What can you tell me about auditing and the big 4...

Big 4 is shit tier to work at. Literal definition of wagecuck

It is a good place for starters. After a couple years working in auditing, you can easily jump to another company for more money- It really gives a lot of experience in the accounting sector, which is highly valued in the financial sector.

Of course, you can decide to continue working for them year after year, and the salary will compensate somehow this loyalty. After almost all your co-workers are gone, you will be easily promoted in three or four years. But yeah, you will be stressed and drained out, as said.

KPMG and big 4 in general are some of the shittiest places to work for, but it's fairly easy to find a job after a few years there.
Just don't stay there more than 3-4 years, you will become a cuck for life.
And I think that you could get into it, at least in my area they accept a lot of people every year.

I agree with everything else you said, but the salary does not compensate for loyalty.
People don't work at the big 4 for money.
You stay there for the experience and opportunity to work somewhere better.
Big 4 experience is highly valued in industry positions.

>i dont think it would have been for me and it showed me that i dont really fit in that world.
why do you think so?
i dont know. my original plan was to get it on my cv and bail in a year or two. now reading these comments im starting to have second thoughts.
i was thinking of doing it for a year for the cv factor. but now im having second thoughts. what about private accounting instead of public?
i was thinking of getting in for "experience" as well

but heck after all these comments im a little intimidated now. maybe i should go for private accounting then?

Absolute soul sucking profession, get ass raped with 80 hour weeks while getting paid shit money just for the hope that you might get a good job further down the road.
t. Former big4 auditor

is the work itself mind bogglingly difficult or the hours? i figured after being unemployed for 2 years the time was ripe to add some serious creds on my resume. now im really doubting the idea. should i just go into private corporate accounting then? all i want is a steady job. im tired of this unstable bohemian lifestyle.

If you want to chill just go for corporate accounting. Those are just consistent 40 hour 9 to 5 weeks

Really? I thought those guys were paid with a base salary + (x amount*year worked). I'm currently working in another auditing company (not a Big 4 - just top 9 or 10), and salary has been growing each year, plus a variable. I thought Big4 were something similar to that.

I'm an auditor at a mid tier firm. You can definitely enter the field, plenty of our staff on up to management and partners have degrees in totally unrelated fields. I think you'll need a masters in accounting to make the transition though. Demand for public accountants is high so it gives you some bargaining power. Everyone has their own opinion on what the best path is, but I wpuldnsughest looking into mid tier firms as well, similar exit opps, similar salary, but generally better hours and better coworkers. Good luck user, I think accounting is underrated rn

If you can choose, go for corporate accounting. With some luck you will end in a small/medium company with a nice environment/good co-workers.

If you can't choose, or if nobody hires you, public accounting/Big4 is not so bad for a couple of years. You will learn a lot and will shine your cv a lot. Just think that a lot of college students follow this path, so there should be some advantage in it.

I work at BCG and consulting practices at big4 are pretty pathetic famalam, audit semms very boring

although my job is also total slavery (70hrs weeks if not more is usual)

i am not particularly hard working, i dont like corporate culture - i prefer laid-back working environment, they were all like robots there - very efficient, clean-cut and probably very successful - I am the opposite of this albeit happy that i know who I am

What does a day look like at a firm like this? I know jack shit about accounting. Do you just stare at excel and write reports about the shit you stared at in excel all day? If that was my job I would kms.

No accounting isn't underrated. You'll make ok money but have a stable career. You'll spend your days shuffling paper and engaging in corporate speak. It's a path for the unimaginative, the meek, and those that are terribly risk averse.

It's my greatest shame that this turned out to be my lot in life.

Fyi, the small and midsized firms can be every bit as terrible as big four. You'd want to do your time then go private.

You have a couple of paths - tax or auditing. From there, you can specialize or become a jack of all trades.

A typical day is you show up, you'll have "projects" assigned to you. These projects have budgeted hours. Depending, the partner may bitch at you for going over budget. Sometimes this is unavoidable and leads to eating time. This approach is a very dangerous strategy. Yes you come in under budget on the individual projects but you have annual hours your supposed to spend in total - billable hours.

If all of this doesn't turn you off I'll still provide answers to follow up questions.

My question is more like what exactly do you do. What is the actual task of accounting. This is a brainlet af question.

That's not an easy question. I can start by saying I prepare taxes but then I have to go into how I prepare tax returns. That's the part that's not easy to explain.

You will start with the financial statements - income statement, balance sheet, trial balance, etc. You'll need to understand what you're looking at. Do the numbers make sense or did the bookkeeper (or accounting) make a bad entry. From there you'll need to understand that the items on those statements may be treated differently for tax purposes and how to account for them on the return.

You'll frequently run into a new issue where you have to do research. This may involve writing a memo to manager or principal.

The work, if you're good, is challenging but not exciting.

>It's my greatest shame that this turned out to be my lot in life.
if you could go back in time what would you have chosen instead?

Sounds dangerous. What happens when you figure out the wrong client is doing illegal shit. Do you have to call the IRS?

Your life is determined by the quality of your thoughts. I agree it can be a shitty job, but all work is a pathetic necessity. If you hate accounting so much then quit

You give them a qualified opinion and put a God damn stake right through their heart

Tax faggots know nothing when it comes to internal controls like Audit. Just a bunch of pencil-pushing cucks without the big-scope brain

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