Why I Quit My Big 4 Audit Career

It's official. I quit my Big 4 job.
In this video, I go over, why I quit my job, what I learned at Big 4, and what I'm doing next.
Subscribe if you want to see more videos like this one:)
Twitter: / baturalpakinn \
Instagram: bugrahanaki...
TIMESTAMPS
0:00 - Intro
0:42 - Why I quit
2:14 - What I learned
3:42 - What's next
5:10 - Outro

[@jonaskwong245]

Audit definitely is not for everyone - finding this out early and leaving is not a bad thing at all! Looks like you have found something you enjoy more - congratulations.

[@BaturalpAkin]

Very true, and thanks!

[@user-je7fj5ln1l]

Wow, I did an internship at Deloitte this past summer in auditing and the amount of stress i FACED under a month was insane. I was working overtime to finish multiple projects under a certain timeframe without getting the proper training.

[@Nemhyz]

This is the biggest problem by far. The lack of willingness to train by the Seniors and managers

[@thamuffinman6911]

Me and you both lol

[@ejaypogi10]

HAHAHAHA i work at EY and the same. NO PROPER TRAINING LOL!

[@reesee175]

@@ejaypogi10 , running into the same issue at EY right now. While catching on quickly, I am used to financial reporting and not auditing. The TOC process differs for each engagement section, and I need more hands-on training. Additionally, they wasted the first few minutes reviewing information that didn't relate to the actual job itself.

[@marcchadmendoza533]

I also work at a big 4 professional service firm for about a year and 9 months now. I just got promoted to a senior associate role last August. The promotion feels validating to be honest but I just got a lot exhausted. I had to absorb a workload of 4 employees last June to September and the constant unappreciative executives didn't make it better + we're severely underpaid. I got to reflecting these past weeks and finally submitted my resignation letter to the partner. I'm currently in my 1st week of rendering my resignation and it feels a lot better to be honest. I feel like I'm finally doing something for me.

[@BaturalpAkin]

I think it takes courage to leave. Good luck in your next role!

[@sevalaydin9429]

So insightful! thanks for sharing. It's amazing how much social competency can be gained from a job (that part really caught my attention). Every experience is valuable, and you certainly learned a lot.

[@BaturalpAkin]

Thank you for the comment! Couldn't agree more.

[@ali26893]

Thank you sharing this great experience. It’s definitely helpful 🙌🏼

[@BaturalpAkin]

Glad it was helpful!

[@Loveable_introvert]

The background music just makes public accounting even sadder🤣🤣🤣

[@BaturalpAkin]

Ahahah true

[@ariefhalim5287]

With all the scandals and pretty much things getting exposed at big 4 now, glad you made the right decision. It seems like they’re all about presentation, which I found out early in my college undergrad school, and not necessarily care about the person dedication, interest or unique and creative thinking. At least you finally land a job based on your field and tbh there will be more opportunity in such field going forward. Best of luck and thank you for sharing

[@BaturalpAkin]

Thank you so much!

[@ejaypogi10]

Great transition bro. Data analytics and new skills like powerBI etc for analysis should be the way to go!

[@BaturalpAkin]

Thanks

[@juliusiha4409]

After 2 years and 8 months with one of the Big 4 in Auditing the experience and knowledge gained was great but I realized that auditing is not for me (stressful) so I resigned. It's the best decision I had made in life.

[@alecw457]

Do you still work in accounting today?

[@juliusiha4409]

@alecw457 No. Using the accounting knowledge and experience gained i have ventured into registering and running my own business.

[@BaturalpAkin]

Same here

[@existentialgaming3097]

Of course.....it had to be Audit, I feel you bro, waiting for the same, to leave the job

[@BaturalpAkin]

Good luck!

[@newyorkcity3866]

Great content 👍

[@BaturalpAkin]

Thanks for the visit

[@fadihijazi1658]

I just finished my 3rd busy season. it got to a level where I am working 100 hour weeks for weeks on end and not getting credit or compensation, I am finally quitting. It definitely is not for everyone. My advice is to look into the clients, teams and engagements of the team and partner you fall under and see if the workload and type of work aligns with what you're going to do.

[@BaturalpAkin]

Well said. Good luck in your next role!!

[@Akodemo]

Good luck on the new role!

