PUBLIC ACCOUNTING IS TOXIC| UGLY TRUTH ABOUT PUBLIC ACCOUNTING PART 2| PWC, EY, KPMG, DELOITTE.....
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 11 พ.ย. 2020
- Let's talk about some of the toxic traits of the public accounting industry whether it be the Big4 (EY, Deloitte, KPMG, PWC) or other mid-tier public accounting firms. I have worked in Public Accounting for 3 years now and here are my thoughts of the ugly truth and toxic traits of working in public accounting.
Ugly Truth About Public Accounting Part 1: • I Quit my Job! Ugly tr...
Public Accounting Salary: • Public Accountant Sala...
First Week At Big4: • A Day in the life of a...
Accounting Playlist: • Accounting Career Advice
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First week in big 4 public accounting vlog: • A Day in the life of a...
I quit my job at big4 firm: • I Quit my Job! Ugly tr...
Accountant Salaries: • Public Accountant Sala...
Name: Nicole
Age: 25
Occupation: Public Accountant
I am a public accountant, makeup and beauty enthusiast, and love to share my knowledge and skills with anyone willing to listen. Most importantly, I am a young Christian sharing Jesus to the world in my own way. I graduated with a B.S. in Accounting in 2017 from Penn State and decided to document my journey as a first-year staff in public accounting. I love sharing my love for accounting (and more) with you all and am super excited to document my growth journey in my public accounting career, document me becoming a CPA, and obtaining my master's degree with you all.
Country of Origin: Angola
City: Luanda
Languages Spoken: Portuguese, English, French, Spanish, Lingala
![Big 4 while Black? (KPMG, PwC, EY, Deloitte) [Where did all the Black Accountants go?]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/d05ufu3vtF4/mqdefault.jpg)
Some days I surprise myself by not telling off one of the partners. Public culture is incredibly toxic, about 95% of the people are narcissistic and think they’re better just because. I plan on going to private and stick with that nice, mellow, and easy middle class life.
The hours are the biggest reason I didn't switch my major to accounting. I believe in a good work/ life balance and those hours do NOT align with that. Thank you for being so open🙂
Love the realness! We definitely need more of this. Not to deter students, but to truly give them useful information so they are not blind sided. Also it makes those going thru it not feel so alone, or feel like “I can’t do it” “something is wrong with me. I need to keep pushing”, because that is not the case. This is a unique and honestly can be a toxic environment. Thank you!
I have worked in the big 4 and other corporate places. Say goodbye to your social life, and welcome extra long hours... Think wisely before you choose this career path.
I do audit in the governmental sector and our weeks are always 40 hours 🙌🏾
do you need a cpa for that? and how is the salary compared to big 4 audit? thanks!
@@anrr5317 no you don’t need an CPA. They don’t push it at all but if you decide to go for it they’ll cover your study materials. Starting with no experience my salary was shy of 58,000.
@@Inlalasland that's good news! thanks for the info :)
@@Inlalasland Thanks for that! Do you know what's the best way to land an accounting job in the government sector or how did you discover yours?
I'm looking to join the irs my self for the exact same reason
I actually agree with your points, but I think this is only the beginning of what is a long and more complex discussion. There are some incredible regional and small firms out there that have respectable business, career opportunities, and work/life balance. I just signed with a regional firm whose staff are overall happy and work an average of 50 hours/week during busy season (straight from the horse's mouth). This is a firm with 4 offices in the region serving large and small clients. There are many organizational and cultural changes that I would love to see change in public accounting, including the things you mentioned, but I think it would be rash to write off the entire practice because of how the Big 4 and mid-tier firms operate. Let's not throw the baby out with the bath water, so to speak. I definitely appreciate your shedding light on these topics though, I don't think they're discussed nearly enough. You're absolutely right in that the Big 4 have public universities eating out of their hands -- it's unreal. I think it's vital for the profession to encourage students to examine other pathways. We're losing accounting students because the rep is so bad.
