Audit firms may provide better pay than commercial when you are in senior / manager level.  However, do bear in mind that the non-cash benefits from the audit firm are next to "nil".  And what benefits they can offer are not particularly fantastic compared to some commercial companies.  Also depends on your superiors and the firm's management.

Some people are more suited for the consulting line, some are not.  Some need the non-cash benefits like full medical/hospitalisation, house/car loan subsidy, etc,  some do not. 

Personally, I joined the my firm 9 years ago with no plans to leave.  But in the last 2 years of my time with the firm, I did not like the way things were run in the firm, and I got a much better offer, so I left.  There is a saying "people don't quit their jobs, they quit their bosses".  In my case, this is very true.  I love what I do, but I hated the place and the people I had to work for.  Whether this will be the same for you, time will tell. 

As for working hours, I would say commercial has its ups and downs just like the firm.  Depends a lot on the culture of the company you join.

Got a phone call confirming the job offer of ITRA associate at EY about half an hour ago with starting pay of RM 2700 (asked for RM2500). 

Bring on the slogging and grinding. 

Also greetings and thank you to any seniors who have been seeding the lowyat threads with helpful information (mentioned the threads in lowyat during my interview, I think it helped). 

How's peak treating everyone? Bad?
I'm being driven nuts by the quality of my juniors (the lack of it)

its only 3rd week of feb. a more month and the peak would be lighter?? dude, which firm are you in? can join?

so lemme put it straight, you're not even in the audit line and the 1 more month thing as represented by you earlier is just a hearsay from your part, a friend from sibu? sorry, if you were wondering why i was just assuming you are not in the audit line, its because of the lack of professional skeptism.

Thanks for the input,Jenatic & CKJMark..noted was thinking of audit associate in EY though..but do we have to take up the professional paper right after we start working or do they give a time frame?what if i'm not interested in taking the professional paper?LOL..will i have lower chance of getting into big4?

Agreed. But if you plan to get far ahead and get promotion, you have to take the papers. What client is going to trust your advice or work if you have no paper to back you up?

^

that's so true. A girl with innocent looks in my team got attention lots.

a guy with full of jokes also matters, u can make the team break the ice and client loves u

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Added on February 26, 2011, 11:38 am
why you don't like girls staff, it's quite strange bro.. u have not married yet right?

Girls are easier to be controlled for me. I like the innocent one, they always work hard and do what you ask. very relax if have girls staff.
I don't like bossy girl and career minded girl, they are too tough to be controlled

Anyone knows that is there any way to take public transport to go KPMG, Deloitte, and EY (PwC wont be a problem coz it is juz at KL Sentral, very convenient place  )? For working with these big 3, i think transaport is the major problem for me, coz my partner working at jalan yap kwan seng and v oni have 1 car, so probably i will take public transport to the big 3 office if i got a chance to work with 1 of them.
And i want to ask, during the interview with 1 of the big 4, when they ask u "Did u apply for other big 3?", normally how would u guys answer? tell them honestly or...?

Any bros or sis here from PWC Advisory, i might want to shift to advisory line..

Hi all, does anyone know who the KPMG's clients are? I heard KPMG's clients are mainly the big banks. If so, I wonder if KPMG staff gets to travel around the country to audit the banks branches? Or perhaps the KPMGs of the other states get to do so?

Hi everyone,

Please share your opinion on which one you think is better in terms of career prospects and pay increments/bonuses: Ernst and Young advisory or CIMB management trainee?

Thanks so much!

Hello people, I'm currently working in one of the Big 4 and has yet to start CA (ICAA). Does anybody have any advice as to which sequence to follow with regards to the subjects? And which not to take during peak season? Thanks in advance! Tried searching for threads discussing this but couldn't so I decided to try my luck here.

Tough spot there, man. You need to really think this through. Basically, I'll share what I know about the SC. But bear in mind, it's very limited knowledge and is based on my "encounters" (for lack of a better word) with them.

