[joehill9]

Please urgent advice needed!

I need to decide between two offers: EY audit in NYC or KPMG audit in NYC

1. How do these specific NYC offices compare in terms of culture?

2. Which firm has the better client list of audit clients?

3. Which would you choose and why?

THANK YOU

[Anonymous]

1. You met with these firms. You visited them. They wined and dined you. You should have a feel for their culture already.

2. The client list doesn't matter to you as you will have no input on what clients you're assigned to (for the beginning at least). I could tell you one does Nike and the other Microsoft but that doesn't mean you'll get anywhere near them. Not to mention there are multiple team members from multiple offices on a “big” client, not just from one office. The better question would be which industries are they primarily focused on, which you should know if you're applying to the NYC market of firms.

3. There are so many factors that any individual could take into consideration that this question isn't fair. Someone's decision might simply be “I know someone at EY” and that's all it takes to sway them, even if KPMG would technically be the better fit.

About the only thing that is objective is EY is right in the middle of Times Square and it doesn't get more glamorous than that.

[Anonymous]

There are two many variables for any of us to be able to offer you solid advice. Firms can vary from partner to partner. Some teams are highly effective and others are chasing their tails for 11 months out of the year.

1) I'd bet no one here has worked at both. All Big 4 have some similarities in that they are staffed with highly competitive and hard working professionals.

2) Better client list is kind of irrelavant. In a year or two you'll see what I mean here- I'd take an organized no-name client over a disorganized Fortune 100 any time. ANY TIME.

3) I'd choose the one that had the seniors and managers that I wouldn't mind being jammed into an audit room for 65 hrs a week with.

Consider the comp and how you felt about the people you met, then go with your gut.

[Tripp11]

Bill and Big4Expert already knocked it out of the park, so nothing else to contribute. Take their advice. They speaketh the truth.

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[joehill9]

Thank you bigfourexpert. 3 follow up questions

1. In terms of culture, the ppl i met on site may not be indicative of either firm's NYC office in general right? My impression is that EY is a bit more formal – is that accurate for NYC based on your knowledge or was that just luck of the draw with who i met on-site?

2. “The better question would be which industries are they primarily focused on, which you should know if you're applying to the NYC market of firms.”

I should know, but I have heard conflicting things. Some people tell me EY has better focus in financial services than KPMG does but another accountant with pretty extensive experience totally disagreed. What do you think?

3. I know people at both KPMG and EY which is why it's such a tough decision. If i decide to try to transfer to transaction services/advisory side after a few years would it more valuable to personally already know a junior person on that side of the business or a partner within audit?

Thank you SO MUCH

[joehill9]

Thank you billbrasskey. A follow up question please.

1. “I'd choose the one that had the seniors and managers that I wouldn't mind being jammed into an audit room for 65 hrs a week with.”

And which would that be and why? My impression is that KPMG is a bit more laid back than EY (at least in NYC) – would you agree?

Thank you again.

[Anonymous]

By that, I mean you should strongly consider choosing the firm where you feel that you connected more with everyone you met.

It's an important consideration because there is going to be the time where you guys are all jammed in a shitty workroom at a client that hates you all and you're going to be stuck in that room for 70 hours that week because the client should have gotten you the support three weeks ago but they forgot and now you have two other audits you've been put on because everyone on the engagements last year ate 50% of their time and management thinks you should be good- right? SOOOO, here you are stuck in this workroom on Sunday when you could be doing anything but ticking and flicking and the client hates you even more because its Sunday… I could keep going.

It's times like those that really make you appreciate being a part of a team that you enjoy.

Despite that rant, I actually really enjoy public and have no plans to leave, even after four years in.

[Anonymous]

I'm going to refrain from getting into specifics about any of the firms in the city, just for my own protection lol. I obviously work for one and have worked with all of them in some capacity.

I don't know what your definition of “formal” is. Did they all wear 3 piece suits or something..? I mean, I think it's a very popular perception that EY is the LEAST formal of all the B4 just in general. Though if we're talking popular generalizations, KPMG is the punch line to every B4 joke. So there's that.

Financial services is a type of client, but what does it matter which has more? All of the big 4 have entertainment, pharma, banks, funds, blah blah blah as clients. That's why this question is somewhat irrelevant. Unless you're actually going into the financial services side of audit..? In which case the people you interviewed with would be the people to reach out to, or I'm assuming you would have already talked about that.

If you're just going into plain jane vanilla auditing, client list really means nothing.

[soyanks]

I think OP is going through the very same question that all of us went through years ago (right out of college).

He/she is about to graduate and luckily, he/she will have a Big 4 job waiting for him/her. He/she pictures a bright future ahead and may be under the impression that choosing X firm over Y firm may or may not have a significant impact down the line.

There are thousands of new accounting grads entering the world of Big 4 and mid size firms every year. And there are thousands of people who leave the public accounting field within a year, two years, 3 years, or 4+ years, etc etc. Many people may have had pictured themselves climbing up the firm to the elusive partnership. But:

1) You are in charge of your own destiny. Choosing one Big 4 firm over another? Meh. People succeed from many different backgrounds. Bet on yourself, not the brand of a Big 4 firm, or a CPA license, etc.

2) You may find out that you actually hate auditing, or the public accounting in general. Or maybe, you may end up enjoying public accounting and all the traveling that you will have to do. Bottomline, you have no idea at this point whether this is something you will enjoy or not. After a busy season or two, you will get a better idea. But plenty of people leave after one busy season and your question of choosing between EY and KPMG might not matter at all.

3) You get assigned to different clients based on the needs of the firm. Sometimes it's under your control (because there will be managers and partners who will specifically ask for you on engagements) and sometimes it's not under your control (you may get picked on a job with the manager that everyone wants to avoid). That's why everyone is asking you to look at the culture of the firm and the specific office. Sure, during recruiting everyone wants to paint you a rosy picture but based on your observation and your interaction at each firm, you can make an educated guess on which firm that you favor over the other

4) When all else fails, look at the starting compensation (and starting bonus if any), location of the office (EY NYC is at Times Square and KPMG NYC is on Park Ave in midtown), friends from school heading to each firm, location of annual training (EY used to send people to Cleveland office, but now I think they do Disneyworld), brand of the laptop or the choice of the laptop you will get (yes, sounds stupid but it matters when you have bunch of college grads spending 70+ hours logged onto the laptop), what's available for free in the kitchen pantry at the office, perks, etc etc.

Basically what everyone wants to tell you, is that – Don't worry about small things. Make decisions based on tangible things that you can see or guess, and you will be just fine.

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[Anonymous]

I had to make a decision between the four just as you, and I am happy with mine. I also chose financial services at one of the firms.

The entire ‘formal atmosphere' is completely dependent on clients you're placed on.

[lau1c]

I think only you would know best about the culture about these two firms since you visited their offices and met with the people. I personally would choose EY because they are said to pay the highest out of all big 4s and you can't beat the location of their office. You don't get a say in which client you get so that really doesn't matter.

[rp 12]

I being an EY alumni – I would say EY office culture is better. I was out of NJ office. Even when I was making a decision between D, and EY – I chose the latter because of the ‘people' culture that EY claims, and I did experience that as well.

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