Accounting Professionals: When Is A Good Time to Leave the Big Four?

You spent long hours in the library. You pulled late nights and early mornings preparing for exams and gleaning every possible speck of information to give you an advantage over your peers. You worked with TAs, met with recruiters, and when you graduated, you earned a spot at one of the Big Four.

Congratulations.

Even though your career is just getting started, you’ve reached an incredible milestone that’ll pay dividends the rest of your life. Your first years at Deloitte, EY, KPMG, or PwC will amount to the same amount of experience as a top graduate program.

But what should you do? Do you sit on your accomplishment and spend the rest of your life in public accounting with the hopes of climbing the latter and successfully walking the path to Partner? Or should you leverage your position and skills early and try to find a different path outside the walls of your firm?

While many accounting hopefuls aspire to the first option, many employees at one of the Big Four don’t last that long. Instead, many choose to further their careers elsewhere. However, many of those employees who choose to further their careers elsewhere come to that decision too late or too soon.

The challenge is figuring out if and when the right time is for you to leave a Big Four firm.

Pre-Game: Determine Your Long-Term Goals

Before you try and figure out how long to stay, you must have a pretty good idea of what you’re looking for.

Every professional, whether they’re in accounting or not, should have a career plan.

If your dream is to work in public accounting and grind it out until you reach partner, you may want to stay at your firm. The competition will be fierce, but if that’s what you want, then the Big Four may be just the spot for you.

However, if you want to branch out and get into consulting or handle the finances for other companies, that should also play into your decision because it will affect how long you should stay with your current employer. The amount of time you spend at a firm will depend in large part on what you want to do when you leave.

Creating your ideal career path will help. While it will be subject to chance, at least having your end goal in mind will help you make decisions along the way.

Below are two of the most common times employees should consider leaving a Big Four firm. While everyone is different, these two “escape hatches” will provide you with a little guidance as you make your own career plans.

Escape Hatch #1: Leave When You Reach Senior

It goes without saying that if you’re absolutely miserable at your job and every day is torture, the right time to leave is now. There is far more upside to leaving a job that makes you unhappy then there is a downside.

However, if you enjoy what you’re doing, but don’t want to remain at a Big Four firm for the rest of your career, your first escape hatch is around the time you reach Senior Associate.

It normally takes about three years at a firm to reach Senior Associate. Becoming a Senior Associate is a significant achievement and signals your abilities to potential employers. It not only signifies competency as an accountant, but leadership skills as well.

Seniors at Big Four firms are well situated to become senior-level accounts or financial analysts elsewhere should they decide to leave.

Escape Hatch #2: Leave When You Reach Manager

If you’re looking for even greater opportunities outside of a Big Four firm, and don’t mind grinding things out a little while longer (usually two more years after Senior), leaving once you’ve reached Manager is another great option and will add a significant boost to your credentials.

Managers are more than just team leaders. They often handle multiple clients at once and are more visible within the organization. Managers are responsible for promoting the firm and being active within the industry.

With greater responsibility and experience comes greater opportunities outside of the firm. You’re likely to be a prime candidate for a CFO position at smaller or medium-sized organizations. If you’re setting your sights on a larger company, your manager experience will set you up for an assistant controller or high-level finance position. The upside? A larger salary with more manageable hours.

Final Thoughts

There’s no question that becoming a Big Four Partner is an incredible achievement, but for most accountants, it’s incredibly difficult.

At some point you’ll reach a fork in the road and have to decide whether it’s worth sticking it out, or finding a position elsewhere that may better suit your career aspirations.

Far too many people make the mistake of leaving early, but others also wait too long.

Again, there’s no right answer. Your best bet is to know where you want to end up, and learn what decisions you need to make, and when you’ll need to make then, in order to reach your career goals.

Are you interested in seeing what other opportunities are available? View our open positions at CyberCoders.com.