Public Accounting - can I do it?
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Anonymous
| I'm at a career plateau, and I'm considering public accounting as my next step. I worked briefly at a Big Four in audit and tax, but I was younger and not very career-driven. It's becoming more and more clear that my passion lies in tax (weird, I know), and I'm itching to work in tax full-time. The only thing holding me back is the hours. I personally don't mind being married to work for a season each year, but it's more the toll on my family I'm worried about. Has anyone joined a public accounting practice mid-career, when their kids were young? I know some of the firms really tout their flexible schedules and work/life balance, but I feel I'd need to work a while before I could take advantage of these kinds of things. If I were to return, I believe I'd be at the Senior Associate level, possibly Manager. Are all the moms (and dads) out there in public accounting just sacrificing seeing their families three months out of the year, or are there truly places where you can have some flexibility (i.e. early start/6am-6pm workday during busy season, working at home in the evening, etc)? |
Anonymous
| Bump! No public accountants out there? Maybe you're all working?? |
Anonymous
|
Do you have a specialty in tax (federal, state, international, high net worth individuals, etc)? This will help to answer your question as some groups are very heavily focused on compliance and driven by busy season. Others are more focused on consulting, so no busy season, per se, they may get busier during compliance season, but not like other groups. Do you think you could transition to a specialty practice - some experience with state or international, but mostly federal?
I've been with a big four for 12 years in tax, both consulting and compliance. Currently a director on a full time, but flex schedule. And my kids are under 4. Once you reply to the above, I will respond with more info, most likely tonight. |
Anonymous
| Have you looked at any of the smaller firms that specialize in tax? You may get more responsibility more quickly and have a better life style. I worked in the Big 6 many years ago and worked a lot of hours then. Some of my colleagues who worked in Big 4 more recently report that there was tremendous pressure for billable hours and they worked 7 days a week during busy season. Also, remember if you are in compliance, there are corporate and individual deadlines so there are especially busy periods before each deadline. Also, many returns get extended so there is another busy period before 9/15 for corporate returns or 10/15 for individuals. agree with the pp that trying to target a niche might give you better control of your schedule. |
Anonymous
| OP here - thanks for your responses! Yes, I'd be looking at individual tax compliance, specifically expatriate tax, and possibly global mobility consulting, so there would likely be a busy season. When I was doing tax seven years ago, there was one associate who worked 6am-6pm during busy season for family/commute reasons, but everyone else was there putting in the hours (only the senior manager had a family - with a SAHM - everyone else was single). The senior manager was supportive of the flex workday, but I do think the associate's leaving early may have affected how we viewed his performance. Any insight out there is helpful. Would also love to get perspective on how much to discuss work/life balance and flexibility during the interview process. I definitely don't want it to sound like I'm trying to get out of doing any part of the job, but there are also some work-arounds that could make the decision much easier for me (i.e. the flex work hours) that I'd like to discuss on the front-end as much as possible. Thanks! |
Anonymous
I wonder if it's possible to make decent money doing individual tax compliance. I enjoy working with individuals, but the multinational corporations pay so much better for the corporate tax skills, so I'm sort of stuck with corporate tax due to the higher salaries. |
Anonymous
OP here. I agree - I've always thought personal income tax is unique that way. Audit and corporate tax skills translate much better from public to private. There are HR positions for global mobility professionals where having a tax background helps, but it does seem like if you want to go the individual income tax route, you are choosing to largely remain in the public realm. |
Anonymous
If you do expatriate tax at a large firm, as the OP is interested in, you are still working in with individuals, but you are making the money of a large accounting firm. |
Anonymous
| I have been in public, private and also taught accounting/tax. My experience in public is that even when they talk about flexibility, that only means that you are flexible to leave the office at 5 so that you can log in again when you get home. There is a great demand to work a lot of hours. The better you are, the more hours they want you to work. Plus as you move up, you have duties for giving evaluations, mentoring staff and client development and networking. I can't remember how many nights I would miss dinner with the family, and my children would ask me when I would be home and not have to work. My latest stint in public was for 6 years, and I finally moved to industry. The work life balance has been so much better, and I get to see my kids on the weekends. My schedule is so much more predictable. I hope I never have to go back to public accounting. |
Anonymous
all the focus in the big four these days is on middle markets and HNWI |
Anonymous
I think I'm just regretting that I didn't get my public accounting time in before I had a family.  I think what I may end up doing is trying to do some seasonal work next year (40 hours), really work to prove myself, and then try and turn that into a full-time job. I realize this will likely need to be with a smaller, regional firm, but it seems like a good way to get back into public without the crazy hours, at least initially.
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Anonymous
| I worked with a bigger firm and two smaller firms, and the small firms have similar pressure to work a lot of hours. The more hours you work, the more money the partners make. They could care squat about your work-life balance even if they say otherwise. |
Anonymous
Is it possible to be paid by the hour then? How much will they pay someone with both Big4 and corporate tax department experience? |
Anonymous
I think that might be possible especially during busy season. However, we never did it at my most recent firm. I recruited a friend who wanted to be paid by the hour, but they talked her into a 60% schedule which turned into an 80% schedule which was basically FT. She quit and went private and works less at her FT job than an 80% schedule in public. You might get what you are looking for if you can find the right firm, but the pressure to work more is always there. It is hard to get work/life balance in a public accounting firm. |
Anonymous
| 15:08 here. I actually work hourly. I was initially hired as a seasonal and work part time throughout the rest of the year as needed. It's a great arrangement for me. Check Craigslist as well as websites like flexforce professionals. I've seen jobs listed on both. |