Transaction Services - Benjamin Hamburger

Well, it turns out that accounting isn’t that boring after all. Although those considering audit might want to take a careful look at what’s involved.

Accountancy was cited by almost everyone as a brilliant place to get a solid understanding of business and many people exploit the training as a springboard into other careers both within finance and more broadly (such as management consultancy). This makes it a pretty good option for those who aren’t entirely sure which direction to take but who want a solid qualification from which to build.

The exact qualification you sign-up to will depend on what interests you and what slant you want your training to have. Typically at the big 4 you’ll be going for the ACA, which probably has the edge in terms of prestige. If you’re interested in being an accountant within a business then you’ll be heading in the direction of CIMA. Public service has its own specialised training and that’s CIPFA.

Something that may seem a little counter intuitive is that you don’t actually have to be a math geek to be successful in this industry. Whilst it might help for more specialized areas such as tax and actuarial work, most people we spoke to didn’t have a clue what the whole top row of a calculator does!

Who are you and what do you do?

My name is Benjamin Hamburger, I work for KPMG in transaction services.

What attracted you to this career?

I was looking for something quite analytical, I wanted to do something whereby just breaking down companies and reaching different conclusions. I applied straight for transaction services simply because I wanted to do consultancy.

Within transaction services you have got financial advisory, and you have got what is called strategic and commercial intelligence but basically it is strategy, so that’s where strategy consultancy sits within transaction services. 

You have got financial advisory and strategic advisory.  I wanted to do management consultancy and went on to KPMG's website because I knew about the company and about the brand so I read about my options to do business recovery or whatever, got to transaction services and it said you have got a mixture between financial advisory and strategic consultancy and I think by that point I knew what she wanted to do.

What is the difference between financial services and strategic consultancy?

So basically financial advisory is saying we are going in to analyse a business and they are just going to give you reams and reams of data, hopefully it will be well organised, at which point you go away and just analysing the financials.  So to some extent the financials will always impacted by the strategy because the strategy of the business is for example, “we are going to expand into India” and then financials are going to say “are profits going to increase or is turnover going to increase?” But basically when you are doing financial license you are saying, “ok this year we are going to accept the strategy”.  With this strategy in place is it going to affect the numbers in the way that management are saying it is going to affect the numbers.  So it is just saying are the financials correct given these assumptions.  Where as strategic advisory is going, in and talking about management about the strategy and basically saying is the strategy good, is it going to work, do we need to change the strategy have we got any advice for you on future strategies. 

You can actually only join as a graduate on the financial side but you can move over to the strategic side and also you are always getting a mixture of financial and strategic projects.

What does your job involve?

As you know KPMG is an accounting firm and transaction services is deal based basically, so where there is a deal going through, if a company is being bought, or being sold, or a company is looking to raise finance, so they want to re finance a loan or they want to take a loan out from a bank, there are always going to be interested parties.  So for example, if Company A is buying Company B, Company A are going to want to know a lot about Company B, they will want to know, is it in a healthy financial state, has it got a good business plan, in ten years time is it going to be performing, is it going to make them money?  So we will go in and due something called due diligence and that process is looking at what company A want to know about Company B, then going into Company B and investigating.

What do you do on a typical day?

On a typical day in a project, personally I think it is brilliant, first of all you work in a very small team maybe three or four people, and you will be going into the business and you will be sitting down with the Finance Director, Managing Director and maybe the Operational Director, and you will be asking them questions about the business.  You will take the financial information they give you, analyse the financial information.  You analyse the information you have gained from the Financial Director and see if everything makes sense, if it does make sense, marvellous, you can write your report and you understand the business. If it doesn't make sense you will then go back to the Financial Director and say this doesn't make sense we need more explanations.  So for me, at my stage, it is the best exposure I can get.

What are the specialisms within your industry?

You have got advisory, within advisory you have then got transaction services, corporate finance which is a similar thing but it is more about raising finance behind deals, then you have got business restructuring, which sounds quite cool and it is like here is a business lets change it.  Kind of the more strategic consultancy, and you have got audit and then you have got tax.

