PwC Advisory reputation?

What's their reputation in terms of consulting work they do? Also, how do they stack up in terms of "brand" against MBB? Is one Big 4 better than the rest with regards to their advisory/consulting arm?

Any other information about possibly working in Advisory would be appreciated, too.

26 Comments
 

I'd really like to know as well. My girlfriend just got an offer from their San Francisco office. Sounds like a great offer.

I am pretty sure that in the US, Big 4 firms are not allowed to take on strategy work because it conflicts with their role as auditors (Sarbanes-Oaxley).

Foreign Big 4 arms do have strategy consulting practices as well as more sizable M&A practices.

Big 4 Advisory in the US mostly consists of Transaction Services (Due Diligence for M&A), Valuation, Middle Market corporate finance Advisory, Risk Management, Transfer Pricing, basically a bunch of random services that they can perform without tripping up on SOX.

In terms of brand, they are the most prestigious out of any accounting job and are somewhat difficult to get. However, they are not in the same league as any respectable investment bank or management consulting firm.

 

I interviewed with both PwC Advisory and Deloitte Consulting. What turned me off about both companies is that the analysts seemed more interested in partying than doing real work. Normally this would not be that big of a problem but I knew if I noticed this then other people must notice it as well (ex: recruiters for other firms or mba school). Thus, the reputations for both pale in comparison to MBB and several other consulting firms (Monitor, Oliver Wyman Group etc)

As for work, the analysts told me that they compete with MBB for the exact same projects. I personally took this with a grain of salt.

 
stevenbnDeloitte might compete with MBB for some projects just because for a project MBB would bid $1-2MM for Deloitte would do it for 200k

HAHAHA. 200k vs. 1-2MM? Are you serious? Nice bullshit. The cost structure is essentially the same until the senior principal/junior partner level.

The reason that it rarely comes down to price unless they are very similar firms, is that if you are doing strategy work for a $1B+ product, you aren't going to sweat the 1-200k difference on a ~1-2MM project.

There are enough strategy players out there that you cannot hope to sustain a business solely through one-off discount pieces.

Best Response

I was referring to an actual example. When I was was working for a professor as a research assistant he had me write a case on an alumni of my school who is the CEO of a large staffing firm. His company was making a large somewhat hostile acquisition of another staffing firm. The CEO told me he hired GS because he needed the brand name so the company would take his bid more seriously then it had taken some of his previous bids, but when it came to hiring a consulting firm for the post merger integration the MBB firms came in anywhere between $1-2MM for the project and Deloitte was willing to do it for a 200-400k. Since he didn't need the brand name at that point, he went with Deloitte.

Obviously for the price difference he would have gotten a few more tps reports from the MBB firms, but a lot of the price difference is that you are just paying for the name

 

This thread came up pretty high on Google, so I felt compelled to update with some facts.

PwC Advisory has a tremendous amount of focus within PwC, with the explicit intention of beating MBB at their own game. The business is growing in double-digits with great culture and people-first values.

Yes-- strict independence rules mean that they generally can do advisory work for a client ONLY when PwC is NOT the auditor. Other than that, any client is fair game.

As of 3/11/10, PwC has bought Diamond Consultants (originally traded under DTPI), a 600-strong "front office" C-suite management consulting firm that most certainly plays in the same space as MBB for strategy and operations work. Diamond is expected to be a platform to develop a high-end strategy business within PwC Advisory. I am a Manager (4yrs tenure post MBA) for the Diamond unit within PwC Advisory.

As before, PwC Advisory continues to do excellent focused execution-type work like that of Deloitte or Accenture. This means PwC Advisory can craft the C-suite strategy and take that all the way down to execution in a way that MBB can only dream of.

And from a cost perspective -- yes, absolutely MBB (and PwC-Diamond) could come in $1-2M for a PMI strategy/execution gig that Deloitte might quote at $200-400K. The client value proposition and individual team-member pay-scales are completely different. It's not a function of TPI reports -- it's a function of the quality and experience of the team, and the firm that supports them.

In summary-- from a brand perspective, watch this space.

 

There is nothing wrong with this PwC manager promoting their business... but I like this LOL=D...

petergibbonsPMI = Post Merger Integration LOL = Diamond/PwC competing with MBB

Although I would let PwC do my taxes...

 
petergibbonsPMI = Post Merger Integration LOL = Diamond/PwC competing with MBB

Although I would let PwC do my taxes...

LOL

http://ayainsight.co/ Curating the best advice and making it actionable.
 

From my understanding and personal experience, places like PwC Advisory and Deloitte Consulting do work that is much more in detail. They get down to operations, calculations, process improvement. Of course some projects involve working with CEOs CFOs CIOs. The McKinsey, Bain, BCG group are what they call "Management Consultants". These are strategy firms doing much "higher level" or "birds eye view" type of work. You wouldnt hire MBB to look into a process improvement engagement, working with the actual staff and managers of your business in order to make things more efficient at a granular level. In the same light, you wouldnt hire PwC Advisory or Deloitte Consulting to shape your strategy or to launch a new service line.

