Working in an Auditing Firm: Audit or Advisory?

[thennek15]

hmmm... i think they won't allow it... your best shot is to wait about a year just like what Lefortan said... I think its hard to transfer from one dept to another, you have to ask your HR regarding this.

But you can resign during your probationary period, as early as tomorrow i think ...

It's best that you consult your HR nga, kasi most of the firms (not limited to accounting) have bonds for every training you provide... best be clear about this too before you do anything... hehe

SGV ka? Top notch IT audit dun...

thanks sa advice bro. Yup sa sgv ako. Seryoso ba *** sinabi mo na topnotch IT audit dun? haha, may smiley kasi parang ganito

[Lefortan Deles]

hehe... maganda benefits sa isla... hmmm sa makati... last clue na yan...

Wow, nice clue Naisahan mo ako dun ah arjay_mg! Ilang years ka na nga pala nagwowork?

But going back to the topic, worthwhile din naman ang Audit kahit paano di ba? It's not as bad as what some might think, is it?

[Lefortan Deles]

Advisory because of variety. Focus is not only on Financial controls, but also with Operational and Compliance controls

Risk Advisory, IT Advisory, Performance Improvement, Financial Services Risk Management

I can only speak for Risk Advisory which offers services such as Internal Audit, Internal Audit Transformation, Business Process Review, Internal Controls Assessment, Enterprise Risk Management, SOX 404, Contract Risk Management, etc

Hmm...these sound good. Care to explain these any further?

[count_olaf22]

If you are a fresh grad, start with audit for a couple of busy seasons then shift to advisory. Given that in advisory, your main role is to "advise", a mere university knowledge would make you look like a babe in the wood. Build up a strong specific foundation first.

One more thing to consider -- the field in advisory you are interested in. Familiarize yourself with the Big 4's portfolio of engagement and clients. What firm specializes in Risk? in IT Audit? in forensics? SGV is respected for having a top notch IT audit group, while PwC is leading the Performance Improvement field (though SGV has a giant PI engagement and you'll be lucky to be part of it). Globally, Deloitte is very known for their Risk practice but not sure with the local counterpart (I think P&A has a pretty good run on this field).

Lastly, research on the training provided by the service lines. For audit, I believe its pretty the same to all of the Big 4. Audit, after all, is pretty much structured. As for advisory, I couldn't over-emphasized the importance of having a kick-*** advisory training especially on the soft skills and contemporary practices.

*If your ultimate goal is to join a "real" management consulting firm (MBB), then a Big 4 advisory is a good start.