Pros & Cons of Big 4 Accounting | Why I Quit, Salary & My Experience

[@tiffanyteng2984]

Thank you for sharing! Waiting for your upcoming video on how you pivoted into operational risk management and what the job scope involves, the skillset required etc !

[@djamel-arbouche]

Thanks for this! It’s really helpful for me to guide my kids as they’re choosing their undergrad studies and future paths. You’re so articulate and inspiring! 😊

[@withtheaims]

Love that you are guiding your kids now - very inspiring also 👏. Although I wish I had more guidance and mentoring on the future paths growing up on my career options (outside of corporate as well), I’m grateful my older siblings were able to pave the way for me to get started! No path is ever perfect, sometimes we just need to take the leap of faith to try 👌. Thank you for leaving a comment! 😌

[@djamel-arbouche]

I appreciate how you shared your journey of learning to listen to yourself and identify your true drivers and pleasures. It’s clear you were a hardworking student and high-performing professional to reach the Big 4. I’m glad to see you thriving and finding time for yourself now. I will be happy to learn more about your journey. Greetings from France! 😊

[@qasimhossein]

The only accurate information i have watched so far in all the topics you have covered! Keep up the good work!! 🎉

[@withtheaims]

Thank you for your kind words 🙏.

[@Jaiysful]

Wow, that's really insightful! Thank you for sharing, I have always been curious.

[@withtheaims]

Thank you! It’s good to reflect back on my career journey for sure 🙏.

[@AnthonyBoltman-um9jl]

Passing the CPA exams is when you study hard,if you can't study or you don't have time for your studies I'd advise you get yourself a help like Mr Dylan

[@pineschijames]

People keep talking about Dylan all over KZbin,he must be a very awesome help

[@HerulaOlena]

Yes you're correct but remember heaven helps those who help themselves, try studying if you can't study then get yourself a good help

[@jameskennedy7472]

I studied for months and couldn't pass, I guess passing is a blessing

[@AgustinDanielle-ie2hp]

CPA exam might seem so tough to pass but studying very hard is a very vital skill to win trust me.

[@MomijiTMO]

Nice video Amy. I think starting out in the big4 is a great ‘default’ route for most uni leavers. The pros you mentioned were spot on. Cons were too 😂. Most people work there for 2-3 years and move onto bigger and better things. You really have to hang around to senior manager/associate director before the pay and bonuses are good. At that point you’re just looking at your director case and having a crack at partner.

[@withtheaims]

Thank you! For those who can stay I commend them though, it isn’t easy for sure! 🥲 But honestly moving out to bigger and better things is one of the best moves - you get valued more too! ⚡️

[@lxxy05]

very informative video!! thanks!

[@withtheaims]

Glad it was helpful! 🙏

[@callmeterra1125]

Are you still going to be making another video about pivoting into risk management?

[@withtheaims]

Yes defs - it’s in the pipeline! 🙏

[@jamiemathew7869]

hi! thanks for sharing your input! for the degree and career in accounting, what type of work do you do every day? is there alote of math involved? if there is what type of math is involved? what type of math is used daily in accounting? what is the environment of the different settings like? where do accountants work? can you find both full time and part time work? what if you cant work full time and can only work part time? is it possible to work part time as well?

[@MomijiTMO]

The math is quite simple. Going part time would be challenging in the bigger firms in terms of progressing your career. Quite often part time people end up working on their day off to catch up…

[@jamiemathew7869]

@@MomijiTMO thank you for sharing!!

[@jamiemathew7869]

What about the other firms other than the big four? What about the local firms in your own county? Are they hiring part time as well? Or is it only full time in all accounting firms

[@MomijiTMO]

@@jamiemathew7869 I’m in Australia so it might be different for your country. If you want to work at a mid tier or bigger firm, it’s going to be harder to apply as a part time. It would be easier to start off full time and work out how you can drop down to 4 or 3 days later. You have to think about it from the employers perspective - we have a headcount budget. Even if someone is 0.8FTE it’s not like we can find anyone to be the other 0.2 and it takes a long time to train staff (1.5 years before we get a return / people start moving towards senior consultant grades)

[@withtheaims]

All good 🙏. In terms of full time vs part time work - part time is usually hard to land unless you’ve worked for a place for a while to arrange for a part time basis!

