[theJackedCPA]

Forgive my ignorance, but during college the only routes in public accounting my teachers told me about were tax and audit. Could someone please explain to me what the day to day of the advisory/consulting function is like, and the exit opportunities as they compare to audit? Thanks.

[j_accountant]

I am wondering if you ever figured this out. I am interested too

[ellabella]

Advisory is really “advice”, like consulting a business during a non-audit engagement. Lots of firms need it. For instance, when the new standards for Sarbanes-Oxley was passed, firms didn't know how to discern the requirements of the act, so they turned to CPA firms for consultancy. When you're studying for the CPA exam (like UWorld Roger CPA Review), they speak of different topics that can assist any business with refining business processes, expediting matters, and complying with laws. If now working for a CPA firm, one could demonstrate advisory competencies in a management consulting firm like McKinsey.

[george]

Advisory is simply to advise someone or consult a business. Most of the people who are in accounting business taking advisory services from professional CPA firms to grow their business. While audit means to check out the financial statement of an individual.

[Vicky]

This is how I feel every time we go to a recruiting event and the students always ask if I'm tax or audit. I work in Risk Advisory and I like to describe it as internal audit/consulting work. I personally love it because all of our projects vary since they simply depend on what management is trying to achieve (internal audits, BPIs, SOX, government compliance, etc.).

[Ninja Albert]

Hey I think advisory is guiding business owners to accomplish there financial goals and I think it can be either way in TAX and Audit. An auditor must understand the transaction cycles and may also advise on better ways and more efficient ways a company can run so it may be a mix of both…

that's some food for thought!

[Author]

Replies