Know the best timing and exit opportunities before you decide to leave public accounting.
Photo by Yan Krukov
How do you know when it’s time to leave public accounting?
I’m in external audit. Each season brings extra challenges that make many auditors, myself included, ask, “Is this the last season for me?” Now, with all the changing expectations around work, the question is more timely and relevant.
You’ve probably heard or read about the Great Resignation. In hindsight, The Great Resignation happens every year in public accounting. Some choose to stay, some choose to quit, all for different reasons.
If you are an external auditor or someone in tax, consulting advisory, or any other function within public accounting firms, you need more than professional judgment to decide whether to quit public accounting this year, next year, or maybe never.
Let this be your guide. In this article, I’ll provide you with some insights on these common questions:
- How do you know when it’s your last busy season?
- Can you leave public accounting after one year?
- Can you leave public accounting after three or five years?
- Can you leave public accounting during a busy season?
- What do you do when you’re scared to leave public accounting?
- What’s the right way to leave public accounting?
- What about leaving public accounting in your local country to work in another?
My insights come from working in public accounting or Big 4 audit firms in three countries (two in Asia and one in Europe) as a millennial CPA and from seven-seasons worth of practice as an auditor. I tailored this article for you who are just starting your Big 4 career or halfway through it.
How do you know when it’s your last busy season?
Lately, I read this Forbes article about how The Great Resignation turned into The Great Reshuffle. Inside that article, an interesting phrase popped up. It’s called “The Worth-It-Equation”.
The phrase came from a Microsoft Work Trend Index Report released in 2022. Here’s one of the five urgent work trends.
Employees have a new “worth it” equation. Fifty-three percent of employees say they’re more likely to prioritize their health and well-being over work than they were before the pandemic. And the Great Reshuffle isn’t over: Fifty-two percent of Generation Z and millennials are likely to consider changing employers in the year ahead, up 3% year over year.
So, what is the worth-it-equation in your work as a public accountant, an external auditor, consultant, or advisor? (As an external auditor, I will talk about my experience in audit. Of course, you can switch that to your specific function as you read along.)
If you’re someone who came to understand audit and appreciate its complexity, you’re probably an achievement-driven person. But lately, you are looking for a meaningful way to spend your career.
Three things are constant in your search for a fulfilling career: learning, earning capacity, and flexibility. At times, you will not get all three in one project. Exposure to multiple projects at various points of your career will help you achieve one or the other. It’s rare to get all three in one go. You’re lucky if you do.
Your need for each of these things also changes as your level increases. Imagine a weighing scale where on one end you have learning. On the opposite, you have earning capacity or flexibility. When you first enter audit as a fresh graduate with zero experience, your learning holds more weight.
As you get promoted, the weight you place on learning decreases. You start weighing more on the earning capacity and how it will help you achieve the trappings of adulthood such as building a family or buying a house or taking a long vacation. As you try to fulfill other life purposes, flexibility gains more weight.
Now, at each milestone, you might ask yourself. “Is it worth it to continue doing this work in exchange for the other?” Whatever your answer to that will be your worth-it-equation.
Remember, these three elements are interconnected.
- Learning leads to increased value (your leverage).
- Increased value leads to high earning capacity (your incentive).
- High earning capacity leads to flexibility (your time investment).
You can decide when it’s your last busy season if your worth-it-equation no longer gives you any of the three things mentioned. Or if the pull of one element is so strong (usually high earning capacity and flexibility) that all the learning you’ll get is not enough to compensate.
Take note of these three things and how much weight you place on every one of them. You have to look for them in your next career jump. Otherwise, you’re just setting yourself up for disappointment.
The 3-year, 5-year rule for when to leave public accounting
Have you heard about the hidden rules of working in public accounting?
Training doesn’t mention them. People casually drop them during conversations. But with the pandemic blocking most face-to-face interactions, you probably did not hear about these rules unless you asked for them. One of the hidden, unofficial rules of working in public accounting is the 3-year, 5-year rule.
The rule works like this.
If you start working in public accounting in your local country, get at least three years of experience. In a normal career track, three years would equal a senior auditor role. If you’re a high performer, you can be a senior in two years. Your experience can already get you hired in international firms if you’ve got excellent performance or niche-specific skills.
Quitting your job too early limits your career prospects. You’ll also lose early leverage. If you quit before you became a senior, for example, you might end up in industry roles that require transactional responsibilities or low judgment such as bookkeeping and accounts reconciliation. Growth is still there, but you get it at a slower pace.