I have always found it weird that accountants don't unionize against this disgusting culture. The Partners of these firms shouldn't get away with this exploitation of getting free hours out of their staff. I've since moved to working for the government and I love the work life balance. I don't ever want go back to that toxic culture if I can help it.
Accountants can’t really unionize but not all accounting positions/jobs are as demanding as external audit/tax. The culture is due to the nature of governmental regulations, requirements and entity deadlines. There is a lot of work to be done in a short amount of time so unfortunately there is no work around. However the toxic culture comes from the individuals and not the firm itself. It’s the people who believe in work 24/7 and no work life balance that cause it to be unpleasant.
hey thank you for your sharing, I am currently getting my MPA degree meanwhile working part time as a boardroom attendant in a big firm--serving coffee, tidying up conference rooms that sort of stuffs. And yeah they pay me $30 an hour based on a casual rate, every time when I look at those accountants working such long hours feeling stressed but not even making more than me per hour I kept wondering am I really ready for this industry after graduate.
Another great video from your channel!
Why doesn't someone tell those capitalists in the big four that the slave ownership system was abolished in the last century !!
Thank you for being so honest!
Always!
Good video. Try working in government. Government accounting is where it's at. 40hr work weeks, sometimes less, 6 and 7 hr work days, and maybe 2 or 3 pay periods of overtime during the year. Very laid back work environment, never in a hurry or rushing to get things done. Our meetings are spent chatting about non work related like the weekend. Very competitive salaries, 60 to 150k and a pension.
I am from Pakistan and I can relate to you 100% I also have same experienced. I am amazed the same toxic culture in your part of world , I am also in private co. As. Manger Internal Audit and very happy. I also share this kind of info with newbies . And I totally respect and admire your courage and honesty. People like you i hope break this conditioning please keep up the great work finance newbies need it most. Thank you thank you thank you
Big facts! I almost went into public after graduation because I thought that was all their is/thats what they push but ended up going into Internal Audit and have been in it ever since! I did get a CPA tho because #leverage #promotion 😂 however it was the HARDEST tests I have ever taken 😫
Right!!!! I am still struggling to take the CPA.
❤❤❤❤love your video omg 😱 lady you know what I am going through better than anyone else. Last Saturday I almost suffer from a heart attack because the manager just want to treat me as a garbage can that they can kick off . 😢😢😢 I feel miserable 😩. I will look for another place to work .
I love the honesty
Great video and all very true points
The title alone caught my attention!! 😂
ill be joining the big4 this fall as a first year staff. i did a really short internship with the big over the summer so we'll see how it goes ahaha. loved hearing your thoughts and your experience! it's different from all of the people I've spoken to while recruiting
Lol yeah recruiters lie.... I’ve also recruited and have had to sell my firm to interns and incoming staff 😂
Straight facts !! .. I literally got depressed during my 3 year long internship .. such a hard time ..now im over it ..byee bye never coming back
Awww sorry about that. Hope your new opportunity is better.
Do a video on what a contractor is please. Love the videos too QUEEN.
Will do! A contractor essentially does the same thing but gets paid hourly instead and is only short term.
There are so many videos about accounting firms' greed creating toxic work place and that is a symptom, that is now stinking intensively after many many decades of roting that is now unbearable 😳🙄😲
You didn't mention that as a contractor, you need to pay self-employment tax. They make more, but they need to pay more taxes than a normal salaried employee would.
I’m pretty sure that self-employment tax is a replacement to social security, comes out to about the same does it not?
That Bible verse read me for filth we love to see it sis 🥰
I got an offer at a big4 and they offered 27000€ per year salary for an associate job, I applied for a graduate role and it was 27000€, but they said they’ll give me associate which is higher role but the salary didn’t budge. Can I have an opinion on this guys ?
