Life of an auditor

Okay fellow auditors...what happened to the complaining? Your zest to leave the audit field. I know there's plenty of accounting jobs out there. We still get those recruiter calls. Nobody's taking the bait and leaving. It's not like our industry is doing great. We're having layoffs too. Many of you have your CPAs, so it's not like you're waiting for the hours or anything. Are the firms just doing a better job at recruiting and retaining people? I mean, people stopped leaving even before the economy dipped. If the firms rely on people leaving so they can keep dipping into the college farm, and these people don't leave, do they have to keep laying off people all the time regardless of the economy. This is especially problematic at the promotional levels - senior associates and managerial levels. No firm can afford to have a plethora of people at these expensive levels, especially when the number of clients stay the same. HR's implicitly saying they're ...

is there a huge rivalry among the big 4 firms? Great Question. They obviously compete in order to get new clients and retain clients. They also compete when it comes to recruiting at colleges, that's for sure. I'd consider it a healthy rivalry. The firms strive to match each other's salaries and benefits every year, in different forms of remuneration. Amongst the non-partners, there's no real sense of the other firms being our "enemy'. It's definitely not a pepsi-coke style rivalry. As long as there's enough to go around, I don't think it'll reach that level. All 4 firms play a big role in helping the FASB set accounting rules. They meet frequently on helping set standards, etc. etc. etc. So many of us have friends at the rest of the firms, mostly from our graduating college class. So from what we hear, it seems to be pretty much the same sense at all firmns. I might be wrong though. Thoughts?

So this is what it feels like post-layoffs at the office? Rumors were flying around before you turned around. People were checking schedules to figure out names that no longer existed. One thing about these firms, they might take time to schedule people on client or fix scheduling conflicts, but when people are no longer with the firm, they remove their names from the system faster than Vin Diesel can hit the 60 mark using those fast & furious cars. But everybody's on high alert. HR's trying to feel the current vibe. People keep checking their email frequently, worried that they might get that dreaded email from HR. The staff associates are keeping the grapevine strong by wringing new information from all over the area. Wait, we have to please our firms now? Not the other way round? Big 4 culture gone wild. The associates suddenly start to become much more receptive to requests from seniors and above. Senior associates become more responsive to managers. Most people aren...

Here's a great article written by Francine Mckenna on the recent happenings in the Big 4. She talks about the recent layoffs and why they've happened. For those of you currently in the Big 4, it's a must-read: Retheauditors

Just had an interviewee shoot some follow-up questions to me. A decent email, which I helped answer. You know how interviewees ask follow-up questions after taking your business cards. I would think it'd be questions like "do you like what you do", "how many hours do you work"..stuff like that. Reminded me of a forward (legit email) from a couple years ago that I thought I'd share with those who haven't seen it yet (I've X'ed out all names and emails)... From: XXXXX Sent: Tuesday, November 27, 2007 11:49 AM To: XXXXXX Subject: KPMG Questions XXXX, Thank you for letting me e-mail you. XXX has been very helpful with my questions about KPMG, but I was wanting an opinion from someone currently working for the firm. I am having a hard time deciding on who to go to work for in Dallas. I am getting a lot of fluff answers from recruiters. Is it okay if you give me the true scoop on how it is working for unnessary? The following are very important questio...

Was just out-of-state for work for a couple weeks, and it's just amazing to see the differences in work cultures in different cities. It really sucks when you have to stay late because you don't really get to enjoy the city. But when you leave early, it's great - the restaurants, the drinks, etc. How about them rental cars? If you get stuck with a toyota matrix or something, boy is it painful. Doesn't come with anything, so you feel like you're in a box that moves. That new car smell permeates the air. Well, who do you think buys these ridiculous cars outside of Hertz, Avis and Enterprise. But when you luck out and get the sports cars, oooh wee...good times zooming through the streets of unfamiliar cities.The worst part is having to deal with the expense gurus after. Yes, my breakfast was $28. Ever tried room service expense folk? It's one of the most overpriced ripoffs out there.