[Anonymous]

Say you just completed your license and have about 3-4 years of public accounting experience at a small to mid-tier firm.

You have three options:

A. Stay at your current firm and receive a promotion to Manager with a “decent” salary of $85,000 but you are tired of the job, your boss sucks, the outlook is not that great, and you are constantly thinking of exploring other opportunities.

B. You are offered a Senior position with the Big 4 and a salary of $55,000 – $65,000. You’ll be overworked and underpaid, but you will learn a lot and it may open up great opportunities for you in the future.

C. A startup company that has promising reviews and numbers wants to bring you on as a Senior and pay you $70,000. The company’s revenue more than doubles each year and has annual revenue of over $200,000,000 and about 100 employees. They operate in an industry that energizes you and excites you and the culture is great, but the hours and commitment will consume you. Being a startup, the company is known for high turnover in other departments, but as an accountant you feel the outlook and growth potential for yourself is great. The catch is it will be difficult to get back into public if you left this position and you also have to relocate far away to another state.

Would you take the risk with Option C for high growth potential and the opportunity to make a lot of money, especially if the company ends up going public?

Would you take the challenge of Option B to go the traditional route of the Big 4 to get the experience and then shoot for the stars?

Or would you stick with Option A and play it safe? Hang your hat, suck it up, and make the most out of a dead-end role that has been eating you inside?

Which options would you pick and WHY?

*Assume you have no children, family, or major financial obligations to consider and that you are free to choose whichever is best for you*

[Hmmmmm]

Congrats!

Toss up between A or C if it was me. Is A a sure thing? If so, I would be inclined to stick it out and then jump ship as a Manager. What's the growth potential of C? Would I be stuck as a senior for 3-5 years when I was already offered a manager position?

[Ana]

I think a key component missing in the facts above is what kind of candidate is facing the 3 scenarios. Is it a personable, ambitious, driven, smart accountant that would stand out as a senior accountant at a B4 and have doors open for them? Can this person handle the intense responsibilities and quick thinking required of option C? What maybe the right answer for me will not work for most others. Coincidentally, in my life I started at B (staff auditor), then A (Manager promoted to Asst Controller), now have an offer from a place very similar to C (Asst Controller). The salary ranges listed aren't in line with mine (started way lower as auditor but much higher now), but scenarios are near identical. No kids, just supportive hubs for family, and luckily financially secure. I'm personally going to forgo C and start my own practice. If I fail, I can head back to C or B, or government work. Options are abundant.

[Bourne]

C. Without hesitation C. You only live once right? May as well go for it. You have your CPA so you can find another job if things don't work out. But if things do work out, you have a very bright future. I'm actually almost in the exact same situation as C except even more of a start up than you described. Graduated college 6 months ago in Ohio and accepted a job at a very profitable/quickly growing RE investment firm in NYC. Go for gold babaaaaay

[Anonymous]

@Hmmmmm, thanks but this is just hypothetical lol. It will likely somewhat reflect my position within a month or so from now though once I am finally done with this beast of an exam 🙂

[TommyTheCat]

A, then jump ship after making manager. The C-equivalent options that would be available at that time would be much better and brighter, and you'd be entering those opportunities at a higher baseline / salary level.

The downside risks of C the way you have it presented really are quite high, and what's the downside risk in A? You're bored with your job for another year or two (while making the most money in the scenarios presented) til you make manager, get a raise and promotion and then leverage that to bolt to a better gig? Not a whole lot of downside there in A.

Your clear bias in the preference you have (c) makes the way you framed the question pretty comical, but I guess I should expect that by now.

[Anonymous]

I had to elaborate on C since most people aren't familiar with working in a startup. I think the option is fairly stated and presents an above-average startup culture that is doing well for itself as opposed to a startup that is doing poorly. Options A and B are public accounting firms so you know what to expect, Option C is an industry role that is specifically something that interests you…rather than random oddball engagements you would work on in public. That's not exactly bias, just a realistic scenario. Why would anyone leave their job for a startup that sucks?

But I agree for the most part about waiting out for the promotion, however that can also lead to a missed opportunity for your dream job.

[Ivy]

Under your assumption, C is the only choice.
Just for the chance of able to toss the coin myself.

[CPAwannab]

OMG without kids, and other major financial obligations I would go for C for sure. I am adventurous like that and kind of miss that now since kids and mortgage and other stuff. C sounds so interesting fun!
GOOD LUCK

[Anonymous]

Interesting, thanks for the responses guys.

The thing that would really bother me in this situation would be that if you forego the Big 4 opportunity and accept the job with the startup, then what would happen 2-3 years down the road if things go south at the company and you have to look for another job?

Do you think it would be difficult to get into a Big 4 position at that point? You get to say you worked for a company that earned over $200M in revenue and did this and that, but do you think the Big 4 recruiters and culture would even value that? And even if you did get a Big 4 job after, you would likely take a big pay cut and have to work the same, if not MORE hours than the startup and have less freedom. By that time you are probably already burnt out.

It just seems like such a dilemma to forego the Big 4 experience if you have the opportunity. Maybe I'm wrong and they would love to have someone with that kind of experience? Who knows…

[Sir Plus]

Option A) I've been at a small/mid tier accounting firm. It's a boring office life and the track to manager is much much longer than at a Big 4. Don't count on getting that promotion anytime soon; usually takes somewhere between 6-8 years to make manager at smaller firms (big 4 it's typically 5 years), meaning you will be miserable for, another 2 years at minimum, before that promotion to 85k. If you hate your boss, you're miserable, and you constantly think about leaving… it's probably time to leave. No one will change for you, it will be the same situation that you already dislike. A fresh start to options B or C could be good for you.

Option B) You've got an offer to Big 4, you should take it. Once you pass on this, the offer may not come back, as you get older. You'll be making slightly less than option C, but dude, 5k spread over 12 months, and after taxes is nothing! and shouldn't be a game-changing factor. You'll probably be working a lot of hours, probably more than option C, but you might work just as many, who knows w/ startups. In terms of salary, yearly raises don't matter, it's all about the promotion raises (as you know) and you'll be on fast-track to manager at Big 4 (2 years? idk). The prestige of having said you came from said B4 sweatshop will pay dividends in job opportunities for the rest of you're life (Google, Coca-Cola, etc.) Option C and many offers like Option C will always be there and they will always be going after Big 4 seniors and managers, so I don't see anything lost in terms of losing out on an industry job. You can always get that, but Big 4 offer won't be around forever. Shoot for the stars bud, make manager at big 4 and then jump ship to that same company, option C, down the road as CONTROLLER or MANAGER at 100k+.

If you don't believe me just do a quick search on indeed.com in your market for Controller, CFO or Accounting Manager positions; they all usually have “Big 4 experience preferred w/ X amount of years” listed in the job requirement section. Don't cut yourself short. If you want it, go for it.

Option C) As i said above…Sounds like you'll only be making 5k more than the Big 4 offer, and possibly working just as many hours. You'll be stuck in that position as there are less accounting positions to move up to, that's industry. So you'll traditionally be a senior for about 4-5 years before being promoted to controller or accounting manager, what have you. This experience is still valuable and industry jobs are great experience, but if you hate it and have regrets you might not have a 2nd chance at option 2.

Wish you the best man

[Author]

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