Ever wondered what a day in the life of a tax associate at a Big 4 firm (Deloitte, EY, KPMG, PwC) is like? We’ve got you covered.
Since 2018, we’ve been surveying tax associates from these top firms, gathering insights about their daily tasks, challenges, and job satisfaction. Let's dive into their world and get the inside scoop!
Tax compliance is about making sure everything tax-related is done correctly and legally. The most important part of this filling out and reviewing clients' tax returns.
Compliance work - reviewing distributions by trusts, tax returns – Tax associate @ PwC
I have had the opportunity to complete full tax returns from scratch, including the supporting Excel workbooks that calculate the tax liability of companies. – Tax associate @ Deloitte
preparing corporate income tax returns – Tax associate @ EY
financial reports and tax returns – Tax associate @ Deloitte
Administrative tasks also seem to take up a good portion of an associate's work.
telephone calls, requesting information, communicating ... drafting emails, filing, looking at budgets, scanning, etc. – Tax associate @ PwC
Day to day I ... pull together the first drafts of all pieces of work with guidance from my supervisors. – Tax associate @ KPMG
I mainly do administrative tasks, such as billing and risk forms. – Tax associate @ KPMG
Basically, you help more senior team members with whatever needs to get done!
Generally, don't get to do the most interesting work. You sort of just do what everyone else doesn't want to do. – Tax associate @ Deloitte
My role as a Corporate Tax Consultant entails supporting senior team members with their work and some of the key tasks that I have undertaken till date include:
- cost analysis of engagements and providing a cost update to the client
- drafting presentation slides for client meetings – Tax associate @ KPMG
At times the admin tasks can get a little boring, but they have place and purpose. – Tax associate @ PwC
For context, here's how a former Big 4 tax associate explains filing and drafting:
The following admin tasks keeps the firm compliant and prepared in case of any potential lawsuits in the future.
Filing emails into a data management system: You can only imagine the countless emails that get sent each day, and while not all of them are important, the ones where a client confirms something or provides relevant information or anything that requires a record to be kept as supporting documents needs to be filed away so that you, your team, and the firm can reference it later when memory alone is not reliable.
Filing supporting work papers: When clients provide their work papers so that you and your team can get started on a certain project, those work papers also need to be filed away according to specific naming conventions so anyone in your team can easily find the document they are looking for.
Preparing engagement letters: Before any work is started on a client, an engagement letter needs to be sent out to the client. While there is a template to be followed, it is usually the new associate's responsibility to draft up the first version for review.
While tax compliance is about making sure you're following all the tax rules correctly (like following a recipe step by step), tax consulting is when you use your knowledge of the rules to help clients make the best moves and save money on their taxes.
Currently, associates do a mix of compliance and consulting work. Though with a lot of compliance work being automated or outsourced, you can expect to do more and more consulting work – the firm wants to see that happen too, since clients are willing to pay more for consulting (help navigating and reducing their taxes) than tax preparation.
Provide direct tax advice and compliance services to corporate clients. – Tax associate @ KPMG
Mix of consulting and compliance. Largely driven by my preferences but with an element of necessary learning. – Tax associate @ PwC
In terms of what kind of consulting work you'd do:
Tax consulting work (structuring, Due Diligence, M&A) – Tax associate @ PwC
Helping clients with their international tax obligations – Tax associate @ KPMG
Providing tax advice to clients. Day-to-day responsibilities vary depending on the work, which I enjoy. Can range from due diligence reports to audit tax reviews or advice on all aspects of tax. – Tax associate @ KPMG
What sort of tax advice would you provide? You'd basically suggest smart, legal ways for clients to reduce the amount of taxes they have to pay. For example:
As an associate, you wouldn't be the one who ultimately gives the advice, but you'd help do the legwork that goes into it – which leads to our next point!
Many tax associates also brought up research as one of their main tasks.
Reading up on tax legislation and tax rulings. – Tax associate @ EY
Research tasks can be intellectually stimulating. – Tax associate @ Deloitte
Researching legislation and ... rulings in preparation for advice documents for clients – Tax associate @ KPMG
Why is so much research needed? As one CPA puts it:
Tax laws change weekly even though they are only rewritten every few years by Congress at federal, state and international levels. The courts settlle interpretations of those laws on a weekly basis, and the revenue collection agencies constantly refine their forms and approach to tax collection.
The output of your research would be a report or opinion piece that you'd submit to your seniors for their review before it goes out to clients.