[@BaturalpAkin]

Thanks!

[@lizjane1349]

Thanks for this video. I think more people should be aware of the realities of this kind of work before they choose their career route in accounting or finance. I truly believe that the world's brightest people aspire to accounting careers, but the financial world is enormous. There are limitless options.. and analytics is definitely a lot of fun on the good days!

[@BaturalpAkin]

Thanks for watching! Great input!

[@lizjane1349]

@@BaturalpAkin np! best of luck in your new career, I'm sure you will smash it

[@ydotspokez]

Great video and lots of respect for coming out about this! It would be great to understand whether you were given the necessary action plan to improve your work-life balance from the feedback given by the company/your managers or whether you were left to do it by yourself? One would argue that if you didn't then you should hold yourself accountable and should have searched for ways to be more efficient with how you manage and conduct your work individually and as a team to manage the expectations of the role. I say this because a lot of new recruits expect the company to have all the answers for them and for things to magically change for the better, but from my experience, it's actually the employees who take it upon themselves to optimise their work efficiency, to ensure they're not being burnt out, that continue to progress through their company/role area. Otherwise thank you for an honest and useful video! Looking forward to the Data analyst video and hopefully, the grass is greener on the other side!

[@BaturalpAkin]

Thanks for the feedback! Some of my seniors and managers were actually helpful in this regard, and provided me with great feedback. But my main issue was with the norm, which is 'busy season' in this case.

[@reginasylv]

No it's not like that. Those companies are so toxic that they have no regards for the values they claim to have, neither do they give a damn about those who try to uphold it. Even if you are organised in managing your time, even if you have a solid agreement with the team on how to plan the work, they have a tendency to not follow the work plan and still try to bug you down with their own job tasks that they have refused to do. If you complain to the manager that the team lead is being idle, bugging you down with their own tasks as well, the management will gaslight you or threaten your job. Those companies brainwash and target young graduates, they assume they are doing you a favour because you work for them. However you are the one doing them a lot of favour. And all that, a big 4 is good on your cv is all part of the brainwashing. The only thing that matters is the skill that is relevant on your next job not the name of a company.

[@IchiroSakamoto]

Blame the victim when everyone know how toxic the Big 4 is, yeah, sure, OP's fault for not coping with the 80hr weeks right, haha, you must be the type suited for gulags

[@IchiroSakamoto]

@@reginasylv 100%. Bait new grads with the prospect of accountancy qualification plus a 'boost to your CV'. Annual promotion and becoming a Partner in 10 years with $500k salary? Sure, if it were that easy then 1 in 3 wouldn't have dropped out in the fist year and everybody literally FLEE once they get their ACA qual. It's a never ending cycle of exploiting passionate grads for 3 years using them like slaves. Actually slaves working in American cotton farms probably had better work-life balance than big 4

[@zitrans]

love u bro, u said what i though but i still did not have a ball to quit :( almost 2 yrs in this shjt hole :(

[@juliusiha4409]

I feel you bro. I went through this in my first year, then 2nd year, then wanted to do a 3rd but after 2 years and 8 months I had enough of the stress, gave in my resignation. I am glad I did this.

[@jonathanbowman3177]

To me it would seem better if the Big 4 changed the work pattern from 9-5 with an astronomical amount of overtime to shift work. All staff are put onto a rota and you work a different shift say every 2 weeks. Have an early, rush hour, middle, late and night shift. Have a four day week, 9 hours per day, working every 1 out of 3 weekends. Staff have the option to put in for paid overtime if they wish. You could have the early as 6am to 3pm, rush hour as 9am to 6pm, middle as 12pm to 9pm, late as 3pm to 12am and the night as 10pm to 7am. The office would be open 24/7 for the clients and staff would have long breaks between each shift to recover/socialise but could earn extra with optional overtime.

[@BaturalpAkin]

I completely agree

[@moonstone468]

absolutely right, now I am A1, and it's freaking terrible. Working culture is too toxic. I did one thing,and my manager tells me that great,but you don't need to do this. I hope one day there goona be a start-up, that will make diasaper this industry.And people will be finally free to live

[@BaturalpAkin]

It would be hard to replace this industry, but I think young professionals start to feel that some of the things don't make sense. So the culture at these firms might have to change

[@jakebeach7056]

I worked at a few small accounting firms from Feb 2021-April 2023. It sucked. At the second one we we're required to work minimum 55 hrs during busy season. We had minimum billiable hrs too which could be really hard if there was any transition between working on tax cases. Really in order to meet the billable goals you almost had to do 60hrs during busy, feb-April and Sept/Oct. Now, as an hourly employee ya I was compensated, but it wasn't worth it. So glad I'm out.

