[labruin06]

Why do Chicago-based auditors have to fly out to San Francisco? Why do San Francisco-based auditors have to fly out to Chicago? Doesn’t it make more sense for Chicago-based auditors to go to a Chicago client site and San Francisco-based auditors to go to a San Francisco client site?

[Anonymous]

Maybe specific Big 4 offices have cognizance over certain clients? I know that's the case where I work which isn't a Big 4, (I never had to sell my soul to the devil) and if the client has mutiple locations you sometimes have travel to them even if there is another location nearby. They have there own clients to worry about.

[mnCPAwannabe]

Typically depends what is the most cost-effective given the resources available in terms of manpower and experience. A lot of background knowledge goes into the audits of big clients. All depends what the client needs, as it is a client serving industry.

FAR: 84
AUD: 95
REG: 78
BEC: 88
ETHICS: 100

[NoScores2Display4thisSection]

usually for trainings.

done

[jelly]

Depends on lots of factors, i.e. whose client does this partner belong to? Where is that partner based? What's considered the partner's territory, relative to the client, the client's location(s) and how the firm divvies up physical locations across the continental US? Often the partner has better control and knowledge over billing rates, budgets, salary differentials and other administrative costs in his/her own base office, but less so when staff is borrowed from another location, or from a loose alliance office. The partner is making $ from the differential in what's billed per hour to the client, what the engagement team's budget is, admin support costs and anything else the partner's gotta kick in to the firm for central administration/operation costs like insurance, recruiting, partner's share, etc.

Couldn't pass again!

[Anonymous]

It also could have something to do with staff expertise and/or if the company is a subsidiary of a larger company. One of my clients when I worked at one of the Big 4 was a large insurance company. We were in the DC area, but the partner was from the Boston office and he used to assign some of his managers and senior staff to this job who specialized in insurance. The insurance company was also part of a larger national company, so the partner and some managers and staff from another office would also travel to DC occasionally.

[Author]

Replies