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2023 Accounting Internship Programs, Ranked

Posted on by Going Concern News Desk

A Palo Alto, CA-based CPA firm that most of you guys have never heard of has the top accounting internship program in the U.S. and the second-best overall internship program in the country, according to Vault-Firsthand’s ranking of the top internship programs in the U.S. for 2023.

Vault-Firsthand said this about the summer internship program at Frank, Rimerman + Co., which had a score of 9.495 out of 10 and was ranked No. 2 in the top 100 overall internship programs in the U.S.:

Regarding Frank, Rimerman + Co.’s career development opportunities, one intern said, “The firm really takes the time to put together all of our training and work schedules to maximize our experience. It is very easy to network with anyone at the firm because they are all so approachable and willing to share their thoughts and experiences with you.” Another intern said the best aspects of the internship program are “the people, the culture, the work-life balance, and the transparency.”

The process from moving to Frank Rimerman intern to employee after graduation was clearly communicated as well, according to the following intern review: “The expectations of interns and full-time employees were made clear to us many times throughout the program. In fact, we were warned of the few circumstances which would cause us not to receive an offer. Towards the end of the internship, the recruiters met with us one on one and shared the feedback they had been receiving on us, hinting at which direction the company was leaning in terms of our offer. This level of clarity and honesty from an employer is greatly appreciated.”

Oooo, I wonder what those “few circumstances” are? Making derogatory remarks to a co-worker? Sitting on a partner’s desk while Snapchatting? Watching porn in their cubicle? Taking a three-day vacation without telling anyone?

This past summer, Vault-Firsthand surveyed more than 12,000 current and former interns from more than 130 internship programs about their actual internship experiences. On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the highest and 1 being the lowest, respondents were asked to rate their internship experiences in six core areas:

  • Quality of life;
  • Compensation and benefits;
  • Interview process;
  • Career development;
  • Full-time employment prospects; and
  • Diversity.

To determine an overall score for each program, the ratings were assigned relative weights based on what interns told Vault-Firsthand they value most in an internship. The overall scores are based on the following weighted formula:

  • 30% career development;
  • 20% employment prospects;
  • 20% quality of life;
  • 20% compensation;
  • 5% diversity; and
  • 5% interview process.

Vault-Firsthand then compiled rankings of the top internship programs in more than 25 different areas, including best overall internships, best internships by industry, and most prestigious internships.

Here are the 25 firms with the best internships in the accounting profession for 2023, according to Vault-Firsthand:

1. Frank, Rimerman + Co. (Summer Internship)
2. Aprio
3. Elliot Davis
4. Weaver
5. EisnerAmper (Audit Internship, Tax Internship)
6. Moss Adams (Summer Internship)
7. Grant Thornton
8. Frazier Deeter
9. Baker Tilly (Accounting Internship)
10. Plante Moran
11. CohnReznick
12. WilkinGuttenplan
13. H&CO (Brilliant)
14. BDO USA
15. Armanino
16. Withum
17. Marcum
18. Wipfli (Accounting Internship)
19. KPMG
20. CBIZ MHM
21. PKF O’Connor Davies
22. Cherry Bekaert
23. Lumsden McCormick
24. Eide Bailly (Accounting and Technology Internship Programs)
25. BPM

Soon-to-be accounting grads who only care about interning at a prestigious accounting firm can choose from one of the Big 4 because all of them are among the 50 most prestigious internships in the U.S.:

18. Deloitte
25. EY (EY Launch)
27 PwC (Summer Internship)
33. KPMG

If you’re interested in seeing past Vault accounting internship rankings, you can find them here: 2022, 2021, 2020, and 2019.

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Accounting Student with Internship in Hand Is Having Second Thoughts

Ed. note: Desperate for advice but surrounded by idiots? Email us immediately. Oh, but read this first.

Hey GC,

I’m a junior at a well-respected New England college with a double concentration in accounting and marketing. A few weeks ago, I accepted an offer as an audit intern for next summer from a public accounting firm just outside of the Big 4. Just as a background, my GPA sucks (sub-3.0), but I enjoy doing interviews. While I was excited to get the job, I’m still not sure if auditing is a career path I want to go down.

My biggest fear is a high-paced, numbers-intensive career tra to people, forming relationships, and pretty much anything that doesn’t involve crunching numbers. Ideally, I’d like to pursue a career that highlights my writing ability and interests, like sports marketing (which I’m sure will be scoffed at in the comment section). Additionally, as my GPA suggests, I hate studying for tests, so I don’t anticipate doing the CPA thing or going to grad school. Do you have any general advice? Any chance I survive this internship?

Love the site, keep up the good work.

My first drafted response:

***Start***
Drop the accounting degree, focus on marketing, and start going to class to get your grades up before you’re unemployed.
***End***

My second:


You remind me of countless other students, studying a subject that you have little interest in. I don’t know your backstory: maybe you did well in accounting in high school; maybe one of your parents is a CPA; maybe one of your Helicopter parents told you that “you can do ANYTHING with a degree in accounting” and you earnestly believed them. Frankly, I don’t care what the story is…but you need to kick yourself in the ass and either suck it up and commit to an accounting career or get the hell out.

