Workload and Hours at Big 4

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    Topic
  • #185244
    pjypjy8520
    Member

    Hey guys,

    I work at a regional firm where the hours are about as good as it will get in public accounting. For that reason, we have a lot of seniors/managers (all partners are from Big 4 originally) from BIG 4 and every one of them have nightmares about their early career busy season hours at BIG 4. Some go to even more details about the following: it is not necessarily that there are that much more work but some of it has to do with politics. For example, one of my senior noted that when he was a staff, no one could leave until the seniors left. That is not the case at our firm, I ask if I can leave but I have never had any senior say I can’t. As long as I got my work done, I was out. This senior said no one dare asked the question until the senior said it was time to go. Things like that make me wonder, what do you do if you are done with your work and you are just waiting for the time to leave? Is prevalent in BIG 4? Is it really a ton of work where all day you are buried in your computer just ticking, tying, vouching and reconciling all day? Just wanted to get a better idea if the grass is greener on the other side. I’ve never been afraid of hard work and the amount of prestige and recognition you get from BIG 4 name on my resume is something I want to EARN but not by having to wait on my senior to finish or have my staff to finish my work (if I get promoted to senior).

Viewing 12 replies - 1 through 12 (of 12 total)
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  • #549176
    Mayo
    Participant

    “This senior said no one dare asked the question until the senior said it was time to go.”

    Yup, that's pretty much right. Personally, I think it's just super annoying when Staff do it, and it just shows they're not in the “we need to get this done” mentality.

    When are we leaving? When I think we're in a good place. Do I know when we'll be leaving? Nope, probably not at the moment. Everything is a case by case situation. This is especially true if I realize your work is sloppy, crappy, etc.

    Of course this is all “generally”. If I have a great staff these “rules” are less applicable.

    “Things like that make me wonder, what do you do if you are done with your work and you are just waiting for the time to leave? Is prevalent in BIG 4? Is it really a ton of work where all day you are buried in your computer just ticking, tying, vouching and reconciling all day?”

    There's almost always stuff to do or work to be delegated. If not on your level, at least on the level above you. If you run out of things to do, I expect you to let me now, so I can either a.) Assign you something, or b.) Realize there's nothing for you to do at the moment and cut you loose.

    Don't get me wrong. It's not like a power trip or anything. But on most of my audits, and especially since I've been on small clients with crap budgets, the time allocated for us to finish the work never seems to b enough. So we basically have to stretch and get as much done as we can.

    So yeah, I get that you've gone through the assigned areas by 4pm. But hey, I could use your help on X,Y,Z because it needs to be done regardless. So we'll still be leaving at 6pm, just like every day.

    Now, it's not like I'll snap at you or ignore you if you ask me about it. And a few times isn't all that bad, especially if it's just like “What time do you expect us to leave on this audit? I'd like to be able to plan out my weeks and take that into account”.

    But if it's like every dang day, and you KNOW we have plenty of stuff to do. Just don't ask anymore, ok? I'll let you know.

    Mayo, BBA, Macc

    #549193
    Mayo
    Participant

    “This senior said no one dare asked the question until the senior said it was time to go.”

    Yup, that's pretty much right. Personally, I think it's just super annoying when Staff do it, and it just shows they're not in the “we need to get this done” mentality.

    When are we leaving? When I think we're in a good place. Do I know when we'll be leaving? Nope, probably not at the moment. Everything is a case by case situation. This is especially true if I realize your work is sloppy, crappy, etc.

    Of course this is all “generally”. If I have a great staff these “rules” are less applicable.

    “Things like that make me wonder, what do you do if you are done with your work and you are just waiting for the time to leave? Is prevalent in BIG 4? Is it really a ton of work where all day you are buried in your computer just ticking, tying, vouching and reconciling all day?”

    There's almost always stuff to do or work to be delegated. If not on your level, at least on the level above you. If you run out of things to do, I expect you to let me now, so I can either a.) Assign you something, or b.) Realize there's nothing for you to do at the moment and cut you loose.

    Don't get me wrong. It's not like a power trip or anything. But on most of my audits, and especially since I've been on small clients with crap budgets, the time allocated for us to finish the work never seems to b enough. So we basically have to stretch and get as much done as we can.

    So yeah, I get that you've gone through the assigned areas by 4pm. But hey, I could use your help on X,Y,Z because it needs to be done regardless. So we'll still be leaving at 6pm, just like every day.

    Now, it's not like I'll snap at you or ignore you if you ask me about it. And a few times isn't all that bad, especially if it's just like “What time do you expect us to leave on this audit? I'd like to be able to plan out my weeks and take that into account”.

    But if it's like every dang day, and you KNOW we have plenty of stuff to do. Just don't ask anymore, ok? I'll let you know.