If you’ve passed the three-year mark, your next aim is to become a manager. A managerial role from a Big 4 firm impresses future employers in most instances. It means that you’ve already handled plenty of mess and learned to fix them. If you decided to leave before becoming a manager, for example, to work in another country, you restart one or two levels behind. You might have to spend an extra year or two proving yourself to reach the next level.
“Don’t leave an audit firm until you’re a manager. That way, if you ever think of returning to practice, you’ll already start with a managerial position.” I heard this from one of my managers back when I was a senior. I tried to stick to that advice. But it’s not an easy path to follow. For some people, it’s not a matter of career advancement but prioritizing well-being and mental health.
So, how do you know when to break the rules?
Photo by Brett Jordan
Leaving public accounting after one year or leaving during a busy season
Have you decided that audit is not just for you?
Leaving after one year or during the busy season used to be a taboo. Now, it is an accepted reality. You might be one of those people who have toxic overload and that’s ok. You don’t need this article of someone else telling you to quit if your health is at stake. You’re better off working in a different environment without all the toxicity around you.
So where is the toxicity coming from? You’ll see lots of factors. Unreasonable deadlines. Extreme demands. High pressure. Poor planning and poor allocation. Unkind bosses and unhelpful teams. Any of these things can drive an inexperienced auditor, and even experienced ones, to quit.
In the absence of health issues, that nagging feeling to quit in the middle of a busy season might be due to your fatigue. Fatigue is temporary. You can survive by following some field rules during busy season. It’s also important to remind yourself about what makes your work special.
- Is it the people? People are not enough to convince someone to stay, but the kind of teams you work with are great motivators for a rewarding audit career. Do you have mentors and coaches, people who empower you to become your best self? Do you have a solid support system? You have to build this network of people early on.
- Is it the work itself? You understand how processes work, and you thrive in ambiguity, complexity, and structure. You feel proud when you find errors or process improvements, and you’re prouder when the client acknowledges your findings. You feel fulfilled when clients respect you, and when they trust your judgments and capabilities. Do you still get this feeling regularly?
What do you do when you’re scared to leave public accounting?
Most accountants are known to be risk-averse. Accountants who got into audit are familiar with what can go wrong.
If you belong to this category, you’ve known stability all your life. You know the rules. You’re familiar with the way things work. The status quo brings you comfort.
When you’ve become so comfortable that your routines are predictable and similar day-in and day-out, complacency settles in. You stop doing your best. You stop giving it your all. You depreciate in the same way that the property you are auditing depreciates.
You want a restart. If you’ve been in audit for a long time, quitting might make you feel that you’re invalidating all those years of experience. Know that your fear is understandable. Acknowledge that. Then, act on your fears.
The right way to leave public accounting
If you’re thinking about exiting right now, don’t exit on bad graces. Finish as many of your ongoing projects as possible. Give enough notice period to your current bosses. Prepare and execute a transition plan.
“Don’t burn bridges,” a firm partner told me. In the future, when you’ve become bored with industry or if your next jump doesn’t work, you might even think of returning.
What about leaving public accounting in your local country to work in another?
The audit excites you, but there is that missing “oomph”. Perhaps, you’re looking for a more balanced work culture. Could it be that you want to meet new friends, expand your connections, and build your network? Or maybe you love to travel and explore new places alongside a stable work?
To some, leaving public accounting means jumping from one Big 4 firm to another or moving to a different country. Given the high demand for accountants and auditors everywhere, your choices will be wide and far. Whatever your reason is, you will grow tremendously not just as an accountant but also as a person.
Photo by Mantas Hesthaven on Unsplash
In summary
Despite all the negativities around an auditor’s job, starting your career in one is still the smartest choice.
But at one point, you will realize whether it’s a career you want to pursue in the long term or not. You will start asking questions about when is the best time to leave. When I started asking these questions several years ago, I discovered these hidden rules and also some exceptions to those rules. Here are all of them in summary.
- Be clear with your worth-it equation.
- Re-evaluate your career choices using the 3-year, 5-year rule.
- Leave when your health is at stake.
- Do not let fear stop you.
- Leave in good graces.
- Experience audit busy season in another country.
Don’t just leave to join the bandwagon. Here, I define the bandwagon as people who follow their colleagues’ choices just because many people are doing it. Your colleague’s choice might not be the right choice for you.
Be clear on what you want to achieve. You are responsible for creating your career path, not anyone else.
Disclaimer
Insights and opinions are my own. They are not insights and opinions of the company I work with.
Which part resonated to you the most?
Feel free to leave a comment. More of this? Check out Busy Season Journals–insights, perspectives and stories for accountants of the future.
