[Anonymous]

Questions for those who have been a Senior in Big 4 audit, or even mid-market firms (*please be as detailed as possible for example, how large were the bank recs you audited, how large were the spreadsheets you worked on*):

1. How many engagements have you managed at once?

2. What were your responsibilities on those engagements?

3. How many team members were you responsible for?

4. How did you usually code your time when you were helping a staff member?

5. What were the most important excel functions/tools that you must know?

6. Specifically, what was the most complex task you’ve encountered?

7. How long on average does it take to make Manager and how did you accomplish it? (Based on seniority, did you move to another location, are you well-connected, etc?)

[Anonymous]

Bump, this should be a hot topic. Basically a roadmap to success.

[TommyTheCat]

1 – tons
2 – yuge. yuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuge.
3 – lots
4 – bang the hell out of the code
5 – sum and + and – formulas
6 – putting up with your posts on this site
7 – depends

have a nice day brickster! Now get back to work

[Anonymous]

Thanks, Tommy! I will get back to work. Lucky me, I get to audit an adult entertainment company today. The owner even gave us passes for a free massage.

[maxb]

Lol this post is ridiculous, apparently bricknell needs his hands held. Maybe we can warm up some milk fo you? Figure it out for yourself, your a big boy.

[Anonymous]

It's not about hand being held. More like I'm willing to bet the experience you have gotten at your high and mighty Big 4 positions isn't all that great after all. It's clear you guys don't want to answer the questions truthfully because these are the type of questions that will expose the lack of experience you truly have.

If you are confident in your skills and experience, these questions are really not that difficult to respond to. Just saying.

It just leads me to wonder how miserable you are in your careers that you have to try and shame people online for asking specific job-related questions.

[murd]

This question should be posed on a different forum. This is a CPA test review site. Most users here have not yet passed the CPA exam. Some firms require Seniors to have a CPA. Most, if not all, require Managers to have a CPA.

So your targeted audience will not read this.

If you want to compare yourself to big 4 employees, go get some CE and ask them face to face.

I really appreciate the road map to success though! Those 7 questions will take me to the top!

[Anonymous]

That's true and fair enough. Though this was posted in the “Career” section of this site, suggesting topics related to careers in accounting are welcome. Plus there are a few old timers and experienced members who hang around and post from time to time.

That's a good idea to sit in on CPEs, etc.

But I don't think it hurts to ask the questions that were asked though. For example, coming from a smaller firm environment, I have no idea what type of work the Big 4 is likely to outsource vs what they do in-house. I'm sure certain offices and locations are different, but it amuses me that some people would rather critique the question rather than provide any feedback. The arrogance in the above responses is degenerative.

[mad max]

I wouldn't sweat it… don't feed the trolls

[Recked]

Eh, forums are all the same.
It doesn't matter the subject matter of the forum, human natures always shines through.
I have no relevant information to share with you, all tax experience in a sole prop.
The sooner you can work for yourself the better off you'll be.
Keep chasing that almighty dollar!

[Foreverstudent]

Brickell – are you in Miami? I am, only here you can get adult entertainment client too lol. Would be interesting to chat, I used to work for one of the large once but not big4.

[Anonymous]

Yes, I am all over South Florida. We can chat but whenever I put out contact info it gets deleted/modded out so it has to be through forum posts.

[Missy]

Topics related to careers are welcome on the career page but what you're going to get for responses by and large will be staff at big 4 speculating on how their seniors and managers got to where they are. And if that's helpful to you great! But I think I've seen maybe *one* big 4 manager post here and possibly *two* seniors over the course of 7 years so you may be waiting quite a long while to get actual been there done that feedback.

Licensed Massachusetts Non Reporting CPA since 2012
Finance/Admin/HR Manager

[Author]

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