Deloitte is the worse!!! Don't have a problem with the pay or the work (even the hours). Issue I have is Deloitte makes you do Firm Initiatives (FI) (which is extra work you have to do for free to either (A) Make the Firm Look Good and/or (B) Bring in Sales). They ask you to work on proposals, do volunteer work, make and present firm trainings, etc. Thing is they want 200-300 hours per year of FI. That is between 5-7+ weeks of extra work. That is on top of a standard Deloitte Day which is 9 hours (so you are already doing 2.5 more days of work a week). The Firm Initiatives are not optional. You get graded on them. They give you 5 weeks of vacation but between the 9 hour days and FI you are still in the hole. That and you have to find your own projects. Hoping I can make it to next year so I can leave and not have to pay back the signing bonus. I hate that place.
Mhmm. Let’s chat on instagram because I have a different experience than you on the firm initiative. Also are you in consulting?
You're just a slave to the partners. Not even much stability in accounting anymore.
@@manager4409 - Yep - Laid off earlier this year. Deloitte continues to dump people - left and right. They are even showing the door to their high performers.
I’m sorry to have to post to such an old TH-cam video, but it’s my first time seeing it and I just had to reply.
Never having the benefit of working in a big four, or in my earlier days, it was the big six, public accounting firms, but as a holder of a BS degree in accounting and an enrolled agent, with an enrolled agent firm in NYC, and seeing what we’re seeing nowadays in the industry where nobody wants to work, I just wanted to say:
Fresh out of college, with little real-world experience, if you’re going into taxation, then your second impetus is to acquire real-world experience. Your first impetus is to acquire qualifying experience for your CPA certification.
As you are more than likely to be exposed to high net worth and high earning individuals (to include Schedule C filers) and businesses across a variety of industries and professions and scenarios, you should be eager and thankful to be that human sponge and soak up that experience that you’re being exposed to.
The truth of the matter is, that if you did touch such a high net worth business or individual tax return, you did not handle it from beginning to end, and performed satisfactorily for a first-year associate or intern, but no means on the level of a professional who can handle it on their own. Indubitably, they’ll be errors and missed steps there, and if the accounting firm has to pay for every hour that you’re learning on their dime, I’m sure that eventually they will start letting people go for subpar performance.
They tolerate certain incompetence, ineptness or errors because of the inexperience.
And, if they start letting people go because of their errors or inexperience, then the first thing to be clamored by the staffer being let go are:
“Well, I’m a newbie, what did they expect?”
“You’re letting me go because I’m a minority” (The favorite go-to excuse for somebody being fired for incompetence)
Over the years, I’ve seen plenty of big four staffers who have gone out on their own, and making many of mistakes on individual and business tax returns, only because when they were at the big four accounting firms, somebody else did something for them (somebody else handle that part of the return), and they were not used to doing things from beginning to end on their own. Then they are faced with negligent lawsuits and having to reimburse clients for their mistakes.
Thanks for this video. I do not want to work in accounting and don't want to pursue the CPA after getting my Accounting bachelor's degree. What other certifications would you recommend? I like working with deadlines, projects, and even have an interest in tech.
You’re welcome hon. You can do internal audit, IT audit, Govt audit, staff accountant, financial analyst and more 😊
CISA and CIA certifications would be good
IRS or government agencies fed state city
Hi!
What do you do in public accounting? As in a normal day.
And I thought you were changing careers, not anymore? Thanks
I am still in public accounting. If I "change" careers it'll still be within the accounting world and when that does happen I'll let you all know. Feel free to check out my Day in the life of an Accountant playlist where I share various videos of my day to day functions.💕💕💕
The hours at Big 4 are brutal 🤭 definitely like mid tier better!
Could you please make a video on how you handle being a mom while working? Would love to hear from a working mom.
