Life of an auditor

This link's making the rounds amidst the big 4, an animated depiction of a hypothetical conversation between an auditor and his boss. Some people think it's the most hilarious thing ever, but i'd have to give it a 6 on a scale of 10. They could have taken this much further, but even though the concept was great, the content wasn't exactly must-watch tv. Does it truly reflect conversations amongst auditors? Snippets, yes. Are there bosses like that? Yes. Are there subordinates like that? Yes. Is it very common? Not really, but not too far off.

Looks like the firms have pulled off a heist. Although there's still the requisite complaining by the auditors, they are, for the most part, okay with their raises. In fact, the staff associates are happy with their raises. Since most firms, except for one, didn't even give out any raises last year, a raise in the high single digits or low double digits is actually something delightful to them, a call to their moms perhaps. Never mind the fact that they're getting paid one level below what they should be paid. The firms have essentially moved all pay grades one level below without too much discontent. And so the rumor mill comes to rest since the facts have come out, and as always, the firms escape, with very few scars.

I will be working full-time as a staff auditor in the Fall for a mid-size firm in New York. I've interned at another mid-size firm, and I've seen all the auditors staying pretty late. But exactly what is late? (As an intern, I got to leave by 5-6pm). How late do they expect you to stay? Do you leave when the managers/partners leave? As an intern, you have a pretty swell life. They will pet you, treat you and coddle you well, until you sign the dotted line. It is nothing like how you're treated once you join. This is prevalent in different industries though, not just accounting. Hours are different across firms and teams, so I can't tell you what you should expect, but I can only tell you what I've seen and heard. In the fall you might work until 7-7:30 at times. December's usually the slowest month of the year, so you can pull of a normal work day (5-5:30). On average during busy season (Jan-April), people work till 8-8:30. Some teams work till midnight, some wo...

I'm trying to decide whether to audit financial services companies or non-financial services companies. What would you say are the pros and cons of either industries? Do individuals who choose non-FS have less career mobility within the firm or if they decide not to stay with the B4 after a few years? Really depends on what you'd like to do after (unless you really love auditing). If you want to a controller,etc. at a p/e firm or a hedge fund down the road, you'd want to go into financial services. The pay won't be too bad, especially if you get a share of the insane bonuses they dole out. If you want to audit industries with tangible products and want to get a better understanding of the operations of such businesses, then other industries are the way to go.In terms of mobility outside the firm, auditing other industries is the way to go since you have plenty of options when you exit the audit world. For example, in 2008, after Lehman collapsed, it was incredibly hard ...