Big 4 audit to FDD - will Wall Street Prep help?
Hi all,
I'm currently trying to make the jump from Big 4 Audit to Big 4 Financial Due Diligence after my 4th year in the industry, and I'm trying to discern whether Wall Street Prep/BIWS courses would potentially help me stand out compared to others trying to make this audit-to-TS transition. I would also be thankful for any ideas or recommendations for courses to learn EBITDA analysis, modeling, deep dive FS analysis, and other key FDD skills.
My goal is to break into private equity down the road, so hopefully I could leverage some of this learning to help with that transition later.
Thanks so much for any input!
Yes and no, the skills you will pick up from BIWS or WSP wont be directly related to TS/FDD since those programs are focused on modeling/valuation whereas TS/FDD is more about deep diving into the numbers. However, these programs will help you become more comfortable with financial statements and how the numbers flow within the statements which is something auditors tend to struggle with, at least at the more junior levels.
If you want to prepare for TS/FDD you should focus on the following areas:
WSP/BIWS may help with 2 and 4 above but not really with 1 and 3.
In addition to the above, focus on becoming better at excel and powerpoint, two areas most auditors are relatively weak in.
In conclusion, the two programs you mentioned are great and you will learn a lot, however, they may not be the best for what you are trying to do, i.e. break into TS/FDD.
Disclaimer: I used to be an auditor, have worked in TS/FDD and signed up for one of the programs you mentioned above.
Thanks so much for your reply! That sounds about like I was expecting - these courses may be somewhat helpful for FDD, but more orientated toward investment banking/PE skills like modeling. Would you recommend any particular strategy to master areas 1 and 3 to help the transition? And if you don't mind my asking, how did you go about breaking into FDD/TS? I've heard it recommended to ask for an internal transfer. However, it seems like my coach won't be too motivated to make that happen, since he would have to replace me on his audit team. Thanks again for your insight!
Try and see if you can get a hold of some training materials from the TS department. I have been in TS at two different big4s and both had pretty good presentations on the topics mentioned above. Even better, see if you can get a copy of an old TS report and that will show you the type of analysis TS normally does and also how the reports are structured.
As far as transferring to TS, I had to actually switch firms. However, depending on the firm you work for, they may be more or less supportive of these kind of transfers. Based on my experience, and from talking to friends at various firms, I get the feeling that EY is the most supportive out of the big4s. I think if you dont want to switch firms, your best bet is to try to network directly with people in TS. Dont bother going through your coach etc, from my experience they are useless in these type of transition and will just waste your time.
So my recommendation would be to start reaching out to TS people, maybe start at the lower levels and see if you can get a hold of training materials to read through. Then once get a better understanding of the work they do, maybe go back with more specific questions, maybe over coffee or something, and just keep trying to learn more and more. Once you are at a point where you can actually have a meaningful discussion on various TS topics, then start reaching out to directors/partners.
Thanks again for the reply. That's a great idea I hadn't tried yet. I will see if I can locate some of those training materials. Much appreciated!
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