We’ve had a couple of requests for the BDO compensation thread, and the calendar is right, so we’re happy to oblige.
One tipster that works in advisory told us “I just received an email from the partner saying to stop by his office” but added, “I don’t expect anything significant.”
BDO hasn’t released its revenue numbers for fiscal 2017 yet, but if it’s anything like the last few years, it’ll be another double-digit increase. The 2017 BDO partner class was slightly smaller than last year’s but still large, so you would think things are still pretty good at Bravo Delta Oscar.
But who knows? I feel like accounting firms, more so than other employers, have a knack of disappointing their employees when it comes to rewarding them financially. For those unfamiliar, every year, accounting firm employees get herded into hotel conference rooms or some other space where the leaders of a particular office or region will tell you how things went. And how did things go? The answer is: Great. Things always went great.
What they don’t tell you how all these great things are going to translate into meaningful financial rewards for you. I guess it’s possible that they do, but I either wasn’t paying attention, or they talked about it in such vague terms that I lost interest. The obvious point is, accounting firms are good with numbers and not good words. So when the numbers you hear in your performance evaluation and/or compensation meeting are bad, usually the words that explain those numbers are also bad, and therefore disappointing. When the numbers you hear in your performance evaluation and/or compensation meeting are good, you don’t give a damn what the words are, because your compensation numbers are good. And because accounting firms like to believe that they’re meritocracies, they also believe the best performers really do receive the greatest rewards. After awhile, this kind of treatment becomes demoralizing, as our tipster’s expectations illustrate.
So anyway, I hope you BDO pie-throwers get some decent cheddar thrown your way. I’m sure the partners are fine, especially those that got pied.
Reminder, people can get prickly about the details shared in these compensation threads. Usually, they appreciate it when you share things like:
- Position, promotion (if applicable)
- City (preferred) or region (we’ll begrudge you)
- Line of Service
- % Raise
- % Bonus (if any)
- Old & New Base
Thanks for playing.
Is your firm conducting performance reviews and discussion compensation this summer? Let us know! Email us at [email protected].
