Vault’s Verdict

PKF O’Connor Davies is ideally looking for hardworking candidates who are eager to learn, willing to be taught, and have strong academic backgrounds. For students, the firm runs valuable internships in tax and audit, providing interns with hands-on experience, access to senior staff, exposure to a variety of assignments, and a good understanding of what the job of an entry-level associate entails.

Meanwhile, career development opportunities for full-time staff are extensive. The firm offers many training opportunities that help employees grow professionally and personally; training topics include technical accounting skills as well as soft skills. There are also HR check-ins and the ability to an “own your career” that allows for fast promotions.

Work-life balance is another strength. The firm’s environment is very supportive, a lot of flexibility is offered with when and where you work, and open communication with managers positively affects overall morale and job satisfaction. However, during the busy seasons, hours can still be long, with some insider reporting over 65 per week. As for compensation and benefits, insiders say they are competitive and fair but could be better.

Inclusion is yet another strong suit at the firm, which has several affinity groups in place as well as a diverse staff. With respect to the PKF’s business outlook, although some insiders aren’t thrilled about some of the new initiatives instituted after the PE acquisition, most insiders believe the firm has a good leadership team in place and the foreseeable future looks very bright for the firm.

EMPLOYEE REVIEWS

Quality of Life

• “My firm offers a supportive team environment, flexible work arrangements when possible, and a collaborative culture that makes even high-pressure periods more manageable. I appreciate the strong relationships among coworkers, open communication with managers, and the sense of shared responsibility, which contributes positively to overall morale and job satisfaction.”
• “While we are expected to be diligent in our work and meet our responsibilities, I believe the firm truly supports a healthy work-life balance. Employees are given flexibility in their schedules and the ability to manage their time in a way that works best for them. Rather than being required to work an entire Saturday, I can choose when to put in extra hours, whether that means staying a little later on a Friday, working briefly on a Saturday, or adjusting my schedule during the week. This flexibility allows me to balance my workload effectively while still having time for personal commitments, as long as the work gets done.”
• “PKFOD promotes a good work-life balance. Unfortunately, I do work in tax so that does mean longer hours February to April and late August to October. On average, during the spring busy season, I find myself at the office at least 65 hours per week. I do try to come to the office earlier to get a jump on the day. However, I help manage our tax interns, which does take up a portion of time each day, causing me to work later. Outside of busy season I find myself working normal hours. I prefer going to the office every day, and PKFOD does have a good office culture and I believe I work better in the office. I do enjoy the work, even with the longer hours.”
• “I think the work-life balance has been really good here. But I have significant concerns relating to metrics and work-life balance due to the PE acquisition.”

Compensation

• “My firm offers competitive base compensation relative to industry standards, along with standard benefits such as health insurance, retirement contributions, and paid time off. Performance-based bonuses and opportunities for advancement also help incentivize strong performance and long-term growth. Bonuses could be higher; however, I know as people move up, the hard work will be even more noticed.”
• “I believe we are compensated fairly, and my salary reflects the work and responsibilities I take on. The firm encourages honest and transparent conversations around compensation, which makes me feel valued and respected as an employee. I also feel comfortable voicing my opinions or raising concerns, knowing they will be heard and addressed in a thoughtful and professional way.”
• “Pay is around the average that would be paid at a public accounting firm. Bonuses are based on annual billable hours. However, the billable-hour goal does seem difficult to achieve, so bonuses can be lower than expected. While compensation increases have been an above-average percentage, bonuses tend to be on the lower side. Pay is fair but does not always account for additional responsibilities.”
• “We are fairly compensated. Normal expected health and welfare benefits with cost being held in check over many years. Employee contributions levels have not increased in a number of years. I would love to get childcare on site, but that would be a goal as opposed to a negative.”

Career Development

• “The firm is constantly offering training opportunities that help employees grow both professionally and personally. These include sessions on technical accounting topics as well as soft skills such as leadership, communication, and client service. In addition to formal trainings, there is a strong culture of learning on the job, where team members regularly share their knowledge and take the time to explain concepts and processes. This combination of structured learning and everyday collaboration creates an environment where employees are continuously developing new skills and gaining confidence in their work.”
• “Lots of career development opportunities. Regular HR check-ins and support from management/partners. Open communication. It does depend on the specific team, though; I transitioned to a different team for greater career development opportunities.”
• “Some of the strongest aspects of the firm’s career development are early exposure and hands-on learning. I was able to use the technical knowledge learned from CPEs and working as an intern and apply it to preparing tax returns as I transitioned to a full-time role. The weakness with this model is that the taking CPEs can only give you a technical idea of how the work is done where a majority of career development is done by hands-on learning. Unfortunately, this often occurs during the busiest time of the year, which can delay feedback on work. During tax season it can also be difficult to quickly bounce questions off of coworkers. Both instances can slow professional development.”
• “We have an ‘own your career’ policy where you’re ultimately responsible for keeping yourself busy and proving your usefulness will lead to higher workload. In my experience, this has been rewarded with quickly moving up the corporate ladder.”

