[Anonymous]

After going through a tough recruiting season, I was able to get two offers. I thank God for giving me these opportunities:

Ist Offer:

Pros:

– Small firm

– Starting salary 55k

– CPA Exam pass bonus: 3k

– Vacation: 5.5 weeks

– Huge growth opportunities

– Benefits package is great

– Profit sharing

– Potential for 5-12% bonus each year based on performance

– I can start anytime before January

– Nice people and family atmosphere

– Work/life balance is achievable

– Raises each year based on performance

Cons:

– Niche market specialization

– Harder to obtain partner in small firms compared to Big4

– Resume recognition is not obvoius

– Inability to expand to other industries

2nd Offer:

Pros:

– Big 4 firm

– Various market specializations

– Starting salary 52k

– CPA Exam pass bonus: 5k

– Vacation: 5 weeks

– Eligible for variable compensation if rated 1,2 or 3 regardless of years of experience

– Raises each year based on performance

Cons:

– Benefits package is okay, for some of the good benefits you will have to wait about 3yrs to vest

– Start in August or October 2014: I would rather not stay at my current job for any longer

– Work/life balance is non-existent with all Big4s

– I have to pay for parking

My Criteria/Priorities with rank on a scale of 1-10 (10 been most important):

– Work life balance – 9

– Performance should be easily recognized – 6.5

– Opportunity for growth – 10

– Resume recognition in case in the future I want to return to the corporate world – 7.5

– Opportunity to travel out of the country – 5

– Opportunity to gain experience relatively quickly and not get stuck doing “cash” for a whole year – 8

– Salary with good benefits – 9

– Firm must provide bonuses and raises – 9

– I want to start my accounting career ASAP – 8

– Family commitments and want to stay involved with the family – 10

I am actually equally leaning towards both offers.

Any thoughts?

[MintsRGood]

I work at a small firm and love it! I'm paid very well, promoted often, and treated with kindness and professionalism on a day to day basis. Yes, I work disgusting hours during busy season (75-85 a week once March hits through April 15th) but I receive a very generous tax season bonus. After the madness of spring tax season, I go down to approx. 50-55 and will gear up again around the September and October deadlines. Keep in mind that I'm the senior so both my hours and salary are commensurate with that! My staff accountants work 60-65 during the height of tax season and stay around 40-45 hours during non tax season.

I love the fact that I'm not just working on “Cash” but I'm consulting with clients, training staff, preparing financial statements, preparing individual/corps/partnerships/trusts/estate returns, I do the technical work paper reviews for financial statements from the staffs, I work directly with the owner every day, I have become the defacto controller, I do tax interviews, and oversee the admin side of the firm as well. Everyday my job is different and I love that! Yes, the area in front of my office at times looks like the deli counter at the grocery store on Sunday (now serving #157 is a constant joke in front of my door) but I wouldn't have it any other way! I feel like I make a difference every day at my job…I know many people at big4/midsize who can't say the same thing!

To your point about no partner advancement at small firms…I'm on track to make partner at my firm once I have a license in hand! And I'm “only” 30. 😉 You can move up in small firms, you just have to be vocal about your desire and back it up with your work ethic.

I understand the temptation about Big 4 but I know it's not a good fit for me! You just have to decide what type of work you want to do and the environment in which you want to do it. Some people love the Big 4 atmosphere and thrive there! If you want to move up the food chain in a fortune 500 company that Big 4+CPA is your ticket to doing that. You're on the right track in assessing what is important to you in your post! Go with your gut…your first instinct is often the best way to go!

Congrats on the multiple offers and let us know what you decided! 🙂

REG: 75 DONE 🙂
AUD: 61, 71, 68, 92 DONE 🙂
BEC: 76 DONE 🙂
FAR: 72, 74, 79 DONE 🙂
Licensed Michigan CPA 🙂
-Some people dream of success...others wake up and work hard for it!!!
-The cowards never start and the weak die along the way!
-You better work, b***h!
-Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.-JFK

[smeech8000]

With as high as you've rated work/life balance and ability to spend time with family, I'm sorry but taking the Big 4 option is going to lead to disappointment in that arena.

