Big 4 Audit Managers

Mrs.Jay-Mac

Hi ladies,

Are there any current or former big 4 audit managers on this board?  I saw in a post below that there are CPAs on this board so I got quite excited.

My husband and I are going to start TTC in 2011.  I am currently a 5th year up for promotion to manager in summer 2011.  My hope is to become pregnant next summer so the baby arrives after busy season 2012.  I guess my questions are, did you go back to your firm after you had your DC?  If so, any tips on coping or dealing with the hours and a new baby?  I know we have such a long time till I am in this situation but I can't help but think about it now that we have made the decision (must be the type A accountant in me lol).

TIA

KRB8

I worked for a Big 4 firm but left before TTC. I knew I didn't want to be in the Big 4 once DD had arrived. But that was just my personal opinion. I work in internal audit now and love it. I pretty much have no busy season and the work is still challenging.

Good luck with the upcoming promotion!!  I've found this board to be really helpful

May.4.2007

Yep, I am an audit manager at a Big 4 firm.

I had my son just as I became a third year senior and was promoted this fall. I have loved some aspects, mainly that I work a flexible schedule and put in a lot of time from home. In total, I work 70% so even in busy season (mine is long b/c a lot of clients with off year-ends) I work 38 hours/week; 27 hrs the rest of the year. I started out at 60% doing 3 full days per week but found it was too hard to catch up with my teams after being out for full days. So I've been doing 5 mornings (~6:30a-12:30p) a week and then in busy season I also work from home for a couple hours a day.

Of course it's audit and client service so I check email/voicemail all the time and am available for my teams to call me with questions. And depending on client deadlines, it can get pretty hard to manage so I have been putting in more hours than I should most weeks but it's no where near FT public accounting. 

I don't necessarily think this is a good long term solution for me personally, since it's really hard to take care of all the administrative crap, respond to clients well, and develop a team when I'm not working as much as I was before. I think I'll probably be looking for something else after busy season, but it is possible to make it work if you're willing to put in a little more time than I am or can do better with time management And you can't beat the flexibility that public accounting allows while still letting you do challenging work!

 

stefsaut

I do not quite fit your qualifications, but think I can still probably answer your questions I was an experienced senior when I had DS, and came back after my maternity leave, but left shortly after for an industry job. I have quite a few friends that are still there though as experienced managers with small children. Most of them are on a flexible schedule, and to be quite honest, it doesn't work well for them. For example, one of my friends was a new mgr when she came back on a 20 hr/week schedule with her first DD. She was constantly working full-time (while still only being paid for her 20 hrs) and taking work home with her for late nights/weekends etc as well. She probably still ended up working at least 50 hrs a week consistently. I think it CAN work to be a manager with a new baby, but I think for it to work for you you have to be very good at setting limits and saying no, and also have a supportive team around you. If your Sr. Mgr/Partners care more about you getting the work done than your work-life balance, I think it will be really trying to work a reasonable amount of hours. I really think it is dependent on each person's schedule, but I know that none of my manger friends have had great experiences trying to stick to a reduced schedule. Best of luck!

Mrs.Jay-Mac

Thanks ladies, I really appreciate the feedback.  I know that as it gets closer, I will be asking so many more questions.

KRB, I think I will end up leaving the firm as well but feel this need to give it a try first.

May4, I would love to come back on a reduced work schedule and I think that could work well if I was on the right type of large clients.  But I have the concerns that Stefsaut brought up about needing to set boundaries because with so many small jobs it is tough to just stop working when there is always more to do.

xmasbabymama

I'm not client-serving, but I work at a Big 4 firm. I think the ones that have most success balancing everything have been fortunate enough to get into 2-3 year technical or project rotational positions where the workload, esp. during busy season isn't quite as much.

One I know took a rotation where she does half HR/half client work for 2 years - she took that right when she came back from maternity leave and planned her second so that she would have six months left on the rotation when she came back. I think she'd like to extend it for another year.

I work in a national office down the hall from tons of rotators and it seems like there are always pregnant women in that group. I think it lets them get a handle on things while their kids are young and need tons of support and then they resume client work once they get the family into a steady routine.

May.4.2007

Mrs.Jay-Mac:

May4, I would love to come back on a reduced work schedule and I think that could work well if I was on the right type of large clients.  But I have the concerns that Stefsaut brought up about needing to set boundaries because with so many small jobs it is tough to just stop working when there is always more to do.

It's definitely a challenge to fit everything in to a reduced schedule - while I do work over my hours (I'm usually 1-3 hrs over per week), I could always increase my % without changing my client load to make sure I got paid for what I worked. For example, I increased from 60% to 70% but didn't change my hours/clients, it was just that I had been working too much before that and wanted to get paid appropriately. And saying no is a great skill to have!

At my firm, and I assume its the same for all big 4, I can change my schedule as much as I need to get the right hours/pay, and if that means I change it quarterly or whenever my client needs change, no problem. It's not an easy thing to manage but I do think the perks of big 4 (mainly flexibility, owning your own schedule, etc) are incredible. Doesn't mean I plan to stay forever, but I'm happy that I'm at least trying to make it work now that I have a child.

You have lots of time to think about it but just know that if you're a high performer, your firm will be extremely flexible with you to try to make it work for you to stay with them as a manager, they've invested quite a bit in you and don't want you to give up without trying it if you're interested in the work and do quality work. So playing with the scheduling and making sure you're on the right clients for your schedule to work is all negotiable!

Good luck!