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Currently at a top 100 regional CPA firm as a tax staff with 1 busy season of experience. 55-65hr billable during the busy times (jan to April 15th & Aug through Sept 15 and a bit into Oct15) and will sometimes help out the audit depts during the non-busy times (35-40 hrs per week billable helping out audit which wouldn’t be bad except one of the audit clients was 70-90min away – being assigned to this for 2months of the summer – commute was not taken into consideration and so this basically ruined my summer off-season). Commute into the tax office (main office) is ~35mins into the city (live in a college town suburb).

Interviewed with 2 small CPA firms near where I live (one is 15-25 employees, 4-5 partners & one is like 50employees with more partners/shareholders ) and got offer from at least 1 of them to make a bit more money as a tax staff and and the commute is only 10-15mins, they only do tax and no audits, and commute is super easy and doesn’t involve a parking garage or driving into the city/urban environment, etc.

Looking for advice on the pros and cons of staying put versus changing jobs to a smaller CPA firm.

Pros of staying put:

Continue to build my career with a regional firm

Nice people

Generous amount of vacation (about 4 weeks+)

Get a lot of exposure to different areas of tax: Work on 1040s, 1065s, 1120s, state and local tax returns, state and local tax research, trust returns (1041’s), 990’s NFP, etc

Cons:

Salaries are def a bit on the lower side.

Crappy 35min commute into main office (what I do 80% of the year)

Easy to get lost in the crowd – Could be assigned to an audit client 70-90min away during off seasons

No 401k match

Health insurance is very poor coverage (HSA with a deductible so high it’s like not having health insurance)

Pros of switching to a small CPA firm:

10-15min commute to the same place close to 100% of the time (if not 100%)

Do only tax type work

Better pay and health insurance and benefits

401k match

Could possibly get my own window office and not be working in a cubicle

If I have a doctors or dentist appointment I wouldn’t miss half the day at work

Cons:

May deal almost exclusively with small businesses and individuals (1065s, 1040s, S-Corps) and not a lot of corporate work – this may NOT be a bad thing but this may close off opportunities if you wanted to go into industry and work for a corporation as a tax analyst, etc.

Do not get as much exposure

Not as much name recognition

done

[hasy]

Honestly, as someone who just got laid off from a small firm, I would be VERY wary of going for a small firm. To tell you the story, the small firm I was with, they hired 4 new staff members and 1 experienced hire (he might as well be staff since he was new to ERISA audits which was what we did for 5 months). Regardless, near the end of the season, they let 3 of us go (including the experienced hire). No performance review, nothing. For 4 weeks though before I left, there was absolutely no work for us to do. I got paid pretty much to pass BEC.

When I heard that the experienced hire was let go, I felt bad for him too because he left another firm to come to the small firm. So, I want you to consider that as well. Though that I see that you have your CPA as well as experience, so you definitely have leverage. I just want you to be aware of how small firms work. If you're going to compare size, my firm has 75 employees with a tax, estate & trust, and audit department. The audit dept has 3 partners as well.

Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved - Helen Keller

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BEC 80 (10/23/15)
FAR 72 (4/2/15); 83 (7/11/16)
REG 52 (4/28/15)
AUD (9/9/16)

Roger + NINJA MCQ + WTB

[Anonymous]

To me, the fact that you're looking means you're probably not content where you are, so adds an additional “con” to the staying where you are list. Doesn't mean “pack your bags”, but should be considered in the list for certain.

Small firms could be more volatile, since the same percentage reduction in work is more likely to result in an actual headcount reduction, but at the same time there are many small firms that have had the same number of employees for several years and will maintain that same number of employees for many years to come. I think the lesson to take from experiences like hasy's is to try to find out the history of the job you're being offered. Why is it open? Was the person before you fired, laid off, or did they quit? Or is this a new position? Or is this one of 15 new positions because the company is under the illusion that they're about to grow substantially but they're probably delusional? 😛

As for the specific pros and cons you laid out, the only question I'd have is that you mentioned the generous leave at your current job (4 weeks of vacation) but didn't mention what it is at the new job. Will it be enough for you to fulfill family expectations (or at least the ones you desire to fulfill 🙂 ), de-stress, and maintain your mental well-being etc.? If it was, say, cutting back to 7 days of vacation, that could end up being a harsher change that you really are prepared for, but that's the only thing that looked to me like it could be a red flag.

Generally speaking, I'd probably be interested in a position for better money with a better commute and (from what I've gathered of your description) anticipated better environment. Grass isn't always greener on the other side, but you also don't know what it will be till you get there so sometimes you've got to go with your got and make a call. Good luck with whichever way you decide!

[Track55]

My commute is 1:15 one way and 2 hours if it's raining. Your commute is nothing.

I would never leave a large company for a small one. EVER. The pay is better, the day goes faster, and there's more departments if you want to transfer. You are asking to get laid off if you go to a tiny place.

What's wrong with cubicles? Cubicles rock. I once sat next to a window by the water fountain. Overrated.

AUD - 74, 99 !!
REG - 74, 92
BEC - 83
FAR - 73, 86

Studying for Ethics exam

California candidate
Business and Industry

[Author]

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