<p>Coming from a state school my career options are focused on Big 4 accounting, small consulting firms or commercial banking, instead of i-banking or M/B/B. After taking my first financial accounting class, I thought the entire field was mundane. Now that I have been researching it, I am interested. I do have a few questions though:</p>
<p>1) All the Big 4 firms' websites divide their services into audit, tax and advisory. Does the advisory service resemble the work consulting firms do? What are the similarities and differences?</p>
<p>2) The pay is obviously less than IB or MC, but the hours in the office and the travel aren't nearly as bad. While I know this is generally true, I do not know the approximate figures. Can someone give me an estimate of the hours vs. the pay of Big 4 accounts vs. MCs?</p>
<p>3) I have been told previously that accountants' compensation will vary depending on location. What is the difference in pay for a PWC partner in NY differ from a partner with the same credentials in Seattle, Denver, or San Francisco?</p>
<p>I tried looking up the salary info on some of the web sites that have been posted, but a large portion of the information is out of date.</p>
<p>As always thanks for everyone's help.</p>