would
be hard pressed to find elsewhere.
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Downers
The pay sucks, although it has come up a little in recent years.
The hours can really suck too. Most of the people i've worked
with don't feel they're adequately compensated for the work they
put in, at least that's typical at the associate & senior
associate levels. The work can be boring at times too, and
dealing with clients who don't want to make time for you can be
frustrating too.
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Lifestyle
During busy season expect to put in some long hours (60 hours during the week
and a couple of weekends is probably typical). This can vary depending on your
clients and manager/partner. It's common for some people to work from January
through April with only a handful of days off -including weekends, yet it's also
not uncommon to make it through busy season without working more than a weekend
or two.
Summers tend to be slower, although like everything else it can vary greatly
depending on your clients. Travel is fairly common too, particularly if you work
outside of a major city like New York.
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Compensation
Starting salary is probably just under $50k for undergrads in the
New York office. Raises often suck, and expect to feel that your
overworked and underpaid - the good thing is that at least you'll
have a group of people your age that you complain among. Bonuses
and options are pretty much nonexistant.
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Advice to Jobseekers
It takes a particular typoe of person to like public accounting -
don't come in and have aspirations of being partner one day b/c
more than likely you'll quit after 3 years. Turnover is very
high. The firms tend to look at new hires and just new bodies to
fill scheduling holes. They expect that a large % will be gone
in a few years and therefore don't do much to retain lower level
people.
My advice is to use it as a stepping stone. In my view there are
two great ways to use a public accounting firm. Stay three
years, learn a lot, and then go do something else where you can
use the skills you learned. I went back to school to get my MBA
and my starting salary post-MBA is now about 3 times my salary
when i left public accounting 2 years ago and I'll make more than
a lot of the partners at my old firm this year. Pay your dues
and then use it to move on.
THe other good and typical move is to spend a few years there and
then take a job working for one of your clients. If you do a
good job for a client, and they like you, it's pretty common to
get a job there later on. But don't leave before you at least
get some experience as a Senior Associate running your own jobs -
without this experience you risk winding up in a lower paying job
without much upward potential. The people who do the best with
this strategy seem to be those who hang in until manager and then
make the leap to private accounting as a controller, vice
president, or CFO role. One year spent in public is equivalent
to about three years spent elsewhere as far as career
progression What i mean by this is if you were to leave as a
Senior associate, it may take you 6 years to work youself up to
the same level that you could have gone right had you left as a
manager - which would have taken you only another 2 years in
public to achieve.
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