[jlondon]

So I’m currently working at a public company, and they decide to do a whole ERP change. So, right now, they are in the middle of doing a systems implementation, and there needs to be a LOT of work done, such as data migration, system configuration, running parallel simulation, etc, until we actually have this system up and running. We have a team, but the team is not really big, as in, we have about just enough people, and we have to work our ass off to get this system into place.

Then, I finally get a response back from a few college buds whom I’ve reached out to awhile back , which are from the big 4 firms, and said they can refer me. Which I believe, assume, I will get some interviews. Am I wrong to just ditch my company like this in the middle of an implementation. And take a step back, take a pay cut, etc, just to get into audit with one of the big 4 firms? Well, of course I’m not hired yet, but what if I do. I am kinda ditching my company. I’m currently in A/P, and I feel like I’m topped out of this task. As bad as audit is, and I will even have to take a pay cut if I get the job, should I quit and go to the big 4?

Any comments at all is welcome, and please keep it real honest, give me all the CRAP (Criticism, Rejection, Assholes, Pressures) you got. Because if I can’t take CRAP, I will never be successful right.

BEC: 69, 57, 72, 73, (anticipated for 4/4/2015)
AUD: 65, 63, 74, 84!!! (expires 7/31/2015)
FAR: 63, 57, (scheduled for 4/1/2015)
REG: ... 42, (Anticipated to be around 5/20~)

-Every Set Back is a Set Up for a Major Come Back #motivation

"I've missed over 9,000 shots in my career. I've lost over 300 games. 26 times I've been trusted to take the game winning shot, and missed. I've failed, over and over and over again in my life. And that is why, I succeed." - Michael Jordan

"You are not your past, but the resources and capabilities you glean from it" -Jordan Belfort

[Study Monk]

Do your research and make sure Big 4 is right for you. Obviously it can help your career in the long run. I personally would prefer to be someone special at a smaller firm than someone not special at a Big 4 firm.

I spoke to an ancient wise man who sent me on a mushroom induced journey through an ancient forest to find the key to passing the CPA exam. A talking spider monkey told me to throw the last of my drinking water in the dirt to find what I was looking for. So I followed his instructions and the following message appeared in the soil:

"Do 5000 multiple choice questions for each section"

[Study Monk]

Do your research and make sure Big 4 is right for you. Obviously it can help your career in the long run. I personally would prefer to be someone special at a smaller firm than someone not special at a Big 4 firm.

I spoke to an ancient wise man who sent me on a mushroom induced journey through an ancient forest to find the key to passing the CPA exam. A talking spider monkey told me to throw the last of my drinking water in the dirt to find what I was looking for. So I followed his instructions and the following message appeared in the soil:

"Do 5000 multiple choice questions for each section"

[teeteenounouche]

When will the implementation be over? The interview process might take a while or it may not but I don't think there's any harm in interviewing and giving a start date after the implementation is over so you have a clean break from you current company.

With that said, why would you want to go into Audit when you say it's bad. I wouldn't suggest running to one job just to get away from another. You will never be happy. I think being a part of this implementation team has put you in a golden position especially if it's successful. Figure out what you actually want to do and see if your company is willing to get you there. If not, then look elsewhere.

Florida:
AUD: 73, 81! Thank you Lord!
BEC: 73, 77! Thank you Lord! and WTB
REG: 71, 82! Thank you Lord! and A71
FAR: 72, 78! Thank you God and my Mommy in Heaven!

CPA Excel, Ninja Notes & Audio, Wiley Test Bank, CPAreviewforfree

[teeteenounouche]

When will the implementation be over? The interview process might take a while or it may not but I don't think there's any harm in interviewing and giving a start date after the implementation is over so you have a clean break from you current company.

With that said, why would you want to go into Audit when you say it's bad. I wouldn't suggest running to one job just to get away from another. You will never be happy. I think being a part of this implementation team has put you in a golden position especially if it's successful. Figure out what you actually want to do and see if your company is willing to get you there. If not, then look elsewhere.

Florida:
AUD: 73, 81! Thank you Lord!
BEC: 73, 77! Thank you Lord! and WTB
REG: 71, 82! Thank you Lord! and A71
FAR: 72, 78! Thank you God and my Mommy in Heaven!

CPA Excel, Ninja Notes & Audio, Wiley Test Bank, CPAreviewforfree

[jlondon]

@teeteenounouche the implementation is expected to take a few more months. And it's in a pretty critical stage right now.

I guess the only reason why I want to get into audit is so that I can see everything from the bottom up, like the bigger picture. Since I'm only doing A/P right now, I really don't get the opportunity to see every single line of the financial statements, and not only that, I don't exactly know how to put things together. So, in audit, I would get to see different companies, and the way they organize (excel spreadsheet) each F/S professionally, and all.

BEC: 69, 57, 72, 73, (anticipated for 4/4/2015)
AUD: 65, 63, 74, 84!!! (expires 7/31/2015)
FAR: 63, 57, (scheduled for 4/1/2015)
REG: ... 42, (Anticipated to be around 5/20~)

-Every Set Back is a Set Up for a Major Come Back #motivation

"I've missed over 9,000 shots in my career. I've lost over 300 games. 26 times I've been trusted to take the game winning shot, and missed. I've failed, over and over and over again in my life. And that is why, I succeed." - Michael Jordan

"You are not your past, but the resources and capabilities you glean from it" -Jordan Belfort

[jlondon]

@teeteenounouche the implementation is expected to take a few more months. And it's in a pretty critical stage right now.

I guess the only reason why I want to get into audit is so that I can see everything from the bottom up, like the bigger picture. Since I'm only doing A/P right now, I really don't get the opportunity to see every single line of the financial statements, and not only that, I don't exactly know how to put things together. So, in audit, I would get to see different companies, and the way they organize (excel spreadsheet) each F/S professionally, and all.

BEC: 69, 57, 72, 73, (anticipated for 4/4/2015)
AUD: 65, 63, 74, 84!!! (expires 7/31/2015)
FAR: 63, 57, (scheduled for 4/1/2015)
REG: ... 42, (Anticipated to be around 5/20~)

-Every Set Back is a Set Up for a Major Come Back #motivation

"I've missed over 9,000 shots in my career. I've lost over 300 games. 26 times I've been trusted to take the game winning shot, and missed. I've failed, over and over and over again in my life. And that is why, I succeed." - Michael Jordan

"You are not your past, but the resources and capabilities you glean from it" -Jordan Belfort

[Anonymous]

Take the interview and get an offer then decide. I think it will open more doors for you than staying in A/P will. I understand loyalty, but I also understand the need to provide for yourself and your future. This may sound awful, but everyone is replaceable. They can find someone else if you decide to move on. If you do make that decision just do everything in your power to leave them in as good of a place as you can so you don't burn bridges because you never know if you may want to go back one day in another position after you have gotten some more experience under your belt.

[Anonymous]

Take the interview and get an offer then decide. I think it will open more doors for you than staying in A/P will. I understand loyalty, but I also understand the need to provide for yourself and your future. This may sound awful, but everyone is replaceable. They can find someone else if you decide to move on. If you do make that decision just do everything in your power to leave them in as good of a place as you can so you don't burn bridges because you never know if you may want to go back one day in another position after you have gotten some more experience under your belt.

[jlondon]

@CPAMommyof3 Thank you! Simple, but very true and good advice. “Don't burn bridges, b/c I really will never know when things turn the other way

BEC: 69, 57, 72, 73, (anticipated for 4/4/2015)
AUD: 65, 63, 74, 84!!! (expires 7/31/2015)
FAR: 63, 57, (scheduled for 4/1/2015)
REG: ... 42, (Anticipated to be around 5/20~)

-Every Set Back is a Set Up for a Major Come Back #motivation

"I've missed over 9,000 shots in my career. I've lost over 300 games. 26 times I've been trusted to take the game winning shot, and missed. I've failed, over and over and over again in my life. And that is why, I succeed." - Michael Jordan

"You are not your past, but the resources and capabilities you glean from it" -Jordan Belfort

[jlondon]

@CPAMommyof3 Thank you! Simple, but very true and good advice. “Don't burn bridges, b/c I really will never know when things turn the other way

BEC: 69, 57, 72, 73, (anticipated for 4/4/2015)
AUD: 65, 63, 74, 84!!! (expires 7/31/2015)
FAR: 63, 57, (scheduled for 4/1/2015)
REG: ... 42, (Anticipated to be around 5/20~)

-Every Set Back is a Set Up for a Major Come Back #motivation

"I've missed over 9,000 shots in my career. I've lost over 300 games. 26 times I've been trusted to take the game winning shot, and missed. I've failed, over and over and over again in my life. And that is why, I succeed." - Michael Jordan

"You are not your past, but the resources and capabilities you glean from it" -Jordan Belfort

[Anonymous]

I'd have a few thoughts:

– There's always something going on, so sadly it's hard not to leave in the middle of something. However, from what I've gathered, Big 4 usually has a really long lead-time, so there should be plenty of time for you to give lots of advance warning and help with the transition to a new person.