I have ... had the opportunity to research a number of contentious issues within the tax field and draft opinion pieces on each. – Tax associate @ Deloitte
I am responsible for the "grunt work". My work includes research, drafting advice, determining a client's liability. – Tax associate @ PwC
Legal research, advice, memos, data analytics, due diligence reports. – Tax associate @ KPMG
At the Big 4, a lot of basic tax compliance work is now outsourced to teams abroad. This means that part of your job will be to manage offshore teams and review their work. For example, here's an excerpt from a KPMG job description that mentions this:
Manage offshore team members, 3rd party contractors, and/or shared services team members as part of internal and external projects
Here's how a former Big 4 tax associate explains this trend:
Starting from a couple years ago, a lot of the tax return preparation process gets outsourced to India ... and the new associates are usually just the first reviewers....
The advantage is that your time is better spent looking at the tax from a big-picture perspective compared to just getting sucked into the details of the numbers. ... Also, the mundane tasks of reconciling numbers and referencing a workpaper can be outsourced and you can now focus on the technical aspects on the tax return ... . You would then update the return for any mistakes you find and then send it for second review to your senior associate.
Tax associates mentioned being trained on technical aspects of tax.
The firm's formal training (tax specific) has been good however, there are times when the presenters are not on the same wavelength as the attendees (ie they give too much information too quickly making it difficult for us to understand) – Tax associate @ KPMG
Internal training is taken very seriously here. I have been on a very intensive first year technical tax training course which has been hugely beneficial to my role. – Tax associate @ Deloitte
Training programs are a weekly occurrence. These are led by subject matter experts, with the ability to re-watch sessions or ask questions during or after the session. On the job training as a graduate is also very effective. – Tax associate @ PwC
One review noted that while the training covers tax law, associates were basically on their own when it came to preparing tax returns.
Lack of real training about how to do our job. We receive training on how to understand tax law but not how to do a tax return and our seniors are too busy to show us. We are told to rely on the prior year workpaper and then attacked for assuming that the prior year return was done correctly. – Tax associate @ PwC
This is a point also mentioned by this Big 4 tax staff:
When I first started, the new associates actually prepared the tax returns from scratch. Obviously, I didn't know what I was doing and mainly referred to prior files and just copying exactly what was done by updating it with current year numbers.
Some associates mentioned being trained in other topics (such as gender equality) and tools (such as Microsoft Excel).
Internal training on tax technicals and also issues such as gender equality. – Tax associate @ PwC
Some of the mandatory training provided to me has seemed a little irrelevant or extensive, but most of it has been useful and interesting. The optional training sessions, including Outlook and Excel have been very useful. – Tax associate @ KPMG
There's also training that occurs every time you get promoted.
Every time you get promoted to a more senior level there are formal trainings that vary from 2 to 5 days of training and learning about your new role – Tax associate @ Deloitte
Here are some more things tax associates had to say about their experience with training.
Formal training has been largely irrelevant and ineffective for the purposes of developing key skills within the business. Informally there is a large repository and we have partnered with external companies to gain access to large amount of training courses. – Tax associate @ EY
Formal training is rushed and during the work day. Not enough time allocated to difficult and complex issues – Tax associate @ EY
Training can be quite stressful as quizzes and graded exams are involved. – Tax associate @ Deloitte
There is an emphasis that as much time spent in the office as possible should be billed to a client. As a result, the more experienced colleagues are less willing to spend time explaining things. – Tax associate @ KPMG
flexible but long hours – Tax associate @ KPMG
I work 37.5 hours per week. Sometimes there is some overtime, but mostly I can manage my time so I don't have to stay back. When overtime arises I have the option to plan in advance for it as I have children and need to organise childcare for them. but its not really a problem. – Tax associate @ Deloitte
sometimes I am very busy, othertimes I can leave at 5. This is definitely not a 9-5 job, but I never expected it to be – Tax associate @ PwC
Usually the hours are fine and you can manage them very easily. If you want to take on lots, you are free to. If you want to work 9-5, you can. Every now and then, you will have something that keeps you at work late however these are usually the most interesting and rewarding jobs. – Tax associate @ PwC
company is very flexible - allows you to WFH and has a number of leave options. However, i often spend 10 hours a day at the office - increasing to 15 during busy season. – Tax associate @ EY
I feel comfortable leaving early if I have an appointment or working from home on late nights. – Tax associate @ KPMG
Usually 8:30-6:30. Very flexible. I can leave on time as long as my work gets completed. Sometimes I need to stay back later but it's not on a daily basis. – Tax associate @ KPMG
I have pretty good work hours - though I know many in a similar level that have bad hours - just depends on team – Tax associate @ KPMG
Some people work ridiculous hours, but you work what you want to work. I work 7am-5pm and ensure all hours are efficient. – Tax associate @ KPMG
