[Anonymous]

I am an individual who likes the variety that public accounting (audit) provides over internal accounting positions. I feel the work is better, more complex, more prestigious, and has a higher salary ceiling over any internal accounting role given that you are patient.

Why does everyone bail? It genuinely seems like if you want to stay (and don’t do bad), you can get promoted again and again, up and through partner.

Am I missing something? Like exits are amazing, the hours at exits are (realistically) much less, pay is much much more, etc. The only reason I could see a person leaving the big four is being tired of the hours, hating their client/boss while refusing to wait it out, wanting an immediate salary increase, or not believing they have upward mobility.

Can I get some input from someone with the perspective of leaving? I love where I am and it kind of hurts to see 1 in 5 leave every year

[Anonymous]

it hurts? like they are your friends and you hate that you won't be work with them anymore? or are you taking it personal that not everyone loves what you love?

and 1 in 5 isn't really EVERYONE. now 4 out of 5, i'd give you everyone.

[tuanxn]

I'm a little confused. Didn't you provide ample answers in your third paragraph?

[Anonymous]

cjsoccer3 is asking a question, and trying to understand the perspectives of others. Give an answer if you want, or move along. No need for snarkiness.

@cjsoccer3: It's great you love your job. I have been working in public for less than a year, and I have been very lucky in getting to work with some amazing seniors & staff. For sure, though, we have some people in our office that could have made my life misery. I did have one nightmare senior, and I wanted to quit every day. And we have a partner who makes his managers & staff feel like pieces of garbage. I think public, more than most jobs, has a great deal to do with the people you work with, and the tone from the top. There are a lot of places that don't give their people the training & support they need, but do emphasize budgets and “efficiency”. The combination of feeling lost and pressured and unappreciated while working a crazy amount of hours can definitely lead to a passionate dislike of a job.

[MaLoTu]

I am starting in September and I hope that I love it! Many people only go into public accounting for the experience on their resume, it is not where they planned on being forever from the beginning. I am surprised it is only 1 in 5 leaving, to be honest.

If you love what you do you are going to thrive. Try not to worry about others.

[gigabyte2001]

My personal viewpoint: I've worked in industry for 10 years and am the Controller now for a $50-75m/yr revenue company. During the 5 years before that I was in public. My biggest public firm is a very large regional/small national firm I won't name. I had not yet finished my Bachelor's when I was there, so I worked in Small Business Services & Tax Division. From where I was, I could see the long hours and what was to me, insane levels of politics. I loathe politics. I don't care who did what when where or with whom. I care about three basic things: Did you do the work completely, accurately and on time? (The fourth thing is: and were you an ass about it? but I can deal with you being an ass as long as you do the other 3 things.) I had one member of mid level Management that actually complained someone in Accounting wears dressy flip flops in the summer time. We don't see clients. Whether or not one of my team wears dressy flip flops has absolutely zero bearing on whether or not she performs her job duties appropriately. I essentially told him to pound sand. (He's now Senior Mgmt and I'd still tell him to pound sand.)

At the big public firm I was at, work product didn't seem to matter as much as getting the right people to like you or keeping them from disliking you. There was all kinds of nasty back biting, rumor mongering about coworkers, etc. That's not an environment I personally can do well in.

There are no politics in my department. We had one person that tried it once and they lasted 6 weeks before we fired them for cause & denied unemployment (and won when they protested/appealed.) That person seriously spent the majority of a 12 hour day chit chatting via IM saying all manner of nasty things about myself & my accounting manager while not actually completing even 1 hour of the work they were assigned for the day.

Your experience at your firm is clearly different than what I witnessed. Not everyone, even accountants, can thrive at a big firm. The reverse is also true, not everyone is going to thrive in my department.

B - 11/11/16
A - 4/16/16 87!!
R - 2/17/17
F - 7/26/16 - Waiting for 8/23

[Anonymous]

I have to agree with gigabyte2001, Politics is everywhere. I have been with industry for over 7 years with 3 different companies and I saw the politics in different form. I have zero experience with the public, so I can't talk about what goes on public but I am kinda regretting myself for not going to work for public.

I am looking for new job right now and there is no doubt that having some public experience would have been a plus point in my resume. I am considering going back to public for some experience but it seems like its kind of hard to get in for job seekers like me with some industry experience.

cjsoccer3, I think you should stick with the public if you love what you do and you should not care about others because ultimately your gonna be rewarded because of your work

[danner]

I think people just get burned out. Also, it's easier to handle the long hours and stress when you're fresh out of college and don't have as many priorities outside of work. Once you start having a family, the whole life-balance thing really comes into play. It's just tougher to justify working 60+ hours a week for four months out of the year if there are other options out there.

