Big 4 Accounting Firms - Exit Opportunities Explained - Audit | Tax | Consulting
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- Опубликовано: 21 июн 2020
- Explanation of exit options for Big 4 employees in audit (assurance), tax and consulting.
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📝Brief script:
For most people at the Big 4, their careers are an incredibly important part of their life and they’ve spent a lot of time preparing for a successful career within finance, through working hard in school and university for example, so its really important to also spend a good amount of time researching what your options are in terms of jobs post the Big 4, not only in the short term but also in the longer term.
In this video I'm going to talk about what the exit opportunities are for people that leave the Big 4. You might be thinking of joining one of the big 4 accounting firms and trying to understand what your career path might look like or you might already be at one of the big 4,thinking about what the next step in your career could be.
The exit options for big 4 employees clearly vary according to which division they work for. I’ll cover the exit options for individuals working in all the three core divisions of the Big 4 firms: Audit, Tax and Consulting.
Audit
Associate & Seniors
The most common career move at this level is people moving across to jobs in industry. Three main categories of roles: Financial reporting, internal audit and more commercial/analytical
Probably the most common role you’ll come across is FR roles as by that stage, auditors are pretty familiar with how companies operate, how the finance department in a company functions and how financial statements are constructed. Associates transition to become accountants within a company, helping the company in its day to day management of its finance systems and workflow. There could also be month end responsibilities such as creating management reports about the financial position of the business.
Another category which is quite a smooth transition is moving to an internal audit role within a company. The most sought after roles for junior auditors are the more commercial roles within companies such as roles in FP&A(financial planning and analysis), business partnering, budgeting, pricing etc. In these roles, you’re doing much more analysis of the numbers, identifying trends, doing variance analysis etc and really guiding/influencing the companies actions moving forwards.
Managers & Senior Managers
Similar to junior roles, a very common transition is to move into an industry role. Similar categories of roles are open. Moving into financial reporting roles and internal audit is very common. Naturally you will move across into a more senior role given the years of experience you’ve accumulated. Plus, it’s not uncommon to see individuals at this level getting roles as the Financial Controller of small and medium sized businesses
Tax
Associates & Senior Associates
As a junior employee specialised in Tax, you still have quite a few exit opportunities open in front of you. Similar to audit, you get a lot more optionality once you qualify as a chartered accountant, a qualification most new entrants in tax undertake.
Sticking to tax related roles, a common transition is to become a tax accountant or a tax consultant for a company. The skills and knowledge that you’ve developed at the BIg 4 will naturally be applicable to these roles. Moving into industry with a large mult-national firm, you can also specialise in a particular fields of tax for eg. domestic tax, international tax or transfer pricing.
Most managers and senior managers move into industry as tax specialists as they’ve developed good technical tax knowledge by this stage.
Consulting
When looking at the exit opportunities for Big 4 consulting employees its first important to state that all of them will have different options depending on which sub-division they sit under. Consulting is a very broad category which encompases providing advice to clients on strategy, operations, IT, risk, transactions and various other topics.
In this video I’ll cover the exit opportunities for individuals working in the transactions field, the area I work in. Within transactions there are teams that provide M&A (mergers and acquisitions) advice, due diligence services, valuations and post-transaction support.
🤔 The video provides answers to the following questions:
What are the exit opportunities/options after the Big 4?
What are the careers in finance after a stint at the Big 4?
Where can you work after the Big 4?
What are the career opportunities/options after the Big 4?
What are the career paths after the Big 4?
Where do employees work after the Big 4?
Where do accountants move to after the Big 4?
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Makes lots of sense!! Loved watching!!
Thank you 👍
This Channel deserve more views it kelps me to understand what i want Thank you for your efforts
Appreciate your comment! Glad you find it helpful 😁
Only vid I found with actual exit opportunities - cheers!
My pleasure 😊
Very informative & appreciated the thought of thinking about the exit role which ideally should be applied as a principle in many careers and businesses. Subbed 🤜😊
Appreciate it 🤛
😷 Hey, I found you over on Thomas Frank's channel, and thought I'd stop by. As someone in the accounting world, I really like what you are doing here! Keep it up! 👍
Thank you for the positive feedback 😁
Helpful and informative video!
