[Anonymous]

I know there has been posts in the past about where to start your career, but I want to get responses on specific details. I am about to finish up my CPA (hopefully) and am looking on where to start my career. I am a new grad out of college and was looking at starting at a public firm or a local firm by me.

I was wondering whats the differences between the two at start and in the long run and what did you choose and how you felt about it/regrets? I know in public you will stay and get your experience then move on to bigger and better, but in local do people stay located at a firm for a long time to someday reach partner? I want to have a balance in my life/work which makes me scared to give me soul to the Big 4 which makes me favor possibly a local cpa firm, but then again I want to have a comfortable salary in the long run.

Also do public firms that are not huge still work their employees the same way as the big 4? I was also looking into other public firms but find it harder to find opinions and experiences since everyone seems to be caught up in the Big 4.

Personal opinons and experiences would be greatly appreciated!! (I need all the help I can get) Thanks

[littlenumberrobot]

Hi DoWork

I stayed local. My city only has one Big 4 office, and it wasnt important to me to start there. I started with a firm with 20 employees, now with a firm with only 5 employees. I like it, but I do not have my eyes set on partner. Many on this forum have great advice on Big 4. There are experiences only Big 4 can give you, if its a possibility seriously consider it. But there are other options in local firms. To be really honest I wanted a JOB out of college and was lucky enough to find it. The first firm I worked for had Big 4 hours. It was brutal…. OT is a given in public accounting, but I found a smaller firm with manageable hours which was very important for me to get licensed.

Best of luck to you!

CA CPA - All because of the journey listed below
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[Jeanie]

I should have graduated from college in 1989 – long story. When I went to work for ADP in 1989 in the accounting department, my boss at the time, scared me away from public accounting. I have since regretted that I did not listen to him – I am 46 years old and am taking my third swipe at the CPA exam.

Work life balance is important, but public experience on my resume, along with my CPA would have earned me better jobs with better pay over the years.

Good Luck!

A
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R 10/14/10 35 05/14/11 58 5/4/13 ???

[Anonymous]

Thanks, work/life balance is important to me, but I know I got to put my time in. Do mid size public firms have more manageable hours? I do not mind OT, I just mind working every second of my life and having little to no social life lol. Do you suggest any certain firms that are known for this(If they exist)??

Thanks

[spongfunk]

Personally I went with a large local firm. About 100 employees. Personally it is the perfect fit for me. I still get exposure to large companies and I get challenging work, but the firm is a lot more flexible since it is independent. During busy season the hours are long but not nearly as bad as some of my friends who have big 4 jobs. We normally work about 60 hours a week during busy season. It's not ideal but it is very manageable.

FAR: 85
AUD: 80
REG: 78
BEC: 82

[D]

Are you set on working in a public accounting firm? I'm not sure where you are located, but why not try an industry/private accounting (like a cost accounting, internal audit, tax, etc) type of role within a large or mid-size company? Just a thought.

You probably can guess which direction I took, and I'm very happy with it. While the busy times are nothing like Big 4, it is still very challenging. Work life balance you cant beat. Opportunity for promotions is also unbeatable.. they aren't going to hold you back just because you haven't made it through a “step-like” program (i.e. staff..senior.. manager..etc… forgive me if those levels are out of order.). Also, from my general observation/first hand knowledge.. compensation is also much better for entry level grads in a private company vs. public accounting firm. AND since you will already have your CPA, big bonus for that. 🙂

Everyone has their preferences on why they like public vs. private, but personally I couldn't be happier w/my choice to stay industry while all my fellow MAcc grads went public. Seems like all professors at my school did was push for public… but I am glad I went the other direction and won't look back.

Hope that helps if you were even considering anything other than public accounting. 🙂

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AUD - 74, 77! (1/2016)
BEC - 80! (5/2016)
REG - tbd (8/2016)
FAR - tbd

Study materials: NINJA MCQ/Audio/Notes

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[Anonymous]

@TXCPAGAL12 I'm not set on working in public accounting, I just hear about all the benefits it can create for me in the future which entices me. I really do not know where to start to look for private/industry accounting that can offer me a great opportunity. I have always been well informed about the public firms so I always leaned that way. I will definitely take your advice and do my research on places around me (Chicago)

Thanks

[spongfunk]

@txcpagal12 I'm glad that going into industry worked out so well for you but I have to say your situation is unusual. Normally upper level industry jobs (such as a controller or even department manager) have lots of benefits but normally entry level public accounting jobs pay much better than entry level industry positions. Plus if you go industry right away you limit the types of businesses you are exposed to and you lose out on getting the public accounting experience which will help you when you are looking to switch jobs or get a promotion later on down the line.

FAR: 85
AUD: 80
REG: 78
BEC: 82

[Author]

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