I would suggest ORDERING your ten criteria from 1-10 instead of rating them 1-10. This will force you to choose what is most important. You can't have 6/10 factors all be 8+…

B 92
A 99
R 90
F 92

Becker Self-Study

OH CPA since 2/18/14

[smeech8000]

With as high as you've rated work/life balance and ability to spend time with family, I'm sorry but taking the Big 4 option is going to lead to disappointment in that arena.

I would suggest ORDERING your ten criteria from 1-10 instead of rating them 1-10. This will force you to choose what is most important. You can't have 6/10 factors all be 8+…

B 92
A 99
R 90
F 92

Becker Self-Study

OH CPA since 2/18/14

[Anonymous]

Well…let's lay out your priorities and which job offer they correspond to, then add up the total “points” for each – I mean, we're accountants after all, right? 😉

Small firm:

– Work life balance – 9

– Performance should be easily recognized – 6.5

– Opportunity for growth – 10

I'm assuming this is not an option with the small firm so not counting it: – Opportunity to travel out of the country – 5

– Opportunity to gain experience relatively quickly and not get stuck doing “cash” for a whole year – 8

– Salary with good benefits – 9

– Firm must provide bonuses and raises – 9

– I want to start my accounting career ASAP – 8

– Family commitments and want to stay involved with the family – 10

TOTAL: 69.5

Big 4:

– Performance should be easily recognized – 6.5

This sounds like it is not available at the Big 4, more when leaving Big 4, but I'll count it – Opportunity for growth – 10

– Resume recognition in case in the future I want to return to the corporate world – 7.5

Possible, not sure how likely, but I'll count it – Opportunity to travel out of the country – 5

Worse of the two, so I'm not going to count this one – Salary with good benefits – 9

– Firm must provide bonuses and raises – 9

TOTAL: 47

So, it looks to me like the small firm is more your cup o' tea!

Personally, from everything that I've read on here and experienced myself, small firms seem like a much better place to be. I worked in a small public accounting firm (super small – 2-3 people depending on the time of year) and then switched to private accounting. I'm still at the start of my career (just graduated in 2012), so I don't have a huge private accounting career to talk about, but if I had to go back to public, I'd definitely look for something smaller. The key, though, with something smaller (or at least if it's as small as the one that I worked for) is to make sure that the people you're working for have integrity. My boss/the owner suffered in that area, and that lead to an end to our working relationship. But, a boss who lacks integrity is bad no matter where you run into one.

[Anonymous]

Well…let's lay out your priorities and which job offer they correspond to, then add up the total “points” for each – I mean, we're accountants after all, right? 😉

Small firm:

– Work life balance – 9

– Performance should be easily recognized – 6.5

– Opportunity for growth – 10

I'm assuming this is not an option with the small firm so not counting it: – Opportunity to travel out of the country – 5

– Opportunity to gain experience relatively quickly and not get stuck doing “cash” for a whole year – 8

– Salary with good benefits – 9

– Firm must provide bonuses and raises – 9

– I want to start my accounting career ASAP – 8

– Family commitments and want to stay involved with the family – 10

TOTAL: 69.5

Big 4:

– Performance should be easily recognized – 6.5

This sounds like it is not available at the Big 4, more when leaving Big 4, but I'll count it – Opportunity for growth – 10

– Resume recognition in case in the future I want to return to the corporate world – 7.5

Possible, not sure how likely, but I'll count it – Opportunity to travel out of the country – 5

Worse of the two, so I'm not going to count this one – Salary with good benefits – 9

– Firm must provide bonuses and raises – 9

TOTAL: 47

So, it looks to me like the small firm is more your cup o' tea!

Personally, from everything that I've read on here and experienced myself, small firms seem like a much better place to be. I worked in a small public accounting firm (super small – 2-3 people depending on the time of year) and then switched to private accounting. I'm still at the start of my career (just graduated in 2012), so I don't have a huge private accounting career to talk about, but if I had to go back to public, I'd definitely look for something smaller. The key, though, with something smaller (or at least if it's as small as the one that I worked for) is to make sure that the people you're working for have integrity. My boss/the owner suffered in that area, and that lead to an end to our working relationship. But, a boss who lacks integrity is bad no matter where you run into one.