    Mayo, BBA, Macc

    #549178
    pjypjy8520
    Member

    @Mayo: I see. Can you define what would be considered “small” clients? Obviously compared to my clients, everything at BIG 4 would be considered gargantuan. Basically, at our firm, the way we generate profit is (this is strictly my assumption) quantity of audits because we cannot charge premiums like the BIG 4 audits can. Obviously there are more work that goes into auditing big clients that BIG 4 has but I would assume the BIG 4 name also carries some sort of premium (kinda like if you buy a Lexus, you can probably get just as nice car from Hyundai, but the name Lexus carries a premium because they are known for higher quality). So we have one week fieldwork for the most part and we have to move onto the next client. This puts extra stress on the seniors as they are sometimes splitting the week between prior week client and current client. Inevitably, this kind of process creates a huge amount of back log if you are not productive during the scheduled field work. I have seen some of my BIG 4 seniors struggle with this scheduling because at BIG 4, you are scheduled multiple weeks and even before you go out there, you may have time to prepare things for field work. Basically, you would have 1 or 2 clients during busy season and most likely they won't overlap since the job is big and intense. However, I had at least 12-14 clients during 3 months period. Anyways, now I am just blabbering.

    The real questions I wanted ask regards to your statement “there are always things to do”. Do you consider the level of staff's experience before you delegate work? I feel like I can excel at the BIG 4 level because I absolutely despise back logs. I love the feeling of rolling off of client at the end of fieldwork just expecting minor comments from the seniors. My mentality every day is to get this thing done. That is not to say I am productive 8, 10, 12 hours straight a day. I need breaks, kinda like now (I have completed all sections now and I am also done clearing comments from what my seniors have reviewed already). But because the way our firm schedule is designed, I cannot avoid back logs. That is one of the main reason why I want to move to Big 4. Am I misunderstanding something here about the way Big 4 works or am I just delusional?

    #549195
    pjypjy8520
    Member

    @Mayo: I see. Can you define what would be considered “small” clients? Obviously compared to my clients, everything at BIG 4 would be considered gargantuan. Basically, at our firm, the way we generate profit is (this is strictly my assumption) quantity of audits because we cannot charge premiums like the BIG 4 audits can. Obviously there are more work that goes into auditing big clients that BIG 4 has but I would assume the BIG 4 name also carries some sort of premium (kinda like if you buy a Lexus, you can probably get just as nice car from Hyundai, but the name Lexus carries a premium because they are known for higher quality). So we have one week fieldwork for the most part and we have to move onto the next client. This puts extra stress on the seniors as they are sometimes splitting the week between prior week client and current client. Inevitably, this kind of process creates a huge amount of back log if you are not productive during the scheduled field work. I have seen some of my BIG 4 seniors struggle with this scheduling because at BIG 4, you are scheduled multiple weeks and even before you go out there, you may have time to prepare things for field work. Basically, you would have 1 or 2 clients during busy season and most likely they won't overlap since the job is big and intense. However, I had at least 12-14 clients during 3 months period. Anyways, now I am just blabbering.

    The real questions I wanted ask regards to your statement “there are always things to do”. Do you consider the level of staff's experience before you delegate work? I feel like I can excel at the BIG 4 level because I absolutely despise back logs. I love the feeling of rolling off of client at the end of fieldwork just expecting minor comments from the seniors. My mentality every day is to get this thing done. That is not to say I am productive 8, 10, 12 hours straight a day. I need breaks, kinda like now (I have completed all sections now and I am also done clearing comments from what my seniors have reviewed already). But because the way our firm schedule is designed, I cannot avoid back logs. That is one of the main reason why I want to move to Big 4. Am I misunderstanding something here about the way Big 4 works or am I just delusional?

    #549180
    philb
    Member

    @Mayo How many years did put in at Big4 before you could supervise staff?

    #549197
    philb
    Member

    @Mayo How many years did put in at Big4 before you could supervise staff?

    #549182
    Mayo
    Participant

    a few months over a year. There wasn't enough Seniors, so I got field promoted early.

    AkA, I got the responsibility without the raise

    Mayo, BBA, Macc

    #549199
    Mayo
    Participant

    a few months over a year. There wasn't enough Seniors, so I got field promoted early.

    AkA, I got the responsibility without the raise

    Mayo, BBA, Macc

    #549184
    Mayo
    Participant

    “Obviously compared to my clients, everything at BIG 4 would be considered gargantuan……So we have one week fieldwork for the most part and we have to move onto the next client.”

    Haha, not that small. I think the only audit I've seen that is that short is an audit of a Captive for Insurance companies. Or a Carve-out/Sub order. I'd say it isn't the norm, but some can be very short.

    “The real questions I wanted ask regards to your statement “there are always things to do”. Do you consider the level of staff's experience before you delegate work? I feel like I can excel at the BIG 4 level because I absolutely despise back logs. I love the feeling of rolling off of client at the end of fieldwork just expecting minor comments from the seniors.”

    I might have overstated it a bit. Not always are there things to do. But if we are running behind on the audit timeline or if we are in busy season, then asking when we can leave is not a way to impress me or other team members.

