Be prepared to work for 17+ hrs per day (out of busy season)
Typical day:
- Starts at 9:30am
- Spend most of the day answering emails and having phone calls
- Working for people who do not understand what they are doing
- You get 1 hour for lunch, but rarely have the opportunity to use it. Sometimes have to skip lunch altogether
- Official workday ends at 5:30pm at which point you will say goodbye to all the trainees who are studying
- Your workday continues
- Sometimes you get to go home at 9pm after which you will continue to work after you get home.
- You will usually go sleep at around 2am.
What I learnt:
- The culture at the firm confuses quality with quantity. They do not understand the core concepts of audit
- They are not willing to listen to new ideas from those who come from bigger, more successful firms
Management:
- They do not promote people to manager based on their ability to manage. This clear from the lack of quality managers. Also, managers are good at delegating, but enforce an "us" and "them" mentality and it does not feel as though they are part of the team themselves.
Workplace culture:
- No idea, you spend most of your time at client offices, usually alone due to the lack of staff.
Hardest part of the job:
- Dealing with trainees who have no clue what they are doing
- Dealing with lazy people
- Having to push yourself to meet unrealistic deadlines
- Having to have your own back because nobody else will
- Having to accept that leadership will not push back against clients
- The lack
Points positifsLunch allowance, dinner allowance, taxis if working after 9pm
Points négatifsLong hours, Lack of sleep, toll on your health, lack of reward for the effort put in, lack of quality leadership
1. Have been working in Indirect Taxes with Deloitte and KPMG, Bangalore for over 5 years. The responsibilities include advising clients on the entire range of Indirect Taxes apart from the provisions of the SEZ law and the Foreign Trade Policy.
2. Opinions on specific queries that are posed by the clients on matters pertaining to the entire range of indirect taxes apart from SEZ laws and Foreign Trade Policy.
3. Have been involved in DDRs relating to M&A transactions.
4. Have also been a part of the litigation practice in Deloitte and assisted the immediate manager for representing clients before Authorities / Courts at all levels from the Assistant Commissioner to the CESTAT encompassing drafting reply to Show cause Notices, preparation of appeal memorandum etc.
5. Assistance in Customs classification, VAT classification, determination of rates of duties, SABRIX (ERP) implementation from the tax perspective for one of the largest computer manufacturers in the world.
6. Assistance in Customs classification, advisory and litigation for two of the largest retail chains in India.
7. Advised clients for complying with the statutory requirements prescribed under the customs regulations with respect to import and export of goods.
8. Performed compliance assignments encompassing, entry and exit of STPI units, Service tax registration, preparation and review of Service tax return, excise return and VAT return (12 States).
9. Extensive personal interaction with statutory
Very challenging and a mix bag of all you can think of
Working with KPMG has been extremely interesting. During the 4 years of my work life there, i was involved with a number of project and assignments. During my first 3 months of being in the organisation I was involved in a pilot project to help set up a new team along with my regular job responsibilities. My efforts were rewarded with the " Rising star award". I was responsible for a small team of 5 graduates working towards audits of Banks in the UK, which i was able to grow to 15 and then eventually 40 people within the next one year, with 5 CAs reporting into me. I was already performing a role my level for which i was given the highest rating in the organisation of "1", I also was promoted to Assistant Manager that year. My responsibilities grew with me being involved in setting up a new team from scratch in a new geographic location , which i was able to accomplish successfully in the stipulated time period. All through the period i was involved with various other projects like creating training modules to acquaint the new recruits to our organisation. I was also involved with imparting technical audit training as well as soft skills training across levels ( from graduates to CAs ) and were always rated a "1" by Learning and development and the trainees alike. For the past two years i have been working towards audit of large corporate and went on a 3 month assignment to UK to in-charge the audit of a world tobacco giant. I have enjoyed every bit of my work and it taught
Good for uni graduates, not the right place for people with 5+ years experience
After COVID-19 began the company stopped paying money which was allocated to business travel and expenses which amounted to almost 20% of the expected income and also put a ban on overtime work (even though overtime was still present the company didn't pay for it).
In general, bad pay, bad overall management, inexperienced managers and partners who are awarded such titles mostly because of their long history with KPMG and expertise (but not due to their skills of managing talent), no career development and very bad working conditions.
On the bright side, good experience working with experts from different areas and lots of insights from different clients.
I would recommend KPMG only for university graduates, but not for professionals with more than 5 years of experience. The company only promotes staff once a year, so if you are not considered in the beginning of the year then one has to wait for almost 2 years until end of next year probably trying very hard to make your ends meet. In general, I do not recommend KPMG for experienced professionals as they will underpay you and will tell you stories of how you will become a partner in 5 years or so but in the more adjacent future you will still struggle to pay your bills.
