Q: Big4 - Yearly salary increment

Originally Posted by Unregistered

who ask you so kumgong never hop out earlier? Best time to hop out is after promotion to S1. The firm will just hire jhk to replace those local seniors who resigned. let the jhk suffer while you enjoy your banking, fp&a job with better work life balance.Those who stay until s3 usually have difficulty hopping out cause your pay is too high and hiring managers think you stay too long in Audit and have zero commercial experience

These days they'd rather hire audit managers than audit seniors for commercial role. Easier to lowball, more experience with technical accounting, older and more stable.

If you think banks are hiring auditors for middle or back office job you must be kidding me, the only exits auditors are getting in banks is internal auditing roles.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Ex auditor, now in technical dept. Already M but looking to join other function
Kp have audit quality role. Not sure how meaningful this role is. Wont want to go back audit.

Simi meaningful. Want meaningful go be doctor or teacher lah.

Do you like reading auditing standards and IFRS? It's setting guidance for everyone to follow and consult when things don't comply e.g. materiality diverge.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

The last paragraph is totally me too... It really hurts not being able to see your parents as they get older because you're OTing on weekends and nights and public holidays or too tired from OTing.

For the students, this is how my schedule is like these days. FYI I'm still working this week because our reporting for Sep is end-Dec (but no replacement leave allowed):
Jan - Mar: Listco peak / group reporting peak
Apr - Jun: Subsi peak / delayed Dec YE peak / Mar or quarterly peak
Jul - Sep: Jun or quarterly peak / if lucky can go on leave
Oct - Dec: Sep or quarterly peak / interim peak

Because I'm constantly working from peak to peak, there's nothing to learn but firefighting. I don't even have time to properly learn auditing standards and IFRS. 4 years of ********ting back-to-back jobs and hoping no one picks it up. Don't believe the old coots who tell you that audit is a good job, maybe it is 20 years ago when they actually have off peak and you can get a job with just a degree. SG clients are so **** that listings often don't even tie to the TB and they don't know why but you have to firefight somehow because it's a "me" problem when I'm delayed.

Also, timelines are always delayed and you have to follow up on your own after hours since "job ownership", so you're essentially working on multiple projects at one time. Planned breaks are often disrupted due to this when things suddenly pop up. Your juniors won't be of help either because the new batch doesn't know accounting, don't know how to use Excel, don't know how to Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V, cannot understand how to vouch, don't know how to refer to past year, takes 2 days to complete cash section, will never update PBC list and status updates so you have to do it yourself, and need extreme handholding so your working hours are doubled to coach. Apparently there's such an extreme shortage of grads wanting to do audit that we're taking the people who failed classes or something.

Please just don't join audit. Do you know that hiring managers these days explicitly filter out auditors even for accounting roles (because you don't have ERP experience) and FP&A (because you don't have forecasting, analytics experience)? Please read anonymous posts and have more coffee chats with actual hiring managers elsewhere instead of audit campus recruiters before you decide on your first job. There are politically incorrect things that people can't tell you in an official capacity or when there's other people around to judge them. Audit experience hurts you unless the company wants a workaholic (yes, this is what they explicitly say, we like auditors because they are used to OTing).

graduating student here, have been applying for jobs outside audit, but no luck thus far...not many slots and very competitive. to all auditors and ex auditors here, what would your best advice be?

Originally Posted by Unregistered

graduating student here, have been applying for jobs outside audit, but no luck thus far...not many slots and very competitive. to all auditors and ex auditors here, what would your best advice be?

Can join big4 for tax,advisory & consulting

Big4 consulting isn’t on the same level as MBB consulting.

The difference is seriously Asian Games vs Olympics.

But if you’re keen on joining the M&A, IPO kind of space then go ahead.


It’s still forward looking and business driven rather than audit which is pure historical reporting for compliance.

I am s1 big 4 auditor trying to break into investment banking. Any tips and tricks to get in?

Originally Posted by Unregistered

graduating student here, have been applying for jobs outside audit, but no luck thus far...not many slots and very competitive. to all auditors and ex auditors here, what would your best advice be?

What do you want to do next time? Follow that.

Also, what are your grades?

Originally Posted by Unregistered

I am s1 big 4 auditor trying to break into investment banking. Any tips and tricks to get in?

Dont make me laugh.
If you can mean JHK also can

Dunno why yall so stressed. Just do bare minimum la. Peak coming right, go for 8-6. Shut laptop and phone at 6pm sharp. They also can’t do anything to you. Think they will fire you during peak when they can’t even find replacement meh. Just make sure you have a back up plan before the yearly appraisal and promotion comes. These few months just shake leg collect paycheck only lol.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

graduating student here, have been applying for jobs outside audit, but no luck thus far...not many slots and very competitive. to all auditors and ex auditors here, what would your best advice be?

Just so you know, if you think going to a big 4 will be a stepping stone, you are wrong.
It doesn't get you anywhere the big 4 JHK can't get there themselves. We have so many JHK ex auditors that the stepping stone is already the norm.

If you are an accountancy student, go for job interviews that isn't all accounting related from the start. Never step foot here in the first place. Your skills are not valuable. Even if u think they are valuable, it doesnt pay well.

If u want to have an accountancy background, study ACCA part time and join mid tier or big 4 if u want. Spend your 3 years uni studying something else if possible. Because why study Accountancy in NTU when third world JHK from tunku, sunway, multimedia kampong uni in malaysia, ACCA, are working along side with you?