Q&A: Big 4 Corporate Finance Manager in London
Started off in audit where I qualified as a ACA, eventually moving into corporate finance. Currently been a manager for around a year. Happy to answer questions or be of help.
Thanks for doing this!
- What are hours like in general and during live deals?
- Have you seen people go straight to PE from your M&A team? If so, is it just LMM?
- How much Modelling do you do in your team?
- How busy are you with deals currently / have the tariffs slowed down the MM/LMM (Not sure what category to call it but assuming 25-100m EV range for B4?)
- What is pay and bonus for manager level and above? (Eg 1, 2 and 3 years post qualifying from audit. And further if you know)
Hours are generally reasonable, 9 to 6:30 on average but does increase to 50-60 hours per week on live deals.
PE moves are predominantly in LMM. If larger funds are your goal, there are good exits into investment banks - JP Morgan, Rothschild have specific programmes for ACAs and in my short time here, I’ve seen people move to DC Advisory, Canaccord, Evercore and Lazard. Moves typically happen at the Analyst level and usually involves a step down in seniority.
Modelling tends to vary. The big 4 have dedicated modelling teams, often involving offshore teams who will handle the bulk of the modelling work. Your responsibility will be managing the model inputs and smaller model structure changes. For smaller engagements, you might be asked to take ownership of the model build yourself.
Core infrastructure has been fairly stable but other sectors have been hit harder, particularly construction and healthcare.
Manager level is £75 - 80k with a 10-15% bonus. Senior manager is c. £95k with 15-17% bonus. Director is c.£115k base, unsure about bonus.
Really helpful, cheers SB’d
It seems like you're referencing a Q&A session with a Big 4 Corporate Finance Manager in London who transitioned from audit to corporate finance and has been a manager for about a year. If you have specific questions about their career path, the ACA qualification, or corporate finance at the Big 4, feel free to ask!
Sources: Working In Big 4 Audit in London, Exiting Big Four (Audit) after 5 years and entering FP&A - Ask me anything, Corporate Finance Q&A with accountingbyday, BJM85, STorIB, and djfiii, Corporate Finance Q&A with accountingbyday, BJM85, STorIB, and djfiii, Big 4 M&A/CF Salary/Progression (with ACA)
How do you feel about the WLB vs Comp trade-off, do you feel the hours justify the lower comp or is it quite a large difference vs industry norm/market pay that direct competitors are getting?
Additionally - do you plan on exiting, if so where to and what sort of places have you seen exits to from your team (MM IB, EB/BB IB, LMM PE, UMM PE etc.)?
Honestly, loving the work life balance here. During a live deal, hours and work pressure is intense (50-60 hours per week) but still short of investment banking and weekends are almost always protected. My mate who works at a boutique sweatshop compared his post tax hourly rate with mine and it worked out to be roughly similar.
I’ve explored moving into investment banks in the past but happy where I’m at and I’ve got a good foothold in this team. Exits are usually to boutique IBs, BBs, or LMM funds. Having a chartered accountancy qualification is also looked at favorably for operational or strategy roles in house.
I'm currently studying Accounting, Auditing and Information Systems.......Should I choose Corporate Finance Sector? I used to like Auditing sector now have a dilemma.
Depends what you’re looking for. Corporate finance involves thinking in a much more strategic commercial way, whereas auditing is perfect for someone more process-oriented. Pay also tends to be higher in corporate finance.
OK..I think the more pay is better even if it costs me mental health issues
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Does your firm have an M&A advisory team? I would say that’s your best bet given the M&A job market isn’t great right now. From laterals outside of the big 4, I’ve seen a few especially if the team has a strong niche - e.g. energy at Mazars or infra advisory at GT.
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