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The Finance and Accountancy Society

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Going to be applying for big 4 audit internships
Will there still be places in London offices if i apply around mid september/ start of october?

Reply 81

tradinginvestmen

Doesn't your finance soceity give you this information?

Reply 82

tradinginvestmen

I find that my university finance soceity does a good job at helping their members. I'm a student at Imperial College and talking to my friends at other universities, the finance societies are more developed at London universities, they've even joined this global finance soceity called GIUP students, which started in consultation with student finance soceity presidents around 2 years ago.

Reply 83

Ape Gone Insane

KPMG looking at cutting 3% of their UK worforce apparently, that seems worrying.

Reply 84

partoftheweekend

Original post by Ape Gone Insane

KPMG looking at cutting 3% of their UK worforce apparently, that seems worrying.

Redundancies aren't being made from the new graduate intake. Still it doesn't bode well. Hopefully this is as bad as it gets.

Reply 85

M1011

Original post by Ape Gone Insane

KPMG looking at cutting 3% of their UK worforce apparently, that seems worrying.

Original post by partoftheweekend

Redundancies aren't being made from the new graduate intake. Still it doesn't bode well. Hopefully this is as bad as it gets.

Definitely worrying. Would be interesting to know what percentage of a firms profit (not revenue) come from each service line, because some of the articles on Accountancy Age make it sound like Audit and CF don't drive profit (leading to the assumption that consulting and tax is where the money is coming from).

Out of interest, does anyone know if the big 4 charge more for audits then say a 20-10 ranging firm? Are they cheaper (economies of scale) or more expensive (brand image)?

Reply 86

DaneCook

Original post by M1011

Thought you were at Deloitte mate?

Reply 87

M1011

Original post by DaneCook

Thought you were at Deloitte mate?

I will be in a few weeks time :redface:

Just wondering about the profitability of the service lines and whether the big 4 are actually seen as prestigous by ftse 100 / ftse 250 companies (hence all of them using the big 4 near enough), or if we're actually just the cheapest option!

Reply 88

Narcissist

Original post by M1011

I will be in a few weeks time :redface:

Most smaller firms wouldn't realisitically be able to audit a FTSE 100/250 client, they would be unlikely to have the resources and there's also rules about the % of income that can come from a single client. Some firms would use audit to lowball clients and pick up fees elsewhere but that's being clamped down on.

Reply 89

8inchestall

got an interview for PWC assurance next month, any pwc-ers here doing assurance could talk to me about what they do on a day-to-day. Ideally my aim is to get into their shared-schemes for forensic services...any tips i could wow the interviewer (first interview) with? I'm getting nervous about not prepping correctly!!

personal experiences would be great

Reply 90

Regent

How's everyone doing for accomodation? Think it's kind of lame none of the Big 4 pay some kind of relocation allowance. I'm not sure I can afford putting down a deposit and the first 6 weeks rent which most places are asking for.

Reply 91

Narcissist

Thankfully I've got really generous parents who were willing to loan me the deposit for my place and I had enough saved up to pay the rent myself. No idea what I'd have to do if that wasn't the case. I'd probably look at a short term sublet instead as they tend not to ask for big deposits and you can pay weekly.

Reply 92

M1011

Original post by Regent

Sorted mine now in Stratford. 1.1k a month for a 1 bed (ridiculous) but splitting that two ways.

Does your firm offer an interest free loan? Deloitte give grads a 7k loan in their first pay cheque, so technically you only have to front the deposit for a few weeks until you get paid. Imagine all the firms do similar. Consider an arranged overdraft (should be able to get an interest free graduate one)? Also are you sharing with others? Makes things much cheaper. Don't got near those 'short loan' companies with their 32987408412% annual interest!

Reply 93

Good to see you've sorted out accommodation. I'm based in Stratford now too, it's great being just 5 minutes away from Westfield. £1.1k is good between two.

Reply 94

M1011

Original post by S

Good to see you've sorted out accommodation. I'm based in Stratford now too, it's great being just 5 minutes away from Westfield. £1.1k is good between two.

Yea on the whole I'm happy with it. Transport links are great and the Westfields is huge! From what I'm told 10 years ago Stratford wasn't a nice place, but the Olympics investment really seems to have changed that. Everywhere you go is a new apartment building! High street is pretty comprehensive and a few big supermarkets within 5-10 mins of station.

Reply 95

GR3YFOXXX

Original post by M1011

I will be in a few weeks time :redface:

Our fees are generally much higher. I don't work in assurance, but with Tax compliance our fees are higher than anyone outside the Big 4. It's pretty much the same for all service lines.

That being said, sometimes we do ridiculously low fees for compliance if we are making a fortune with advisory work. Kind of like a loss leader.

Reply 96

monk_keys

Original post by M1011

The burrito bar in there is v. good, check it out.

Reply 97

DaneCook

Original post by Regent

Yeah I reckon the lack of relocation bonuses is quite tame. But I think the big four definitely offer some sort of interest free grad loan (7k max), EY definitely do, it's taken out of your wages over 48 months. Deloitte do it as well, not too sure about KPMG and PWC though.

Reply 98

Tokyoround

You grads should be starting soon right? Excited? Got all your shiz together?

I'm being kicked off my current floor in the coming weeks to make room as it seems like every team here is expanding. Losing my panorama view out the window :cry: