The Shady Business of the Big 4

Comments · 150

• ME

  @meaninglesshandle1 · 2 years ago

  Former overworked and underpaid big 4 employee here. I left the industry over a decade ago but unless things changed drastically I believe one firm cannot legally both audit and offer consulting services to the same client.

  242

• TE

  @Tele-3064 · 2 years ago (edited)

  There is a difference between the following two statements:<br>a) X audits A and X consults A, and<br>b) X audits A and Y consults A.<br><br>While (a) is the most obvious conflict of interest, it also simply does not happen anymore. It is forbidden by law.<br>At the same time, (b) is not necessarily a conflict of interest. It might be tempting to think of the Big 4 as an oligopoly, but that does not negate the competition between the four firms themselves. It is not unheard of, to people in these firms at least, that actions taken by A upon X&apos;s advice are later rejected during A&apos;s audit by Y. Remember, consulting and audit with respect to the same client cannot be provided by the same firm; (a) is not possible. Differences of opinion between X and Y can be caused even by petty shit like someone&apos;s ego, personal rivalries, or spite caused by another&apos;s lateral move to a competitor.<br><br>The video is informative but sensationalist in aspects that it didn&apos;t need to be, and the truth is probably more nuanced than it lets on.

  45

• LO

  @logie010101 · 2 years ago

  You cannot audit and provide consulting services to the same company

  43

• HO

  @homergee3381 · 2 years ago

  Money = Rights, the more you have the more you can get away with.

  10

• JA

  @jannemanjansen9266 · 8 months ago

  Accountancy &amp; consultancy has nothing to offer to society. They themselves &nbsp;do not even understand their own diffuse jargon.

  2

• ER

  @Eros_English_Teacher · 9 months ago (edited)

  This will change for the better, and the Big Four will bring more powerful and positive transformations to society. Because in this sector, there are many talented people, many of whom are truly good, and it&apos;s possible to find these kinds of professionals. <br><br><a href="https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/big4">#Big4</a> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/anticorruption">#AntiCorruption</a> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/compliance">#Compliance</a> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/esg">#ESG</a> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/grc">#GRC</a>

  1

• IN

  @indranildas_55_a70 · 2 years ago

  That&apos;s the reason they are not listed into any security markets.

  7

• RA

  @ranatuj1 · 2 years ago

  If there is a law that prohibited Auditing and consulting same company same time this can be prevented.

  2

• SI

  @silverqueentarot · 2 years ago (edited)

  On my very first day of working for one of the Big 4, the entire staff were ordered to shred all documents for one of the clients. There was so much chaos, and it was all about covering up. &nbsp;--- 15 years later I left. &nbsp;The schemes and politics, too much! &nbsp;The consulting firms are worse than the big banks. &nbsp;Great video.

  89

• SH

  @ShoeString13 · 3 months ago

  On my first day at one of these top firms, we all knew it was the top. And how to walk with a cup of coffee without spilling it on our tops

• VN

  @vnn04 · 1 year ago

  too more money = too more risk

  1

• KA

  @kaylah-yang · 2 months ago (edited)

  Many consulting background people will be in jail . Corporate fraud/crimes have no place to hide in this ai era.