Big 4 fully qualified chartered accountant - AMA

Hi you said above that you're going into corporate finance soon - would you say that your experience in audit has given you a strong foundation of knowledge for this area? And if you were working with other people who were also studying the ACA at the same time as you, what exit opportunities are they undertaking? thank you

What degree did you take at uni and which uni,or did you do a school leaver programme?

I studied accounting and finance at uni, then joined big 4 as a grad.

Hello, i'd say audit definitely gave me a strong foundation of knowledge. A lot of the work in corporate finance (financial modelling etc) relies on financial statements which are derived from the key fundamental accounting principles.

Other people have moved in to roles such as: Equity Research, Financial Planning and Analysis (FP&A), Financial Controller and some have pivoted to a completely different industry.

Sorry to bother you,but which uni if you don't mind?

Do u skive at work sometimes?

Hi there,

So excited youve put up this AMA as youre currently where i hope to be within the next 4-5 years. I hope to either become a CA at a Big 4 company or an investment banker (preference would be IB).

Currently a yr 13. got 4 out of my 5 uni offers.

Warwick- Accounting & Finance
Durham- Accounting & Finance
Bath- Accounting & Finance (placement year too)
Bristol- Economics & Finance (placement year too)
Waiting on LSE for Accounting & Finance as well

say i got an offer from all my Unis, which would u recommend if i want get to ur position or the other (IB) in 4-5 years time. Obviously LSE would be a first pick but say i get rejected, which would u pick if u were in my position.

Asking because ik that these companies only target specific unis.

Also which uni did u go to?

I literally have not, however I must caveat that by saying my experience isn't the norm. I literally just finished doing Payroll for the nth time. The resourcing lady at my firm keeps staffing me on crappy clients that need last minute work done. It is very odd, but that's just been the case for me.

In case you assume "well you must be bad at the job", i've had good reviews throughout and have been consistently promoted and scored well in the exams. So I don't know why my experience has been this way. Also, before you ask, yes I have complained to seniors many many times but nothing changes. Anyway, I already have a job offered to start in the next 4/5 months in corporate finance, so i'll see how that goes.

Jeez you must have either accidentally upset scheduling our just been really unlucky... Can say my experience was the polar opposite. Interesting and challenging work, in year three I didn't do a single piece of ticking or bashing.

Best of luck with the move - will that be lead advisory, transaction services or a specialist team like vals, modelling, RX, treasury etc?

Hey, congrats on your uni offers!

Yep I applied to the exact same Unis as you (apart from Durham, I applied to Southampton instead). I went to Warwick in the end as didn't get an LSE offer. I'd say definitely go to Warwick or LSE as those are the target universities for Big 4 and Investment Banks. So if you're rejected from LSE, choose Warwick.

In terms of getting in to IB, be on it from the second the applications open. Submit them early and try to get a good 2/3 spring weeks in your first year. I slacked in my first year which is why I had to do 3 years in audit and only moving to corporate finance now.

LOL yes you are right, the resourcing team doesn't like me! That was my experience in PwC (feel to reveal the firm as I have nothing to lose). Not sure if other firms are nicer or not.

I'm very jealous you did not have to do any tedious ticking and bashing in your third year. What are you up to these days?

In terms of my move, it is actually a corporate finance role outside of big 4! Will be M&A(Modelling + Valuation)/Consulting work.

Do you think Uni of Nottingham Finance, Accounting and Management students have a chance to get into the big four?

If not Warwick, (or LSE) which uni would u recommend as well. Knowing u work at a Big 4, Im trying to apply for the next most targeted uni.

This is because I dont want to apply to both LSE and Warwick as my safety and first as they have the same entry requirements so not getting into one means not getting into either.

Many Manchester or Exeter grads at your work?

No worries. Yes I trained in London. Salary is about £28k and goes to £45k after full qualification

does it go to 45k as soon as u qualify as a chartered accountant or do we have to work our way up? Does it usually exceed 45k? What big 4 company are you with?

It goes to around 45k provided you have gotten the promotions as well. So essentially in your 4th year (should you get promoted to whatever the 4th year rank is called in each of the big 4) you will be on roughly 45k. This 45k figure varies slightly across the big 4, I think it's as high as 48 at EY, but don't quote me on that!

I'm with PwC and yes you can exceed 45k when you get promoted in future

im gonna do the flying start degree with PwC which means I'll do 12/15 ACA exams during my 4 years at uni which also includes a placement year with them. Do u know anything about the salary for these types of graduates? Surely its more than a normal graduate who has rot spend an extra 4 years doing the exams where as these graduates on take 1 more year to qualify after uni