– I don't want this to sound like I'm minimizing your position…but unless you're like the AP manager or something like that, honestly, an AP person can be replaced even in the midst of a system upgrade without creating that much disruption. I work in AR myself and probably in a fairly equivalent position, so I'm not dissing it, just saying that it is replaceable. Within a month of starting my job, I was contributing about as well as people who had been there a couple years, so as much as I try to make myself valuable and hard-to-replace, I also recognize that I can be replaced. So my point with all of this is that especially with some lead-time (like if you could work with your replacement for a month before switching to Big 4), you could probably leave without totally screwing them over.

– Audit doesn't mean you get to see all parts of everything from the ground up. The reason that I took my AR position was because I wanted to see things from the ground-up, and personally, I think that working in a position like this really helps you to do that. If I am a controller someday, I feel like I will be able to identify with the people under me better because I worked every job from a clerk up, whereas if I worked audit and then stepped in as a controller or something like that, I don't think I would understand it as well. If I'm a controller talking to the AR manager and s/he's talking about the time-crunch they have getting end-of-month invoicing out, I'll understand, because I've been there from 7am till 9pm as a clerk trying to get the invoices put together and out the door by the deadline…and talking to any other department, I'd still understand trying to get through close, because I've done it. If I was an auditor, all I would've done is audit the records. I know the data and information that is sent to the auditors, cause we're going through audit right now…what the auditors see doesn't give them nearly the same knowledge as my hands-on experience. Auditing work and doing the work is just so entirely different… Of course you've seen accounting work (AP) at the ground-level, but I still think that you'd gain valuable knowledge by climbing the tree internally – moving into your manager's position etc. up the ladder, instead of jumping to audit and skipping several rungs. But, I know that many people would offer the opposite advice, so to each their own! Just saying, if you don't think you'd like audit, there might be another path to the top that offers as much value.

– If audit or Big 4 is where you want to be, then you have to go there, even if the timing isn't convenient. It's good to try to be careful of and kind to your current employer, but you have to look out for your future too…cause if someone told them tomorrow that they had a flawless way to automate the AP system, don't think for a minute that they wouldn't lay off the whole department to save money with an automated system. It's just a reality that in the corporate world, saving money is important…and as accountants, we should understand that, since part of our job is helping to find ways to save money! Thankfully, I have yet to see a fully automated system that performs flawlessly for AR or AP, but if it could be done, it would be. So, if the company would get rid of you, you have to be willing to get rid of them too. If this Big 4 opportunity is what you think will be best for your career, then it's what you have to do.

Overall, though, if you're not sure whether to do it or not, I would recommend starting the process and then seeing what you think is best based on what's offered etc. Don't start the process if you're unwilling to move, because turning down excellent offers just cause you don't want to switch jobs could burn bridges…but if you are willing to seriously consider the Big 4 offers, then I'd go ahead and start the process even if you're not 100% sure you want to move, because you never know what your options are if you never seek them out. And…if you wait till you're desperate for a new job before seeking one, then you get stuck with the crappiest of options just cause you have to take the first thing that's offered!

[Anonymous]

I'd have a few thoughts:

– There's always something going on, so sadly it's hard not to leave in the middle of something. However, from what I've gathered, Big 4 usually has a really long lead-time, so there should be plenty of time for you to give lots of advance warning and help with the transition to a new person.

– I don't want this to sound like I'm minimizing your position…but unless you're like the AP manager or something like that, honestly, an AP person can be replaced even in the midst of a system upgrade without creating that much disruption. I work in AR myself and probably in a fairly equivalent position, so I'm not dissing it, just saying that it is replaceable. Within a month of starting my job, I was contributing about as well as people who had been there a couple years, so as much as I try to make myself valuable and hard-to-replace, I also recognize that I can be replaced. So my point with all of this is that especially with some lead-time (like if you could work with your replacement for a month before switching to Big 4), you could probably leave without totally screwing them over.

