I have had many people that have transferred into FDD the past 8 months from audit and they end up hating it and keeping the turnover going. Wish the firms actually portrayed what these new consultants are getting into. Hours are more unpredictable, right now you will be working 55 to 60 hours a week probably twice a month. Wish there was more realistic recruiting at this point

FDD is an invaluable experience to do (depending on deal/client) value add financial analysis. The skillset you get is way more valuable than audit and positions you to get into more lucrative roles.

The hours can be better or worse than audit depending on team and the specific deal. Most of the time, I’ve found it better and am still getting a more valuable skillset so the investment seems worth it. If I was a M/SM, taking PTO would be tougher and I would probably view it as worse than audit.

But yes, if you are burned out from audit and want to feel like you work less, FDD is not the right exit.

I’d much rather work overtime because it’s required to get the work done rather than forfeiting my whole life for two months because it’s “busy season”. I also worked 50-60 hour weeks in non-busy season times in audit. It depends on your mentality but FDD to me is just much more rewarding and the hours, although unpredictable, aren’t as bad as audit overall.

I think a lot of people see FDD as a transition out of straight accounting into more finance-y roles. If you have a better exit opp, I'm all ears!

Other groups have done this. I’m in EY FDD - NYC. We have stopped taking on every project under the sun, and I try and tell everyone who is interviewing exactly what they’re getting into. It’s not good for anyone to lie in the interview process.

Smart on EYs part, a lot of new consultants are shocked they have to work a weekend outside of Jan-Mar.

Bruh there’s a reason you get paid 20%-50% more than audit. Everything comes at a price - got to earn that check.

I just started as an A1 but I’m really enjoying it so far. Lots to learn and I love that. But I was also very good about being aware of what I was signing up for.

I just interviewed with Deloitte and they were seemingly honest. Even partners said expect an average of 60 hrs/wk. I appreciated that. But said no thank you.

I don’t know if it’s worse than my audit schedule. Yes it’s predictable but I still have to work 50-60hrs at least from January until end of May so 5 months because I have 3 issuances for the same client ?! I’ll probably have other clients this summer too.

FDD is worth it. You get paid more than audit and the exit opps are much better. Also the skills you learn are way more useful than audit in my opinion. Common exit opportunities right now are IB, Corporate Dev, FP&A, Finance type jobs etc.

Campus hire gang

55 to 60 hours for 2 weeks, what are the other weeks like?

Is 50-60 hours the busy season for auditors? I always thought it was supposed to be like 80ish? I am not an accountant so I only see posts of people talking about how bad busy season is