What you have going for your career:

• A paid internship with a mid-sized CPA firm. Ignore the fact that the Central Banks came to the rescue this morning (even Groupon is up!). The economy is in the can and because hiring trends are reactionary and delayed in a services industry like public accounting, fulltime job opportunities will be even scarcer when you’re graduating. That’s to say you want to work in the industry; but I think you don’t and you came to GC hoping we’d tell you otherwise.

What you have going against your career:
• Your grades are terrible compared to market. Firms are turning 3.8 GPA’s away at the door.
• You have little/no work ethic.
• You do not plan to do graduate school (presumably to be CPA eligible).
• You don’t plan to take the CPA exam.

If everything remains constant, you will not survive in a career in public accounting. You claim that your biggest fear is a “high-paced, number-intensive career track,” where in reality it should be more in line with “living in my parents’ basement, playing video games and ‘networking’ over Linkedin.” What would you prefer – a slow-paced environment where hypothetical interview questions are tossed around? Do you think “sports marketing” isn’t a fast-paced environment?? And what do you even KNOW about audit? Being that you’re a junior, you might not even take an auditing course before your internship. Don’t knock it just yet, man. It sounds to me like you’ve given up on accounting before you’ve even started. Which is fine if that’s the case; just accept it yourself and believe in what you actually want to do.

Not speaking for the GC commenters, but I won’t scoff at your desire to work in sports marketing. I will, however, challenge your ass to do more. What are you doing to break into the incredibly competitive sports marketing world? A piss-poor GPA, marketing degree (from a university whose program is not in the top tier for marketing…go Eagles!), and self-proclaimed writing abilities are not going to cut it. I’m not an expert on the industry, but I do know that “sports marketing” is like saying you want “a job in finance.” What do you want to do? Product development? Management? Retail marketing? Brand management? Selling Gatorade at Red Sox games?

You need to figure your shit out. That’s as much handholding as you’ll get from me. I could sit here and babble off that you need to study more, focus your efforts on your future, yada yada yada. So, here’s my advice: do some serious soul searching. If accounting is not what you want to do for the next 40 years, give up your internship. Take summer classes to get your GPA up or sweat your summer in an unpaid marketing internship making copies for the local single-A minor league baseball team. Do SOMETHING to get your career on track. At the very least, go ask your questions on a marketing-focused website. Find out how cut-throat the industry is right now. If you are hoping to ride the waves of your alma mater into some sweet gig at an agency, you are setting yourself up for a rude awakening.

Apparently Interns Are Flocking to PwC to Learn More About … HR

Getting an internship at PwC is a pretty big deal for college students looking to […]

Should I Focus on the CPA Exam or an Internship with the Big 4?

Because I never check my LinkedIn messages, this is the first I’m getting to this particular question. That goes for Facebook, Twitter DMs, and/or @s because if it doesn’t land in my inbox directly I’m probably going to get to it last. That being said, if you have a question for either Caleb or myself (we have the industry somewhat completely figured out between us), get in touch with us directly and we’ll try not to steer your entire life wrong.

This ended up coming to me after I told the boyfriend of a would-be accoungirlfriend could probably find a gig in public if she got her CPA. Like any major life decision, it’s a commitment and as any of you who have whined about failing the CPA exam know, it isn’t an easy career path to take. Our asker today wants to know if he should jump too:

I really liked your response to Matt, regarding his girlfriend (who was taking ACCT 101 at the time he sent you a message). You had some great advice on things to consider before making accounting the career to devote one’s time to. I understand the importance you mentioned in having CPA next to your name when applying for jobs; because of this, I wonder if you think it would be better to get experience/internship first or invest the time into studying for the CPA exam and pass it before persuing [sic] any other obstacles of life?

I tapped Caleb for his thoughts first since he knows better than I do what it takes to be a Big 87654 grunt having done it himself.

If you want a job with The Big 4, go for the internship. The recruiting is far more competitive than in the past few years so if you want a job with one of those firms, than the best way to make that happen is to intern with them.

From a more general perspective, the work experience is invaluable as opposed studying for the exam. Sure you might have a jumpstart on your peers getting the CPA but an internship is individual experience that cannot be duplicated. The CPA exam is just at test that many of your peers will pass at one point or another during their careers. However those with internship experience will be able to point to specific experiences and accomplishments that other candidates may not have, setting you apart from them.

In my view, it appears as though the CPA is much easier to get through before you actually commit to A) a career B) a family C) just about anything else that you might be thinking about taking on at this point. Work experience is awesome but who can just grab that? You might get sucked into the public accounting whirlpool and 5 years later wonder why 5 busy seasons have gone by and you still haven’t passed the CPA exam.

Then again, your best chance to hit the Big 4 is as a new associate is right out of school – you might be the fluke who manages to get their attention at 35 once you’ve “figured out what you want to do with your life” but by then it’s likely too late for you to suddenly warm up to the Big 87654. It’s worse than trying to get into the military at that point, you’re flabby and already set in your ways, they need someone young and hungry and not yet jaded by a career in accounting. Good luck with that.

I say pass the exam now while you can (if you can). Then again, with passing CPA exam scores from the beginning you’re also a threat to the firms as you can easily bail for a real work-life balance in private accounting once you meet the work experience requirement. Who would continue to put up with the sort of abuse some of these firms put you guys through? Someone who has taken 3 years to get through FAR or made the mistake of starting a family AND a career in public before getting through or even touching the CPA exam.

If you don’t really want it (which it sounds like you don’t), be careful because it’s going to be harder for you if you’re just going through the motions. My advice.