PUBLIC ACCOUNTING IS TOXIC| UGLY TRUTH ABOUT PUBLIC ACCOUNTING PART 2| PWC, EY, KPMG, DELOITTE.....

Let's talk about some of the toxic traits of the public accounting industry whether it be the Big4 (EY, Deloitte, KPMG, PWC) or other mid-tier public accounting firms. I have worked in Public Accounting for 3 years now and here are my thoughts of the ugly truth and toxic traits of working in public accounting.

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Name: Nicole
Age: 25
Occupation: Public Accountant

I am a public accountant, makeup and beauty enthusiast, and love to share my knowledge and skills with anyone willing to listen. Most importantly, I am a young Christian sharing Jesus to the world in my own way. I graduated with a B.S. in Accounting in 2017 from Penn State and decided to document my journey as a first-year staff in public accounting. I love sharing my love for accounting (and more) with you all and am super excited to document my growth journey in my public accounting career, document me becoming a CPA, and obtaining my master's degree with you all.

Country of Origin: Angola
City: Luanda
Languages Spoken: Portuguese, English, French, Spanish, Lingala

[yumyum]

The hours are the biggest reason I didn't switch my major to accounting. I believe in a good work/ life balance and those hours do NOT align with that. Thank you for being so open🙂

[naimanaomi]

Love the realness! We definitely need more of this. Not to deter students, but to truly give them useful information so they are not blind sided. Also it makes those going thru it not feel so alone, or feel like “I can’t do it” “something is wrong with me. I need to keep pushing”, because that is not the case. This is a unique and honestly can be a toxic environment. Thank you!

[Reformed]

Some days I surprise myself by not telling off one of the partners. Public culture is incredibly toxic, about 95% of the people are narcissistic and think they’re better just because. I plan on going to private and stick with that nice, mellow, and easy middle class life.

[pasqualeperrone]

I know this is an old video but I wanted to share my thoughts. I graduated with my accounting degree and cpa eligiblity in June. I had 4 internships at public accounting firms (2 were at b4). I was so excited to finally make more money than I’ve ever seen but my body, mind, and spirit were so repulsed every day I had to go into the offices for these places. As beautiful as they physically are, they’re just ridden with so much lifelessness. Everyone at these places talked so casually about busy season and my jaw would be on the floor as I listened to all the other interns who were buying into the kool aid their teams were feeding them. I discovered that this life wasn’t the life I wanted. I wanted a personal life, a reasonable work week, and do more meaningful work. I just started taking the pre-requisites for nursing and am excited for this new path. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do and just gels better with my character. Best of luck to everyone who chooses to stay in this profession.

[Inlalasland]

I do audit in the governmental sector and our weeks are always 40 hours 🙌🏾

[jpmarchena]

I actually agree with your points, but I think this is only the beginning of what is a long and more complex discussion. There are some incredible regional and small firms out there that have respectable business, career opportunities, and work/life balance. I just signed with a regional firm whose staff are overall happy and work an average of 50 hours/week during busy season (straight from the horse's mouth). This is a firm with 4 offices in the region serving large and small clients. There are many organizational and cultural changes that I would love to see change in public accounting, including the things you mentioned, but I think it would be rash to write off the entire practice because of how the Big 4 and mid-tier firms operate. Let's not throw the baby out with the bath water, so to speak. I definitely appreciate your shedding light on these topics though, I don't think they're discussed nearly enough. You're absolutely right in that the Big 4 have public universities eating out of their hands -- it's unreal. I think it's vital for the profession to encourage students to examine other pathways. We're losing accounting students because the rep is so bad.

[leekastle]

Great points. I feel the CPA is not what it once was. Unless you want to be a tax practitioner or sign off on audited financial statements it’s not really needed to succeed professionally.

[raxj]

I have worked in the big 4 and other corporate places. Say goodbye to your social life, and welcome extra long hours... Think wisely before you choose this career path.

[TRUCKERTV]

Good video. Try working in government. Government accounting is where it's at. 40hr work weeks, sometimes less, 6 and 7 hr work days, and maybe 2 or 3 pay periods of overtime during the year. Very laid back work environment, never in a hurry or rushing to get things done. Our meetings are spent chatting about non work related like the weekend. Very competitive salaries, 60 to 150k and a pension.

[kapetannemo]

Why doesn't someone tell those capitalists in the big four that the slave ownership system was abolished in the last century !!

[Hazza]

I have always found it weird that accountants don't unionize against this disgusting culture. The Partners of these firms shouldn't get away with this exploitation of getting free hours out of their staff. I've since moved to working for the government and I love the work life balance. I don't ever want go back to that toxic culture if I can help it.

[gabrielladoucette]

You didn't mention that as a contractor, you need to pay self-employment tax. They make more, but they need to pay more taxes than a normal salaried employee would.

[moezkhan]

I am from Pakistan and I can relate to you 100% I also have same experienced. I am amazed the same toxic culture in your part of world, I am also in private co. As. Manger Internal Audit and very happy. I also share this kind of info with newbies . And I totally respect and admire your courage and honesty. People like you i hope break this conditioning please keep up the great work finance newbies need it most. Thank you thank you thank you

[JalisaWhite]

That Bible verse read me for filth we love to see it sis 🥰

[noelvisramirezaccounting]

❤❤❤❤love your video omg 😱 lady you know what I am going through better than anyone else. Last Saturday I almost suffer from a heart attack because the manager just want to treat me as a garbage can that they can kick off . 😢😢😢 I feel miserable 😩. I will look for another place to work .

[ginerationalwealthcpa]

Big facts! I almost went into public after graduation because I thought that was all their is/thats what they push but ended up going into Internal Audit and have been in it ever since! I did get a CPA tho because #leverage #promotion 😂 however it was the HARDEST tests I have ever taken 😫

[hobgoblin]

Deloitte is the worse!!! Don't have a problem with the pay or the work (even the hours). Issue I have is Deloitte makes you do Firm Initiatives (FI) (which is extra work you have to do for free to either (A) Make the Firm Look Good and/or (B) Bring in Sales). They ask you to work on proposals, do volunteer work, make and present firm trainings, etc. Thing is they want 200-300 hours per year of FI. That is between 5-7+ weeks of extra work. That is on top of a standard Deloitte Day which is 9 hours (so you are already doing 2.5 more days of work a week). The Firm Initiatives are not optional. You get graded on them. They give you 5 weeks of vacation but between the 9 hour days and FI you are still in the hole. That and you have to find your own projects. Hoping I can make it to next year so I can leave and not have to pay back the signing bonus. I hate that place.

[kaavyaganesh]

Straight facts !! .. I literally got depressed during my 3 year long internship .. such a hard time ..now im over it ..byee bye never coming back

[dingyifu]

hey thank you for your sharing, I am currently getting my MPA degree meanwhile working part time as a boardroom attendant in a big firm--serving coffee, tidying up conference rooms that sort of stuffs. And yeah they pay me $30 an hour based on a casual rate, every time when I look at those accountants working such long hours feeling stressed but not even making more than me per hour I kept wondering am I really ready for this industry after graduate.

[FinancialMatter]

The hours at Big 4 are brutal 🤭 definitely like mid tier better!

Could you please make a video on how you handle being a mom while working? Would love to hear from a working mom.