    On the other hand, simply saying, “Hey, I'm done with my areas, what else do you have for me?” is more than enough. If we're on or ahead of schedule, then yeah, go home. I'm not gonna keep you here just because I am.

    “My mentality every day is to get this thing done. That is not to say I am productive 8, 10, 12 hours straight a day. I need breaks, kinda like now (I have completed all sections now and I am also done clearing comments from what my seniors have reviewed already). But because the way our firm schedule is designed, I cannot avoid back logs. That is one of the main reason why I want to move to Big 4. Am I misunderstanding something here about the way Big 4 works or am I just delusional?”

    Backlogs at the Big 4 will happen. They just will. Especially if you have multiple clients, but also if you have one client. Busy and not-so-busy times might fluctuate during the year. So…busy season is busy season. Just put your head down and work, and leave when the Senior says. Not-to-so busy season…meh. We are probably good on the schedule. If you get done with your areas and I can't think of anything else to give you..then 9/10 times I'll just let you go. I've left at 3:30 a few times when I was a staff.

    My overall point is: Don't ask every day…it's annoying. If you have a good Senior, then they'll keep you busy. If you're ahead of schedule and your areas are covered, then a good senior will be confident enough to let you leave early or ask the Manager/Sr. Mgr//Partner/etc. if they need you to do anything for them. Bad or new Seniors sometimes don't have the guts or are so disorganized they have nothing for you or don't know they are ahead of schedule. In which case that sucks, and it sometimes you'll be stuck at the client for no good reason.

    Case in point, it's Summer and I'm pretty slow at the moment. So I'm on A71 🙂

    Mayo, BBA, Macc

    #549201
    Mayo
    Participant

    “Obviously compared to my clients, everything at BIG 4 would be considered gargantuan……So we have one week fieldwork for the most part and we have to move onto the next client.”

    Haha, not that small. I think the only audit I've seen that is that short is an audit of a Captive for Insurance companies. Or a Carve-out/Sub order. I'd say it isn't the norm, but some can be very short.

    “The real questions I wanted ask regards to your statement “there are always things to do”. Do you consider the level of staff's experience before you delegate work? I feel like I can excel at the BIG 4 level because I absolutely despise back logs. I love the feeling of rolling off of client at the end of fieldwork just expecting minor comments from the seniors.”

    I might have overstated it a bit. Not always are there things to do. But if we are running behind on the audit timeline or if we are in busy season, then asking when we can leave is not a way to impress me or other team members.

    On the other hand, simply saying, “Hey, I'm done with my areas, what else do you have for me?” is more than enough. If we're on or ahead of schedule, then yeah, go home. I'm not gonna keep you here just because I am.

    “My mentality every day is to get this thing done. That is not to say I am productive 8, 10, 12 hours straight a day. I need breaks, kinda like now (I have completed all sections now and I am also done clearing comments from what my seniors have reviewed already). But because the way our firm schedule is designed, I cannot avoid back logs. That is one of the main reason why I want to move to Big 4. Am I misunderstanding something here about the way Big 4 works or am I just delusional?”

    Backlogs at the Big 4 will happen. They just will. Especially if you have multiple clients, but also if you have one client. Busy and not-so-busy times might fluctuate during the year. So…busy season is busy season. Just put your head down and work, and leave when the Senior says. Not-to-so busy season…meh. We are probably good on the schedule. If you get done with your areas and I can't think of anything else to give you..then 9/10 times I'll just let you go. I've left at 3:30 a few times when I was a staff.

    My overall point is: Don't ask every day…it's annoying. If you have a good Senior, then they'll keep you busy. If you're ahead of schedule and your areas are covered, then a good senior will be confident enough to let you leave early or ask the Manager/Sr. Mgr//Partner/etc. if they need you to do anything for them. Bad or new Seniors sometimes don't have the guts or are so disorganized they have nothing for you or don't know they are ahead of schedule. In which case that sucks, and it sometimes you'll be stuck at the client for no good reason.

    Case in point, it's Summer and I'm pretty slow at the moment. So I'm on A71 🙂

    Mayo, BBA, Macc

    #549186
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    If you are at a good stopping point and want to go home and it seems like a normal ‘going home' time for your team, just ask. If not you are being stupid. As long as you aren't the first person to leave everyday, you won't make a bad impression. And as long as you don't ask waay b4 the team usually calls it a day (say you ask at 6pm when your teams been getting off at 9pm everyday). I always got in before and left before my seniors during busy season. During the summer no one gives a shit as long as u get your work done.

    #549203
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    If you are at a good stopping point and want to go home and it seems like a normal ‘going home' time for your team, just ask. If not you are being stupid. As long as you aren't the first person to leave everyday, you won't make a bad impression. And as long as you don't ask waay b4 the team usually calls it a day (say you ask at 6pm when your teams been getting off at 9pm everyday). I always got in before and left before my seniors during busy season. During the summer no one gives a shit as long as u get your work done.

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