A Cautionary Tale for Early-Career Accountants on Training
There’s a trend in public accounting that I find deeply frustrating—and if you’re early in your career, I want you to know how to spot it.
Let’s talk about firms like Firm X.
Firm X isn’t a single organization—it’s a stand-in for a growing group of firms, especially among the Top 100, that are making choices that might make sense in the short term but are deeply damaging in the long run. Many of these firms have gone through mergers, started building offshore teams, or begun automating core tasks. In doing so, they’ve deprioritized something essential: training and investing in their staff.
And it’s showing.
The Red Flags I’m Hearing
Over the past year, I’ve heard too many stories from associates, seniors, and even managers that follow the same unsettling pattern:
Managers being reprimanded for training staff. At firms like Firm X, if the time isn’t billable, it’s seen as wasted. Training gets treated like overhead instead of an investment—and as a result, junior staff are left to sink or swim on their own.
Career counselors telling staff to “eat time,” only to later criticize them for low billables. These firms hand new professionals contradictory expectations and then punish them for whichever one they try to follow. It’s demoralizing and disorienting.
End-of-season reviews where nearly every associate gets negative feedback—not because they failed, but because nobody helped them succeed. And in some cases, the very people who tried to offer that support were discouraged from doing so.
Productivity over everything. One associate was even told not to use an IF formula in Excel because it took too long. Worse, they were told the workpaper “shouldn’t have been created.” That’s what passes for efficiency at firms like Firm X: fast, shallow work that no one can re-perform or defend.
This is how firms like Firm X operate: they prize immediate output over long-term capability. They want the work done, but they don’t want to grow the people who do it.
Why This Matters Now More Than Ever
I’ve worked in this profession for over a decade. I’ve trained new staff, reviewed messy workpapers and great ones, and now I teach accounting to students preparing to enter the field. One of the biggest things I try to help them see is this:
A firm that doesn’t invest in your growth is quietly deciding your ceiling for you.
In an age of offshoring and AI, firms are finding ways to automate or outsource a lot of associate-level work. That’s not inherently bad—but if the only staff development plan is to skip the “train people” phase and laterally hire experienced seniors, then what future are they offering their entry-level hires?
If you’re working for a firm like that, you’re not being set up to succeed. You’re being asked to deliver short-term output while your long-term development is ignored—or worse, actively blocked.
What You Should Watch For
If you're early in your career, here are a few signs that your firm might be a “Firm X”:
Seniors and managers are discouraged from answering questions or reviewing work in detail.
You're told to just “figure it out” with little context or support.
You’re punished for inefficiency even when you’re still learning.
Performance reviews focus solely on hours and chargeability, with little mention of growth or improvement.
There’s more talk about offshoring and AI than there is about how you’re going to evolve with the role.
When It's Time to Move On
I won’t tell you to quit your job at the first sign of dysfunction—context always matters. But if you’re at a firm that sees you as a spreadsheet jockey rather than a developing professional, you have every right to look elsewhere.
If your firm isn’t investing in your skills—and you don’t see a path to move beyond the tasks being offshored or automated—you’re not falling behind. You’re being held back.
Firms like Firm X might never say it out loud, but their actions suggest a quiet plan: automate the associate role, outsource what’s left, and hire pre-trained seniors from better firms. Don’t let yourself be part of that plan. You deserve better.
What Good Firms Do Instead
Let’s end with some green flags—because not every firm is like Firm X. Here’s what you should look for, or strive to create if you’re in a position of leadership:
Training time is respected, even if it’s not billable.
Staff receive both constructive and positive feedback.
Process improvements are encouraged, not dismissed.
People ask what you’re learning—not just what you billed.
If you’re lucky enough to work at a place like this, that’s a gift—protect it. And if you’re a senior, manager, or partner who is making time to invest in others, thank you. Keep going. You may be swimming against the current, but you’re doing the profession a service.
Because at the end of the day:
The future of accounting doesn’t belong to firms that optimize billable hours at the expense of people. It belongs to the ones willing to invest in growth—even when it’s not immediately profitable.