[Anonymous]

Essentially, what makes each of these firms unique?

From what I’ve seen, they seem, for the most part, very similar to one another.

[Anonymous]

I'm going to go with “what is 1 Alex for $500” 😀

[Anonymous]

They're basically the same in how they treat their people. Work them to death.

One of them focuses a little more in Tax, another Audit, and the others in other areas.

[Anonymous]

Nothing really except PwC is generally the most selective and KPMG the least selective regarding hiring.

[Anonymous]

You should consider maybe a smaller regional firm, they treat their staff wonderful and you have many of the same opportunities as working for big four

I work for a small accounting firm and I LOVE it plus you get both audit and tax experience

I have heard horror stories of the BIG Four and the hours you put in the first two years which is generally the only amount of time most stay with them

[Mayo]

There's essentially little difference between the four and their focus. From what I've heard, KPMG sometimes has a reputation for being a little laid back, but they work just as many hours as the other three.

From there, you can view each firm's overall strategy a bit differently. EY has been really pushing the whole “global” aspect a bit more than the other firms, while Deloitte has been aggressively building their advisorypractice.

But opportunities are great and work/life balance sucks at any of the Big 4.

The only noticeable difference is in a smaller market city. Oftentimes, one or two firms might dominate a smaller region, meaning they have all the big clients. That type of client diversity might be more appealing than going to a Big 4 firm that has only one or two big clients in the city.

Mayo, BBA, Macc

[misanthrope87]

@ amar

Hah you'll be mistaken if you think all smaller firms treat you better.

B 2/12 87
A 11/11 90
R 8/11 86
F 5/12 88

[Anonymous]

Thanks! Hoping to get an offer from one of these firms when I apply this spring…from my previous interactions with the firms, Deloitte is my favorite but would be happy with any of these four.

Correct me if I'm wrong but I'm guessing that PwC is relatively focused on audit (in the sense that while Deloitte is larger overall than PwC, PwC has a larger audit department)..Deloitte is the only one that still has consulting..E&Y has a relatively strong tax focus.

[jelly]

PWC and Deloitte tend to have more of global clients and an international presence, whereas KPMG and EY tend to have more US-based clients.

Couldn't pass again!

[Mayo]

@Dreaming, Well, audit is the main money maker for all the Big 4, so I would imagine it is the largest service line for all the firms.

@jelly, can you explain what your basing this on? I thought each firm had a pretty good international presence…

Mayo, BBA, Macc

[jelly]

PWC and Deloitte tend to cover more blue chip banks and financial institutions, which tend to have more of a global presence, the other 2 cover more products and services, which tend to have national presence but smaller global offices. The size of the latter 2 also causes that to happen.

Couldn't pass again!

[Author]

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