Q: Big4 - Yearly salary increment

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Personally, i feel that if u know how to do it on the job, why is there a need for SCAQ? Clearly, it is a way for ISCA to monetize the industry.

SCAQ really limits one into accounting industry. Similarly for other certs like CIA, CMA, ACCA, depending on where your interest in.

I think i will pursue MBA instead of SCAQ tho. I think to maintain CA SG need to pay monthly fees? It may add up to huge one in the long term.

I know it is important to upgrade skills. CA SG required certain hours of training clocked.
But pls stop it. Stop glorifying skills learning. We can learn it on the job. After working for long hours, still having to go for training is disgusting.

I second this. I hope the leaders take in our opinions. Already studied so much in uni esp w local uni curriculum still need spend more money on these.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

I second this. I hope the leaders take in our opinions. Already studied so much in uni esp w local uni curriculum still need spend more money on these.

Taken my FR and BG paper. It's kind of stupid that I have to study for these after graduating. The syllabus and exam papers in NTU were significantly more difficult than the CA questions.

Also f the 3 years requirement, hoping they reduce it down to 2 years so I can gtfo of this sweatshop.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Taken my FR and BG paper. It's kind of stupid that I have to study for these after graduating. The syllabus and exam papers in NTU were significantly more difficult than the CA questions.

Also f the 3 years requirement, hoping they reduce it down to 2 years so I can gtfo of this sweatshop.

they should just exempt all the mods except the capstone mod for all local uni students so annoying to spend my weekend just to study for the paper lol i feel i gain more knowledge from my work than doing revision with their useless guidebook

LJ here. Youngsters need to get over the delusion that the exams they took in their teens and twenties is supposed to give them privileges for the rest of their life. Welcome to the real world. People don't give a flying **** about your grades past two years post graduation. This kind of attitude is why locals are passed over for lesdership positions.

You go to any other country in the world with this mentality you will be laughed out of the manager's office and escorted by security out of the building

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Taken my FR and BG paper. It's kind of stupid that I have to study for these after graduating. The syllabus and exam papers in NTU were significantly more difficult than the CA questions.

Also f the 3 years requirement, hoping they reduce it down to 2 years so I can gtfo of this sweatshop.

YES i heard the papers in NTU is also harder than CA questions.
Thats why there is a drop in ppl taking SCAQ, therefore they making more exemptions to attract people.

I'm from NTU btw, and I've talked to a few people in NTU regarding whether they will take CA SG. Quite a lot of them don't want. Few of them is ok coz big4 is sponsoring it. One of the top students said that he is crazy if he takes CA SG.

NTU keep hosting these accounting discussions but it leads to nowhere. They will keep asking how to make accounting industry more attractive. They knew the answer but keep asking the same qns, hoping that we will change our answers. LOL. Dream on. With regards to the Accountancy industry, I am more interested in what detailed actions they have come up with from the prior discussion rather than keep asking the same old qns.

I'm also curious why school teaches us on the importance of talent retention when it is not even applicable to big4? A little contradiction here right? Those boomers in ISCA, SAC, MOF should really go and take HR courses and understand how to motivate employees / attract and retain talents.


With the new generation coming into the workforce, things are getting different. I personally feel that to shape the Accountancy industry, they need to change their fixated beliefs and mindset.

I agree that internships do help students to understand more accounting roles. I have heard from some friends going into big4 and was afraid of doing audit again. Perhaps more can be done in this area. However, I feel no action will be carried out.

The discussion also asked about the top 3 areas to embark on accountancy. I believe everyone already knows: Pay, work life balance and workload. This is just simple HR things, they keep asking the same questions making me feel that they are stupid to understand. I doubt nothing will change to improve in either of these areas too.

The discussion also keep focusing on IT audit and sustainability. With the new emerging IT audit and sustainability, it will add more workload. From my view, companies are unwilling to spend on segregating the departments (because it will be a cost centre). Most likely they will hire few internal auditors to cover IT audit and sustainability.

In addition, I do agree that new areas such as IT audit, IT analytics and sustainability are becoming more “important”. However, from what I know is that companies are unwilling to hire accountancy students in IT audit, IT analytics and sustainability.

For in-house IT audit, those companies want talents from computer science or information technology. Almost all of them have these requirement. For big4 IT audit, what they are doing are not of value adding. They are auditing businesses IT system when they don’t even know how to use the IT system.

As for IT analytics, companies are hiring those from business analytics major. I think accountancy graduates don’t stand a chance either.

The recent pay increments in audit associate were merely covering the inflation for the past 5 years. The news coverage on the pay was highly overrated.

Sufficiency of education to prepare workforce is sufficient but not good enough. I went to the recent career fair, some jobs said that they are open to fresh graduates, yet the description said preferred 2 years' experiences. Applied for it and get no replies at all.

In school, we were taught about the importance of talent retention. But none of these were applicable in big4. I secretly hope that all big4 people terminate their jobs at the same time, to make big4 realise the importance of HR management and talent retention programmes. Worst still, ISCA and SAC personnel are hosting talks without concrete action plans. They even try to brain wash students to join big4, saying that increment is high and will pay off if we stay for long period. Ew.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

LJ here. Youngsters need to get over the delusion that the exams they took in their teens and twenties is supposed to give them privileges for the rest of their life. Welcome to the real world. People don't give a flying **** about your grades past two years post graduation. This kind of attitude is why locals are passed over for lesdership positions.

Do you even know how scaq works? Fresh grad straight out of uni that went to big 4 can choose to start taking the paper when they're 6 months into their job already. What past 2 years post grad knowledge being outdated you talking about?

Originally Posted by Unregistered

LJ here. Youngsters need to get over the delusion that the exams they took in their teens and twenties is supposed to give them privileges for the rest of their life. Welcome to the real world. People don't give a flying **** about your grades past two years post graduation. This kind of attitude is why locals are passed over for lesdership positions.

I did not say privilege for rest of their life. The learning can be done on the job itself.
Why should one keep spending their free time to study when the working hours was already bad? Imagine u OT on weekends and every day go home at 8pm. Wash up already 9pm then study and go to work tmr?

People keep talking about how IB working hours are bad too. But the pay was significant 3 times of big4's starting pay. lol.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

I did not say privilege for rest of their life. The learning can be done on the job itself.
Why should one keep spending their free time to study when the working hours was already bad? Imagine u OT on weekends and every day go home at 8pm. Wash up already 9pm then study and go to work tmr?

People keep talking about how IB working hours are bad too. But the pay was significant 3 times of big4's starting pay. lol.

Imagine if doctors take on this attitude. Whatever they study in med school enough already. No need to keep updated on surgical technique, new research, technology, etc. Apply this ridiculous opinion to ANY occupation and see how ridiculous u sound

Even my hairdresser friend go for seminar learn new techniques and chemicals to treat hair all that. Yall think a degree enough to make it in life? Pls la. No wonder MNC import foreigner for leadership. So hopeless the youth