Thank you! 🙂
Hey great video man!
Thanks Pierce! 😁
Great video and very helpful!
Thank you very much 😊
YCO.
Great video - thanks!
Appreciate the feedback. YCO!
Anyone else end up focusing on his constant hand gestures?
Realise they're distracting haha. Have tried to consciously improve that in my latest video. 😁
@@FinanceUnboxed i think the hand gestures are fine. You're doing a great job
Hi man! Im graduating next year in accounting and currently working in one of the big 4 as an audit assistant. I want to work in CF and want to max my chances of breaking in to the field. Do you believe going for a masters degree in finance to be worth it or would it be better to work myself towards making the switch after some years as an audit? Or any other suggestions? Cheers mate, love the content :)
Hi Axel, really appreciate the positive feedback. I don't think the Masters route will maximise your chances of getting into CF. Gaining experience within audit whilst networking internally is the best option, according to me. Moving across to due diligence from audit is the easiest and mot popular route so you may want to start making connections with members of that team first. I've actually made a video on this topic: ruclips.net/video/VJT3n1qr1Eo/видео.html
Hope this helps :)
Great video mate. I have been working as an Accountant since last 10 years. Now looking to make a move to Transfer Pricing. Do you think Transfer pricing would offer a good career options..
Hey, going down that road you're specialising clearly so exit options will be specific to tax. Depends on whether you think you'll be happy down the tax road, so to speak
Hope you found the video informative! Any feedback would be welcomed 😃
🎥10 Big 4 myths debunked! 👉 ruclips.net/video/TrzoDPgnF6E/видео.html
⌚Time stamps:
1:04 Audit
6:11 Tax
8:15 Consulting
Hi, is there a different video for exit opps after working in advisory (CF)? At the end of the video, you spoke about it a little bit but I wasn't sure if that was a continuation of the consulting exit opps.
Hey, in the video, I've largely covered exit opps. for those working in transactions (inc Corp Fin.). Were you after a video just covering exit opps for Corp Fin?
@@FinanceUnboxed yes :)
@@blueskythinking8312 I'll make a specific video just for CF exit opps!
@@FinanceUnboxed thanks!
Hello new friend here watching your video ..nice topic thanks to share. See you around ..
You're welcome 😊
When you mention internal auditor, can a junior auditor have enough leverage to grab a senior internal auditor position assuming that they have a masters in accounting, CPA, and worked at lets say EY at San Jose for about 2 years?
There certainly is a chance with that background. Naturally, will slightly depend on luck as well (exp. of other candidates etc) but I can see it being plausible.
After a MSc in Accounting and Control, Is it enough frequent being hired in Corporate Finance internships or roles? Because I am enough undecided about the job I would like to do. Thanks.
Hey, yes certainly. Going for an internship makes sense for you to understand the role. Best of luck 🙂
MSc. Accounting Vs Finance: Which Should You Study?
Hi Eva. Studying Acc., you'll gain really good technical knowledge of accounting practices whilst studying finance will allow you to get an understanding of how the finance systems works, along with some finance specific technical knowledge. Naturally, which one to go for is completely dependent on each person and their interests/careers ambitions. Finance is a broader subject than accounting so if I were giving advice to someone who couldn't choose between them, I'd suggest Finance as it keeps more doors open in terms of potential careers, in my opinion. Thanks for your question and hope this helps. 🙂
Great video.
My aim is to become the CEO in corporate , what should i select Advisory Consulting or Audit in big 4?
There are no defined routes to get to CEO but between those two choices, I'd say Consulting. An audit background would set you up well for a CFO position in the long term, in general. Hope this helps 🙂
@@FinanceUnboxed Thanks ,At which advisory corporate finance and m&a or Management Consulting?
@@fawadali8434 That's a more challenging question as both can lead to the same position. Again, if I had to choose one, I'd go for management consulting.
please do a video on audit to corp fin!
