[Anonymous]

I’ve been an auditor for about a year and a half now (a year at a Big 4 and a little over a half of a year at a large national firm). I think I’ve come to the realization that I no longer want to audit and that I am holding myself back from achieving my long term goals the longer I stay. Once my one year CPA bonus agreement ends in October, I think I am going to peace out of public accounting.

With busy season beginning, does anybody else plan on getting out of public accounting this year? If so, how long have you been in public, why did you leave, and is the grass greener?

[Anonymous]

I'm right there with you! I work for a small cpa firm of about 40 employees. I've been with the firm for a year (audit as well). God willing, I will pass the rest of these exams this year, then I'm OUT of there. I thought audit would be something that I would enjoy, but I'm beyond over it!

[Anonymous]

I'm right there with you! I work for a small cpa firm of about 40 employees. I've been with the firm for a year (audit as well). God willing, I will pass the rest of these exams this year, then I'm OUT of there. I thought audit would be something that I would enjoy, but I'm beyond over it!

[HustlinHustlin]

I've been saying that every year since my first, but I'm a little timid and the benefits of public haven't been too bad to me:

I'll be coming up on my 3 years (more 3.5 if you count an internship I did at a small firm) but here are the positives and negatives for me anyway:

Pros:

I've gotten a raise every year and a growing end of year bonus

Getting experience in multiple industries and getting my name out there

Job security (due to high turnover)

Flexibility during slower seasons

Cons:

I still always feel underpaid

Stress and constant reliance on others (client getting us documents or waiting on my coworkers to do their part) which reflects negatively on me

Overtime…

Overall, as I have gotten more comfortable I do not dread it so much. It takes a few times with clients that are a disaster to learn you are capable of almost anything at the job. However, It's not something I can see myself doing in the long term.

Also, my firm is not even close to big four (more like 10-15 employees) so I have a little more wiggleroom in some areas. I'm not sure I would have survived at a larger firm.

B 71 - 79 EXPIRED
A 69 - 75 EXPIRED
R 65 - 48 - 45
F 56 - 61 - 65 - 64

Becker, Wiley Test Bank, Wiley Text and Ninja Notes

"The fish who keeps on swimming is the first to chill upstream" -311

Experience - Done, like WAAAY done.
Still need 30 more credits, in basket weaving (gotta love new CA requirements)

[HustlinHustlin]

I've been saying that every year since my first, but I'm a little timid and the benefits of public haven't been too bad to me:

I'll be coming up on my 3 years (more 3.5 if you count an internship I did at a small firm) but here are the positives and negatives for me anyway:

Pros:

I've gotten a raise every year and a growing end of year bonus

Getting experience in multiple industries and getting my name out there

Job security (due to high turnover)

Flexibility during slower seasons

Cons:

I still always feel underpaid

Stress and constant reliance on others (client getting us documents or waiting on my coworkers to do their part) which reflects negatively on me

Overtime…

Overall, as I have gotten more comfortable I do not dread it so much. It takes a few times with clients that are a disaster to learn you are capable of almost anything at the job. However, It's not something I can see myself doing in the long term.

Also, my firm is not even close to big four (more like 10-15 employees) so I have a little more wiggleroom in some areas. I'm not sure I would have survived at a larger firm.

B 71 - 79 EXPIRED
A 69 - 75 EXPIRED
R 65 - 48 - 45
F 56 - 61 - 65 - 64

Becker, Wiley Test Bank, Wiley Text and Ninja Notes

"The fish who keeps on swimming is the first to chill upstream" -311

Experience - Done, like WAAAY done.
Still need 30 more credits, in basket weaving (gotta love new CA requirements)

[snel0075]

BigFourSlave,

I recently resigned from my position in the Big Four to take an extended trip to Australia and New Zealand and to then find something that I like better. I was going a little bit crazy with the stress and demand that a large office in a Big Four firm brings along with it. The hours were terrible, the workload was crazy, and the constant pressure to be going 110mph any given second were driving me up the wall.

So here I am. Currently unemployed awaiting to embark on my adventure. I'm sure that sticking it out any longer in public (tax) wasn't going to get me where I wanted to go. I'm considering a career change entirely, though I would consider industry when I get back if that is all I can find while I'm trying to get back on my feet.

I was only with my firm for a bit over a year. I earned my CPA bonus and sacrificed the $5,000 bonus because I truly was unhappy and didn't think I could take another busy season. I can't tell you whether or I not I'll have made the right decision yet, but right now I am happy. It's like I've awoken from a bad dream, to be honest.

B - 86
A - 87
R - 81
F - 81

DONE.

[snel0075]

BigFourSlave,

I recently resigned from my position in the Big Four to take an extended trip to Australia and New Zealand and to then find something that I like better. I was going a little bit crazy with the stress and demand that a large office in a Big Four firm brings along with it. The hours were terrible, the workload was crazy, and the constant pressure to be going 110mph any given second were driving me up the wall.

So here I am. Currently unemployed awaiting to embark on my adventure. I'm sure that sticking it out any longer in public (tax) wasn't going to get me where I wanted to go. I'm considering a career change entirely, though I would consider industry when I get back if that is all I can find while I'm trying to get back on my feet.

I was only with my firm for a bit over a year. I earned my CPA bonus and sacrificed the $5,000 bonus because I truly was unhappy and didn't think I could take another busy season. I can't tell you whether or I not I'll have made the right decision yet, but right now I am happy. It's like I've awoken from a bad dream, to be honest.

B - 86
A - 87
R - 81
F - 81

DONE.

[whitelilies04]

OP- I'm about to embark on my 3rd busy season at a big 4. Like I've said on this forum before, I enjoy my work (tax) but I don't enjoy the rate at which I'm required to do my work. I'm in a large office which deals w/ large corporate clients with various YEs. So it is literally ALWAYS busy season to an extent, though my workload peaks Jan-Mar and gets really bad Aug-Sept. I'm thinking of going to industry, managing one client sounds like a dream. All of my peers who have left say industry is awesome compared to big 4. I've also tossed around the idea of going to a smaller firm, but I think I'll just leave public altogether.

FAR - passed, 11/12
AUD - passed, 5/13

[whitelilies04]

OP- I'm about to embark on my 3rd busy season at a big 4. Like I've said on this forum before, I enjoy my work (tax) but I don't enjoy the rate at which I'm required to do my work. I'm in a large office which deals w/ large corporate clients with various YEs. So it is literally ALWAYS busy season to an extent, though my workload peaks Jan-Mar and gets really bad Aug-Sept. I'm thinking of going to industry, managing one client sounds like a dream. All of my peers who have left say industry is awesome compared to big 4. I've also tossed around the idea of going to a smaller firm, but I think I'll just leave public altogether.

FAR - passed, 11/12
AUD - passed, 5/13

[Author]

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