Company: PwC
Date: 2014-11-20
Overall rating: 1/5
Employment status: former
Experience level: Junior

PwC Wealth Management Tax Services (WMTS) Pittsburgh
Pros: "Big 4" on your resume.  If you can put a decent one together, you will get a call back if you are looking for a new job.

They have deep pockets.  Expect things to be paid for (trips, phone, graduate school, dinner, etc.) as well as a decent salary.  Unfortunately, money and a "prestigious" name is about all that WMTS can offer you.
Cons: HOURS AND TURNOVER:

WMTS management will tell you that you need to work "60 hours a week, 12 hour days, and Saturdays" during busy season (mid January - mid April).  It is more like at least 80 hours a week, 14-15 hour days, and weekends if you want to do well.  You can scrape by with 65-70 hours per week if you are okay with getting average performance reviews.  Non-busy season is about 40-50 hours a week.  Some will work more though, since there is a ton of work still - hence the slackers really get to thrive during the summer.

I have witnessed several WMTS "lifers" work 90-100 hours week regularly.

Some years (such as 2014) the turnover is very high, approaching 30-40% for associates.  This alone should be a red flag.  There have been multiple instances recently where people have actually left WMTS with no other job lined up - essentially choosing to become unemployed over working there.

QUALITY:

As far as tax technical abilities, credentialing, and general competency, the senior associates and managers in WMTS are the bottom of the PwC barrel.  About 90% of people who obtain their CPA leave within a year or two (transfer or new firm), and you will often find most of the practice relying heavily on the tax return preparation software.  

You will commonly see senior or managers spewing "input it in the software, and let it figure it out."  This is an easy way for them to get out of explaining difficult concepts to their staff, as they more than likely are incapable of doing so.

Speaking of the software, it is pretty poor.  WMTS leadership will tell you that they "invest a lot in the technology."  This is an absolutely load of crap, and they know it.  They invest just enough to ensure that they can scrape their 7 figure profit off the top.  They are so cheap with their software, that they force their employees to "test" it to see if it is working properly every year.  This allows them to get a nice discount from the provider.  

During tax season every year, there will be dozens of "URGENT, CRITICAL" work around emails that come out when issues are discovered with the software.  This leads to absolute frustration across the preparers, as the numbers are not "flowing" to the right places, hence they actually have to THINK.

ETHICS:

The ethics of senior management (partners) are very poor.  They don't seem to have issues lying to their staff's faces regarding the opportunities within WMTS (there are almost none).  They continue to sell WMTS as an elite tax practice, when that couldn't be further from the truth.  WMTS employees are essentially overworked, over-glorified bankers, performing menial and repetitive tasks throughout the year.  The only thing that this practice has going for it is that it can fly itself under the PwC flag.  

Management also don't seem to have a problem leaving their clients uninformed about super high turnover and client information breaches (tax sensitive information going to the wrong addresses - they prefer to sweep it under the rug if possible).

Managers also will routinely tell staff to respond to IRS and state notices with incorrect or incomplete information.  Managers have referred to this as "the industry standard."  More like the WMTS standard if you ask me... bottom of the barrel again.

Particularly, there is one engagement in WMTS that does not file the majority of their state returns properly.  The seniors, managers, directors are well aware of this, yet they negligently refuse to file the returns because "that's how it has been done in the past."  Again, industry standard, or WMTS standard?

BEWARE of WMTS job postings claiming that you will do corporate tax, partnership tax, franchise tax returns, provisions, etc.  This is a completely blatant lie, and I am not sure how they can even legally get away with stating that.  You will prepare and/or review fiduciary and non-profit income tax returns.  You will also make (I refuse to call this preparing.  It is clicking buttons in a software system.) Form 1099s.  That is pretty much it.

INTERNS:

Interns... oh the interns.  WMTS hires about 100 interns from the greater Pittsburgh area to do their printing, stapling, envelope stuff, and general office functions.  Typically the interns work from January until March.

Some people don't realize how big Pittsburgh is.  It is not very large - there are only about 5-6 major universities with good business schools that WMTS recruits from.  Due to this, let's just say, the average quality of the WMTS interns is not what I would call good.