I have 2 job offers. Audit Associate
EY is offering 73k with a 5k bonus if I get my CPA within 1 year. Unlimited PTO. Partially remote.
PWC is offering 68k w/2k sign-on bonus. 6k bonus if I get my CPA w/in 1 year. Partially remote.
I’m looking for growth potential. I have a family so I’m looking for a firm that will not hinder my growth if I can’t work like “80 hrs” a week.
EY or PwC Both in San Diego. Give me your pros and cons for each. I really appreciate your feedback. TIA!
Either, it doesn’t really matter. I’d go with EY since 73k is like 2 years’ or of raises difference tho. Stay until senior or manager then gtfo. Prepare for the suck.
You will have some 80 hr weeks during audit season for either one, and it’s not really an option- it’s just the nature of the job. It shouldn’t be every week though, and outside of audit season it can be pretty chill.
Exits are paid pretty well and many accounting jobs require 2-5 years of big 4 audit experience, so as an accountant it’s a short term sacrifice to set yourself up for longer term success.
Tried that, they said they don’t negotiate 🤔
I would go with PwC, I think EY is known for their toxic long hours esp during busy season and esp with recent grads
I know a few EY employees that left for the poor work balance. Working for any of the management consulting firms is going to require some long hours from time to time. So I would ideally suggest get some good experience and move on. There are numerous YouTube posts of folks declaration of the pros and cons of EY, PwC, Deloitte and KPMG.
Why start off with a huge salary difference when you don't have to? That's actually a big difference and if they're that different out the gate, I'd worry it could get even worse as you progress.
You will work similar hours wherever you go in audit especially big4. Don’t expect that EY hours will be less than PwC or vice versa. It’s relatively the same. If money is not a motivating factor, I would evaluate the crowd / people you get along with better. During busy season, that can make or break your morale.
If you’re doing audit go to EY. That salary different will have a huge impact down the line and PWC is known for paying and treating audit the worst of the big 4. Not that PWC is bad, just audit is not as important to them as the other big 4 so they tend to have lower auditor pay and support.
What about performance based bonuses? That is the yearly bonus.
Don’t count on the Unlimited PTO BS, hog wash. Reality is less than 3 weeks.
Take it from personal experience after interning at EY and PwC, culture is def better at PwC.
However, audit is the wrong field if you are looking at WLB - I would recommend you mentally prepare yourself for crappy hours during busy season and compensate that sometime in summer. Stick around for a few years and "gtfo" like someone mentioned earlier haha
Damn. Salaries have really gone up for new audit associates. In 2012, I started at $55k with $5k/$10k bonus (can’t remember) if I passed the CPA. Happy to see it increase.
Simple question do you want to be a cpa? If not get your year of consulting then job hop to make more money.
I 100% agree with KPMG 1. I am from advisory at EY (now business consulting) but I did help one of our audit clients at one point.
You will work the same a pint of hours no matter where you go but at least at EY you will get more money. Also there is a serious attrition issue at RY right now so HR will do almost anything to keep people.
Finally I too have heard that PWC while they have an audit practice their business model is not 100% geared only to audit. Whereas at EY they clearly state to everyone and have for the past 10 years that they are an audit firm 1st and a consulting firm second.
I would go with EY. If you receive both bonuses at PWC it gets you to $72k, still less than EY base - in this equation I’d say base is determining factor. Also, yes we get unlimited PTO and it does depend on your team when and how much you can take at a time but we also get 19 holidays, which includes a full week for July 4th and a week in December.
Unlimited PTO is not what it seems. Because it technically is not accrued, the company does not have to pay out any PTO when you leave.