[@BaturalpAkin]

Thanks for sharing! I'm glad you were able to get out!!

[@-_MR666_-]

After 2 years I've decided to quit. Still few months left til I can leave but it was not as easy as I thought to find a new job in a new industry. I'm still concerned with the new job... How do you guys feel after leaving big4?

[@kazumayagami7093]

I definitely hate working for more than 40 hours a week. But, I'm willing to work for experience for about a year if I can push through.

[@BaturalpAkin]

That's a good strategy early in your career

[@magicgoku]

Audit is hell compared to Consulting and less rewarding. If you are stuck there it means your aren't good enough for consulting but are just good enough to make the cut

[@BaturalpAkin]

I agree

[@sherkhan8135]

The most sad things about audit are that we auditors beg the clients about data. This hurts a lot. Secondly, you work late hours. You are sitting late at nights to deliver the projects but there is no need for such emergency as no body is dying. After you go home after 10-12 hours, you get calls from seniors and teammates for things/data. This is so frustrating. So sad. There should be a legal action against such job. Shame on everyone who is supporting this.

[@BaturalpAkin]

Well said!

[@m.acikgoz2063]

I am glad you made this decision for yourself.

[@BaturalpAkin]

Thanks!

[@pfuhad3760]

I also quit my audit job , what will be another job for an ACCA affiliate

[@matthiasrambally1899]

Audit is horrible I'm just trying to get through a year at this point

[@BaturalpAkin]

Hang in there man, it opens doors

[@bryanjoyce8131]

Two years ago a friend of mine worked at a Big4 company and he 'grinded' around 70-80 hours per week during the busy season. His performance manager had already promised him a promotion to assistant manager if he could just push through the upcoming spring - but in the end, he never got the promotion. Instead, someone from outside the company was brought in for that position. Working at a Big4 company can be extremely brutal, and I've often wondered how the company supports those with children. Working at a Big4 really isn't for everyone, and in the end, it's not even very 'healthy'.

[@BaturalpAkin]

Agreed!

[@lej7100]

I want to work in one Big4, gain experience, and resign after some years, i have an idea of the amount of stress in big4 and i want to work there despite that because i know that after this period i will be more skilled, it’s my choice.

[@asdfghjkldfghjhgcgyuigfyui9792]

I got fired in december after 1.5 years. don't know what to do now. Ive been working a weird job

[@BaturalpAkin]

I'm sorry that you were fired. 1.5 years is a good amount of experience, you should be able to land a job fairly quick with that experience. Good luck!

[@scholarlyanalyst7700]

@@BaturalpAkin What sounds harder to your "ears"? 1. Certified Public Accountant or 2. Masters Degree in Statistics?

[@BaturalpAkin]

It depends on one's goals, but CPA is definitely a safety net even though I don't like accounting.

[@Fernandohiggsboson]

Things like that happens it’s no the end. There are a lot of jobs in Accounting, applied to Quickbooks for example or become a CMA and get a job can be also a telecommunications company, best!

[@BaturalpAkin]

@@Fernandohiggsboson well said!

[@walkingestonian]

« Come the **** on » made it for me. Instant like to the video 😅

[@BaturalpAkin]

Hahah thanks

[@kartikgupta]

I am working in an Indian Big4 audit and facing same issue of overwork.I am working 12 hours a day and also not getting any weekend off from past 3 months. Can’t understand how anyone can survive in such a job in which you are not getting time for yourself. Just hoping to quit soon.

[@BaturalpAkin]

Best of luck!

[@zhaniyashadman6152]

Hello, very interesting! Could you please give advice on how to successfully pass the test in pwc?

[@BaturalpAkin]

Hey, thanks for watching! I'm not sure what you mean by passing the test in PwC

[@AhmetBurakCIL]

Great transition 👍🏼

[@BaturalpAkin]

Thanks!

