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If you leave big 4 you must pay back course costs????

I have been told that all the Big 4 have a clause in their contract to say that if you were to leave them within the 3 year training contract you could be made to repay the money they have paid for your exam fees, tutition, etc, etc.

If someone were to really not enjoy accountancy and decide to leave how likely is it they would make you pay these bacK?? This could surely run into thousands of pounds??

One friend who works for Big 4 told me that if you decide you want to leave the best thing to do is just fail 2 exams and then they will get rid of you and so they won't charge you!!

Would they really make you pay all that money back if you found accountancy wasn't for you???

Reply 1

Cortez

17

I doubt they'd fire you over failing your exams, you gotta have a pretty good reason to fire someone these days and I don't think exam failing is a good enough reason.

No idea how likely they are to make you pay them back though.

Reply 2

simon123

Cortez

I doubt they'd fire you over failing your exams, you gotta have a pretty good reason to fire someone these days and I don't think exam failing is a good enough reason.

No idea how likely they are to make you pay them back though.

Course they will fire you if you dont manage to pass your exams as your not capable of doing the job! I think its 2 strikes and your out at the Big 4.

Reply 3

Cortez

17

You can be capable of doing your job and not be able to pass your exams though? Some people have bad exam technique but doesn't mean they can't do their job.

Reply 4

simon123

Cortez

You can be capable of doing your job and not be able to pass your exams though? Some people have bad exam technique but doesn't mean they can't do their job.

Well maybe thats true but I dont think the Big 4 will care about that at all, you have to be ACA/ACCA etc registered to move forward within the companies and if your not then your out its pretty much a fact.

Reply 5

dhokes

13

There will probably be a clause when you sign the contract with the Big4 stating that you must pass your exams by the x attempt.

Reply 6

aaaaz

10

Stop speculating ffs. If you fail an ACA exam in the big four one of the following happens:

1. You get sacked without review. You work a few weeks after results.
2. You go to review with graduate recruitment and senior managers/partners put in a recommendation about you.

If you fail and they keep you on, you have to pay for your resit.

Reply 7

aaaaz

10

simon123

Well maybe thats true but I dont think the Big 4 will care about that at all, you have to be ACA/ACCA etc registered to move forward within the companies and if your not then your out its pretty much a fact.

Not true. I know several senior managers who are not ACA/ACCA qualified. However, most people you'll meet will be.

Reply 8

Purple

18

Cortez

You can be capable of doing your job and not be able to pass your exams though? Some people have bad exam technique but doesn't mean they can't do their job.

Wont there be a clause in the contract saying that they have to get a certain grade in the exams? Otherwise they could be left with lots of people who fail the exams and will never be able to be a chartered accountant?

Reply 9

mikeyT

2

I read somewhere that it costs about £100,000 to train someone up to be ACA qualified. I know it can be expensive to train but I think the writer of the article might have put an extra zero in. Anyone know if that's the case?

Reply 10

Sasuke!

14

this is bull **** right?ym cousin at Little John thingy (not big4) will leave once qualified, her sister at E&Y will also leave to go into banking after also! Lots of people do it, i mean they literally go to big4 get trained then move on.

Reply 11

mikeyT

2

Sasuke!

this is bull **** right?ym cousin at Little John thingy (not big4) will leave once qualified, her sister at E&Y will also leave to go into banking after also! Lots of people do it, i mean they literally go to big4 get trained then move on.

The OP is asking if you have to repay the training costs if you leave before the end of your training contract. Anyone and everyone is free to leave once their contract has finished.

Reply 12

aaaaz

10

It doesn't cost £100k to train you.

That figure comes from the following:

£cost of exams
£cost of any material you require
£cost of not being able to charge you out for ~£60 whilst you're in college or on study leave.

It's probably more like £25K.

Most people leave Audit when they qualify because it's so boring. Does this effect the company? Hell no. There are hundreds more of you every year. Student analysts are a dime a dozen and all the good work gets done at manager and partner level anyway. If they want you, they'll keep you.

To reiterate, YOU DON'T HAVE TO PAY THEM ANYTHING IF YOU LEAVE, ONLY IF YOU RESIT.

Reply 13

Sasuke!

14

oh sorry i didnt answer the question, the big4 has nto left, but the other is about to leave, no she didnt pay fees. and i agree with aaaaz, big4 get so many people each year and accountancy is so boring peopl leave once qualified. its true and does happen frequently

Reply 14

Singh_87

15

Cortez

I doubt they'd fire you over failing your exams, you gotta have a pretty good reason to fire someone these days and I don't think exam failing is a good enough reason.

No idea how likely they are to make you pay them back though.

Lol!

Just to help the quality of the board, I'd advise you to know about the topic, before posting pure speculation. This is especially true in the career section, since it could influence someone's career decision.

OP, aaaz is pretty much on the ball.

Reply 15

fubu

1

The 100k figure isn't far off the truth.. for kpmg atleast.

Reply 16

aaaaz

10

BS.

Tell me how you got the figure and that you didn't hear it from graduate recruitment.

Reply 17

Wstroud

1

To reiterate, YOU DON'T HAVE TO PAY THEM ANYTHING IF YOU LEAVE, ONLY IF YOU RESIT.

thats not true where i work, you do have pay back the costs if you leave - one of the graduates left after about 3 months and he got it taken out of his last pay packet.

The 100k figure isn't far off the truth.. for kpmg atleast.

agreed, but thats only if you include loss of potential earnings from your time.

Reply 18

fubu

1

some academic journal, I couldn't tell you which one, I've had to read many over the past three years.

Reply 19

Barny

17

Lets say the average charge out rate over 3 years is £75 per hour(a high estimate I think?) and lets say you get 12 weeks study leave per year.

Over 3 years - 36 x 5 x 7 x 75 = 100k

Add cost of training courses student memberships etc. of say 1k per module = 10k.

The biggest expense to the firm is the loss of chargeable hours rather than the cost of the training courses/materials.

If you leave big 4 you must pay back course costs????

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