Big 4 partners

What does it take to make the jump from senior manager to partner?



Good question. Let's break it down, in order-- 
1) People Skills - You have to have really good people skills, you cannot be awkward. You have to come across as genial and amicable, and exhibit the personality of someone that others want to do business with.
2) Perception that you can network and pull in clients - At the end of the day, the Firms were created to make money, and the partners need to keep adding more money in the pool. If the partners think you can go in, network at charity events, golf events, etc, and pull in new clients, you're in, it goes a loooong way. Develop a personality that will make people want to ask you to join them for a drink
3) Perception that you understand audit and that you are good at what you do - You do not have to be an audit superstar, but as long as you have a good reputation, and the client likes you, that's what matters.
4) Reflect your demographic - If you want to be a partner in a place like say Minnesota, odds are being white will help you. If you want to be a partner in Miami, being hispanic will help. Look like your clients and your potential clients out there, and that helps give them a sense of comfort. Hey, I'm not advocating this one bit, but don't blame the messenger, blame the message.
5) Concentrate on 1-2 industries where you can become really knowledgeable in the technical guidance related to that industry, and ideally where there's not a glut of partners already in that industry - Manufacturing and software are notorious for having a ton of partners, so it's tough in cities where there so many partners dedicated to this area
6) Take over certain jobs completely, to such an extent that all the partner needs to do is sign off. This takes a huge burden off his/her shoulder
7) Develop a strong relationship with the CFOs of your current clients, strong enough that they come to you for everything instead of the partner
8) Take a lead role in an IPO
9) Schmooze the partners, they're the ones who can promote you, so try your best to get them to like you
10) Dream..there's a 10% chance of becoming partner, so you better know you're good enough to be partner and be prepared to stick it out as senior manager until you make it (6-10 years as snr mgr).


Remember..it's not the quality of your audit, but your ability to bring in money...

valuation, M&A diligence

I wish to pursue a career in audit or transaction advisory services. Wanted to know if you can give an insight into both departments with regards to the career prospects, work life balance and monetary factors. 




Transaction advisory services can be a pretty broad term, depending on the Firm. Assuming you mean m&a commercial due diligence work and valuation related work.


M&A commercial diligence-  To get into m&a diligence, you'd need to put in 3-4 years in audit, because they usually like people with audit experiences and CPA certifications. People who usually do a stint in commercial due diligence go onto some rather interesting jobs - joining the acquisitions group of different companies, private equity analysts, other specialized valuation companies (duff & phelps, etc). W/ regards to work life balance, it is really unpredictable. You can be in your office doing nothing for weeks but still have to stay in the office in case a deal is in the works and your Firm has been hired. Then when you are on the deal, it can initially be 8:30-5 days crunching numbers, and then when the deal is in full swing (talking to the target, writing reports, deeper analyses), you can end up working as late as 2-3 am for 2 weeks straight, yes, I said 2-3 AM. And the schedule is really unpredictable. You never know when you have to travel, at times just knowing about it a day before or day of. Monetarily, it's 15-20% higher than audit. Another big problem is the lack of job security. If there's a slow down in m&a deals, the Firms will be looking to cut people in that group. Back in '08-'09, when there was zero m&a activity, the m&a group was absolutely massacred, a visceral bloodbath. If you like unpredictability, traveling, meeting the heads of top targets, and working under pressure, you'll like the rush this group offers you.


Valuation - This is more predictable, there's more job security, the pay is good, work-life is not bad. It's tough to get into though, you'd need finance/economics masters degrees/CFAs from top 40 schools to get in usually. Audit clients usually require valuation of different tangible and intangible assets every year - investments, goodwill, companies, real estate, recent financings (stocks and debt, etc), so the group gets some steady business every year. This is in addition to some new deals that the group gets to work on. Given the expertise you gain/ have looking at financial models, your pay is a solid 15-20% above your respective peers in the audit practice.