Submitted by uninspired-v2 t3_ydy9vf in Maine
What are your opinions on the firm? What’s the work - life balance? Any horror stories?
Comments
Walter_J_Bro t1_itv8d2n wrote
Yep, the folks I know who work there do a lot of traveling and put in many hours. One that I know left because he was so tired of being home Saturday and Sunday and then leaving again Monday.
iceflame1211 t1_itv8t7d wrote
Big company, but possibly has leadership with questionable morals. It seems they took over $8mil in forgivable PPP loans they very likely didn't need. I severely doubt the accounting firm lost $8 mil worth of clients (if any). They did recently move into a big new office building though! I'm sure it's unrelated and I'm sure everything they did was totally legal and legit; it was the PPP system that was broken and susceptible to greedy corporations.
You can't blame accountants for swooping in on free taxpayer money though, right?
Thr0wingIt4llAway t1_itvhrsn wrote
I have non-trivial tenure with the firm on the consulting side. The decision and planning for the office move to outer Congress preceded the pandemic by over a year. Years in the making and no relation to PPP for the record.
I'll try to be fair regarding the PPP loans. Accounting and consulting organizations are highly risk averse/conservative by nature and for good reason - I've experienced this risk aversion to a frustrating degree when negotiation compensation at times in my career here. Though I do not have a seat at the C-level table, I am highly confident the procurement of PPP funds was done in a lawful way with significant due diligence. PPP was less about potential loss in clients as you allude to, and more about managing through the uncertainty of the pandemic economy and being able to retain employees. The firm had no layoffs or furloughs. That's 800 people who could continue to pay for expenses, mortgages, healthcare, child care, etc. From what I am told, the firm didn't layoff anyone during the '08 financial crisis which is admirable given that many professional services become a "nice to have" (read: demand drops) during significant economic contraction.
Just a couple of my thoughts from the inside. And believe me, I have no problem being the firm's first critic when I see things I don't like.
iceflame1211 t1_itvmg65 wrote
Right, I agree they doubtfully did anything illegal. They're too professional for that. Most of the largest accounting firms in Maine took PPP loans, likely unnecessarily... I guess I'm more jabbing at the PPP program not having any significant means or needs test built in- just had to show the receipts, not that COVID actually damaged your bottom line.
BerryDunn is regularly in the top 3 biggest firms in Maine by revenue, and I'd be shocked if they lost -any- business at all during the COVID pandemic. A quick Google search shows they had a revenue growth of 18% in 2021 and may have break top 50 firms in the nation this year.
I reiterate- what they did likely wasn't illegal... but it is immoral IMHO. When you already have a hundred million in profit at the end of the year, it is greedy and wrong to take even more from taxpayers that they very clearly did not need. However, their primary interest is generating more revenue, not doing what's right for the American people/non-client taxpayers. Congress's incompetence in passing PPP gifted a lot of rich corporations with giant bonuses, and BerryDunn was one of them.
I get what BerryDunn did, it's shitty, but in their defense it's what almost everyone else did too.
Thr0wingIt4llAway t1_itvszt7 wrote
The firm does not have 100 million in profit at FY end. Revenue and profit are not the same. Prior to the pandemic, the firm (and any business) has significant expenses, debts, and operating costs. Payroll expense is typically a business's greatest expense. The pandemic introduced economic and business risk. I'll quote, the Paycheck Protection Program is "An SBA-backed loan that helps businesses keep their workforce employed during the COVID-19 crisis." This is what it what used for. Using a program as it was intended is not immoral, IMO. Was their fraud with PPP nationwide? Sure there was. If it is your MO to apply that narrative to whatever businesses you want, so be it. I wouldn't say it is immoral or "shitty" for any qualifying business to apply for a PPP loan in support of retaining its employees and make sure their financial wellbeing is intact.
You can point to our revenue growth in 2021, but that doesn't change the fact that in 2020, business leaders across the country were facing huge economic uncertainty about the future. It was take the loan or lay people off. To your point about "but in their defense it is what almost everyone else did too": almost everyone else was facing the exact same uncertainty and decisions about retaining or release staff. This is what PPP was for at that specific time, not in hindsight.
trapper_keeper_69 t1_itvz1db wrote
In retrospect the $8 million seems unnecessary, but I think you’re forgetting how uncertain everything was in the spring of 2020. I had spent most of 2019 working on an accounting project that was going to represent the majority of my billable hours in 2020 that was flat out cancelled. I was shitting bricks about being gainfully employed for the first time in my career.
Edit: spelling is hard
Thr0wingIt4llAway t1_itvptvy wrote
I've been at the firm on the consulting side for the better part of a decade. What career opportunity are you considering? My experience has been great, but my practice group is filled with great people who care about team development. We have some of the lowest turnover in the firm. Most are great, but individual practices can vary. Generally, working at the firm is great, but there are pockets of people who lack certain management skills or competencies which can create friction. I heard about a team that had a subcontractor on it who was eventually hired as a BD employee. It did not sound like she was fun to work with.
Work life balance (or work life "harmony", the new jargon) is generally pretty good. It is what you make it. I know of a consultant who made principal by his low 30s, but he worked some 3,000+ hour fiscal years to get there. Good on him, but that is not for me. I worked 500 hours the last two months with some really significant deadlines and limited staff resources to help. It was intense, but not Wall St investment banking intense. As a mid-senior level member of my team, I am (finally) well compensated for the effort I put in. The period passed and I took some time off. Steady state, I would say I typically work between around 45-50 hours a week. Obviously consulting work ebbs and flows with intensity. Even if we have multiple projects we are still obligated to high quality, timely provision of services/deliverables to our clients and this impacts work life balance in my experience.
Gold-Name-7968 t1_itzpek9 wrote
You lost me at “500 hours the last two months”
trapper_keeper_69 t1_itvrehe wrote
I found it to be a lousy place to start a career, at least for audit. After trying my hand at pretty much every industry as a staff auditor, when I was ready to advance there were no opportunities as a senior in the industries I was interested in. My options were committing to an industry I didn’t care for, or waiting. I ended up leaving with no regrets.
If you do work there, I highly recommend having a mentor/advocate at the company. That’s generally important anywhere, but it felt like a necessity at Berry Dunn. When I didn’t want to go into a specific industry, I was made to feel like I was being difficult and it felt like I had no one in my corner. As someone who’s now in a managerial role, I’d never want staff to feel that way, but different strokes.
Work life balance was tough - a lot of travel across NNE - but that’s to be expected for that line of work.
Guygan t1_itusomd wrote
Will this be your first time working for a professional services firm? Will you be support staff or professional staff?
BuddyBear17 t1_ityzyxl wrote
I have a friend that is a Senior Consultant there. She seems to like it enough, although she frequently logs in on evenings and weekends (and has a small child too, so not ideal). Curious why you'd choose them and not just work remotely or hybrid for Deloitte, Accenture, etc. where the pay scale is way better.
lola_cat t1_ituyw3d wrote
I have heard good things but I am sure there is a dark side. I've know at least 3 people that I used to work with that have gone to work with them. I think you do put in a lot of hours but it sounds mostly enjoyable.