[Parthamis]

A few years ago, I worked at a mid sized public accounting firm, but had to leave for personal reasons. It was my first out of college public accounting job, I was only there for about 5 months, not even there for busy season.

I am currently working at a smaller firm, with about 30 staff, within the top 20 of Long Island.

I was talking to a coworker who had moved between a few firms during her 7 years in public, let’s call her Ann. When I asked Ann if she had considered bigger firms, she stated she had no attention of moving to a bigger firm nervy the hours are ridiculous.

It got me thinking, what is the better way to go? My current firm has 37.5 hour weeks, 9am – 5:30pm including an hour lunch break. The firm I worked at before had 40 hour weeks. Both of course had extended hour requirements during busy season, including this fall season.

My small firm right now, we typically prepare writeups, prepare payroll returns, sales tax returns, and of course, tax returns both corporate and individual. We provide audit and review services also, but they are not allowing me to work on that as of now.

So question:
What is there really to expect at bigger firms outside of Big 4, in terms of work and culture? This includes mid size firms and large public accounting firms. My expectation is higher salary, larger benefits package, larger clients and more focused work, ie audit OR tax.

My plan is to get back into a bigger firm eventually. Not a big 4,or one that has too many publicly traded corporations since I enjoy investing in stocks. I’m confident I can do well, and I have the drive to make it happen.

BTW I have no intention of ever going private, just saying lol

[cortes123]

I used to work for Grant Thornton (currently working in a Private Equity firm) and at least in MY experience, they are not that much different from the Big 4 in terms of culture and workload. Before a Big 4 alumni jumps at me, let me clarify that when I say that they are not much different, I mean specifically in terms of workload and culture. I have friends in Big 4 and back when I was with GT, we used to compare our workloads during busy season (tax), and at least in my experience, the workload and hours were about the same.

What can you expect at bigger firms? Well, if my experience is one that can be extrapolated, then I would say that generally, you can expect a much bigger workload, more hours (sometimes worked more than 80 hours during busy season) more challenging work (before GT I worked at a small firm), stricter procedures (GT was big on SOPs), and yes better pay and benefits. So basically you would be trading your work-life balance for long hours, more stress, more challenging work and better pay and benefits. I consciously made that trade going to GT because I was not getting challenged at the small firm and I felt that I wasn't progressing professionally. Once I arrived at GT and gained the experience, I left as soon as possible because I could not stand the culture and hours.

What is the better way to go? GT gave me an exposure that I would never have had if I had stayed in the small firm. I was finally challenged at work and I also gained valuable experience. Because of that, I have never regretted the decision to move from a small firm. To me, the long hours and stress were worth it at the end. Without that experience, I think I could not have never landed the job I have now.

[Recked]

I've been talking to some other firms recently. I have not talked to any LARGE firm. Most seem to require 55-60 during busy season, then 37.5-40 during non-busy season.
There is only larger firm in the area, doing over 10mil gross with more than 10 partners and probably more than 100 employees.
They do 8-6 in tax season 6 days a week, but they offer 4 day work weeks from memorial day to labor day, unless you specifically need to be there for some deadline.

It sucks giving up an extra day or 2 worth of hours during tax season and not getting anything back outside of tax season.
One of the largest reasons I won't go to any of the firms I interviewed with recently. I work like a dog in tax season, but then work 30-32 hours a week outside of tax season, on average.
Is it worth an extra 30k in total comp to become a small cog in a larger firm? Not to me. Some people might jump at that.

[splash6]

From my experience, bigger is better. The smaller the firm, the less HR and oversight of management, which means they can be more unfair, meaner, arbitrary, and abusive. Small firms are basically little fiefdoms run by grudge-holding dictators. There is a safety in numbers. I'd gladly accept an 80 hour work week at a large firm for the protection over a 60 hour work week in a small firm where you're in direct contact with partners and they're constantly jabbing you in the neck and setting you up to fail.

[jenpen]

I started at a small firm – 2 partners, and I was the first full time hire. It was great experience for my first job post-MBA and having zero accounting experience. I learned a lot, and got my hands on many different types of projects. But after I got my CPA, I decided I wanted a more tax-focused role and went to a mid-size firm. It had around 20 partners, and around 150 employees I think. At the small firm, my hours to hit each year were 2160, with a minimum of 70% (~1500) billable. There were no set hours each week during tax season, and since there were just 2 of us doing returns it was just get them turned around as quickly as possible. I probably worked around 50 hours a week during tax season.

Mid-size was a different story. We had 1800 billable minimum, and 2330 total hours to hit each year. We were required to work a minimum of 65 hours during tax season, with at least 4 hours on Saturday. The weekly hours were higher in the fall, as well. The rest of the year we could pretty much do whatever we wanted, as long as we hit the goals. I lasted there just under a year.

I started looking for a new job after busy season ended, and ended up at a multi-family office. For me, it's like being in public without BEING in public. I still am tax-focused, but I have other responsibilities as well. And I only work about 45 hours a week during busy seasons, because we outsource the preparation of most of the returns. We focus more on the tax planning aspect.

AUD - 56 - 68 - 61 - 9/8/16
REG - 75
FAR - 7/15/16
BEC - TBD

Wiley CPAexcel and NINJA 10 Point Combo

[Recked]

Shitty bosses are everywhere. Small firms, big firms. Shitty people make for shitty bosses.
Simple life lesson.
Just because you are with a big firm doesn't ultimately provide you complete protection.
If the shitty boss/partner is a rain maker, they are more apt to protect that $$$ gravy train, than the lowly employees.

[Biff Tannen]

I’ve worked for two local CPA firms, and I also worked for a big 4 firm. If you decide to go with a big 4, make sure to constantly watch your back. It’s very cutthroat and highly competitive. The big 4 up or out mantra is real. But if you can make it in the big 4 your exit ops will be much better. Your resume will always be prioritized over the resumes of people with smaller firms. It’s unfair, but that’s just how it is.

[Author]

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