Crowe Horwath Reviews

Pros

Smart, dynamic, competent colleagues.
Exposure to high profile clients.
Good benefits - especially time off and road warrior benefits.
Collegial atmosphere on most projects - work hard, play hard.

Cons

Pay low compared to industry standard.
Uses a staffing model that sends staff/senior staff out on engagements outside of their areas of expertise without providing proper training or support.
No clear correlation between job performance (based on evaluations) and career advancement.
In some groups - utilization rates well about 115% - stated management philosophy of overworking staff rather than hiring additional resources in order to improve bottom line.

Advice to Senior Management

Respect your workers - attrition rate will continue to be high at certain levels unless you do a better job of resource management, provide better training and support in the field, and define clear performance expectations tied to career advancement.

Pros

A well established company with a genuine focus on their relationship with their clients.

They partner with their clients resulting in a long term winning relationship.

They are open to new ideas and eager to explore new opportunities.

Cons

They are a large global organization and as a result strategic decisions can take time to be made but they do get made and they do communicate with the stakeholders throughout the process.

Advice to Senior Management

Right now there really isn't any guidance or advice that I would give Crowe Horwath. They are doing well and growing year on year. I am happy!

Pros

Good employee benefits
Good vacation time
Interesting work with diverse client base
Good compensation
There are many opportunities for advancement

Cons

Long working hours
Unreasonably high expectations from first year staff
Reviews on work performed are not always objective, management picks favorites
High turnover

Advice to Senior Management

They need to listen and take into consideration the opinions employees that actually do the most of the work on the field.

Pros

Crowe has a great benefits package including quarterly compensation for employees who are on the road traveling more than 10 nights in a quarter. If you are college graduate and entering into the Public Accounting sector this could be a great learning experience. Within audit engagements, you are usually paired with a more experience personnel (Senior, Manager, or Sr. Manager) for learning and development. You will have tons of exposure to observing team dynamics and building client relationships with upper management while out in the field. Depending on if you're liked by management in the firm (local offices) will likely determine whether or not you will be provided opportunities for promotion. Word of mouth is held more highly than work product so do not upset anyone while working.

Cons

In my observant, this company is attempting to enhance their employee training program. With that being said there is no stand firm methodology. When working in different line of services, it can difficult as gain access to the Crowe methodology as it is will vary from office to office, person to person, and lines of services (i.e. Manufacturing, Financial Services-Banking, Insurance). This can be frustrating. Crowe has a unique evaluation process which does provide enough feedback to determine whether or not an individual is actually meeting expectation for their level. Evaluators are inconsistent in their feedback which can be frustrating to a person attempting to make it to the next level as there are no clear guidelines as to what differentiates staff from senior staff, manager from senior manager. The firm is in the process of revamping their evaluation process as well as employee training so within the next few years it may improve the workplace. Lastly, if you're seeking a work place with great people and culture this is not the place. I have witnessed more back biting and throwing people under the bus during my employment here than I care to count. So, if you are entertaining the idea of working here, please be aware that the people who toot your horn on Monday might be the person stabbing you in the back on Wednesday. Good luck.

Advice to Senior Management

No advice.

Pros

Crowe has a great "midwestern" feel to it. All of the employees tend to get along well, and enjoy their time at Crowe. There is definitely a "get it done" attitude.

Cons

If you aren't an accountant, don't work for Crowe. They haven't figured out how to balance consulting with accounting, and there is definitely a bias in the leadership.

Pros

Interesting work;
Caring collagues;
Knowledgeable professionals;
Good long-term clients;
Compensation good;
Lower chargeable hours than Big Four; and
Insighful leadership.

Cons

Long hours though this is typical for CPA firms;
Busy season at times is challenging;
travel at times is not easy.

Advice to Senior Management

None

Pros

Comfortable environment and a real regard for life/work balance whenever possible.

Cons

There was a serious lack of leadership to build a team who worked together vs. worked behind each others' backs. Sooooo many competing silos and absolutely no cohesion to move the company in the right direction. LOTS of office politics going on!

Advice to Senior Management

Remove those individuals who are transparently insecure about their own roles which causes them to attack or undermine others who are simply trying to do their jobs.

Pros

Teamwork helps to solve all the problems!

Cons

Large workloads but it's still ok!

Advice to Senior Management

no comment

Pros

Access to clients with brand recognition.
Access to knowledgeable personnel to assist with challenges.
The opportunity to be industry leaders in various segments.

Cons

Work life balance does not exist.
Pay does not relate to performance.
Contradictory communications flow down from the top.

Advice to Senior Management

We have 250 partners going 200 different directions and not recognizing the hard work of the employees supporting the effort. Start working together are recognizing the efforts and sacrifices of the people making the machine move forward.

Pros

- Very generous PTO policy. 4-7 weeks per year depending on years of service
- Flexibility with scheduling work start and end times and working from home
- Transparent communication from from firm leadership at the C level

Cons

- Continually adding new work without added capacity to complete it in a reasonable work schedule
- Excessive hours requirement
- Career advancement opportunities are non-existent despite significant praise and recognition, which in turn is meaningless when you can't get a promotion or a decent raise
- Unnecessarily complicated and inefficient processes
- "Team-building" activities that make you feel like you're back in first grade that create little value for professionals.

Advice to Senior Management

Lead the firm. Don't micromanage the day to day activities of those below you making a fraction of what you make. Increase accountability on all levels.