Inclusion Efforts

• “I feel that all professionals have equal access to interesting, high-quality work and meaningful opportunities for growth and promotion. The firm’s workforce is diverse, with employees coming from many different backgrounds and walks of life, and everyone is treated with fairness, respect, and professionalism. This inclusive environment ensures that opportunities are based on merit and performance, allowing all employees to succeed and advance.”
• “We have a DEI committee and feel it’s important to understand and include everyone on the team and make sure everyone has equal access to all opportunities in the firm. I believe the firm has the appropriate processes in place for such inclusion efforts.”
• “All the support groups the firm has shows that all types of individuals can succeed at this firm. As a minority, I have always felt this to be the case. And as a firm leader, I always make sure to ensure all groups are included and have the same opportunities.”
• “The firm is very intentional in being inclusive, and there is an overall feeling that it is very equitable.”

Business Outlook

• “Business outlook seems strong. Good leadership within the team. Some bad apples, but that’s expected. Employee morale has its peaks and troughs. When teams are brough together in person, morale is higher. Balancing work-from-home flexibility vs. in-office helps.”
• “I think we are growing in a big way in new markets and that is great to see. Employee morale seems to still be good, but some of the new initiatives instituted after the PE acquisition have not gone well. The increase in our rates over the past year has also likely priced out some of our more price-sensitive clients and caused issues internally between staff production vs. client realization.”
• “The best aspect of my firm's business outlook is the rapid expansion and growth the firm has had and will continue having going forward. On the other hand, this is increasing workloads on employees.”
• “I think we have dynamic leadership that can pivot and react to change relatively quickly. My concern would be an economic downturn, which would not only impact our firm but the industry as well.”

Intern Experience

• “The best parts of my internship were the opportunity to work closely with my future full-time team members and to gain meaningful, hands-on experience. I worked on a variety of different clients, which helped me better understand how accounting work can differ across organizations. I also had the chance to contribute to an accounting research project. In addition, the internship allowed me to learn more about both tax and audit, giving me a well-rounded view of the firm’s services.”
• “I did both audit and tax internships. The best part was how hands-on the audit internship was. I went to clients and helped with several assignments, and we had a research assignment and presentation with a manager we were working with. The tax internship was not as hands-on.”
• “My internship at PKF O’Connor Davies was an amazing learning experience. It gave me the firsthand knowledge about the  accounting industry and accounting firms. I was impressed with the team and how they were going out of their way to make sure that I had a good experience and that I learned. I immediately knew that PKFOD was the perfect fit for me.”
• “As an intern, I appreciated that I was able to take on meaningful tasks that are done by entry-level associates. This gave me an insight into what the actual work I would be doing as a full-time employee would be.”

Hiring Process

• “Very professional and overall great HR recruiting team. They administered necessary questions to gauge candidates and followed up promptly with relevant updates. I believe the firm is seeking would-be professional individuals that have a drive to improve and sincere interest in the industry to care enough about their performance and quality of work achieved.”
• “The interview process has been robust. There is a screening process, then a first interview followed by a final interview. Our ideal candidate does well in school and shows traits of working hard and exemplifies a willingness to learn and be taught.”
• “Our process is excellent. They follow up with all candidates. Ideal candidate is a good student with strong work ethic.”
• “I believe it is a very extensive and dynamic process. We try not to do layoffs like many competitors, so as a result we are very careful to make sure the candidates we hire are the right fit.”

Interview Questions

• “Do you plan on taking the CPA exam? What are you interests within the public accounting industry? What made you major in accounting?”
• “Where do you see yourself on a team? Where do you see yourself in five years?”
• “Why do you want to work for PKF? How do you manage stressful situations? What does work-life balance mean for you? What do you hope to get out of working for PKF?”
• “Describe a difficult situation you had to work through. How do you believe that AI will impact your job and the accounting profession? What does your ideal work life look like?

UPPERS

• “Great colleagues and collaborative, team-oriented, family-friendly culture”
• “Incredible work-life balance.”
• “Career development—opportunities to learn and grow.”

DOWNERS

• “The hours.”
• “Compensation and benefits could be better.”
• “All the changes taking place as we grow and merge with other organizations.”