Financial Matter hey hon. I’m not a mom yet so unfortunately I can’t say much to that extent just yet. But whenever I do become a mom I’ll be able to make those kind of videos. 💕💕💕
@@corporatelynicole TYSM!!! 💕💕
Could you talk more about like being a contracted accountant is that something you good do early on or would you have to wait until you have more experience I would love to learn more
Can you elaborate on this some more please
@@corporatelynicole you mentioned that contracted accountants make the same during busy season that you would in 6 months as a salaried employee I was wondering how do you become a contracted accounting and can you do that as a new accountant or is it better to do when you have more experience
Just curious, aren’t there salary reviews on a yearly basis at the Big Four companies? $55,000 for a new graduate doesn’t seem that bad. I would like to know about the salary potential after 3-5 years at Big Four. I assume most receive six figure salaries??
I have a video discussing public accounting salaries from 2 years ago. 6 figures kick in around the time you make senior manager, partner or director. There is a annual review but salary increases by a set percentage set by the firm not dependent on performance. Check out my videos where I go into this in detail.
Thing is 55k is good but if you convert to hourly wage you end up getting screwed hard because of the unpaid overtime.
🐸☕️ *siipppsss*
💕💕💕
Yes girl !
I just took a senior role for 90k my first salaried job
I am scared and excited
But I also have anxiety with prometric
I studied for the exams but I can’t get to the testing center :/(
The pandemic messed me up
Im working 13 hrs a day in PwC and my life is hell! I can't quit bc of the bond. Also working on saturday!!!!we everydays deadlines its crazy!! And i got sick and now and looking for reasons to stay.
Hi Kendall. PwC US or Canada
Ohh no sorry to hear that. It’s definitely not fun when your team is giving that kind of work culture. I work for the same firm but my experience is different
It’s important to know that this discussion cannot be truncated down to a 13 minute explanation. This perceived toxicity does not apply to ALL public accounting firms, it just simply does not. Will you work longer hours during busy season? Yes. Do they taper off to a normal 40 hours after busy season, they at least do for me and the firm I work for. It’s also important to not just look at the money you bring in and compare that to the hours you work, it’s not that simple. Be aware that fringe benefits are NOT cheap, and the employee pays a tiny fraction of what they are in total. This includes health insurance for you and your family, dental insurance, vision insurance, life insurance, and likely others as well. Not to mention any retirement contributions the firm contributes. Firms will also cover your CPA materials and test costs. To any and all organizations, employees are the biggest cost, and it cannot be simplified down to just the money you bring home. Public accounting is not for everyone, even the firms are aware of that. But the only way any one will learn that is by giving it a shot. I can empathize with some aspects of your video, but not most of them.
You must be new to my channel so completely understand your pov.
Be careful what you wish for people... working for some of these companies will have you burned out quicker than a tyre in a drag race
Do you know what is the hard part? You cannot say the" true". People outside will say that the problem is you because they do not understand how it works. People inside of the organization will say that you are not good enough. It is a lot of politics and injustices. It is not easy to survive...
Question: Is it toxic? Answer: Yes.
🤣🤣🤣
You work at big just for experience and leave oay is a non issue you will make it on backend
Do you need a CPA to be a contractor?
Taylor Ceirra it’s a plus but not required.
i just started my tax job...3 weeks into busy season i absolutely hate it. Im okay working long hours actually..
BUT THEY NEVER REALLY TRAINED ME!!! theyre just like- click click click click *oh wtf thats weird* click click (for 2 hrs) got it?? good. And then tell me they showed me already.
I want to die. I have so many returns i have to do by this week. I dont know how to do any of them. Trudging along.
They tell me to ask questions. I feel punished for every question i ask. Kill me.
Is anyone else feeling this?
Def not a fun experience to deal with. I suggest scheduling an hour a day with your senior or whoever is above you to go through all your questions so you’re note asking multiple times a day. Def not easy coming in with busy season
where did you get paid that low? EY no way, must be Deloitte or KPMG.
For me it is pointless to get stressed out in big 4 since you dont exit the rat race...
Long hours with no OT...
You CANNOT in no way shape or form still be currently employed in public accounting and making this video! If so, get yourself ready to be placed on a “PIP” first and out the door second ... SMDH
Lol I’m actually a CFO now ☺️