Describe the process of your work?

So thinking about the last project I did which was a private equity company which owned a business and the business was trying to refinance the loan, the bank wanted to know, in five years time are they going to be able to pay the loan back.  So what we were doing was looking at the forecast and the budget for a number of years, so one thing within that will be for example they are saying that next year they are going to make £50m or whatever, what is that £50m based on? Well, they are saying they are going to get 10,000 customers a year, so that is the key assumption that then drives the revenue.  Does that assumption seem reasonable?  Have they got 10,000 customers this year? No, so ok how are they going to get an extra 2,000 customers? Have they opened more stores?  Ok they have opened more stores, how many customers does the new store bring in?  Right the new store brings in 5,000 customers and they are going to open four stores, so the assumption is correct, we reckon they may be able to make that much profit next year, put that I the report everything seems ok, the assumption seems reasonable move on.

What are the best bits about your job?

I love the fact that I am 25 and I get to sit down with Financial Directors and I don't think I could do that anywhere else other than another consultancy.  I really enjoy that and really like the exposure.

What are the worst bits about your job?

It is really market based, so if the market is great you get to do loads of work, if the markets are quiet, people can’t borrow money, if you can't borrow money, you can’t buy companies, if you can't buy companies it is quite quiet.

What has been your greatest achievement?

I set up a business at university, which I was proud of and really enjoyed and it really set me off to thinking that I want to get involved in business.

Any regrets?

I have kind of started again really, I did two years on another graduate scheme at Proctor and Gamble and in hindsight, I would have started off here straight away and not taken that two years.

Interviewer: And what was it about that original graduate scheme that you didn't like?

I have quite a good piece of advice, when it comes to choosing what graduate scheme, you shouldn't just going around looking at brands and thinking right that is a great brand, I could see myself working for that company, that seems to fit in.  If they want me I want the job.  But you have to be so careful about making sure the company is right for you, because when I started off at Proctor and Gamble I thought, P&G, great brand, meant to have a great graduate scheme, really well recognised, right I am going to go for them, if they offer me the job I will take it. Where in fact I didn't spend anywhere near enough time in interviews quizzing them and finding out what my job was going to be and if I had found that out before hand I wouldn't have accepted the job.

What is the pay like and are there any perks?

I would say the pay is really reasonable, the other thing with accountancy firms they are putting you through training so the training they say cost about £100k so that kind of impacts your salary, so for example people working in audit, outside of London that will really impact their salary, so considering they are paying £100k a year for us to be trained, yes reasonable. The perks are good, nothing specific, there are things like the wellness card, which basically means you can call up this number if, for example, you need a plumber, they will sort a plumber out or if you need some house cleaning or an appointment for anything, then they will kind of take care of it. 

How long is a working day and do you have to work out of hours?

It is really project driven which I really love but also find it quite difficult because what that means is if you are on a project you could be working from 8am until 10pm and if the project is going to a deadline and you need to get a report out by a certain day, whatever it takes you have to be in the office until whatever time, it doesn’t matter, you hear people staying literally all night.  So you will be worked hard but at the same time you kind of relish that project experience, you don’t really mind and then when you are off a project it will be 9 to 5 or 9.30 to 5.30 and you are completely not expected to stay.  I think that is a great think at KPMG, there is no hero culture and I really feel after two years at Proctor and Gamble, I have something to compare this graduate scheme against and there is no hero culture.  Whereas at P&G no matter how much work you did, if you weren’t in at 7.30 in the morning you would not look good.  Where as here, you can work hard when you have got work to do and if you are not on a project you can leave at 5.30, that is absolutely fine, if you stay passed that people ask what you are still doing here, so I think that is really good.

Is there much in the way of travel?

