<p>My son is majoring in accounting and wil be interviewing with the Big 4 for an internship position. I understand that the Big 4 have 3 divisions - audit, tax and advisory services. Am I correct in assuming that to become a CPA you must work in the audit division? Since my son will have an accounting degree and is working towards having 150 credits I think that he should get the CPA certification, and thus work in audit. Is there any advantage to working in tax or advisory?</p>
<p>advisory includes non-accounting positions, such as consulting, which would have a more diverse work experience</p>
<p>Can you become a CPA if you work in advisory? Do you have to do audits to become a CPA?</p>
<p>eastcoastmom1, you might want to check the board of accountancy in your state for the experience requirement for CPA. Currently, here in California, applicants have two option for CPA, without attest experience and with attest experience. CPA with attest experience have the privilege to sign attest report. That license requires 500 attest hours in the work experience which is much easier to be met in audit than in the other two division.</p>
<p>Entry-level Big Four salaries are nearly always the same. There are rumors they collude in order to avoid salary competition for new hires. If you find anecdotal differences, they probably can be explained by a person’s negotiating skills. </p>
<p>But, the salary at a Big Four firm is not the main attraction–it’s the ability to transfer from a Big Four firm to another firm. You have more opportunities after your first couple years at a Big Four firm.</p>
<p>A smaller regional firm will definitely pay less (maybe $5k less in salary)*, but you have to way that against the grind the Big Four promises.</p>
<p>*Depending on the firm’s size in a particular geographical region, its offer may be comparable (within $1-2k to what Big Four firms are offering).</p>
<p>If you’d like a pretty comprehensive overview of the big four, take a look at this [Big Four Performance Analysis Report](<a href="https://docs.google.com/viewer?url=http://www.big4.com/pdfs/2010%2520Big%2520Four%2520Firms%2520Performance%2520Analysis%2520by%2520Big4.com.pdf"“>https://docs.google.com/viewer?url=http://www.big4.com/pdfs/2010%2520Big%2520Four%2520Firms%2520Performance%2520Analysis%2520by%2520Big4.com.pdf”</a>). It has everything (and probably more than) you’d want to know about each of them!</p>
<p>My offer for D&T in NYC is $55,000 base, $2,000 signing bonus, and $5,000 when the CPA exam is passed. You could add on the Becker review course valued at around $3,000 and the compensation first year is around $65,000 plus benefits. In my opinion thats not too bad for a 22 year old straight out of college.</p>
<p>I received 5 Big Four offers throughout the south and southeast. Offers were all between $48000-$51000. I received both audit and advisory offers, in different cities. So, yes all of those firms offer very similar salaries.</p>
<p>As the previous person said, the firms cover a CPA review course valued anywhere between $2,000-$3,000. $5,000 bonus if you pass in the first year, $3,000 bonus if you pass with the second year. You cannot be promoted in Audit without passing the exam. In Advisory, a multitude of other certifications are also available where the firms will pay for you to study and then give a bonus for passing the exam. I plan on doing this after passing the CPA exam.</p>
<p>Advisory >> Tax >> Audit as far as salary…at least that is the “stereotype”</p>
<p>Advisory is anywhere from 60-80% travel all across the country. Tax is almost zero travel. Audit is somewhere in between but travel will definitely be regional. That is a pretty major difference in each practice.</p>
<p>Advisory is the most extroverted/has the highest expectation of the personal approach to your your job. Audit is next in line for face-time and expectations from the client. Tax has very little face time with the client–basically a cube job.</p>
<p>Advisory is not required by law = higher expectations
Audit is required by law = the client gets audited because it has to and no other reason. Auditors will try to say that they “add value” but this is not the case in 99.9% of cases. Instead, they run of millions in audit fees that go straight to the bottom line.
Tax is in between = they don’t have personal interactions, but Tax basically acts as a consultant from their cube. They are trying to save the client as much money as possible through their understanding and manipulation of the tax code. This can have million dollars impacts on the bottom line profit figure. Value added.</p>
<p>Salaries range from about 45-58k depending on the region. NYC pays the most with an associate making about 56k base, with maybe a slight bonus. However, 50k in Jackson, MS is like 70k+ in NYC due to cost of living differences. This is often overlooked. The Big 4 associates in the major cities are well underpaid because of the COL. Starting out in a smaller area that still has a decent COL but good clients is probably a better move regarding your QOL. Some might disagree with me, but that is my opinion.</p>
<p>Considering benefits, which also typically include a matching plan for the 401k or pension, you can net around 75k in total benefits coming from health, dental, eye, pre-tax parking, 401k/pension matching, per diem when on road, free hotels/hotel points and reimbursement when traveling, airplane points, CPA review and bonus, etc. It adds up in a hurry… However,</p>
<p>The main reason people join the Big 4 is due to the future opportunities that can arise from the brand name and network it allows a person to create. Most individuals stay until their 2nd or third year as a Senior Associate, some leave after they become Manager after 5 years with the firm. At that point, the network that the person has created and the strength of the Big 4 experience allows for endless opportunities. </p>
<p>The Big 4 underpays, especially its older employees that have yet to reach partner status. Hence, only the ‘lifers’ stay until the reach the pot at the end of the tunnel called “Partner” The rest move into industry or go get an MBA and hope to catapult into management–the money is better and so are the hours.</p>
<p>The standard is 40 hours billable a week. To get there, most have to work 50-60 hours a week.</p>
<p>Vacation pay is pretty awesome. Most firms grant between 20-28 vacation days, with no vesting period. </p>
<p>Also, 6-8 holiday days for the firm, in addition to the 20-28 vacation days. </p>
<p>I tried to cover everything. If you have any other questions, I’ll try to help you out.</p>
<p>^^ Goose, extremely helpful, thank you.</p>
<p>a friend received an offer from EY Advisory in NYC about a month ago.
57.5k base and 3k signing bonus.</p>
<p>Not bad for a starting position and only 21 years old.</p>
<p>Great post Goose!</p>
<p>Maybe we should just sticky it if it is really helpful for the board? Big 4 questions come across this board as much as any…</p>
<p>I’d say thats a good idea. Your post answered many of the basic questions people will have regarding pay, different positions, and even vacations and working time. Covered all the bases of a beginner’s life in the Big 4!</p>
<p>I’m not important enough around here to know how to have a post sticked haha…anyone know the protocol to request a sticky? </p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>To land a big 4 gig you need to keep your GPA high (3.4+), get involved on campus, demonstrate leadership skills, and attend a top 50-75 business school. If you can do that and show confidence during your interview, you’re golden.</p>
<p>^Although it’s possible to get into a big 4 through lower ranked/unknown schools, it makes it increasingly difficult.</p>
<p>It doesn’t matter what the school ranks as long as the B4 recruits the school on an annual basis.</p>
<p>Bringing an old post back, but what does advisory entails? Is it similar to consulting?</p>
<p>I am recent grad with MS in accounting, and have consulting experience (I like it the work). I also have a CFA level 1(financial analyst). I am debating between a career in finance or consulting (which ever pays more long term).</p>
<p>does the big 4 hire ppl with finance/mis degrees?</p>