When to Leave the Big Four

Congratulations!!! You are wrapping up you second or third busy season. All your audit hours have been completed. Your CPA exams are almost wrapped up and your license number will be in the mail soon. The voice-messages and calls from recruiters are so common that they make up a staccato background noise you almost always tune out.

At this point in your career, your accomplishments and experience in Big 4 public accounting have awarded you the accounting equivalent of top school graduate degree. But are you ready to graduate?

The Senior Managers and Partners at your firm tow the party line. They tell you what they tell everyone else. They tell you that you are special. And that you have a great chance at making Partner if you only stick with it. Or they tell you that you really want to make sure you make Manager before you leave the firm.

To give them the benefit of the doubt and assume that they are only saying what they believe to be true, know this: They don’t know what they are talking about.

What they don’t know—and what you need to understand before it’s too late—is that when leaving public accounting, you are most marketable just after two or three busy seasons. And if you leave after two or three busy seasons, you will be even more marketable to potential employers in two or three years than any of your peers who stay in Public Accounting to make Manager.

The Managers and Senior Managers who tell you otherwise didn’t know any better (perhaps they still don’t). Many of them are now working with recruiters who are struggling to get interviews for them and when they do get interviews they are beaten out by another--more marketable--candidate.

Think about it from the point of view of the hiring manager. If you are the Controller hiring for a Manager or a Senior Manger position, which of the following candidates would you hire:

•  Candidate A – This person is currently a Manager in Big 4 Public Accounting. For the last six years, he has gotten better and better at conducting audits. Mentoring staff who conduct Audits. Managing staff who conduct audits. Creating audit plans, reviewing audit working papers, presenting audit results to clients. As a Controller, if you hire this person, he will need time to learn the job, your systems, and will never be a hands-on manager without first learning all of the roles and tasks he will be managing.
•  Candidate B – This person left Big 4 Public Accounting after two busy seasons, completed their CPA and has spent the last two year in a hands-on role learning financial reporting, month-end close, and all the other tasks that you are looking for your Manager to manage. She has used her Big 4 experience to be a leader and a mentor in their group, and has been recognized as a top performer.

Is there doubt in your mind that the safe hire is Candidate B? No one has ever gotten into trouble for making the safe hire.

The longer you stay in Big 4 after the Manager-level, the more you are pricing yourself out of the market for a move into industry. At the Senior-level, you can expect a pay increase in a move to industry. At the Manager level, if you can manage to beat out the candidates with industry experience, you should expect a small increase in salary and perhaps be willing to accept a lateral for an opportunity with advancement potential. By the time you make Senior Manager, virtually any transition you make to industry will involve a cut in pay. Had you transitioned into industry, you would be making more and not have to worry about how much a pay cut to accept.

Every person’s individual situation is different and there are many different career paths, types of companies, and personal goals to take into consideration. But the most important thing you can do for yourself is to understand that staying in public accounting will make you no more marketable once you have hit the three year mark—your marketability will plateau and then soon begin to decline. The sooner you understand that vital piece of information, the sooner you can explore your next career opportunity on your terms. And the more leverage you will have to secure the best offer at a break-out position.