Anyone transfer from risk assurance/advisory to core audit/assurance? If so how did you do it?

Why would you ever consider going from risk to core audit

"hey guys you think the firm will have any prob if I wanted to do worse work with longer hours for less money" - you

Lol you are transferring to a service line with lower salary bands

What’s wrong with switching? Don’t you guys think core audit would be more interesting than IT audit?

Can you share with us on why you want to transfer to core assurance?

PwC OP, it is more interesting. Also there are a lot more opportunities both within the firm and outside of it coming from core audit than IT.

Manager 1, but most of us in Risk Assurance are supporting external audit engagements. So we’re basically just working on engagements with cost sensitive clients, and are considered second-class citizens by our own team.

At least at EY in the central region, hours in Risk are 100x worse than audit.

Looking to transfer as the work I’m doing right now is very tedious and uninteresting. I’ve always like numbers and find accounting although boring more interesting than the testing I’m doing right now. Money isn’t that big of an issue right now. The hours will be much worse but I might just bite the bullet and grind it out for a couple years.

Most of the work I do is SOC reports and audit support. Pretty much supporting audit. But don’t get the exit ops as audit and don’t get to see numbers much which is one of the reasons why I wanted to do accounting.

Speaking as a transfer from core audit to risk assurance, the work is even more tedious in assurance. I had to reach out to the client multiple times for something as low as a 30 cent variance on a confim. I was micromanaged for 4500/ year less with no flexibility working 60-80 hour weeks 7 months straight. My clients used to avoid me in assurance and talk poorly about us right in front of our faces. In Risk assurance/advisory, my clients now smile and joke around with me. I feel more more like a human being in Risk than I ever did in assurance. The practice is even small enough to get to hang out with everyone. I transferred 3 months ago and have already been invited to a lot of social events and hangouts with ALL of my peers. There were never any social events in assurance. Filing dinners? Yeah that wasn't a thing. It was always "oh you were on XYZ global account?! Yeah come on over and help us out with our year end audit? Oh you filed a month ago? Even better since everything is still fresh in your mind" Although as much as I complain about core assurance, it showed me how much I can endure as a human being and has made me mentally stronger than anything else I've ever done in my life.

@EY5 Just curious what type of risk assurance work do you do? Audit support or other work? My experience is the opposite the practice is so small that you are forgotten and not included in everything.

I did it. I just asked and it took a while, but eventually it went through.

@EY1 did you have a sponsor? Or you just talked to your coach?

The first time I tried I went through HR, and even though I had support on both sides it didn’t go through because of headcount issues. Eventually I got an offer to do assurance at a diff firm and put in my two weeks. At that point some of the Risk partners I had worked with talked to their assurance partner friends, then a few days later they offered me an immediate transfer.

Don't do it

Generally speaking you don't want to work in assurance. Clients are very cost-sensitive and you're always being pressed to do it faster faster faster with fewer people. In advisory, as long as you add value and the client feels like the invoice is worth it, they'll keep paying you.

@PwC OP I've already seen 5 clients, 4 supporting audit and one SOCR. It's been a pretty cool experience to feel like you're doing something new all the time while the knowledge transfer is the same every client you're on. In assurance, I'd do the same areas but the work was always different because of manager preference. Don't get me started on review notes just because of formatting. But I have staff level friends at PwC as well and most have left to go to industry already. My friends that are in Risk Advisory at PwC are still there and they say they like it. Granted I can't speak on their interactions with coworkers outside of work. Maybe it's just a company difference? A lot of the people I work with take the initiative to throw a little get together and tell the people they know to invite anyone that might've just transferred (and let's get real, there are transfers every other week).

What type of consulting are you in within risk assurance ?

Im in Risk Advisory, not risk assurance