re: k

Aka banking.

quote:

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One guy I graduated with is in tax at EY and only in their R&D tax department. That's it's. produces value for EY but how does the help 95% of other types of business?

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That means he worked on clients who had R&D expenditures that were a significant item on their tax returns. It doesn't mean they had no other issues, or that he didn't learn to apply general concepts of accounting and taxation. Those clients still had issues regarding financing decisions, capitalization policies, revenue recognition and all of the other issues that could possibly arise over the life of a business.

His "specialization" would not prepare him very well for a post-EY career in banking or finance, but he would be pretty attractive to high tech, pharmaceutical and many manufacturing businesses. That includes start-ups where he would have the opportunity to take less current cash in exchange for significant equity that could pay off handsomely with one good product developed by the start-up. Specializing in a Big 4 is often a calculated exit strategy decision made by the specialist.