Basically the SC is the legislative and enforcement agency that regulates the Main Market and the ACE Market of Bursa Malaysia. The SC itself is subdivided into a few specialisations. The one that I had the (dis)pleasure of encountering was the Audit Oversight Board, which was set up as a function within the SC on 1 April 2010 as a body regulating the external auditors. Its incorporation date may be funny (April Fools Day), but its function is dead serious.

The guys from AOB basically monitors the annual reports submitted to Bursa Malaysia. For listed companies that the AOB officers suspect are not following regulatory requirements, they (the AOB officers) have the right to investigate the auditors of the companies. They will call up the auditors, ask the auditors to collate/collect all the audit files pertaining to the chosen listed company which they (AOB officers) want to investigate, and then the AOB officers will go to the audit frm within 24 hours to inspect the audit files.

The audit files are to be kept in a separate room in the audit firm (called "the quarantine room"), and the keys to the room are surrendered to the AOB officers. These files will be kept for about a week, when the AOB officers finalise their investigation.

At the beginning of the next week, a question and answer session (read: interrogation) is conducted between the AOB officers and the audit partner and audit team members involved in the audit. Concerns from the AOB officers must be addressed adequately by the audit partner and the team members, otherwise the AOB officers will label their concerns as "audit deficiencies" in their report.

AOB officers also have the power to do corroborative checking, i.e. asking the same questions to different audit team members to obtain evidence that they (the audit team members) are telling the truth.

So, in terms of power and breadth of work, the AOB within the SC wields the most.

Let me see if I can give you some input here since you've given me some pointers in the other thread. 

What do you mean delaying it because you've been in audit for only 4 years? Does the position with SC need extensive external audit experience? Then it must be a senior position or junior management position. Me, I have been in external audit for a total of 6 years. Out of the 6 years, 5 were spent in a Big Four. I personally feel that 4 years is more than enough to be in the external audit line - you really should apply to become a Chartered Accountant under MIA. If you have a professional qualification such as CPA, ACCA, CIMA, ICAEW, etc., all the better. But a combination of Chartered Accountant under MIA and professional qualification will serve you well (better?).

Yes, the AOB department in SC is tense. I remember the AOB officers being headed by a very serious looking woman whom I guess was their Manager or something. And you have to be very proficient in the workings of external audit and also the methodologies used by the audit firm to do your work well and really grill the auditors.

Give it some serious thought - 4 years in external audit, you must have faced a lot of decisions throughout these 4 years. Did any of the decisions that you made caused sleepless nights for you? I hope you know what I mean. Is your conscious clear? Were you forced to accede to a request by your seniors (for example) that somehow conflicted with your beliefs and professional integrity?

For me, the main reason I left audit was because I felt I had lost my integrity. I wasn't honest anymore in my work. And that conflicted me. It was always "deliver within the deadline by any means necessary", often at the cost of integrity.

I don't know about the situation nowadays but in my time, it wasn't very hard to get in. But I heard from my sources that many young people nowadays consciously avoid joining external audit and will only join audit firms as a last resort.

Hi,

My friend wanna join Big 4. May i know which company easier to join? i mean which company set lower requirement? Deloitte?

Thx

Think in the long run and experience you will be getting. Once you have served your mandatory sentence at big 4, a better life awaits you (if you leave for commercial that is...but I might be wrong so yeah..)

Hahahhaa awesome you're like me! I'm hitting 4 years this Aug too!
Strangely though, I think if you stick to accounting line (aka shared service centers, accountant and consolidation roles, it's fairly easy to look for a job. Apparently banks are hiring too (have you tried robert walters malaysia? They arranged for a few posts at ambank/cimb). I think they'd give you at least a 10% increment ! (I applied a few places and did get some news back, but I'm just being picky)

Schlumberger SSC/IBM Finance/BP/Shell/HP are all also quite aggressive in hiring so you can try them! (unless you're not into that function)

this.

PWC's staff came to my uni and gave a briefing.. damn 2.5k is is quite good for fresh grads!