[cpamom]

I am going to try to shorten my story as much as I can – I am in my late twenties, married, with a newborn, currently in grad school and studying for the cpa exam. I went through college recruiting, attended leadership conferences, received internship offers, and went on with a busy season audit internship with one of the Big 4. Got a FT audit offer and transfered the offer to a diferent office (in April to start next September). In the summer I interned at a F100 company in their corporate tax dept and just now received an offer from there to start in september. This offer is for tax which I like better than audit, better money (but money is not my main deciding factor) 40hours a week with paid overtime if needed. Since I have a child now I want to be more present at home. Should I renege my Big 4 audit offer and accept this offer? Would reneging my offer ruin my reputation? Should I just suck it up and get the B4 experience? Anybody here who is a mom and working as a first year associate in public accounting?

[Recked]

It is not likely that you will only work 40 hours a week at Big4 as a first year associate.
It is also highly unlikely that you will ever have a Big4 opportunity if you choose to go into F100 now. The longer you wait the harder it is to get into Big4.
This is a question only you can answer. Yes, the B4 on your resume is huge, but this is also time you will never get back with your child. You never get a repeat on those first few years.
That being said… your child won;t really remember these first few years. If you need to go B4, and work all those crazy hours, now is the time to do it, so you can get back to a more reasonable work/life balance by the time the child enters their formative years, the years they will remember mommy being around after school, and going to games, etc.
This is a decision no one else can make for you unfortunately.

[fsugirl2005]

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say @Recked sounds like a dude. I am a single mom with a 6 year old but I worked full time in an office plus had a side gig running my own accounting business from home when my child was an infant. I work full time from home now but I really wish I could have done it when he was a baby. I feel like I missed so much and he's going to be my only child. I'm too old for more kids(I'm 38). Yes it is a wonderful opportunity for the Big 4 but many people only stay in Big 4 firms for two to three years and then they leave. Contrary to what Recked said, babies do need their mothers when they are very small. They may not “remember” but there is an attachment that takes place when they are infants and it can have an impact on them, and even you if you are not there like you can be.

I suggest you talk it over with your hubby and see what he thinks. I firmly believe that a new mom should wait until her child is two to three years old before you take a job in Big 4. Maybe start off in a smaller firm that may accommodate your hours better. Then, maybe you can go into the Big 4 as an experienced hire. If work/life balance is important to you, then you can hang that up working in Big 4. I would love to work in Big 4 but I'm a mommy and there is no better job than that.

Good luck @cpamom.

AUD - 10/21/16 (75----07/2010 expired)
FAR - 10/28/16
BEC - 11/2016
REG - 01/2017

Using Gleim CPA Review, Ninja Audio, Ninja Book

[Painted_Jeans]

I think @recked already gave u a great advice, i was just gonna add that you might want to pass the exam before starting with B4 if you decided to stick with them.. I have couple friends who work there in senior positions and still havent passed the exam because of the hours (or maybe laziness too idk) and got stuck in the senior position not being able to move up because no license.
If i was in your position i'd go with the second offer. You said money is not a big factor but you like tax more, for me money is a factor but i'm not a big fan of tax even though i dont mind it either so i'd definitely choose the other company. It seems like a winning situation for you since you DO like tax more and they pay more and you get overtime. I mean B4 is awesome I regret not taking the internship with Deloitte at the time, now it's super hard to get in. It may be worth it if you're super ambitious and want to reach as high as F100 CFO or CEO, otherwise i think you will be able to have a very nice life and get to the managing role from the inside.
As far as kids..Im finishing grad school in few weeks and currently work in audit at the smallish firm (50 people) and i have a kid too but he is much older than yours, he's 10 i had him pretty early and stayed home with him for the first 3.5 years of his life.. i dont regret it either. He might not remember those years much but i do, i have videos and pictures and memories.
It's a tough choice you have, hope you make the right decision!

[Painted_Jeans]

@fsugirl2005 lol Recked is a dude hahahaha but he got some good points! I agree with you more though, I'm a single mom too and even though i might have more kids i probably won't, so being able to be home with my son when he was little did impact him, he's very close to me and we have more of a friendship-like relationship than parental-like.

[Recked]

Don't get me wrong. I'd vote the 40 hour a week gig that gives you more time to be home with the kid.
Hands down, life is about so much more than money. No one will ever lay on their deathbed wishing they spent more time in the office, but they will wish they spent more time with loved ones.
All I was saying was if you NEED that B4 experience, now might be your shot. To each their own, not the route I chose, or would choose if I were to do it all over again.
And yes, I am a dude.

[Jen-J]

I don't see newborn + Big 4 + studying for CPA exam as a workable combo. 2 of the 3 is daunting, and that's if your spouse is willing and able to be the primary parent. When will you be done with your exams?

[cpamom]

@jen-j Right now I am at home with my baby and taking grad school classes at night. My plan is to start studying for FAR in early December and take it early February. I’m going to be at home with the baby, full time evening grad school, and studying for cpa in the spring semester and I want to be done with grad school and the CPA by the end of August.

[Painted_Jeans]

@cpamom I think it's doable, you graduate in the spring?

[cpamom]

@Painted_Jeans I graduate in August – have to take 3 classes over the summer semesters.

[Painted_Jeans]

If you got help with the baby i think it's totally doable. I work 40-50 hrs a week+full time grad+cpa study but my mom lives with me and my son is not a newborn lol but i have to deal with 5th grade homework every day. All the house work is done by her so i only do it on weekends. Hope to be done with mine in May once grad school is out of the way i can just concentrate on the exams.. man i hope all this pays off some day!

[fsugirl2005]

LOL @recked

No disrespect to you my friend. =)

AUD - 10/21/16 (75----07/2010 expired)
FAR - 10/28/16
BEC - 11/2016
REG - 01/2017

Using Gleim CPA Review, Ninja Audio, Ninja Book

[cpamom]

@painted_jeans you are a superwoman! Good luck with everything!

[Painted_Jeans]

@cpamom haha well i dont have two job offers from huge firms like you! struggling to get one in different state so i can move.. 🙁

[jules1268]

Full time audit with a Big 4 will include travel unless you get on smaller/local clients or have some sort of agreement. I left Big 4 before I had kids (3 and 5 now) but got a solid experience in that has helped me going forward. I am not sure how I would have been able to do busy season with a 1 year old though. It's a tough choice. I'd probably have some regrets with either decision, you just need to decide which one is the lesser regret. Lots of new moms have to go back to work right away and miss time with their babies. I am glad I can be around more now that they are older and go to school events. I'm also glad I had some baby time with them but really it was pick them up from daycare, get dinner ready, eat, then bed during the week. Think about your career goals long term and what you need to get there. I feel like I'm rambling, lol.

[Pork Flavored Bacon]

I would like to add one thing:
Painted_Jeans mentioned she had some friends stuck in the senior position because they did not pass the CPA exams. I do not know from which Big 4 Cpamom received an offer but I would like to inform that you need the CPA exam passed to make senior associate in the audit practice at PwC. If you don't have your CPA exams passed by the time you are going to be promoted to senior associate, they will put you as an “in-charge” which means you are taking on the senior role with all the responsibilities but paid at an associate's salary. Not a good situation because if you don't pass the exams soon after that, they'll most likely cut you loose.
As far as I know, in the other three firms, you need to have your license to make manager. PwC is the one who really likes to stick it in and break it off.

FAR - 75 | REG - 87 | AUD - 82 | LAW - 81

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