Anyone know the consultancy firm Mazars?

[grixx]

My DD has been offered a graduate job at Mazars, but I had never heard of them..I've obviously looked at their website and it sounds like they're expanding in the UK. If you know a little about their reputation and/or what it's like to work for them I'd be interested.

Aren’t they a tax/audit company?

They are in the top 10 audit firms in the UK. I have heard of them but don't know anyone who has worked for them

I've not worked for them but they are the accountants/auditors for a company I used to work for. Bloody good work if you can get an offer with them.

Good luck to your DD!

Thanks. I was aware of "the big four" but not "the top ten". 😁 I'm guessing this ranking is just based on financial turnover rather than anything else, yes?

www.accountancytoday.co.uk/top-30-accountancy-firms-uk-2021-2022/

I use them, they are excellent

Yes turnover. The big 4 are head and shoulders above the rest, but the top 10 will work for many small and medium businesses.
I trained with a smaller firm (top 20) and there are benefits and downfalls vs the big 4.

Thanks @scrunchmum . Interested to hear the pros and cons.

Well done to your DD, that’s a great opportunity for her.

Well done to your dd!

Definitely a reputable company and a great stepping stone for your daughter. Congratulations!

Sorry, to clarify, a great firm to be at in the first place, and a stepping stone into the Big 4 if that’s what she wants.

They were our auditors for some years. I found them pretty good but obviously that depends on the audit team you get.

I'm big four trained (years ago when they were the big eight, before all the mergers) and much of my first year was spent photocopying, seriously. I believe that you get a better experience of actual audit work in the early years with a smaller firm. I also did what was then called "intensive" PE1 and PE2, so I had the letters after my name but limited experience.

Often with slightly smaller firms you get more responsibility earlier which is good. I trained with Big 4 ( Big 6 as it was then). I had a lot of smaller, relatively simple audits due to my sector which meant I got to run them quite early and got a lot of client facing time, but friends who were always on massive, complex audits spent the first year just doing cash and purchase order tracing because there would be a team of about 15 people on it.

A friend of one of our DDs is training with them; he joined straight after A levels. He loves working for them and is enjoying the variety of clients he's working with.

Yes this. I got a lot of responsibility early, including leading audits. And a great deal of variety in the first year. I also found work life balance better than friends in big 4.
OTOH big 4 looks great on the CV and you get experience with big companies with more complex reporting. Also pay is going to be better.

I know ex and current Mazars people.

What specialism?

Top100 ranking is purely based on turnover, not quality. Hence all the penalties the Big 4 and Top 10 have had to pay for audit failings and scandals...

In most cases, she'll get better experience training somewhere outside the Big 4 because she'll have exposure to much more at a smaller firm - rather than just being given a tiny task on a huge job, she can be responsible for the whole job. She'll also have a better work life balance and won't be treated like a disposable minion. Juniors in the Big4 are just cannon fodder.

But people get sucked into the ego trip of Big 4.

Mazars is less pressured than Big 4 but still pretty intense. Expectations will be high. Threshold for being dismissed will be low. A lot of it does come down to how well your face fits and how good you are at "business development" (aka sales).

What are her long term career goals?

I’m Big 4 but a lot of colleagues have gone to or come from Mazars. Good luck to your DD.