I&apos;ve been intermittently lurking around this forum for a while, and I&apos;m looking for your enlightened view (yeh or neh) on a current career opportunity:Currently at small finance software company (<30 staff), account management/sales/marketing position - niche and a definite lack of training scope/growth/progression, but good money at the moment (26k +com of ~5kpa)Opportunity= offered position in PWC, ACA 3y training contract, SPA division (part of PIC). 13k pa (y1) rising to est. 26kpa upon qualification.The conundrum- keep cracking away at the current employer or risk it all for glory at PWC? Are they known as a &apos;jam tomorrow&apos; employer?Your views please gentlemen...

13K???Did you miss a zero on the end or something?13K!!

That does seem low. Are you sure it&apos;s full time? My bro does SOX with Deloitte which also puts him through his ACA. He gets paid about £26k (in london) now and will be on about £35k-40k upon completion of his 3 yrs.

Yep its 13k pa, full time ACA trainee position, based in NI. Supposedly the going rate here (see http://www.brightwater.ie/documents/Salary_Survey_2007.pdf)Keep cracking away at the current employer? or risk it all at PWC?

You should have said NI, there seems to be quite a big difference in salaries (see thread 29313) between NI and England. Not sure what the dealio is in Scotland/Wales. However, as far as I know (not having worked for any of them) the Big 4 are all pretty good employers; the best run-of-the-mill ones around. If you are more niche in what you want from a company (ie shed loads of work/money) then there are other options, but PWC will start you off well. Plus if you ever want to move to any other accounting firm, PWC will look pretty good on your CV.If you can afford it and you are sure you want to be an accountant then it’s a good plan, but halving your salary is going to cripple anyone. If I were you I’d move to England for your 3 years, and then move back once you’ve got the qualification.