senior accountant

staff accountant

senior consultant

consultant

manager

KPMG

What is the best part of working at the company?
The best part of working with the company is the opportunity to choose the type of work you want to focus on, gaining exposure to various industries and high-profile client engagements. They provide strong resources for studying and obtaining your CPA, and offer quick promotions, allowing you to climb the ladder faster.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
The most stressful part of working with the company is the demanding work culture and long hours, especially during peak periods. The workload can be overwhelming, with tight deadlines and high expectations. It’s also very hard to get formal training, so it’s on you to be a fast learner, figure things out on your own, and quickly adapt to the work.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
The work environment is fast-paced and competitive, with high expectations for performance. It can be demanding, especially during busy seasons, with long hours and tight deadlines. While there is a focus on teamwork and collaboration, the learning curve can be steep, and it’s often expected that you take initiative to figure things out on your own. Despite these challenges, the environment is supportive for those who are proactive and willing to learn quickly.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
A typical day involves managing multiple tasks and meeting tight deadlines. I start by reviewing emails and prioritizing urgent tasks. A significant amount of time goes into administrative work, which often means working longer hours to complete the actual client-related tasks. I spend time preparing financial reports, conducting analysis, or collaborating with team members on complex issues. Throughout the day, one has attend meetings with clients or internal teams to discuss progress and resolve challenges.

Steer very clear of this B4. I worked in the FIRES group and it was very, very draining mentally and physically. Some observations:

1) Very, very toxic staff and management. They all gossip and generally stab each other in the back to get ahead. Very competitive. The amount of politics here are insane.
2) Experience in the firm is determined entirely by the first few teams you work with. If you don't work well together and/or they don't bother explaining the work (common), they'll either spread negativity about you or your flaw in skill will carry onto future clients.
3) Very low pay. B4 is known to be a meat grinder for a few years, but at some point the expectations become unreasonable for the amount of pay. That is very much the case here. Honestly not worth it.
4) Hire lots of newcomers/"secondees" from other countries as seniors that aren't of the same quality as domestic talent. The secondees are basically there for a vacation and don't really care about the work. This makes files stressful as there isn't good leadership. Why not just invest in retaining high quality talent instead of sourcing new lower quality talent quickly to replace?

All B4 are around the same so don't consider prestige when making your decision. Always put some weight on the cultural and personal fit aspect. The culture here is very conservative and uptight. It's a random mix of people that are hired frantically as warm bodies and its evident in the culture. It's 2021 people, don't settle for workplaces that are low quality and would fire you in a heartbeat anyway!

At the very least don't work in FIRES with uptight amanagers/staff as well as boring clients. The ICE group is much better.

I was hired to work at this company for the global mobility team and let me just say it was the worst experience I have ever had. Having worked in the legal industry for over 5 years, this specific team had the most toxic environment wherein the managers were rude and condescending. There was no teamwork as the managers always had the final word and to make matters worse, they always made you feel incompetent. This behaviour is tolerated by upper management as other people have complained about these managers. The benefits are great but the salary was not enough for the amount of stress and sleepless nights I had to endure. Job security is non-existent in this place as there is no training plan in place and you were expected by your manager to find work for yourself during your first few months at the job. If you didnt find work or you weren't doing anything at no fault of your own because your manager failed to give you work, 
 you were questionned as to why you should get paid your hours even when you weren't billing per hour for the work done for the department. You are always walking on eggshells as you dont know if and when any of your managers are having a bad day and just want to snap at you for no reason. There is also no organization in this team. They also wont pay for any licensing fees like RCIC, paralegal, and anything associated with those. To anyone who joins this team, stay as far away as possible!

Being an associate at KPMG is mostly comprised of travelling to client sites and performing audit procedures with client management. The Burnaby practice is focused on privately-traded enterprise clients.

The learning curve can be steep to begin with, but is overall quite easy to adapt to once you get your feet wet a few months in.

Partners and other management staff are great, being extremely supportive of your career aspirations, given that they understand it is not the average associate's goals to stay in public practice. Similarly, the co-workers are great as they are by-far some of the smartest people I've worked with and there's an abundance to learn from them, in addition to being great people to hang out with after work.

I would say the hardest part of the job is trying to fit your life into the work schedule, as while the firm tries its best to provide some balance, the nature of the business (client-driven deadlines) often does not allow for this. Also, the performance rating system can often seem rather subjective and political rather than being based on objective merit.

The best part of the job is definitely the people you work with, as even though work can be mundane and long, going through it with intelligent, motivated, and likeable colleagues makes it really worth it.

What is the best part of working at the company?
People who support you within your area of expertise and the platform to explore other opportunities.
Great splines, mentors and leaders.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Similar to most professional business environments, competing requests with the same or tight deadlines. However working with team members who you can plan with and work on requirements in advanced helps to relieve some of those stresses. Understanding, flexibility, communication and negotiating deadlines when needed are keys to work through these stresses.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Coupled with my friendly, approachable demeanor. It was amazing, people are approachable, helpful, great mentors and supportive. Working with individuals xLos was always a positive and pleasant experience.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Pretty consistent.
Did not feel pressed most of the times.
I was just getting my second toe in the water though, hoping to take on more responsibilities as I had a good understanding and foundation I had with the individuals I supported in my PA role and I was automating the process in my CPA coordinator role to simplify things.

