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Popularity, Presage, and Quality of Life Rankings Explored
There's no question that the Big Four accounting firms dominate the market in terms of size and revenue. In a recent survey, CPAs also rated the Big Four among the top five accounting firms to work for in the country; however, a closer look at the results reveals that these same accountants thought that smaller firms offered a better quality of life.
The Vault Accounting 50 is an annual survey conducted by Vault, a publisher and website that provides rankings for categories ranging from accounting firms to law schools, as well as overviews of various professions, companies, and universities.
"We get inside information about what it's like to work for a company ... so our readers can make informed choices," said Derek Loosvelt, finance editor at Vaultcom.
To compile the rankings for its Accounting 50, Vault asked approximately 80 national firms to participate in its electronic survey; of those firms, approximately 30 - more than 4,100 accounting professionals (e.g., accountants, CPAs, tax professionals, auditors) - actually participated. In each category, a minimum of 20 survey responses was required for a firm to be ranked, Loosvelt said.
Survey respondents rated public accounting firms on a scale of 1 to 10 in qualityof-life categories (including their own firms) and based upon levels of prestige (excluding their own firms). Using a weighted formula combining a firm's prestige ranking (40%) with several of its quality-of-life rankings (20% firm culture, 10% work/life balance, 10% compensation, 10% business outlook, 10% overall job satisfaction), Vault created a single "best to work for" category.
And the Winner Is...
Ernst &...