The best time to leave public accounting is after the three- to six-year mark, recommends a new report that relies on advice from alumni of the Big Four firms and Minneapolis-area CFOs.
The Coenen Brothers’ Insider Report contends that the best time to leave public accounting is after three to six years.
“The three- to six-year mark is when the majority of my learning took place,” said Andy Dahl, a former senior manager at a Big Four firm. “After the six-year mark, most of what I did was refinement of the things I had already learned.”
Research in the report indicates that it is best to leave when an accountant becomes a first- or second-year senior, prior to receiving the title of manager. From the recruitment and hiring perspective, Coenen Bros., a recruiting firm in the Minneapolis area headed by Ken and Thomas Coenen, has found that the three- to five-year mark offers the most opportunities outside of public accounting, though there is some variability in the two- to six-year range. At this stage, a public accountant has maximized and leveraged his or her current position but is still pliable and moldable, according to Terry Schwagel of General Mills.
Schwagel reported that General Mills typically hires three to four seniors from the public accounting profession each year, compared to hiring just one at the manager level every three years. Other Minneapolis firms have reported the same hiring trend, according to Dahl, validating the findings that once senior manager status is obtained, a public accountant has passed his or her ideal marketability outside the public accounting arena.
The report notes that it is important to consider and prepare for leaving the public sector at the right time, because “…as time goes on, you get diminishing returns, and you become less marketable as you pass the sweet spot of the Big Four,” according to an unnamed source for the report.
Establishing a relationship with a recruiting firm early on, even prior to reaching that experience “sweet spot,” is a proactive way to achieve the best position for career growth, according to Coenen Bros.
10 Comments
In Nigeria, people leave the big four within 3 to 5 years, about the time they become Seniors and before becoming Managers. They rarely leave the firm after they become Managers.
Posted by: Gbenga771 | September 11, 2012 3:42 AM
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As an owner in a CPA firm I'd like some honest feedback about what we can do better to keep young professionals from leaving public accounting.
Posted by: cpaencourager | September 7, 2012 10:47 AM
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I'm in the Minneapolis market & I think you've got to read this story with a critical eye to who was being interviewed. Headhunters & people who left public at 3-5 years; of course you're going to get the perception that 3-5 is the best time to leave.
If you've got experience & a network, it's relatively easy to find a new position without a headhunter and I've found that people with more experience tend to be more selective in the position they're looking for.
I disagree with the article & have found that the best long-term moves out of public are made by manager/sr. manager levels.
Posted by: anate89 | September 4, 2012 8:34 AM
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Of course more hiring of CPAs from public accounting happens prior to reaching manager or senior manager status. Has anyone heard of a pyramid structure to businesses? There's usually always a need for non-managerial worker-bees.
Posted by: dmale123 | September 3, 2012 11:42 AM
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I concur that 3-6 years seems to be the most common launching point. Our consulting firm has a Boston area client in the alternative energy field that is desperate for that type of candidate. The manager wants someone modeled after him and that is when he made the jump. He loves the training that this type of person has received and the work ethic that is usually instilled. eblum@amsolutions.net
Posted by: edwardablum | August 31, 2012 10:00 AM
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Why is a local article being touted as applicable nationwide? A sample of one (Minneapolis area) is not one that can provide proper extrapolations to the population. To do so shows a total lack of credibility.
In several other areas of the nation, 2-3 years of public accounting is the prime in the mind of the area private organizations. In others, managerial is much more sought after.
And how is 6 years the upper end of the learning curve? If you aren't learning much after this point, it is because it has been determined you are not capable of it and been holed away somewhere. Don't know how you can attain a higher position than senior without continued learning. Seems extremely close-minded and restrictive.
Posted by: Code Red | August 30, 2012 8:41 AM
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Three to six years, depends on whether the person started right after school or started in public accounting at a higher level. I found that the colleagues who left public accounting after achieving a senior manager position are the ones who are doing the best ten years later. Folks starting in public accounting right after school and staying for three years, don't have managerial experience. Those in management levels frequently are hired directly by clients, without the headhunters.
Posted by: tadtax | August 30, 2012 8:05 AM
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Every CPA needs to have that "aha" moment where they face a career-path decision. You either enjoy the work and challenge of being a CPA or you don't. It probably occurs, as the article suggests sometime in one's 3rd or 4th year in the business. As always, it depends on the individual and the firm environment he or she is in. It also coincides with a time when you are most marketable to the outside. I personally left the profession at the end of my 4th year. I had decided public accounting was not for me. Many years later I am now an industry consultant. One decides to get out of the profession a year or two before one decides they should follow a path to partnership. You know you are not suited for the profession earlier than you know you want to go for the brass ring. When you know public accounting is not your cup of tea, it is time to look elsewhere.
Posted by: btsotsos | August 29, 2012 6:44 PM
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I left Ernst & Young after about 3.5 years, but that was back when the "experience" requirement was 3 years. People who leave public accounting in the first 2 years are generally considered to have been "counseled out" by the firm. In other words, they were fired in a gentle way and "placed" with a client.
Posted by: JanetDriscoll | August 29, 2012 2:12 PM
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Articles that are half baked based on the headhunting industry need for "product" is not only ruinous to the professional development of young people but contnues to feed the perception among the young professionals that if they have done something once they have "mastered it".
Posted by: Grayhair | August 29, 2012 11:17 AM
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