The company is flexible but expects people to work to their maximum potential -this makes it somewhat more difficult to find a balance – Tax associate @ PwC
Minimum 50 hours a week. Company is flexible if warning is given - can arrange for flexible working. – Tax associate @ PwC
Cannot speak for the company, but in my team I work quite long hours. most days of the week are 10-12 hour days. – Tax associate @ Deloitte
Pretty good. Not what you hear about the 'big 4 culture'. Generally as long as you get your work done there is no expectation about how long you have to stay. I'm always out at 6. – Tax associate @ KPMG
Working hours are quite reasonable and I haven't had to stay back after my required hours. However, it is up to me to invest time and effort into making sure that our clients' needs are being met and I am aware that are certain times deadlines can become demanding. However, the culture plays a big role in this - I have not experienced my team forcing me to work till late. – Tax associate @ KPMG
Management interacts well with employees but I have found everyone is very varied. Some managers will take time out of their day to ... explain work to me, provide me with constructive feedback or ... ask how I'm going. Unfortunately my PDM does not completely have that management style so I struggle to feel like I am able to promote my performance. – Tax associate @ KPMG
The managers are great mentors and I feel that I can trust them and feel free to chat to them about all of my concerns. They are great at giving feedback too. – Tax associate @ PwC
Managers and partners are accessable and friendly. They are jsut very busy so sometimes can be hard to catch. – Tax associate @ Deloitte
There have been varied experiences when it comes to managers. Some managers are approachable and give timely feedback. However some managers don't communicate well within the team. – Tax associate @ EY
Given the agile environment all staff from senior consultants to Partners are accessible. The most senior staff are important in setting the tone and expectations of the team - in my case the culture set is friendly, flexible and supportive. In terms of feedback, not as active due to workload so consultants definitely have the responsibility in actively seeking feedback. – Tax associate @ KPMG
There is a culture of regular, 'in the moment' feedback as well as scheduled coaching meetings. – Tax associate @ PwC
The managers are pretty accessible as our office adopts an open space work environment. We have half yearly performance reviews where we request for feedback based on our performance to date, and meet up with our performance managers to discuss future development opportunities. – Tax associate @ KPMG
Management at all levels are very approachable. We have an 'activity based working' system in our office and as a result, all management are out on the floor with everyone else (no offices). This means that every day, the management are around to interact with, ask questions, get to know, etc... I am also fortunate enough to have a partner of the firm take an hour out of his day every week to spend time with me going over specific tax technical issues (of my choice). – Tax associate @ PwC
The lower level managers are generally inexperienced and not the best mentors. But the higher up you go, the better the managers (although this depends on the team). Most Partners are great managers and inspiring people. – Tax associate @ PwC
As for the partners/directors I work with, I sometimes struggle to get useful feedback out of them. – Tax associate @ PwC
depends on who the manager is, what their strengths are and how they view the best way to lead - Some are great at all of the mentioned above, some lead by being "too important" to talk, discuss or help you improve – Tax associate @ Deloitte
Some seniors can come across demanding – Tax associate @ PwC
Managers can be demanding and if there's a deadline - unreasonable. – Tax associate @ EY
Lots of promotion opportunities and career progression is very standard and structured at junior levels, with quick advancement commonplace. – Tax associate @ KPMG
It takes around 2 years to get promoted initially, which is a long time. There are many different levels you can move up though, so promotion possibilities are large. – Tax associate @ PwC
They are clear on what capabilities you need to have and what tasks need to be done and to what proficiency in order to progress through each stage. Promotions are considered yearly. – Tax associate @ PwC
This will be entirely dependant on the size of your team, economic climate and demand. If a staff member leaves, this often has a vacuum effect for lower-level employees to move up. – Tax associate @ Deloitte
I would like to progress up the ranks however I'm unmotivated by the lack of salary increases at each rank. – Tax associate @ Deloitte
From experience promotion is solely dependent on time spent within the firm. Performance does not seem to impact the speed of promotion. – Tax associate @ EY
Many associates mentioned that promotions are harder to get as you progress through the levels.
The first few levels are simply a matter of time to become a senior analyst. However moving up from manager to a director or partner level is very difficult. – Tax associate @ Deloitte
Easier in the begining. Less so as you get to more senior levels. – Tax associate @ PwC
It is easy in the sense that you don't have to wait for a position to become available, when you are performing at the level required, you will be promoted. However, getting to the next level is not as simple as spending the required amount of time at a grade, there is a lot to learn to move up. – Tax associate @ PwC
promotion possibilities occur as you learn and develop, as time passes and you become more familiar with the role. Once you want to go for Manager you have to apply. – Tax associate @ KPMG
We hope this gives you a better idea of what it's like to work at the Big 4. And if you're still on the hunt for a promising opportunity, check out all the internships we have in this field!