BIG 4 AUDIT, TAX, OR CONSULTING?
Hi all,
I'm an undergrad hoping to land a big 4 internship for this upcoming winter. My dilemma is that I can't decide between tax or audit. Ultimately my goal is to get into consulting at KPMG however I'm not from a target school therefore the chances are not in my favor. Prior to just recently when I began reevaluating my career goals, I was set on tax solely because I was more familiar with the topic, knew how to research it, and was overall more comfortable with it. However, I cannot see myself being completely satisfied limiting myself to TAX and not exploring other opportunities. I would love to get into consulting as I see it as the most exciting service area above audit and tax, but I figure since it's difficult to get into advisory from the start, perhaps my best option would be to start out in audit and try to transition into consulting.
My questions are...
What should be my deciding factors as to which service area to pursue?
Will audit give me an upper hand for breaking into consulting and what other exit opps are out there from audit (of course I'm aware of transitioning to private, etc.)
Is tax accounting really a dying field in our era of emerging tech? I keep hearing that all these new tax software programs will be faster and easier than going to an actual tax professional.
I would appreciate any insight into all three service areas and the various opportunities that emerge from attaining big 4 experience.
Thanks in advance!
Big Four myself here.
From what I've heard tax can somewhat pigeon hole you to tax related roles. Audit however gives you a more wider skillset, broader experience and gives you very good accounting knowledge as well as knowledge of businesses.
As such if I were you I'd go for audit hands down.
Are tax and audit your only options at this point? If so, go audit for the same reasons mentioned by williamthesnake.
Moving from audit to TAS isn't easy but isn't like getting into MBB either. I would say if no boutique consulting/IB options pop up, go to audit, kick ass there, and then request a move internally to TAS, or, if they refuse, go to another Big 4's practice in advisory. From there, you might see more of what you want. it's a round-about way of doing things, but I think audit will at least leave the door open while tax will be a much harder sell.
Thanks a lot for the advice.
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