Sorry, but I think you can forget it!

Maybe 2-5% speak english(I guess), accounting laws are different. But ofcause if you take a super intensive language class and you have a language ear, you will maybe be able to communicated within 1-2 years. And what about the accounting, do you have a speciality that are not very commune in order to get a visa?

Sorry I'm just trying to be realistic

 

How many years of experience do you have working the Big 4?  Accounting skills are portable worldwide...Ellenliss obviously doesn't know anything about the accounting profession.  I am American and have worked for KPMG in Asia, and I wasn't the only foreigner there.  The partners of the firm were Australian, New Zealander, British, etc. and did not speak the local language.  Learning the local GAAP is easy once you've got a solid understanding of accounting...it's kind of like NBA players playing in international tournaments under different rules--in the end basketball is basketball isn't it?  Try to snag a transfer to the one of the Brazilian offices through your firm...you might even get paid your native currency 

docktadru: where in Asia?

Hong Kong or Singapore where 98% speak english or China where 2% speak English?

On a local contract with a bowl of rice or expat contract with Penthouse and car?

Which big 4 are you working for here in Brazil?

Sorry , but I have hardly never seen that asian NBA basketball team down here in Brazil! 

 

Originally posted by fishy But I guess English is a must to work in big 4. Isn't it the same in the big 4 in Brazil?

  I don't know... but I'd say that Brazilians are so imaginative & creative in everything, especially laws & ways around laws that Portuguese must be really good!

I was with a Big 4 firm in Saigon, Vietnam, where maybe 1% at most of the population speaks English.  My cousin (Canadian citizen) was also a Senior Manager at another Big 4 firm in Asia getting MAD paid.  No, Ellenliss, not in Singapore or Hong Kong.  And no, Ellenliss, I'm talking about getting paid what you would be getting paid in your native country, NOT local currency.  How many Big 4 expat accountants do you know, by the way???  What firm do you work for???  I know a boatload of fellow expats who have worked ALL OVER THE WORLD (Asia, Europe, Latin America, etc.) for the Big 4, because accounting like I said IS a portable skill. 

Sorry , but I have hardly never seen that asian NBA basketball team down here in Brazil!

What the hell are you talking about?  I made an analogy about how universal accounting was and how easy it is to pick up different rules once you already have a strong foundation, and so I don't what that was all about.  And English is the official language within the firm, by the way, so the expats didn't have much of a problem in that regard.  Fishy, your best bet is to get at least 5 years of experience in your firm (get to manager level) and then try to get a secondment in Brazil.  It's probably really hard to snag a position abroad with any less experience because remember firms only hire foreigners if they can't find locals to fill the position.  Once you get to manager level, you will have had a strong understanding of U.S. GAAP and SEC/SOX regulations, which is valued throughout the world.  This is the path that most Big 4 expats I know have taken.  Peace.


Edited by docktadru