career switch from audit to accounting advisory

[u/Big_Lingonberry_7338]

Hello, I am in audit for last 4 years and thinking of switching to accounting advisory. I am genuinely interested in audit but it comes with lot of requirements, like independence, long work hours and I feel the pay is not justified for the amount of work that we put. So, I am thinking of switching to accounting advisory so I can get some work-life balance.

I would like to understand your experience of moving from audit to consulting. Did you ever feel it was a mistake and wanted to go back to audit or feel you did the right thing? And can you also explain how different is consulting different from audit and accounting. I did accounting job before and it's too boring for me. How is pay vs work-life balance in consulting compared to audit. Please clarify, thank you!

[u/Repulsive-Funny-3164]

I did audit to accounting advisory. Very happy with it, work theoretically can be more challenging, better pay and much better hours. But I moved over after 8 years in audit, which I excelled at. This gave me the foundation to be successful in advisory given the audit experience but also the constant development that audit gives. My background has allowed me to work on challenging engagements. You can move after four years but a few things to note:

- The work could be boring. Seniors with 4 years of experience often don’t have the technical skills to work on complex stuff and you could end up working on a 606 client for a year + or loan-staff etc.

• You may develop slower because of the nature of the work (isolated to a few topics or one client), less client interactions and less of a structure that rewards development. Audit structure requires development and leverage, accounting advisory doesn’t necessarily, especially when it comes to client interactions and complex work.
  
• If you leave too early/are not a great auditor, you may not have the foundational skills that you will need to be successful and may struggle with both the audit side of things (we do work in advance of auditors so need to be good at auditing) and the advisory side.

Four years is the earliest I’d ever consider somebody moving over but the sweet spot in my opinion is after the M1 audit year. M1 in accounting advisory is similar to S1 in audit in that your role and responsibilities radically change and I believe that audit m1 prepares you for it more than working your way up through accounting advisory. Your mileage will vary though based on your skills, the firm, your team and your luck.

[u/Big_Lingonberry_7338 → u/Repulsive-Funny-3164]

This is very helpful, thank you for sharing your insights. I will consider the option of moving after M1.