I quite like being office based to be honest, to be able to come in every day and go home.  As opposed to when I was at P&G, I once had a client in Scotland and had to fly to Edinburgh every week, it was quite good fun for the first three times then it was like check in check out, you never want to go on holiday, go for a meeting and come back again.  So if you want to travel you can, so there are lots of secondment opportunities we are always getting messages in our inbox saying, we need someone in Dubai for six months or something like that.  Every week on a Friday you get an email with opportunities.

Do you have to be based anywhere in particular?

You definitely do it on London, obviously, Manchester there is a lot of transaction services work, I know the Leeds office you can do transaction services work, I think it is confined to the big cities, but then again it is deal based, where the big companies are based, Birmingham, Manchester, London.

What is the working environment like?

It is a really good working environment and again I have got something to compare it to.  First of all there is absolutely no hero culture, and I think the reason why there is no hero culture is the structure of KPMG is really flat, I don’t have a boss for example, in other corporations your results don’t matter that much, what matters is what your boss thinks of you.  Whereas basically what we have here is a senior person who sorts out the staffing, a senior person who sorts out what project you are going to go on and another senior person who collates all your feedback and reviews it.  So there is no centralised power above you so you have someone who you kind of answer to because they are looking at what projects you are on, then you have lots of different project managers, and all those project managers collate feedback which then go to your performance manager, who then writes a report on you.  So because it is such a structure, there is no hero culture, no need to feel like you have to impress this person or that person, actually it is a really friendly environment everyone is quite good friends, it is a relaxed office environment, you can shout and I think from a demographic point of view transaction services kind of leans on a side of male demographic probably 60/40 but in comparison with other consultancies I have interviewed for and been it is quite balanced.  

Interviewer: The dress code is it formal?

I don’t have to wear a tie, I guess most people wear a suit or shirts but then people come in wearing Chino’s and a shirt and that is fine as well.

How did you get into your job?

I went to Leeds university and did politics which can lead you into anything really, speaking completely candidly it rules you out of a number of things, so it rules you out of getting interviews at Goldman Sax, or it rules you out of getting interviews at BCG or McKinsey but once you get out that band you can do anything, accountancy, consultancy firms were happy to interview me. I would say within KPMG it is pretty representative you have a few Oxbridge graduates and LSE and those kinds of places, but also Manchester, Leeds. 

There is nothing quantitative in what I am saying I can only speak from what I have seen from what happened to my friends but certainly I felt and the people in my situation felt that we went to Leeds for different reasons but when it came to graduating and thinking of applying to Goldman Sachs and them thinking ok Leeds university, red brick provincial, where is the bin.

What's the application process like?

I applied to KPMG and I had more experience because I had done a couple of years in another graduate scheme and I also applied right before the deadline so when I applied, I got an email back saying “thank you very much for your application, we think you fit the bill for what we are looking for, click here for first round interviews, click here for final round interviews, which was an easy decision so I went to the final round and it was really nice.  They give you a real grilling and a different type of interview but I felt my KPMG interviews were positive, they were trying to find out what you were good at, they were tying to get the best out of you, and I really liked that, when I came out of the interviews, I felt I really liked the company.

When do you choose which service line to apply to?

You choose at the first stage when you apply, you just say transaction services, audit, tax or whatever, then you are specifically going for that service. When you actually interview people the interview stage is exactly the same, certainly some of it is because the group exercises I did were with people who were going into audit.

What are the key skills required for your job?

I think you can pick up any skills you need, you have just got to want to do it, if you have an interest in business you have an interest in breaking down companies and understanding them then the rest of the skills you can pick up because all it is saying does this trend seem correct or does it fit into everything else we know about the business, and if it does great and you make a comment about it and if it doesn’t you find out why.  I think you just have an interest in it.

Interviewer: Do you need to be numerate, good with numbers?

I don’t think I am really that good with numbers at least I have never felt myself to be.  A lot of people do the accounting qualifications but the it is basically adding and subtracting and division and multiplication, you don’t do any complicated calculations, I don’t know what the whole top half of the calculator means to be honest just 0-9 and plus and minus, I don’t think you have to be overly numerate, I think that is a misconception.

