Is moving from big 4 to a firm like BDO or RSM really gonna be any different? I feel it’s like it’s mostly the same big 4 or not

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Many of my friends are at BDO/RSM and they work much less and the job is overall much less stressful.

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Yeah I work with a manager at KPMG and the hours that man emails me at and expects a response is ridiculous. Sorry buddy, I'm not responding to a request I gave you months ago on a Saturday night over a holiday weekend. I deal directly with him as a courtesy. His client doesn't pay my bill and I certainly don't work for him.

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Switched from big 4 to Crowe and so far I feel a lot less stressed. It’s a much more personal experience since they are generally smaller firms. There are still some of the same issues though.

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Mid tier is raggedy as hell but with the same hours as big 4. Don’t do it.

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👆this

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Haven't you heard, BDO and RSM are merging to surpass KPMG and become the new 4th member of the Big 4.

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How’s that PTO working out?

uplifting

Having gone the other direction (RSM —> PwC), a lot of the work is similar (at least for tax). The numbers and clients are smaller from a dollars perspective but the issues are similar. The firm itself generally has fewer resources available (technology, technical resources, trainings, etc). So in some cases it can feel challenging.

There’s also some benefits to a smaller firm. For example I was in a specialty tax practice so got to do work across different offices / markets and have more autonomy at an earlier point in my career than I would have at PwC. So I feel like I was exposed to more at an earlier stage which can be great from a career progression perspective.

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It’s B4 but with clients that are small and less rev. Agree with the above that it’s less resources available. Runs like a small firm but wants to compete and act like a B4

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Curious in this as well

A great way to measure this is to ask what % of time their tax department wears the H&R Block hat

.

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But I see you already work at….

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