Will do Oscar. Thank you for the suggestion! Anything else you think would be interesting to hear about?
Hi Oscar. I've made the video on the move from audit to Corp. Fin. Link to the video: ruclips.net/video/KQit4P47tPs/видео.html
Hey your video is very helpful.. could you help me know how should we apply in MNC co., currently I am a part of one of the big4's..
Hey, most MNC's will recruit via their websites and through LinkedIn. Those two avenues are your best way to look for job opportunities! Best of luck 🙂
can you move from big 4 audit to middle/back office roles in an investment bank such as market risk, product control or finance?
Hey, a move into Finance or PC within an IB is certainly possible. Naturally, audit experience of FS is a big plus in the cause.
Hope this helps 🙂
@@FinanceUnboxed Thanks for the info you make great informative videos
@@markugbah1320 pleasure! Really appreciate it 🙌
I’d be interested in knowing pay and hours for each level of accounting.. I know starting as a staff accountant it can feel like you hours don’t equal what your getting paid and eventually that changes but when does it exactly lol
Hey, are you referring to Big 4 specifically or accounting in general? If Big 4, which division?
Finance Unboxed honestly anything, even a comparison between divisions or between big 4 and industry etc
Entry level graduate salaries at the Big4 , varies according to the department. As a guide, in London it's around £25k to £29k and outside London between £21k - £24k. Hours can also vary but you're looking at atleast 40hrs a week. During busier period you can can expect 60hrs or more. As you advance up the ranks you can expect £10k to £20k more for each level you go up. Hrs don't change too much. Hope that helps :)
Currently big 4 Tax associate. Training to become ACA/CTA - is there a route you would recommend to transition into private equity or IB? Was thinking M&A but not sure.
Hey, yeah moving across to the M&A team would be the best transition. Get some deal experience under your belt and then see what the options are in terms of IB/PE. The second best choice is the due diligence team.
@@FinanceUnboxed Amazing thank you! I'll definitely look into it - should be easier transitioning to M&A within my current firm. I guess let's get qualified first!
Help -! Been at my firm 4 years still staff. And firm hired 3 outside seniors. With no CPA 👨💼 wtf help -!? Do I stay or leave. The work environment is blehhhh. Not good or bad
Hi. This is a tricky situation indeed. There are many factors to consider naturally, but if I were in your shoes, the questions I'd be asking myself are:
i) am I doing the tasks that a senior would do?
ii) was the team so short staffed that they had to bring in 3 seniors?
iii) what does the financial outlook look like for the team this year? i.e. is it going to meet or exceed its budget?
If you are still learning daily/on a regular basis (as a result of being given different tasks) I'd be more likely to stay than leave, especially given the macro environment currently.
Hope that helps :)
@@haloepic3092 sorry, I don't understand the question. Can you pls rephrase
What do you think about the Valuations Team for a transition into M&A as a longterm goal. From my understanding, most (70+%) work is post-deal (PPA) / compliance-related (impairment-testing). What are exit opps (how realistic is corp. dev. really?) & is it possible to move into FDD after joining Val? (In your other video you talked about going audit -> FDD -> Val not FDD -> Val). Your Input would be of great help. Thank you!
Hi, thanks for your question. I've known individuals moving across to M&A from Vals. It certainly is a realistic move. Naturally, like in most career routes you go down, the earlier you want to make the transition, the easier it is i.e. don't wait till you get pigeonholed.
Moving across to FDD is slightly trickier I'd say as Vals is a big picture exercise (valuing businesses, infra. assets etc). In FDD you're digging deep into the accounts of a company, looking at trial balances, trend analysis on particular accounts etc. Saying that though, and as you point out, Vals does require strong accounting knowledge for PPA exercises. Overall, as long as your accounting fundamentals are fairly good, FDD isn't a far stretch at all in my conclusion.
Hope this helps :-)
Good video mate but you have to stop doing that with your hands
Yeah working on improving that consciously 😂 Appreciate the constructive feedback 🙂
Hey man do you create your own thumbnails? I can help you with that
Appreciate you reaching out. I'm fine for now.