Points positifsPhone and internet, company resources
Points négatifsLow salary, vague growth prospects, unclear development paths
It's only been in restrospect and now working for a company with a much better culture that I've realised how awful KPMG was to work for. It's very good for your CV, but you need to be a certain type of person to stick it out long term with your mental health in tact, or to progress beyond AM. It's a lot of long hours, undue pressure and unreasonably high expectations. The appraisal process is ruthless and doesn't live up to KPMG's supposed 'values' (they assign ratings and bonuses on a curve). They don't really care about employee wellbeing as evidenced by chronic under-staffing following the Covid years which went unaddressed and added pressure to existing employees. There are many good people working there but also some sociopaths who only care about their progression or looking good in front of managers/clients. I wouldn't recommend working there to anyone I cared about.
I have worked for KPMG for 5 years. During my stay in KPMG I have learned lot of new things such as auditing profit and loss statement and balance, also performing controls testing and substantive work on produced accounts by the company. Also preparation of financial statements and review of financial statements according to IFRS. The management were really good and always support their staffs and encourage them to get exposure to new things in audit. The c0-workers are helpful all the time and gives full attention when I need to clarify something which I am not sure off. The hardest part of the job when I was given back to back job in Islands. However doing audits in Pacific Islands is enjoyable but not staying there for more than three weeks.
Points positifsGot an opportunity to travel around the Pacific Islands
KPMG provides a very good learning environment. The learning and development department provides trainings during non-peak periods and most managers are willing to impart their knowledge to the younger ones.
When on engagements, soft skills like management and communication skills are needed for project management and client management. Even within the engagement team, the senior has to manage the manager's expectation and at the same time, manage his associates so that the audit will run smoothly.
Although it is a good learning environment, turnover is high due to the long hours during the peak period. However, the best part of the job is also to meet new people and interact with them.
Points positifsAble to meet many people, good learning environment
Doing research on and analyzing local and international tax laws and policies are main duties for a tax consultant.
Almost four years of the Tax Consultant role both in Deloitte and KPMG focused on data analysis and international law research has developed strong problem-solving, technology and interpersonal skills.Team work, effective cooperation skills and being a good leader are also three important qualities I have learnt during this period.
The hardest part of being a great tax consultant is to quickly catch up with and deeply analyze updatest information in financial and political markets, but it is always enjoyable when doing analysis of these different information with great team members.
KPMG Singapore feels pretty much like a university. As a graduate or someone in the mid 20/30s, it is easy to find friends/Colleagues of the same age group, there are tonnes of fun activities like welcome night, dinner and dance, monday drinks and even sports day organised yearly.
Best part of this job is the people, but of course as with every company there will be issues in retaining talent.
One thing KPMG Singapore lacks is the grooming of employees who have been with them since day 1 (first job). At a certain level, the management becomes a little more selfish and forgets that the employees come first.
Nonetheless, still enjoyed my time there.
(i) Typical day at work
Financial statement audit at client's premises.
(ii) Learned
- Time and budget management
- Providing quality audit services to clients
- External and internal audit with report writing (controls and substantive procedures)
- Team work
- Communication with team and client / management
(iii) Management
- Available when needed and has an open door policy for subordinates
(iv) Co-workers
- Supportive and competitive
(v) Hardest part of job
- Long hours required to meet deadlines
(vi) Enjoyable part of job
- Travelling to client's premises for audit (both locally and offshore).
Points positifsTravelling to client's premises for audit (both locally and offshore).
Points négatifsLong hours required to meet deadlines
Questions et réponses au sujet de l'entreprise KPMG
Quelle politique est appliquée par KPMG en matière de congés ? De combien de jours de congés disposez-vous par an ?
Posée le 21 févr. 2022
25 CP + 11 RTT
Réponse du 31 mars 2023
25
Réponse du 28 févr. 2023
Comment avez-vous obtenu votre premier entretien chez KPMG ?
Posée le 20 févr. 2018
J'ai postulé en ligne et on m'a téléphoné pour un premier entretien physique avec la RH.
Réponse du 11 mars 2022
Avec la directrice sur rdv
Réponse du 29 sept. 2020
Quelles sont les perspectives de carrière chez KPMG ?
Posée le 20 déc. 2017
Forte perspective d'évolution, à condition d'y mettre l'investissement attendu.
Evolution de poste + de salaire (mini 10% ) chaque année
Réponse du 17 janv. 2023
Pas de perspectives si vous n’êtes pas lèche … et si vous oubliez votre vie personnelle
Réponse du 19 nov. 2022
Comment décririez-vous lenvironnement de travail et la culture dentreprise chez KPMG ?
Posée le 16 oct. 2019
Équipe soudés et agréable
Réponse du 10 févr. 2022
Pas conviviable, aucun effort fourni pour intégrer les nouveaux arrivants
Réponse du 17 mai 2021
Quels conseils donneriez-vous à une personne qui doit passer un entretien chez KPMG ?
Posée le 24 sept. 2018
Rester sois même
Réponse du 21 nov. 2022
Réviser les écritures comptables, savoir se présenter
