[Kagawa]

Hey guys,

I work for a big 4 firm in audit. Just thought I'd come on and help anybody if I can. So if anybody has any questions they'd like to ask me, feel free to pm me.

[Regent]

How long you been there for?

[lmartynofficial]

Hi, is audit really as repetitive as people say it is? How many of your colleagues did an accounting and finance degree as opposed to any other degree? Did you do a degree in A+F?

[kingcoltzan]

For experienced hire work would your company require a degree for most of the good jobs or would being ACA superceed not having a degree.

[Brotherhood]

(Original post by lmartynofficial)
Hi, is audit really as repetitive as people say it is? How many of your colleagues did an accounting and finance degree as opposed to any other degree? Did you do a degree in A+F?

It gets better. It really depends on the client and the team.

[partoftheweekend]

Breakdown of your wardrobe. How many suits/shirts etc.

cheers

[celshaded]

What are you looking to do after you get your ACA?

[kingcoltzan]

(Original post by partoftheweekend)
Breakdown of your wardrobe. How many suits/shirts etc.

cheers

Assuming you would be wearing a suit and shirt everyday....

Min: 2 suits - Navy and a charcoal
5 shirts - 1 white, 1 pink, 1 blue, 2 whatever.

That is bare min...but you can add to suits+ shirts as you go along.

Mine currently (possibly about to start AAT)...

3 suits - Navy, Lighter Blue, Charcoal.
~10 shirts, but some are old and aren't worn so much nowadays.
Cufflinks....a nice collection if you feel like wearing links (seems all the people working in big firms do?)
Shoes - Black Winter (Rubber Sole) + Summer (Leather Sole) Brogues, Dark chocolate brown oxfords - almost black....don't think an accountancy firm is the place to be wearing Tan shoes
Ties - Couple of ties in a range of colours to suit shirts+suits, again...ties are something you add to over the course of years, so buy decent quality (Pure Silk) ones which will last a life-time if treated carefully as opposed to those really flimsy ones from Primark
Socks - Not all black! Please!!!! Have some discreet stripes/colours. No novelty ones though ie with "Best Father 2011" on them etc.

Hope that helps

(Just my 2c )

[partoftheweekend]

(Original post by kingcoltzan)
(Just my 2c )

Thanks that was exactly what I was looking for.

[ShadowHawk]

Is it hard to get into auditing?
Is it better to skip Uni and take ACCA/AAT/ICAEW?
Is it likely to get a six-figure salary in around 5-7 years of working as an auditor?
Do you get to travel?
Would it be economically viable for you to open up an auditing firm?



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[Kemik]

(Original post by ShadowHawk)
Is it hard to get into auditing?
Is it better to skip Uni and take ACCA/AAT/ICAEW?
Is it likely to get a six-figure salary in around 5-7 years of working as an auditor?
Do you get to travel?
Would it be economically viable for you to open up an auditing firm?

It's the service line that recruits the most but it's likely to be just as hard to get into auditing as most other service lines. Most will have higher entry requirements though.

I'm almost certain you need a degree or AAT to do ACA/CA. There are some great school leave programmes that do that or put you through University then ACA though. Check out all of the Big Four (and others) websites if you're considering going down this route.

That depends how good you are but no, it's not likely that you'll be earning £100,000+ after 5 years. You'll only be two years post qualified at that point. If you're good you'll get closer to the £70k mark.

You are required to travel to clients sites. That can add considerable time to your working hours. International travel while in the first three years is highly unlikely/pretty much unheard of though.

Opening your own accounting firm would be a lot of hard work and you'd need considerable financial backing but if you pull it off it would bring in a good return.

[kingcoltzan]

(Original post by Kemik)
It's the service line that recruits the most but it's likely to be just as hard to get into auditing as most other service lines. Most will have higher entry requirements though.

I'm almost certain you need a degree or AAT to do ACA/CA. There are some great school leave programmes that do that or put you through University then ACA though. Check out all of the Big Four (and others) websites if you're considering going down this route.

That depends how good you are but no, it's not likely that you'll be earning £100,000+ after 5 years. You'll only be two years post qualified at that point. If you're good you'll get closer to the £70k mark.

You are required to travel to clients sites. That can add considerable time to your working hours. International travel while in the first three years is highly unlikely/pretty much unheard of though.

Opening your own accounting firm would be a lot of hard work and you'd need considerable financial backing but if you pull it off it would bring in a good return.

For experienced hire work would your company require a degree for most of the good jobs or would being ACA superceed not having a degree.

[erklam]

(Original post by Kagawa)
Hey guys,

I work for a big 4 firm in audit. Just thought I'd come on and help anybody if I can. So if anybody has any questions they'd like to ask me, feel free to pm me.

Hi

I talked to a partner at a Big4 and I was told that the qualification you get after your three years there is nearly better in terms of employability than an MBA - and that you can do almost anything with it later. I just secured a big4 internship for next summer in audit so now I'm considering actually doing a grad scheme in Audit. The issue is that I am not that interested in audit. Question: Do you think it is a good strategy to start working in Audit and then, after you have the qualification, change e.g. to advisory/consulting? Do you agree that the qualification from a big4 is really that useful in any field related to finance?

I would greatly appreciate your help!
Thanks

[Kemik]

(Original post by kingcoltzan)
For experienced hire work would your company require a degree for most of the good jobs or would being ACA superceed not having a degree.

ACA would definitely superceed.

[Nicola.Garner]

If i was to go for an interview with Big4 what sort of information would we need to know about the company? x

[86501]

(Original post by Nicola.Garner)
If i was to go for an interview with Big4 what sort of information would we need to know about the company? x

Not the most useful answer but it's not quite that simple. They're not going to ask you something specific about the firm (knowing they're not companies is a good one!)

They generally approach it by either talking about the services they could provide to a company or why you want to work for them. The services that could be provided is your opportunity to show you understand what the firm does. Why you want to work for them is your chance to show you've thought specifically about that firm and what makes it different and appealing to you.

[An0nn]

(Original post by Kagawa)
Hey guys,

I work for a big 4 firm in audit. Just thought I'd come on and help anybody if I can. So if anybody has any questions they'd like to ask me, feel free to pm me.

Hi, thanks for making this thread!

Was wondering about your view on what personalities fit best in the Big 4 auditors?

[ItTakes2meNu]

what would you recommend me to do to pass the numerical/reasoning test? cause ive always failed to get past that stage

[xsindy]

Is it worth applying for the school leavers programmes when I have no knowledge/have had no previous interest in business etc.? (Obviously when the time comes I will do sufficient research) I would just like the experience of the interviews and such and it would be awesome if I suceed
x

[M1011]

(Original post by An0nn)
Hi, thanks for making this thread!

Was wondering about your view on what personalities fit best in the Big 4 auditors?

It's a wide mix. I've only been there for a week but I'm pretty confident in saying that there is no 'one size fits all' auditor. Especially at associate level where nobody really knows what's involved. However I'd say that commitment and focus are key attributes for the ACA (it looks very tough, even more so when your job is on the line), and having a decent sense of humour (social skills?) seems pretty important for getting on with everyone in the team.

There seems to be quite a bit more to Audit then I had initially envisaged, but time shall tell.