[@UnbreakableStrength-bz6yu]

Hi Aims❤👋 Thanks for the lovely vid 🤝

[@withtheaims]

Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it 🙏

[@TonyLeguenTV]

Great video, Amy! What are your thoughts on older people getting into accounting? I'm 42 have always liked accounting but not sure if the big 4 is a young person's game...Thanks!

[@withtheaims]

Hi Tony! Thanks for your kind words 🙏. When I was at the big 4, I remember working with others who were in a similar rank as me and were in their 30s/early 40s as they had changed careers. It’s definitely not just a young persons game although it can seem that way as a lot of them are “young” who apply! Sometimes I feel “older people” who either change careers or move into an area they are interested in are more settled because they’ve been through it all! Depending on your background and experience, see if there are any skillsets you can bring over to accounting + doing online courses to upskill yourself. Another thing is to see whether you have anyone in your network who’s in accounting to ask about what they do day to day and if this aligns with what you want as well. It’s never too late for anything imo, but it’s too late if we never try :). Also it doesn’t have to be working at a big 4 for accounting or audit, there are also mid tier firms too! Ps. I know this is a diff scenario, but I didn’t learn how to ride a bike until I was 28, picked it up one arvo and eventually I started doing 30/50/80/100km group rides - many would say that’s too late to learn at 28 or you won’t pick it up, but you’d be surprised at what you can achieve or learn when you put your mind and goals towards it! 🙏

[@bfnew4440]

Great video! Were any of the people you worked with (doing crazy hours) parents? I couldn't imagine a parent of young kids could work like that

[@withtheaims]

Thank you! Yess there will parents in the bunch too at more senior levels - honestly don’t know how they did it (and still do it)

[@liambraithewaite6415]

I'll be honest, I'm an industry accountant and have always worked in industry and tbh, I think Big 4 is massively overrated in a number of ways. Some of the negative aspects I have seen with some people I have worked under who worked at Big 4 is they can bring a lot of the heavy cutthroat corporate mindsets and ways of working at Big 4 into other companies and actually end up eroding the culture of those companies. As mentioned here, the condition for overwork suddenly spreads into those other companies unnecessarily. I also have found that many people in Big 4 get pigeon-holed and end up not being adequately equipped for more all-rounder type accounting roles where you're suddenly doing a mixture of financial and management accounting, tax, audit and forensic, as well as dealing with management and strategy.

[@withtheaims]

Some ex big-4ers find it hard to break out of that cycle as while when they go into the industry to work! As I only worked there a couple of years, I wasn’t set in my ways set of working style but I can definitely see how it has impacted others who have moved later on!

[@maritesguillermo5108]

May i know how old were you when you started working at the Big 4?

[@withtheaims]

I was 21/22 years old! 🙏

[@shikshasingh3045]

Are you a Indian charactered Accountant or a CPA or ACCA 🤔

[@withtheaims]

CA ANZ specific to Australia but alliances with ACCA!

[@chumleyk]

bless her for thinking she'd get to partner in 10 years from a grad. haha

[@withtheaims]

A girl can dream y’all :’ ). But in all seriousness, staying at the big 4 to get to partner was never my intention. It was for the work experience. However working at a big 4 does help put things into perspective especially getting promos. There is a point where getting promoted beyond SM is not worth the biscuit and it does take many years of working extremely hard to get beyond that - or connections 👀.

[@wyattc4644]

Are you Christian?

[@withtheaims]

I’m not but have loved ones around me that are!

[@wyattc4644]

@@withtheaims Nice! you should ask them about it more

[@paul_w]

Please stop repeating yourself constantly (you say big four dozens of times), the content is good but not the execution .

[@withtheaims]

I noticed this too upon rewatching this video - improvements areas to be made for future videos! 🙏

[@preciousmarutha2508]

@@withtheaimshey girl😊, love this video. I usually don’t see the need to comment on such things but let me just say I don’t think or see anything wrong with you saying the big 4 because I think you mentioned it where necessary and this video is based on your “big 4” experience… please don’t allow people to bully you and try to make the comment look like constructive criticism. This wasn’t necessary..Stay winning and wishing you all the best going forward.

[@withtheaims]

Hi lovely! Oops I didn’t see this comment until I changed the filtering 😊 but thanks for the kind words - appreciated 🫶🏻. Still new to this whole KZbin thing + diff types of comments people leave (vs instagram)