If you major in accounting, you probably talk a lot with your friends about getting a job at a Big 4 accounting firm. How is your aspiration to secure a job at PwC, KPMG, Deloitte or EY. However, you may be wondering which path is best for your needs. Is it better to intern at a small public accounting firm or work as an auditor/tax consultant for an organization? Sometimes it can be difficult to choose. Having worked for a large accounting firm for several years, I thought I would give you the positives and negatives regarding working at these companies. I hope it helps you decide which route is right for you.

Positives:

Work with the best accountants in audit and tax. These companies will only employ the best talent, which means you will be collaborating with the best. As a result, you are put under pressure every day and dominate a lot.

Most of your coworkers will be close in age. This helps build group chemistry considering that you and your team have a lot in common. You like the team members you see in the workplace on a regular basis. If you work in a corporate company, you may not have a significant number of people your age as co-workers.

PTO time is significant. Depending on which parent company you are with, you can have up to 25 PTO days per year by the time you start. This is very unusual in other companies.

Lead a team early. Once you’ve spent two years working on staff, you’ll begin leading audit and tax teams as a senior. This is a great opportunity that cannot be found outside of the Big 4.

Annual Training. If you want to become a great auditor/tax advisor, you need to attend training regularly. Big 4 organizations have annual employee training and online classes to help keep employees current in today’s accounting profession.

Savings. Because the Big 4 accounting firms are multinational organizations, they typically have numerous agreements with various other organizations. This leads to many discount prices on things like cell phones, flower arrangements, clothing, and event tickets.

Points. Working as a consultant or in a team that must travel, it is possible to accumulate a large number of airline and hotel rewards. Use the company credit card and then use the rewards during your personal PTO.

Celebrations. The top accounting firms know how to organize various meetings for office workers. The Christmas party and after April 15 is always a good time.

Negatives:

Many hours of work. From the first day of the year to April 15, you will likely spend many hours in the office each week. 55 hours minimum to 80-90 hours maximum. The rest of the months, the work schedule changes depending on the commitment you are in. For those in audit, your hours will increase each quarter. Tax time also increases again after August. It is often rare to get a consecutive period of forty hours a week for more than a number of weeks during the year. In small companies, your working hours will be much less during the year.

No PTO period. From 1/1 to 4/15, you are not allowed to use your vacation time. This can be very irritating when your family and friends go on vacation.

specials. When you are elevated it is essentially connected to your experience level. It is only possible to become a senior only after two years as a staff member, five years as a manager, etc. High performers who may be able to get promoted sooner based on value will find this frustrating. However, this will never happen.

Self appraisal. For every project you do for more than 40 hours, you are required to complete a personal assessment. These are not fun to produce.

Politics in the Office. This is hard to avoid at any company, and of course the Big 4 accounting firms are not immune to this.

Time on a computer. It’s probably not healthy to stare at a laptop screen for more than 10 hours a day, but this is exactly what happens from 1/1 to 4/15.

Changing the Client. Daily commutes are rarely less than 35 to 50 minutes per direction. This is likely to affect you if you find yourself working after 11 pm every night during peak season. Those people who have a commission near their home are the lucky ones.

In the end, the benefit of working with a Big 4 accounting firm significantly outweighs the negatives. Having EY, Deloitte, KPMG or PwC on your resume is a great start to your accounting career. however, being employed by these companies is not for everyone. You should review this list and consider what you want for your own personal future. See if you can fit another element into it. Being an accountant no matter what happens is a very good option.