– Audit doesn't mean you get to see all parts of everything from the ground up. The reason that I took my AR position was because I wanted to see things from the ground-up, and personally, I think that working in a position like this really helps you to do that. If I am a controller someday, I feel like I will be able to identify with the people under me better because I worked every job from a clerk up, whereas if I worked audit and then stepped in as a controller or something like that, I don't think I would understand it as well. If I'm a controller talking to the AR manager and s/he's talking about the time-crunch they have getting end-of-month invoicing out, I'll understand, because I've been there from 7am till 9pm as a clerk trying to get the invoices put together and out the door by the deadline…and talking to any other department, I'd still understand trying to get through close, because I've done it. If I was an auditor, all I would've done is audit the records. I know the data and information that is sent to the auditors, cause we're going through audit right now…what the auditors see doesn't give them nearly the same knowledge as my hands-on experience. Auditing work and doing the work is just so entirely different… Of course you've seen accounting work (AP) at the ground-level, but I still think that you'd gain valuable knowledge by climbing the tree internally – moving into your manager's position etc. up the ladder, instead of jumping to audit and skipping several rungs. But, I know that many people would offer the opposite advice, so to each their own! Just saying, if you don't think you'd like audit, there might be another path to the top that offers as much value.

– If audit or Big 4 is where you want to be, then you have to go there, even if the timing isn't convenient. It's good to try to be careful of and kind to your current employer, but you have to look out for your future too…cause if someone told them tomorrow that they had a flawless way to automate the AP system, don't think for a minute that they wouldn't lay off the whole department to save money with an automated system. It's just a reality that in the corporate world, saving money is important…and as accountants, we should understand that, since part of our job is helping to find ways to save money! Thankfully, I have yet to see a fully automated system that performs flawlessly for AR or AP, but if it could be done, it would be. So, if the company would get rid of you, you have to be willing to get rid of them too. If this Big 4 opportunity is what you think will be best for your career, then it's what you have to do.

Overall, though, if you're not sure whether to do it or not, I would recommend starting the process and then seeing what you think is best based on what's offered etc. Don't start the process if you're unwilling to move, because turning down excellent offers just cause you don't want to switch jobs could burn bridges…but if you are willing to seriously consider the Big 4 offers, then I'd go ahead and start the process even if you're not 100% sure you want to move, because you never know what your options are if you never seek them out. And…if you wait till you're desperate for a new job before seeking one, then you get stuck with the crappiest of options just cause you have to take the first thing that's offered!

[jlondon]

@Lilla Thank you so much for your inputs. It really put some sense into me. I guess I'm just really tired of paying invoices each week, and doing GL coding, and month end closes. I guess, audit would be a good place to pick up skills because I can see systems from different perspectives.

I've never thought about advancing intternally, b/c I feel really stuck. It's hard to move, where as all my co-workers came from years of audit. and they all came into senior positions… managers, directors, financial reporting, controller… hmmm. after typing this.. I think I've just talked mjyself into going for audit.. But thanks for your advice, it's always good to hear things from different perspectives.

BEC: 69, 57, 72, 73, (anticipated for 4/4/2015)
AUD: 65, 63, 74, 84!!! (expires 7/31/2015)
FAR: 63, 57, (scheduled for 4/1/2015)
REG: ... 42, (Anticipated to be around 5/20~)

-Every Set Back is a Set Up for a Major Come Back #motivation

"I've missed over 9,000 shots in my career. I've lost over 300 games. 26 times I've been trusted to take the game winning shot, and missed. I've failed, over and over and over again in my life. And that is why, I succeed." - Michael Jordan

"You are not your past, but the resources and capabilities you glean from it" -Jordan Belfort

[jlondon]

@Lilla Thank you so much for your inputs. It really put some sense into me. I guess I'm just really tired of paying invoices each week, and doing GL coding, and month end closes. I guess, audit would be a good place to pick up skills because I can see systems from different perspectives.

I've never thought about advancing intternally, b/c I feel really stuck. It's hard to move, where as all my co-workers came from years of audit. and they all came into senior positions… managers, directors, financial reporting, controller… hmmm. after typing this.. I think I've just talked mjyself into going for audit.. But thanks for your advice, it's always good to hear things from different perspectives.

BEC: 69, 57, 72, 73, (anticipated for 4/4/2015)
AUD: 65, 63, 74, 84!!! (expires 7/31/2015)
FAR: 63, 57, (scheduled for 4/1/2015)
REG: ... 42, (Anticipated to be around 5/20~)

-Every Set Back is a Set Up for a Major Come Back #motivation

"I've missed over 9,000 shots in my career. I've lost over 300 games. 26 times I've been trusted to take the game winning shot, and missed. I've failed, over and over and over again in my life. And that is why, I succeed." - Michael Jordan

"You are not your past, but the resources and capabilities you glean from it" -Jordan Belfort

[Author]

Replies