Poor pay for the amount you are required to work. Paid in experience is the phrase that comes up, but I can't pay my landlord now with a B4 name on my resume. While this experience is good for finding jobs in the future, it does mean people bail out as soon as earning their letters, which increases the workload for those that stick around in the vain hopes they'll make partner (which, if you're a WSM, are extremely low - need to pump that ESG score, regardless of who's most qualified).

Top management spouts ideological nonsense yet the firm constantly lands itself in hot water with the CRA. Extremely irritating to be preached at by the leadership while the firm is under fire for unethical actions.

The mid-level management (seniors, managers, and senior managers) are a mixed bag. Some wonderful ones, people that really make the experience much more bearable, but there are a few that can make your time there miserable. The staff are typically great, bound together by a shared hardship. It is a place you can make good friends, which is not as common in other companies I've found.

Generally, I'd say get your CPA through industry. Big Four is becoming less and less relevant. Or better yet, go into comp sci.

Worst job I ever had:
- Management is unapproachable, communication is one way and you are being talked down to, Partners and some Senior Managers have huge egos.
- The work is repetitive and uninspiring.
- Very limited career options for non-accountants.
- Unless you are an accountant, forget about ever becoming an Equity Partner, as this is 100% an accounting firm, only trying to market itself as a professional services firm.
- You will have to work very very hard to make sure the Equity Partners make their 7 figure bonuses, it's a pyramid scheme where most good people are fired or quit after a couple of years when they have burnt out. 
- Many people working for this firm look 5-10 years older than they are. Those of you who are still in the firm, the sooner you realize you are being taken advantage of the better.
- You will not have time to enjoy (m)any of the perks you have, as the workload is to big. Forget about quality time with the family, defer getting married or plan a divorce, this will greatly help your career with the Firm.
- Always cover your back, never delete any emails, you will need them to protect yourself when you get stabbed in the back by your co-workers, as they are trying to save themselves from getting fired.

The company initially promised a lot of opportunities for advancement and diverse work, and branded itself as 'not just another audit firm' when, in fact, it is just another audit firm. Generally, you will work on a portion of an audit, but if you are lucky enough to be in Enterprise group, you will get to do a full audit. The enterprise, tax and business advisory groups are small, but wonderful and full of understanding managers who work towards your success and passion. The corporate audit group (largest group) is least concerned with individual strengths and simply wants audit worker bees. 

If you enjoy excessive drinking a few nights a week while working 12+ hour days, and don't mind repetitive, boring work,  then the job isn't bad for you. Otherwise, a smaller firm would probably better suit your job goals. Very high turnover once CPA is obtained. 

This company has a very narrow idea of what an employee should look like, so if you feel you fit the mold then you will do fine. It seems that discourse is not encouraged, and diversity of opinion or otherwise is a token rather than a true initiative. 

Poor remuneration, but you can claim your meal expense even if you didn't use it all.

A typical day at work starts at 8.30 - 9.00 am with checking email, news and new information provided in a dataroom, which is of a high interest. It is then used in further work/analysis. 
Employees are often involved into project work, which is carried out by teams of a few people. On average these people spend a few weeks working together and it is common to share/discuss news, have small talks, etc in addition to work. It is not a rare case that project management joins the team in project room. This makes management and employees closer and this is a very nice part of work.
Having good relations at work is important for me and I usually have friends-colleagues. We normally spend lunch time together, chat, go out on Fridays, etc.
The most enjoyable part of my work is that I'm surrounded by people and have a chance to learn constantly from others and share my experience. Some people are really great characters, working with them is fun. Some have rare skills and they share them.  
The hardest part of the job is overtime and unpredictable working hours, but when projects are over, employees are compensated for these hours, which is a good deal.

Management culture is that of an old boys' club, stuck in an era from three decades ago - client dinners, breakfast speaking seminars, and zero follow-up with their clients after the event; no targeted follow-up for business development. Instead, clients receive a thank you email with the presentation available to download. Why is there no targeted or customized  follow-up with clients? Because the partners are too busy and they expect or hope that a client will pick up the phone and call. And since the partners essentially own the organization (versus a publicly traded company), they are not willing to invest  the budget to fund the technology and (human) resources to enable current marketing capabilities. Furthermore, they do not understand or agree with the importance of social media and other digital channels as a means of raising their profile through relevant content and dialogue. Leadership is completely out of touch with how millennials think and connect with others. Sadly, they are not preparing themselves for their next generation of partners and senior leadership.

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Senior accountant 52 salaries reported	$77,140 per year
Staff accountant 39 salaries reported	$59,679 per year
Senior consultant 32 salaries reported	$87,450 per year
Consultant 39 salaries reported	$71,769 per year
Manager 42 salaries reported	$112,884 per year

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