Both groups of firms have great reputations in what they do. As mentioned earlier, PwC Advisory did recently acquire Diamond. If you look up Diamond you will see that they do in fact do Management Consulting, and PwC is attempting to grow that practice. But it isnt going to happen overnight.

 

So is PwC Consulting now a practice they are launching in association with Diamond? How does PwC Advisory compare to PwC Consulting (hours and work/project type)?

 
oowijSo is PwC Consulting now a practice they are launching in association with Diamond? How does PwC Advisory compare to PwC Consulting (hours and work/project type)?

This question really cannot be answered w/o a city reference. Each city varies a tremendous amount and each group within the advisory practice varies a tremendous amount.

 
MistaBooks
oowijSo is PwC Consulting now a practice they are launching in association with Diamond? How does PwC Advisory compare to PwC Consulting (hours and work/project type)?

This question really cannot be answered w/o a city reference. Each city varies a tremendous amount and each group within the advisory practice varies a tremendous amount.

If you could provide some insight on Los Angeles and San Francisco it would be much appreciated.

Going to be applying to PwC Consulting/Advisory for LA and possibly SF

 

What about the Chicago and Dallas offices for healthcare consulting?

How would I describe myself? Three words: hard working, alpha male, jackhammer…merciless…insatiable.
 

Doloribus libero eos placeat sed dicta. Modi ut deserunt accusantium omnis aspernatur veniam. Ipsum enim laboriosam quo esse dolores repudiandae. Sint enim eum eum laboriosam porro possimus iste est.

Delectus nobis sit enim delectus nihil occaecati. Provident rem natus nulla dicta odio omnis quaerat. Dolor quis quae soluta dolores. In in mollitia minus repellendus ipsam aut odio. Animi sit neque sit veritatis odit. Magnam aut deleniti non nihil molestias. Deserunt sunt quidem repudiandae et fugit saepe.

Voluptatibus amet ipsum nemo omnis. A eos qui ut quo voluptatem consequuntur velit. Facilis repellat qui distinctio sunt dolore sit itaque. Ut et similique autem eligendi aut ut. Nesciunt tenetur temporibus omnis consectetur. Molestias qui aperiam iure. Quibusdam dolores sed eos ullam ratione in distinctio.

 

Fuga quod quaerat fuga quos non. Vel magnam autem quia. Nam non doloribus laudantium repellat eum. Commodi ullam et sint quis veniam dolores facilis. Cumque blanditiis deleniti est voluptate.

Voluptatum fuga aut dolorem aperiam. Excepturi magnam optio repudiandae adipisci aspernatur nulla.

Molestiae iste cupiditate ipsa. Ducimus nam sint velit temporibus quia. Dicta pariatur qui quia rem ut voluptatibus.

Iste unde quis occaecati inventore cumque vitae doloremque. Incidunt iusto ea modi ut. Aliquid sit qui autem quis voluptatem. Eum vero delectus omnis corrupti sit. Illo qui eligendi beatae sint at quam ab. Odit fugiat cumque nobis officiis.

Career Advancement Opportunities

June 2026 Consulting

  • Boston Consulting Group 99.5%
  • Bain & Company 99.0%
  • McKinsey and Co 98.5%
  • Oliver Wyman 98.0%
  • LEK Consulting 97.4%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

June 2026 Consulting

  • Cornerstone Research 99.5%
  • Bain & Company 99.0%
  • Boston Consulting Group 98.5%
  • McKinsey and Co 98.0%
  • Oliver Wyman 97.4%

Professional Growth Opportunities

June 2026 Consulting

  • Bain & Company 99.5%
  • Boston Consulting Group 99.0%
  • McKinsey and Co 98.5%
  • Oliver Wyman 98.0%
  • LEK Consulting 97.4%

Total Avg Compensation

June 2026 Consulting

  • Partner (4) $361
  • Principal (30) $294
  • Director/MD (58) $274
  • Vice President (53) $247
  • Engagement Manager (111) $232
  • Manager (167) $172
  • 2nd Year Associate (185) $142
  • 3rd+ Year Associate (115) $135
  • Senior Consultant (354) $132
  • Consultant (635) $122
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (162) $121
  • 1st Year Associate (575) $121
  • NA (16) $114
  • Engineer (6) $114
  • 2nd Year Analyst (390) $104
  • Associate Consultant (175) $100
  • 1st Year Analyst (1152) $90
  • Intern/Summer Associate (205) $83
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (626) $67
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
3
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
4
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
5
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
6
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
7
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
8
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
9
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
10
Linda Abraham's picture
Linda Abraham
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”