<p>So I hear alot of people say pick the firm which culture suits you. Can anyone with industry experience talk about the differences in corporate culture between the 4 firms. Maybe what you like about what company, or why you dont. Etc.. All answers will be greatly appreciated and I am sure will help me as well as other people.</p>
<p>No one gives a damn about work culture if they get a job offer.</p>
<p>sure they do, if they have multiple offers</p>
<p>i don’t work in the big 4 just yet (ask me next month), but from what i understand the differences aren’t that significant between firms; they all have values and attempt to push those values in various ways, some well-thought out and some misguided</p>
<p>your enjoyment will be more related to how much you enjoy the work; if you’re miserable doing your tasks, great people aren’t going to help too much</p>
<p>and in firms of over 100k employees, there will always be gems and a few bad apples</p>
<p>Yea they do care, but regardless THEY ARE ALL THE SAME (Big 4)!</p>
<p>Well, I can say for sure that E&Y strongly emphasizes personal development as a tool for maximizing potential, much more than any of the other Big 4’s. If you’re looking for something like that, I’d probably suggest E&Y to you. It’s a good company, very friendly to employees.</p>
<p>In terms of rankings, I would say that PWC is slightly ahead of the pack, EY is slightly behind PWC, Deloitte is slightly behind EY (less so than EY’s lag behind PWC) and KPMG is behind Deloitte (significantly more so than Deloitte’s lag behind EY). KPMG is typically the worst, but whatever. They all lead to the same crap anyway, so just go with who audits the biggest clients in the city you’re in.</p>
<p>PWC’s rep is being more buttoned up and stodgy than the rest. KPMG is under a cloud because of their complicity with various questionable tax haven strategies. Maybe its a bad idea to be associated with them if you are tax(I think that’s more a problem for their tax planning lawyers though, which I’m assuming you you aren’t).</p>
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<p>Do you have any idea what you’re talking about? Where do you get your information from? As you said - Big 4 rankings don’t matter as they will provide you with the same overall experience. In terms of prestige they’re all more or less the same. But I don’t agree with your “ranking” of the firms.</p>
<p>If you want to “rank” them, here it is according to revenue & size:</p>
<p>[Top</a> 100 US Accounting Firms Reveal Decline, Glimmers of Hope | Big4.com](<a href=“http://www.big4.com/blog/top-100-us-accounting-firms-reveal-decline-glimmers-of-hope-494]Top”>http://www.big4.com/blog/top-100-us-accounting-firms-reveal-decline-glimmers-of-hope-494)</p>
<p>Here’s the detail on each firm:</p>
<p>The largest firm in the US was Deloitte with $10.7 billion in 2009 net revenues, down 2.90% from 2008 revenues, split 37% Audit, 24% Tax, 34% Advisory and 5% Other. Deloitte has 2,968 partners, up 0.88%, 30,637 professionals, down 4.64% and 42,367 total employees, down 4.53%.</p>
<p>Behind Deloitte was PricewaterhouseCoopers with $8.2 billion in 2009 net revenues, down 2.60% from 2008 revenues, split 52% Audit, 32% Tax, 16% Advisory and 0% Other. The firm has 2,235 partners, up 1.68%, 22,729 professionals, up 2.85% and 31,681 total employees, up 2.47%.</p>
<p>Following Deloitte and PwC was Ernst & Young with $7.6 billion in 2009 net revenues, down 5.63% from 2008 revenues, split 41% Audit, 33% Tax, 23% Advisory and 5% Other. The firm has 2,500 partners, up 8.70%, 17,500 professionals, down 6.91% and 25,600 total employees, down 5.88%.</p>
<p>The last of the Big Four was KPMG with $5.1 billion in 2009 net revenues, down 10.62% from 2008 revenues, split 48% Audit, 27% Tax, 25% Advisory and 0% Other. The firm has 1,847 partners, up 1.60%, 15,803 professionals, down 4.59% and 22,960 total employees, down 3.99%.</p>
<p>I’m going by what street prestige is like bro. If you go by how people OUTSIDE The accounting profession look at the big 4 (they generally go by audit by the way since that’s the part that concerns them), most people will say PWC is the best with EY close behind. Deloitte is quite good too because of its consulting practice, and KPMG is on its way down. Btw, here’s my analysis of the numbers. By audit revenue + tax revenue (which is all accountants should care about):</p>
<ol>
<li>PWC: 8.2 * (0.52+0.32) = 6.888 billion</li>
<li>Deloitte: 10.7 * (0.37+0.24) = 6.527 billion</li>
<li>Ernst and Young: 7.6 * (0.41+0.33) = 5.624 billion</li>
<li>KPMG: 5.1 * (0.27+0.25) = 2.652 billion</li>
</ol>
<p>This is relatively consistent with the ranking I posted. Furthermore, I was speaking mostly in terms of audit, and notice how PWC has by far the highest % of rev from audit, then EY, then Deloitte, then dead last is KPMG. Sound familiar?</p>
<p>Also, here’s what people outside the accounting profession see:</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forums/big-4-rankings[/url]”>http://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forums/big-4-rankings</a></p>
<p>Haha don’t even show me the wallstreetoasis message board. People there hate accountants anyway and most of the people have no idea about prestige rankings, especially within the accounting industry.</p>