[@ASH-ms3oq]

Hi. I want to quit my current role at big 4 however i am confused on what could be a good reason to say when i will be asked this question in interview? Can you please guide.

[@BaturalpAkin]

It could be various different things. You might want to switch to a career that aligns more with your values, you might want a that is more creative etc.

[@RVC0902]

Do you have your CPA?

[@BaturalpAkin]

No, I was planning to get my CISA (Certified Information Systems Auditor), but after deciding that I wasn't going to do IT audit, I just didn't bother.

[@RVC0902]

@@BaturalpAkin Thank you for sharing

[@BaturalpAkin]

Ofc, thanks for watching!

[@Ape...]

@@BaturalpAkin Bro will you give me your whatsapp number or anything for advice.

[@GolusMUM96]

Tax or Audit? which one to choose?

[@BaturalpAkin]

Totally depends on what you want, but I think audit has more transferrable skills

[@MJPerformance88]

If there is that much dislike around work it might be the best time to change jobs. If another collegue saw only like work then that person would stay.

[@BaturalpAkin]

Agreed!

[@JoeSmoeisnotmyrealname]

LOL. Auditor here. I avoided big 4 so I could train jiu jitsu.

[@BaturalpAkin]

Haha that is awesome!!

[@gjannaprovidencia3347]

How did you get into the big 4 without an accounting degree?

[@juliusiha4409]

In my home country, you don't need an Accounting degree to get into the big 4, for instance PwC in my home country recruited people from Economics background.

[@BaturalpAkin]

IT Audit doesn't require an accounting degree. But core audit does

[@juliusiha4409]

​@BaturalpAkin correct. I remember one of the ITGC audit engagement which i was part of the team, i can swear that we all came from an accounting background. We were dealing with IT stuffs, which I personally think an IT person or computer science person among the team would be a good fit for such audits. Good experience though.😊

[@BaturalpAkin]

Lol I agree. I remember the ITGCs too:)@@juliusiha4409

[@mehmetemindogan7892]

👍💐✌️

[@saintsx1958]

No one in accounting will train. Please note accounting is a rigorous and tedious field, and the learning curve is higher after graduate school. What you learned in school not all but most of it goes out the door.

[@BaturalpAkin]

Great point, agreed 100%

[@juliusiha4409]

Perfect point. Practical accounting is always continuous learning or you will be irrelevant.

[@sutton1238]

So if you get a bad comment from a client at your current job I guess you gonna quit right ....! don't take things personally , use that time as an opportunity to acquire skills..... when you at a new industry don't chase money rather look for opportunities to acquire skills and relationships..

[@BaturalpAkin]

Well said!

[@pfuhad3760]

How is data analysis job.

[@BaturalpAkin]

It's definitely different from the IT Audit job, more flexible, agile methodology etc. Work life balance is a lot better too.

[@soapa4279]

What's with all these "I quit" videos lol

[@BaturalpAkin]

they're fun to make

[@soapa4279]

@@BaturalpAkin lol! I just realized it's the KZbin Algorithm, I watched one and now it's showing me many. Anyway, good luck to whatever you're doing now.

[@BaturalpAkin]

Thank you!

[@MobileDeveloper1965]

Long hours

[@asdf0747]

these auditorss are also hated, because you should already know the questions you're asking. for example, if you're asking to break down the mezzanine structure in Lease deals, instead of confirming if the extra subsidy payment recourse is for mezznine support, how am i supposed to react? You should ALREADY KNOW THIS STUFF, that's why you're auditing. In construction industry, a lot of companies offer mezzanine support to keep the customer payment low and make make the returning RV higher. it's simple enough, the OEM promises Mezzanine payment in times of customer's defaults while keeping the payment incredibly low for their cost of business. Now, if you're being asked to break this down in detail by the same person 4 times, how would you react? you should already know the stuff you're asking. THAT"S WHY YOU WENT TO COLLEGE

[@BaturalpAkin]

I agree

[@JasonHersco]

awww he had to work hard :(

[@0401412740]

Sawfffttt

[@BaturalpAkin]

sure

[@r.b4889]

Hey do you have to take CPA for this job?

[@BaturalpAkin]

No, for the IT audit roles, CPA wasn't a requirement. Even an accounting degree wasn't a requirement