[Anonymous]

Well…let's lay out your priorities and which job offer they correspond to, then add up the total “points” for each – I mean, we're accountants after all, right? 😉

Small firm:

– Work life balance – 9

– Performance should be easily recognized – 6.5

– Opportunity for growth – 10

I'm assuming this is not an option with the small firm so not counting it: – Opportunity to travel out of the country – 5

– Opportunity to gain experience relatively quickly and not get stuck doing “cash” for a whole year – 8

– Salary with good benefits – 9

– Firm must provide bonuses and raises – 9

– I want to start my accounting career ASAP – 8

– Family commitments and want to stay involved with the family – 10

TOTAL: 69.5

Big 4:

– Performance should be easily recognized – 6.5

This sounds like it is not available at the Big 4, more when leaving Big 4, but I'll count it – Opportunity for growth – 10

– Resume recognition in case in the future I want to return to the corporate world – 7.5

Possible, not sure how likely, but I'll count it – Opportunity to travel out of the country – 5

Worse of the two, so I'm not going to count this one – Salary with good benefits – 9

– Firm must provide bonuses and raises – 9

TOTAL: 47

So, it looks to me like the small firm is more your cup o' tea!

Personally, from everything that I've read on here and experienced myself, small firms seem like a much better place to be. I worked in a small public accounting firm (super small – 2-3 people depending on the time of year) and then switched to private accounting. I'm still at the start of my career (just graduated in 2012), so I don't have a huge private accounting career to talk about, but if I had to go back to public, I'd definitely look for something smaller. The key, though, with something smaller (or at least if it's as small as the one that I worked for) is to make sure that the people you're working for have integrity. My boss/the owner suffered in that area, and that lead to an end to our working relationship. But, a boss who lacks integrity is bad no matter where you run into one.

[Anonymous]

Well…let's lay out your priorities and which job offer they correspond to, then add up the total “points” for each – I mean, we're accountants after all, right? 😉

Small firm:

– Work life balance – 9

– Performance should be easily recognized – 6.5

– Opportunity for growth – 10

I'm assuming this is not an option with the small firm so not counting it: – Opportunity to travel out of the country – 5

– Opportunity to gain experience relatively quickly and not get stuck doing “cash” for a whole year – 8

– Salary with good benefits – 9

– Firm must provide bonuses and raises – 9

– I want to start my accounting career ASAP – 8

– Family commitments and want to stay involved with the family – 10

TOTAL: 69.5

Big 4:

– Performance should be easily recognized – 6.5

This sounds like it is not available at the Big 4, more when leaving Big 4, but I'll count it – Opportunity for growth – 10

– Resume recognition in case in the future I want to return to the corporate world – 7.5

Possible, not sure how likely, but I'll count it – Opportunity to travel out of the country – 5

Worse of the two, so I'm not going to count this one – Salary with good benefits – 9

– Firm must provide bonuses and raises – 9

TOTAL: 47

So, it looks to me like the small firm is more your cup o' tea!

Personally, from everything that I've read on here and experienced myself, small firms seem like a much better place to be. I worked in a small public accounting firm (super small – 2-3 people depending on the time of year) and then switched to private accounting. I'm still at the start of my career (just graduated in 2012), so I don't have a huge private accounting career to talk about, but if I had to go back to public, I'd definitely look for something smaller. The key, though, with something smaller (or at least if it's as small as the one that I worked for) is to make sure that the people you're working for have integrity. My boss/the owner suffered in that area, and that lead to an end to our working relationship. But, a boss who lacks integrity is bad no matter where you run into one.

[Anonymous]

Thank you all for your input.Your inputs were very helpful. I have made the decision to go with the smaller firm. I am excited to start my accounting career.

[Anonymous]

Thank you all for your input.Your inputs were very helpful. I have made the decision to go with the smaller firm. I am excited to start my accounting career.

[Author]

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