<p>I took an Audit course over the summer and the textbook showed me the latest rankings of the Big 4 based on total revenue (Its called Auditing and Principles, by McGraw Hill). Deloitte (1st) and PWC (2nd) were the top 2, followed by E&Y and KPMG. Obviously I can’t provide a link to that. PWC isn’t any more prestigious than E&Y/Deloitte (or the other way around). </p>
<p>My point is that these prestige rankings of the Big 4 are B.S. The revenue figures don’t mean much either. They’re all basically the same, except for individually perceived differences in culture.</p>
<p>^fair enough, I just posted my thoughts. I did mention in my first post to go with the one with the most presence in the OP’s city, right? I do believe though that based on professionals I’ve talked to PWC and EY are slightly above the rest with Deloitte close to them and KPMG way behind.</p>
<p>Also, I’m well aware of WSO’s biases, but if a large amount of people still believe that the general rankings are as I described, then there must be something to it. Its something like even though Lil Wayne sells more records than Army of the Pharaohs, that doesn’t mean that Lil Wayne > AotP, but he must be doing something right if the common music fan is more aware of Lil Wayne than AotP</p>
<p>^ I know. That’s a matter of opinion though as I’ve heard many people say they like E&Y and Deloitte professionals more than PWC’s!.</p>
<p>PwC offers the highest starting salary for employees. You can check that out on the PayScale’s website. I would agree with cream that PwC is number one, then Deloitte, etc. </p>
<p>[PayScale</a> - Certified Public Accountant (CPA) Salary, Average Salaries](<a href=“http://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=Certified_Public_Accountant_(CPA)/Salary]PayScale”>http://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=Certified_Public_Accountant_(CPA)/Salary)</p>
<p>Big 4 reputation is all about what clients you’re auditing. Not the name. They are pretty uniform in their opportunities.</p>
<p>Basically the same, whoever blows the hardest and longest gets promoted.</p>
<p>Honestly, you guys are confusing what the OP is asking with money. He’s asking for CULTURE DIFFERENCE, hence Revenue does not play a factor in corporate culture?</p>
<p>MightyNick, like you said, rankings don’t matter at all. In terms of revenue, they are basically the same, and pretty much of equal prestige in terms of the public opinion. However, the same cannot be said for their corporate culture. Each of them are much different from the other 3.</p>
<p>It’s important that you find the right corporate culture that suits you, and not worry about the revenue that each Big 4 brings in.</p>
<p>Hey everyone thanks for your replies but Gambino you are right, I am aware from reading other posts about the rankings and starting pay and all that but to me they dont differ to much to make a difference, what i was more concerned about was with this talk about coporate culture i seem to hear alot of people talk about.</p>
<p>Yeah, you should do some individual research on each Big 4 companies and see which one fits you best. Basically, all of them get the job done, but they have their own values.</p>
<p>Here’s a small rundown on each of the Big 4. This is by no means a definite judgment of the corporate culture, but just some points to give you a sense of what each company is about:</p>
<p>Ernst & Young: Personal development is highly emphasized. The culture is very centered around employees. More of a “people” culture.</p>
<p>PWC: Similar to Ernst & Young except more emphasis on diversity of people working in the company. </p>
<p>KPMG: Pretty focused on employees as well, gives more benefits to working mothers than any other Big 4 (I think at least). All Big 4’s have benefits for working mothers, but KPMG seems to take the most care when it comes to this area. Note that KPMG isn’t very large in the US (which is probably where you want to be), but it’s very large in the UK. </p>
<p>Deloitte: Very focused on regional work. Taken directly from their website, “With each member firm operating independently but united by a common vision, Deloitte gives you the opportunity to feel part of a local community led by global standards.”</p>
<p>Overall, I’d say that they share pretty similar cultures, but if you really want to find out more, you’ll have to go more in-depth. All of them are pretty much top employers and there’s quite a few perks if you work for them. Of course, there are some downsides of working in Big 4 (long hours) but there are also many positive things that people don’t really consider.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>Sorry, but reading about what the firm says is their culture isn’t doesn’t work. They are all pretty identical. You can’t label a specific culture to the Big 4, however you can see cultural changes from office to office. Your best bet is to go with the highest salary.</p>
<p>Like you said, there ARE cultural changes from office to office. It may be these changes that our OP may be looking for, and honestly at the moment there isn’t a very large discrepancy in salary between the Big 4. I’d rather have a slightly lower salary and have a more enjoyable time at work than vice versa.</p>