Pros
This accounting firm focuses exclusively on the finance industry, so it's a great opportunity to get valuable accounting and finance experience. For a small firm, it does a great job with training and has trained a lot of people over the past 20+ years who have gone on to run their own entrepreneurial financial services firm, have ownership and leadership roles at large financial firms and big four accounting firms. It's small enough, yet established enough, to have some of the best of both when trying to choose between benefits of small and large. Many partners and sr managers in regional offices worked their way up through the ranks, a couple from intern to (past) partner.
Kontras
The most difficult part of the job for me was balancing family and work travel. Clients are all over the world, and the best part of the job is being in front of the clients, educating/consulting or conducting examinations. Some CPA firms, the clients are coming to you for tax and consulting, but at this firm, the professionals are out in the field. The firm has also struggled with its identity of being a family-owned boutique or a global player in the industry--holding itself out as global, but without an oversight board that has any independence or ability to exercise accountability over the majority partner. The majority partner has made a few unfortunate calls because of the lack of accountability, and the firm has paid for that a few times, reputationally and financially. That said, the owner is 70, and this con will likely work itself out and his passing of the baton create a huge opportunity in the next 5-10 years for rewarding leadership and financial opportunities for professionals considering a job here.