Practice vs Industry

Aurian-loh

I need a little help. I was offered a training contract with one of the big4 and I'm due to start in October, however for the summer I've been working in a new company and they want me to stay and do the training there.

They dont have any experience with any of the institutes and so they don't have any idea of what they training is going to be like. They are willing to pay me alot more than I'd get with the big 4 but as its a new company I'd kinda have to be teaching myself and I'm a little worried that I wont be doing anything more then I'm doing now, ie answering phones, for a long time.

But as I dont have any idea what I'd be doing in the other place I dont know what to do. HELP!!!! :eek:

smcgiff

Hi,

You're getting paid more by a start up to answer phones than you'd get contracting with a Big 4?

How much will they pay you when you actually start working as an accountant!

I understand your experience fear though, but it's hard to advise without knowing more about the start up company.

Working in start ups can be fun, and can lead to strange jobs, i.e. answering the phone/working on the production line etc.

It's hard to turn your back on the future prospects working with a big 4 would offer. Okay, I'm probably confusing things more, so hopefully others will have something else to offer.

Aurian-loh

Ha ha! Obv they wouldn't pay me a lot for just answering the phones. More so once the company gets bigger and more established. But when that happens will they realise that they need someone more qualified and I get pushed back to phones and filing.

Also it may take a year or longer if I do stay before I get my teeth into anything interesting and start really learning. Would I therefore be wasting my time where I am or would it take that long with a bigger practice.

I'm not sure though if I want to tie myself down with a PROPER job now either. Kinda liked the idea of being on a three year contract which gave me the freedom to do as I wished after that and the backing from a recognised firm, whereas here its so new and small that if I did leave to try somewhere else would I have just wasted an opportunity which I may find impossible to get back with a bigger practice.

I also had my cards read which said I should go as it was very important for my career.

someothername

Aurian-loh wrote:

I also had my cards read which said I should go as it was very important for my career.

ah well then its settled! haha - joking

if it was me id go to the big 4 option - think long run , that would be better for so many different reasons ....
- looks good on CV
- better training
- more room for promotion

best of luck anyways and let us know how u get on?

digitally-yours

Aurian-loh wrote:

I also had my cards read which said I should go as it was very important for my career.

*Thinks of seeking career in card reading.
There is a demend out there i can sense:D

I would go for BIG 4.
Companies will show you a rosy picture but i think you need to see for your self whats in your interest.

Bren1609

BIG 4 hands down. Forget the start up. Like u said, they dont know what the training is going to be like etc etc. If you want to become an accountant go for the BIG 4 its a no brainer.

ircoha

Couple of points here:

There are really only a Big 2 now PWC and KPMG so it depends on who ur contract is with

Also, what kind of accounting do u want to do ACA, ACCA,CPA,etc

some can be done in industry more easily than others.

What is key: is there a quaaified accountant in the company u are in who is keen to help you or are they saying u do all the leg work in relation to finding out etc.

If no accountant with a level of interest, leg it.

What may happen is they will string u oiut till the contract option expires and then maybe say, sorry bud, no time for that now.

the other issue is that u will have more structured time off for classes and study in a big firm, the small co will be too streched to carry that overhead.

there will be always a crisis when u need to go to college etc

chump

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Four_auditors

The Big 4, sometimes written as the Big Four, is a group of international accountancy and professional services firms that handles the vast majority of audits for publicly traded companies as well as many private companies. The Big Four firms are shown below, with their latest publicly available data:
Firm Revenues People

PricewaterhouseCoopers [1] $22.0bn 140,000
Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu [2] $20.0bn 135,000
Ernst & Young [3] $18.4bn 114,000
KPMG [4] $16.9bn 113,000

that's international - In Ireland it is KPMG and PWC but I wouldn't scoff at the others either

rathmaniacal

chump wrote:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Four_auditors



that's international - In Ireland it is KPMG and PWC but I wouldn't scoff at the others either

Plus, once you are qualified with any of them, mobility becomes somewhat easier.

Aurian-loh

Thanks for all the help. Going with the big 4/2. Handed in my notice so no going back now. Here's hoping there will be no "oh my God , what have I done" later.

Now if anyone is looking for a job in Galway , mine will soon be free.

ircoha

Aurian-loh wrote:

Thanks for all the help. Going with the big 4/2. Handed in my notice so no going back now. Here's hoping there will be no "oh my God , what have I done" later.

Now if anyone is looking for a job in Galway , mine will soon be free.

IMO the correct decision: thanks for letting us know and we look fwd to the OMG, these exams are hard posts!!:D

charba

It really does depend on what you want to be though.

I work in industry and love it. I don't think I could have done auditing ( I presume thats what your doing in your Big 4 company),

I have 6 exams left to sit in CPA and the experience I am gaining and support I am given from my company is second to none.
Granted for training record purposes, I have much more responsibility than most people coming straight out of college would get ( I prepare accounts from journals right through to trial balance and completion of management accounts for a multi national company) but I do not feel that I would not have got the same exposure to accounts if I had joined the big four or a smaller accounting practice.

I hope you enjoy your new job though. The Big 4 are focused around helping you get through these exams which for the next couple of years is all that matters