Great overall firm, terrible St. Louis office
Pros
The firm as a whole is growing rapidly and has many great people leading their respective offices and departments. This regional firm could soon establish a nationwide presence, assuming the right strategic acquisitions are made. Regarding the St. Louis office specifically, the only pro (somewhat ironically) is that the partners are highly knowledgeable.
Cons
The entirety of my negative experiences relate solely to the St. Louis office. The main issue with this office is their refusal to conform to firm wide Sikich initiatives. This is reflected in the archaic and horribly inefficient processes. Some examples include: - The firm is not paperless. Yes, they still utilize paper files for every client. - Returns are prepared by hand in addition to in the software - Work budgets are unrealistically low - For some reason, partners prepare returns and staff and seniors review them (even when the staff and seniors are actively looking for prep work). - Churn and burn environment (over hire for busy season, then have layoffs) - Zero work/life balance. - No work schedule flexibility. - No corporate culture. - Not only is corporate citizenship, professional networking and representing the firm for charitable ventures not encouraged, it is actively discouraged! - There was 1 Tax Department meeting during busy season. One. Very little (if any) communication occurs between the partners and the rest of the office. - Employees are not honored or recognized for passing the CPA exam. (No partners attend their new CPA reception ceremony.) - The partners are condescending, belittling and arrogant - The list goes on and on, but the bottom line is that the working conditions in the Sikich St. Louis office are intolerable.
