I’m currently in FS Tax and am a new senior and just joined a new team in a new state doing the same thing. I really want to eventually go out and do my own thing or work for a firm that services small businesses, trusts, individuals, etc. I am a people person and 100% feel like my skill set is lost working at Big 4. I want to help people and definitely don’t feel that working at PwC. Should I jump to a smaller firm sooner or wait until manager? Or try to switch groups at PwC? Thoughts?

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PFS is the perfect group for what kind of work you wanna do. I started in PFS and switched to FS (not because I wanted to – I was moving and the new office didn’t have PFS).

In my opinion, it’s not the wisest to stay in FS until Manager level and then attempt switching into a PFS type of role. It is sooooo different from FS and has a loooot of complex topics that truly take years to master.

There was someone else on Fishbowl who said they’re in IM as a Manager and are thinking to switch to PFS. A bunch of us chimed in and said that it wouldn’t be possible.

If you want to work in PFS type work, you should start earlier on. Staying in FS until Manager & attempting to switch would be a waste of time, you’d essentially have to almost start over. There would be A2s who know more PFS topics / tax return forms than you as a Manager. It just wouldn’t work.

So, my 2¢ is either switch to PFS ASAP or go to another firm where you can gain that kind of work exposure.

P.S. Like you, I’m a people person. I very much dislike FS and miss PFS dearly.

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I’d say that there are far more moving parts (many of them complex), which makes it difficult to soak in and master. You know how when talking about the CPA Exam, people say FAR is “a mile wide but an inch deep” ? PFS is a mile wide (whereas FS is a quarter or half mile in my mind), except PFS is not an inch deep.

There are so much diversity to the kinds of clients you can have. High net worth individuals: some have US rental properties, others have foreign rental properties, foreign passive income, foreign earned income, sales of properties in or out of the US, there are state tax considerations. What about the clients who set up trusts or are looking to set up some sort of structure to protect their wealth / minimize taxes. Some are US citizens, others are not (so tax rules are different). There are a lot of informational foreign forms to complete, too (like FBARs, Form 8938, Form 8865, Form 8858). What about clients who have investment partnerships set up, or some others who have operating partnerships. Quarterly estimated taxes require projections, there are gift tax returns and advising throughout the year on how many gifts to give to maximize tax deductions without being phased out, there are sometimes tangible personal property returns for various states and/or counties.

The list goes on and on. There are a lot of complex moving parts that intermingle and require a very strong understanding of how they mix. The higher up you go in PFS, the more consulting you do (compared to compliance). When tax reform came out ~2 years ago, there was a loooot of consulting that went on in PFS.

I hope you get the idea. It’s just a lot of different things under one umbrella, and every client is different.

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