What's your top tip for breaking into your industry?

Within accountancy I am not sure but within transaction services I think there is a lot of difference between transaction services and doing audit some people will just hear accountant but there is a big difference for example audit is the driver behind KPMG is quite a process and attention to detail, and I think transaction services is quite different.  To get into it you just have to display a passion for business you just have to display a passion for understanding how businesses work and also to being calm in interviews.

Interviewer: How does one make yourself calm in interview

Apply to quite a few places and don’t put all your eggs in one basket, and then if you go for interview, it is not the be all and end all, it should just be I am going to impress this person and make them want to hire me.  It should be to some extent as equal footing, I want to go in here and want to be calm because I want to know about them and if I want to do this job and if I will be happy in that environment because you don’t want to end up committing to a graduate scheme and after two months decide you don’t want to do it.

What's the career progress and how quickly can you move up the career ladder?

You have got to pass your exams that is the key driver, you have to pass because you start off as an E1 and that is first year graduate and you pass your first exams you go to E2, then pass your second year exams go to E3, when you qualify you become a D grade so literally for the first whole chunk of promotions you just have to pass your exams.  Obviously you have to show some decorum but you really need to pass your exams.

Interviewer: And then how does it go on after that do you go to E grade and F grade?

You go E grade, 1, 2, 3 then D grade starts 4,5,6,7,8 and D grade associate, so E grade is graduate, training contract and that is good you get good experience but essentially you are not making any big decisions on projects or working for people.  When you qualify and become associate, as an associate you could just about be running your own project so for me that could be in about three years time or working just beneath the person running the projects, you get quite a lot of that autonomy.  So D grade associate, you do for about three years, and you progress as you should and it does seem quite processed then you become manager, and the same for another three years, then associate director, then director, then Holy Grail partner.

Where do you see the industry going?

If you are applying to do anything with transaction services, corporate finance or anything in financial or advisory you have got to be so hot on the credit crunch, and for me as I said I did marketing and sales at Proctor and Gamble, I wasn’t that up to date with it and when I sat down and thought I want to do something financial advisory, I sat down with the Financial Times and started reading it and there were so many things I didn’t understand and I just spent a lot of times reading articles and it would throw up a phrase that I just didn’t have a clue what it meant, and I would go away and research that phrase to understand that phrase and go back to the article and you would be going off at tangents the whole time to understand things and you get to the point where the whole article is to really understand it could take you half a day.  By the end of that time you will understand it and understand the market so much more, so it is basically building up a context, so you will just build up information about the markets and you just fill that in and keep reading more news stories but you have really got to know, for example we are going through a period of turmoil at the moment and that will also be an impact at your interviews as well because if you think about it when markets are great and people can borrow and loan money, and when there is more money there is going to be more hiring so that should also be one of your key questions in interviews is what about the market, why are you hiring graduates now, how much work have you got, what is the business plan for the company if you haven’t got that much work in so you have to be really hot in the financial markets.

Is there scope for movement during or after this career?

It is a really good qualification the ACA, I feel the whole time when I am being stretched and learning a lot of new things, it is a really well respected qualification and it does give you that flexibility.  There are a few different lines you can take, so people when they quality sometimes either stay within the accountancy world and do audit, stay in the accountancy world and do something advisory based like transaction services, or there are many things you can do from an accountancy advisory perspective.  Or you can take the corporate route so people start off doing internal audit, and their goal will be to become financial directors or you can go and work straight at strategic consultancies who like the fact of an ACA, or people work for banks as well because you get a really good financial background when you finish.

What are the industry resources that someone interested in joining must know about?

I would say you want to read the Economist and the Economist website it is open all access, the Financial Times website is really good as well, you only get 30 articles a month which is a bit annoying but just read the Financial times and just go away and research the articles so you understand them and when you understand them you can carry on reading more and more and is a really good way to build up your knowledge and you don’t have to know anything to start.

If you weren't in this career, what would you be doing?

I really think this is the only thing I can do.

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