Wu Jiakai, enrolled into the major of Accounting in 2010, joining PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) after graduation, starting in the auditing post and currently a senior consultant mainly responsible for financial due diligence (hereinafter referred to as finance)
I. Audit and consulting
1. Work goals
The main objective of audit is to produce opinions on the client's financial statements, to see whether the financial statements are prepared in accordance with the standards in all major aspects and whether they fairly reflect the financial status, operating results and cash flow. The work of audit includes (but is not limited to) testing the internal control of the enterprise to check whether the internal control is effective, at the same time carefully reviewing the financial statements, and checking the authenticity, completeness, and accuracy of accounting information through testing.
The goal of financial due diligence is more flexible in that the customer's goal is our goal. Wu Jiakai said, Our work includes reading historical financial information or forecast financial information, observing the quality of earnings or asset quality, or both. But generally speaking, these all serve the pricing link of investment mergers and acquisitions, and therefore his focus of financial due diligence varies with different pricing methods.
2. Industry characteristics
The audit business of the top four accounting firms is generally grouped by industry, so your group determines your field.
As for financial due diligence, in general, there are real estate group, finance group and GI group (General Industry). If you are in the GI group, you may be involved in various industries except real estate and finance.
Currently certain groups in auditing and financial due diligence may cross industries to connect projects due to competition, but the overall classification will not change.
3. Essential skills
Being related to financial information, this work poses demands on proficiency in accounting standards, including the Chinese Accounting Standards for Business Enterprises, International Accounting Standards, and U.S. General Accounting Standards. The difference lies in that auditing is subject to auditing standards and regulations, while financial due diligence not.
4. Essential abilities
Both auditing and financial due diligence require a solid financial foundation, business sensitivity, teamwork ability, etc.. In addition, financial due diligence demands literacy in PPT production since the result of financial due diligence is a PPT.
II. About PricewaterhouseCoopers
1. Business line
From a revenue perspective, audit and assurance services are PwC’s largest business line.
Actually, PwC focuses on developing a business ecosystem that aims to provide customers with one-stop services. From the search for investment and financing targets, the formulation of investment and financing strategies, due diligence services (including finance, taxation, human resources, IT, divestiture, etc.) to valuation services, audit and assurance services, corporate restructuring, bankruptcy liquidation, etc.
2. Work atmosphere
Wu Jiakai thinks that PwC has very good work atmosphere. Generally, a project has a relatively complete configuration from new employees to old employees. Therefore, at every level, staff can find someone with more advanced qualifications to learn from and gradually master the required skills. Wu also specifically mentioned that a new employee can ask more questions when appropriately and the seniors are often willing to share their experience.
3. Routine work
For M&A transaction services, the financial due diligence project cycle is generally about 2 to 4 weeks. Almost every project is a brand-new one, and it is possible to come into contact with clients from different industries and with different requirements and subjects in different project cycles. Wu believes that this is very challenging and fresh. The challenge lies in the need to quickly learn the knowledge of the industry and understand the status of the company, as well as quickly process the complex data. In industries such as new retail, healthcare, or education where investment and financing activities are relatively active, the quality of financial data and operational data of start-ups is generally not very high, and the amount of data is huge, so it is difficult to process.
Fortunately, PricewaterhouseCoopers strongly encourages internal entrepreneurship and supports the internal development of new business-related technologies, which can provide great help. In case of huge and complex data, they use Power BI/Alteryx/Tableau to clean and filter the data, which is very convenient.
4. Work intensity
The work intensity depends on the project. There is a clear busy season for audits. January-May is the traditional busy season. Overtime on working days is inevitable. And M&A transaction consultation relatively slows down around the Spring Festival because of inactive investment and financing during this period.
Personally, Wu doesn’t need to work on projects 7 days a week even in the busy season, so he can spare time for rest or exercise on weekends. After intense work for a period of time, he will have the opportunity to go out for fun. So the overall work intensity at PwC is acceptable to him.
5. Accounting certificates
Wu Jiakai mentioned that ACCA is recommended to those who plan to work in the UK in the future for auditing, investment consulting, etc., but not necessary to those who plan to seek employment in China, where CICPA is more valued. You may list CICPA in your career plan after graduation.
Students who plan to obtain a CICPA after graduation may try to take non-accounting related certificates in college, such as securities practice qualification certificate, fund practice qualification certificate, etc. Firstly, it is relatively easy to acquire the aforesaid certificates, and secondly, it will give you a preliminary understanding of the financial market.
6. Internship experience
Wu Jiakai did not have the chance to take up any internship in the top four accounting firms. But he did the internship in the internal audit department of the real estate company and the finance department of an elevator manufacturer. In fact, internal audits and external audits have similarities, such as testing the effectiveness of internal control. Moreover, the internal audit has more detailed and complete test of internal control instead of focusing only on internal control with impact on financial information.
Internship experience and accounting certificates are both proof to one’s capacity. It is certainly perfect if one can ensure，but if not, Wu thinks internship experience weighs more for two reasons. First, when you study for CICPA, you find that both practical operation is more important (provided that you have acquired some essential fundamentals in your college curriculum). Secondly, the lack of internship may be a disadvantage in your resume.
7. Suggestion by Wu Jiakai
What counts most is diligence in college life, internship and certificate examinations. In addition, proficient Office skills may be a plus.
