Choosing the right accounting firm: Big Four, mid-sized, or challenger?
Accountancy Today explores the pros and cons of working for a Big Four, mid-sized and challenger accounting firm

For accountants, deciding where to build your career is a crucial decision that can have an effect for the rest of your career. The industry offers a spectrum of opportunities ranging from prestigious Big Four firms to smaller, agile challenger firms. Each type of firm presents unique advantages and challenges that can significantly impact your professional growth, work-life balance, and overall career trajectory.
Big Four firms: Pinnacle of prestige and global reach
The Big Four firms are Deloitte, PwC, EY and KPMG. These firms are the biggest and most globally recognisable firms. With this comes prestige and brand recognition. These firms deal with the biggest clients and have the biggest reach. Therefore experience at a Big Four firm will look very good on a CV. It will also allow you the broadest range of experiences as these firms have a broad range of clients. It also offers the possibility to work on international assignments and collaborate with teams across borders, which can broaden your perspective and enhance your skill set.
Furthermore, the Big Four firms have extensive resources. These firms offer robust training programs and cutting-edge technology. This can be to your benefit as they will be able to pay for things that smaller firms could not. This also means that you are likely to start on a higher wage than at a smaller firm with more scope for pay rises and bonuses as you progress. It also ensures that you will get the best chance to become a chartered accountant which can stand you in good stead for the future.
These firms also offer clear career advancement. The firms will clear career progression paths with well-defined milestones and opportunities for rapid advancement for high performers. This means that a Big Four is a good place for someone with ambitions to climb.
However, with the broad scale and high profile of clients comes a number of drawbacks. For a start Big Four firms are high pressure environments and often require long hours. The companies will have a work environment with demanding deadlines and high client expectations, leading to potential burnout if work-life balance is not managed effectively. This may not be the best place to go as an accountant starting out as there will be less opportunity to grow and develop.
Big firms can be also bureaucratic and rigid as decisions will have to pass through many layers of management before being actioned. This means there is less flexibility in decision-making compared to smaller firms and means that things take longer.
Moreover, as there are so many staff and departments you may get pigeonholed into one specific industry sector or type of services, limiting your exposure to broader aspects of accounting which may be an issue down the road if you choose to work for a smaller firm..
Mid-sized firms: Balancing stability and variety
The next category of firm is mid-sized. Mid-sized firms offer a balance between the resources of larger firms and the agility of smaller ones. An example of a mid-sized firm would be Grant Thornton or RSM.
These often serve a diverse client base across industries, providing exposure to a wide range of accounting challenges. They also offer greater opportunities for client interaction and hands-on experience in diverse roles. As there is likely to be less managers above you it offers more opportunity for you to actually interact with the clients you are serving which can allow you to develop other softer skills you may not get at a bigger firm.
They also offer a better work-life balance in general compared to Big Four firms. With less high profile clients it means that there are likely to be fewer extreme peaks in workload, such as around tax season, which means more predictable hours.
They also offer a good chance of career development. While they may not have the resources of a Big Four when it comes to training they do have the potential for faster career progression than in Big Four due to having a less rigid hierarchy and fewer layers of management. They also offer a more intimate work environment where you are able to foster stronger relationships with colleagues and clients, promoting a supportive and collaborative culture.
On the other hand, these firms obviously have limited global reach. This means that you will more than likely be dealing strictly with British clients which can limit your opportunities for international assignments and involvement in cross-border deals. These smaller firms will also have less brand recognition which means that they will look less good on a CV in the future compared to a Big Four Firm
Lastly, these types of companies have more constrained resources. This means that you may not get the same level of training or ability to learn than you might get at a Big Four. You are also likely to start on a lower wage with less scope to increase it in the future..
Brand Recognition: May have less recognition compared to Big Four firms, potentially affecting career opportunities outside the firm.
Challenger firms: Agility and innovation
The last category of firm is a small challenger firm. These are likely to be quite young companies looking to innovate in the space, either through a different offering or with new technology. An example of this would be Gravitate Accounting.
These firms often have a lot of entrepreneurial spirit. The idea of these firms is to shake up the sector in some way and therefore challenger firms are often more innovative and agile, embracing new technologies and methodologies more readily than larger firms. This can also offer you a chance to have a say in how the business develops compared to bigger firms.
This smaller scale can also lead to a more varied client base as these smaller firms have less opportunity to be selective about clients. However, exposure to a diverse client base, including startups, mid-market companies, and niche industries, will provide opportunities for creative problem-solving and for more experience in unfamiliar circumstances which can help you develop..
These companies are also likely to have flat organisational structures and open communication channels. You are likely to have direct communication with the boss of the firm and are likely to work in close tandem with managers which can encourage idea-sharing and initiative, fostering a dynamic work environment.
Furthermore, these smaller firms offer you the opportunity to take on more responsibility and visibility earlier in your career. While at a bigger firm you may spend more time on smaller, more junior tasks, at a smaller firm you will likely be in the thick of the action straight away as there is less staff which can help you develop faster than an equivalent person at a bigger firm.
On the other hand, these small firms are likely to have limited resources. This means that you may have less access to training and less options to do so. The fact there is less staff may also mean that you will have less time to focus on qualifying as you will be busy with actual jobs which may impact career advancement opportunities.
Obviously these firms will also have limited brand recognition outside their niche markets, meaning that you will not stand out as quickly to a potential future employer compared with someone who has worked for a bigger firm.
Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, these small firms have a risk of instability. As they are less wealthy with less recognition and less high profile clients they are more likely to be affected by economic fluctuations. The clients of a small firm are more likely to go through administrations and liquidations. If this happens to a lot of your clients this can lead to less work meaning less revenue. Therefore, these firms have a lot less job security than a big firm.