FAR - 74 (7/20/15), 81 (10/12/15)
AUD - 72 (11/30/15), 81 (1/18/16)
BEC - 87 (6/6/16)
REG - 8/8/16

[acamp]

cjsoccer3, how long have you been in public?

Ninja + Wiley Test Bank: [FAR - 81] [REG - 76] [BEC - 88] [AUD - 73](doh!)

Becker Videos: [AUD - 82]

California CPA

[Anonymous]

I believe most people leave public because the clients, busy season, and traveling wear people down. There are a lot of opportunities outside of public where the pay/benefits are better and you can get by working 40 to 50 hour weeks. Having a family and more personal responsibilities later in life becomes hard with the rigors of public.

[Texan_176]

Right out of school I had an offer with a public (not a big 4) that was a 60-80 minute commute in brutal traffic. I would have had to have sold my house or rented an apartment then rented out my house. For a job I did not know would work out or not I turned it down but kept in touch with a few people from school who got work there.

Everyone tells me you either fit in or you do not at that place. Promotions, increased in salary, job assignments, etc all depend on how you do in their culture. Some people really like it while others do not. I think you have to have a bit of a thick skin because they will not baby you in such a place and will be blunt to point out things. This friend of mine was told to her face things like “you are worthless” during the first year when she made a mistake. If things like that keep you wake at night it is a problem.

My decision to go into industry was purely from a risk/benefit analysis. The job I took required zero changes in my personal life and a 15 minute commute. I value quality of life and having some down time to do other things in life because when you are on your deathbed I doubt you think “If I had only made that extra $ or put in more time at work”. The 60+ hours a week during busy season are not for everyone.

People bail because of the reasons in the thread but everyone is different.

BEC 11/29/14 77 (Roger)
AUD 2/23/15 60 (Roger) 4/13/2015 83 (Roger & Ninja MCQ)
REG 5/30/2015 66 (Roger & Ninja MCQ(7 hours only)) 8/23/2015 78 (Roger & Ninja MCQ)
FAR 11/23/2015 60 (Roger & NINJA MCQ) 2/24/2016 74 (Roger & NINJA MCQ) 5/25/2016 83 (Roger+Roger CRAM & NINJA MCQ/NOTES)
Texas Ethics Exam 92%

Licensed TX CPA Aug 2016

[TheHoundThatRides]

Uh…….are we sure this wasn't a subtle joke by cjsoccer3?

BEC - 78 (August 2015)
FAR - 80 (November 2015)
AUD - 73, 67. (Ok I gotta confess I was even more lazy this time around)
REG - August 27th, 2016

[Pony Boy]

Haven't even started and am already reading posts about exiting/stopping public :/ …. There's such a complex on how long to stay and the different routes available as you progress through public, my goal is to let my career path play out and not go into public with a definite time to leave or definite “next job” idea.

REG (02/2016)- PASS
BEC (04/2016)- PASS
FAR (06/2016)- PASS
AUD (08/2016)-

"Stay Gold, PonyBoy, Stay Gold"

[Mayo]

“my goal is to let my career path play out and not go into public with a definite time to leave or definite “next job” idea”

I think you should reconsider your career strategy. The people who are proactive and manage their career, their schedule, their network, etc. are the ones who have access to the best opportunities.

Not saying you should already start looking for an exit, etc., but make sure you at least take control of your path. Leaving it up to wherever the wind takes you can lead you to some trouble. I know because I've seen it plenty of times in public and in the big 4.

@OP, people leave public mostly because

A: They want to feel like they're adding value to a company. For me my job stopped feeling like I was adding value.
B: They get burned out
C: The pay is hilariously under market. You have tons of skills and the firm pays you potatoes because they can and are paying you in experience and brand name
D: You get sick of auditing other people's work and never creating your own

I fit in the above 4 categories when I left my Big 4 as a Senior.

Mayo, BBA, Macc

[Anonymous]

@pony boy, i wouldn't worry about your strategy unless there is something further down the road that you definitely want – I see a decent amount of posts about wanting to be a CFO or owning their own businesses, which is awesome but you definitely need a plan for that. I'm more of a “let's see where this takes me” kind of person and I feel like I have landed in a pretty good spot just by taking opportunities as they arose – of course I don't want to be a CFO or own my own business, so I can afford to have a laid back attitude about it.

[Author]

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