Small Firm Opportunities
On this website, I tend to talk about the benefits of working for public accounting firms that are regional and larger. Usually, these firms have at least 150 employees and multiple partners across different disciplines such as audit, tax, forensic accounting, and valuation services to name a few. Working for firms this size is great because they can provide you the right blend of career advancement opportunities, client experience, and training opportunities to develop your skill set, especially early in your career. While I still believe that working for one of those firms is ideal for accounting students who just graduated, I want to take some time today to highlight the benefits of working for a smaller firm, such as one that is less than 30 people total.
Small Firm Benefit #1 - Client Proximity
In public accounting, your experience is heavily dependent on the clients you are placed on. If you audit a larger client, you're going to understand how a larger client operates, and your experience will reflect that. Bigger firms have larger clients with multiple layers of management, and you may or may not interact with the business owner on a regular basis as a part of your engagement. Conversely, smaller firms have smaller clients that have fewer layers of management which will give you the opportunity to interact with business owners more directly as a part of your engagement. These business owners have a wealth of knowledge that you can learn from that presents an unparalleled learning opportunity if you end up talking to the right person. If you work for a small firm, take advantage of your proximity to the business owner while you service them.
Small Firm Benefit #2 - Career Advancement
If you were working for a small firm that is not interested in selling to a larger firm, you are in a very enviable position in 2025 and beyond. In the last year or so, I have personally seen three colleagues move to smaller accounting firms with the intention of taking over for a partner in the coming years. All three of these people that I know had some relatively specialized industry tax knowledge. If you are good at what you do, you might find yourself in a position to take over some or all of these small firm clients. In the world of firm mergers and private equity money, the idea of partnership in a public accounting firm has changed significantly over recent years, and these smaller firms are preserving that ownership dynamic for the few that fit the bill.
Small Firm Benefit #3 - Personal Space
If you're the type of person who prefers to have their own designated space in an office, you're more likely to find that at a smaller firm than you are at A larger firm. Most offices have transitioned to hybrid and hoteling arrangements for their desks, which is not very popular with some people. Smaller firms tend to have less variance in their personnel and therefore have the ability to assign space in their office, which is something I have not experienced since 2019. If you're going to be spending a good portion of your spring every year working, this might be a deciding factor for you.
As always, it's important to remember that your career comes with a lot of it depends and personal choices. I'm here to make sure you understand the potential positives and negatives of working at different size firms so you can make a better educated decision on how to pilot your own career. I hope this helps you!