Partner at Big 4
What are the chances to become a partner at a big 4 firm with an accounting degree?i think that you need around 20 years of experience.
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can only become partner if there is room above you, i.e. no other partner is above you in you particular serviceline/product offerng.
Its not easy and imo not worth it.
Dont get me wrong it is a very sweet position but is it worth going through 15-20 years of audit work and hoping that an opening becomes available? No way imo.
It's tough in audit. For every partner there's over a hundred staff. Whereas in advisory/consulting, each partner has like 5-10 staff.
That's not quite true. Each partner is in charge of 15-20 staffs. I know someone who's a partner at Deloitte, and he's only in his early 30s. It usually takes about 12-15 years. You have to be able to attract clients; otherwise, you will get a director title instead. Most of the Big 4 firms are expanding. Therefore, it's not that hard to become a partner.
Yeah come to think of it it can't be over a 100. I've met a few partners with 2 SMs, Each SM has 2 Ms, and each M has a team of 10 staff + seniors. I think 40 is a reasonable estimate. 15-20 seems a bit on the low side to me for audit. These teams are absolutely massive.
Hmmm,so, and what career path do you suggest me?:P
What type of hours are you comfortable working? 9-5, 9-9, 9-whenever? How important is money to you? If you don't know, you could just go to clown school, they have a cool life.
Partner in big 4.....for not a whole hell of a lot more effort, you could do finance. For a lot less effort, you could go to a smaller firm and hit partner in a decade or less.
It depends on what you want.
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lol
20 years is an extremely overstated timeline to make partner at a Big 4. You have to realize that there are about a billion different levels of partner. Its not like you get there and all the sudden there's a huge windfall of cash and calculators (or whatever accountants like to get as gifts). You can make 'partner' in 10 years but you are still bitch to all the other 400 levels of partner over you. Just something to think about.
HPM is exactly right-making partners at the Big 4 just means you've become part of upper middle-management. Compensation, lifestyle, and responsibilities vary enormously between partners.
Typically the very youngest partners in Audit and Tax are in their early 30's while advisory partners tend towards late 30's/early 40's depending on service line, background, etc.
I personally think the Big 4 present an arbitrage opportunity in terms of lifestyle and compensation. From what I saw/experienced, Big 4 employees (in both advisory and audit, less certain for tax) in major markets work far longer hours for only a minimal compensation increase that doesn't come close to covering the cost of living adjustment. If I were living in mid-size city, working for the Big 4 would provide a very comfortable lifestyle while working hard but not killing myself. In NY on the otherhand, I saw people working incrementally more hours making significantly (50-100% at the junior level and the divergence only grows with seniority) more money doing what was, to me, more interesting work, so I made it my goal to get out.
UFOinsider,i don't mind about the hours ,all i want is money,prestige and fame.So,apart from auditing,what can i do with a degree in accounting and finance? (bear in mind that i live in Greece)
You can save your country from financial ruin. That would give you all of those things. The Big 4 however will not.
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current Big4 staff auditor...
during new hire orientation a partner told us that we should anticipate about 17 years to partnership in the audit practice based on the current market environment. everyone interested in the big 4 has heard stories about people making partner in 10-12 years, but this could not be further from reality. when SOX hit in 2002 there was a tremendous surge in business and people were being promoted at accelerated rates. there was plenty of business to go around and making partner in under 12 years was very realistic. this is no longer the case.
now, you have very high performing senior managers leaving the firm. i think that says a lot about your chances of making partner. at least at my firm.
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