150 Hour Rule: Let’s Keep Arguing About What Color the Drapes Should Be While the House is Burning Down
Amanda Iacone at Bloomberg Tax has written the accounting niche’s 1,735th article about the accountant shortage and this time, as is often the case, the focus is 150 hours. Rather, how dueling factions within the profession are fighting for and against keeping it as the only option to CPA licensure. Let’s note here quickly that many of […]
Guy Who Works at a Firm Actually Named FML on Why Accounting Is a Great Career
So a guy named Brian Kelleher who works for the hilariously named FML CPAs has written an opinion piece for the Hartford Courant entitled “Opinion: Accounting is a fantastic career — despite common misconceptions.” Let me preface everything that is about to be said here with this: Accounting is a fantastic career and I sincerely believe […]
Unsatisfied With Her $140k Salary, Law Firm Controller Gave Herself a Raise
In a little law and order news courtesy the Department of Justice, a law firm controller has pleaded guilty this week to inflating her payroll amount by $1.48 million over the course of three years. Her annual salary, her real annual salary, was approximately $140,000. Way to take the fight against low wages into your […]
A Word on Salary Transparency From THE Transparency Guy: Stop Going in Blind on Compensation
Ed. note: The following is a guest post from Dominic Piscopo, you may know him better as the guy who built Big4transparency.com. Like many of you, we’re a huge fan of his work. For the few people who don’t know who he is or what his site does, read on. Stay tuned for future insight […]
EY UK to Everyone Who Works at EY UK: ‘Go F*ck Yourselves’
When the TPG Capital story “leaked” on Monday, it seemed awfully suspicious that a letter of that caliber would even make its way out into the world unless, you know, someone at a professional services firm with a bruised ego wanted to stir up some interest for a consulting business spin-off. Not saying there’s a […]
Sorry EY Australia Auditors, No Raise For You This Year
EY continues to redefine the meaning of “better working world,” this time by way of salaries for audit staff in financial services. Better for whom we aren’t quite sure, not the people receiving these salaries. AFR wrote about EY Australia audit salaries this morning (their morning): The starting pay for most auditing staff in parts […]
These 10 Tips for Successful Accounting Firm Recruitment Aren’t Terrible At All
Thomson Reuters put out a quick guide on recruiting accounting talent in current year based on responses gleaned from their 2023 State of the Tax Professionals Report and you know what it’s not bad. It’s a refreshing break from the articles that imply ESG is more important to young people than being able to pay […]
Citigroup is Holding Pay and Bonuses Hostage to Get People Back in the Office
It seems Citi is sick of WFH slackers and is getting the stick: Citigroup Inc. has begun telling managers to let staffers know they’ll face consequences if they don’t comply with policies for office attendance. While the vast majority of staffers are following the firm’s rules for hybrid work, the moves are focused on those […]
Already Underpaid PwC UKers Get Told Bonuses Will Suck This Year
Although Big 4 audit fees have increased so much in the last several years clients wrote a strongly worded letter to complain about it, PwC UK told its 25,000 staff last week that things will be tight this year. “Challenging” market conditions mean smaller raises (if they get raises at all) and bonuses. Oh yay. […]
UK Audit Regulator Chair Says Cheap-Ass Firms Should Pay Their Junior Auditors Better
Financial Reporting Council chair and stereotypically European named Jan du Plessis has told the Financial Times that audit firms — who regularly complain about the UK audit regulator being up their asses — should pay their junior auditors more. “There has been a significant increase in profitability at all the audit firms. They have the […]
Bonus Season Is Not Looking Good at the King’s KPMG
According to reporting across the pond (including this story from City A.M. we shall be quoting in a moment), KPMG UKers are not going to have a fruitful bonus season due in large part to a slowdown in business. KPMG has slashed the bonus pool of its UK workforce and reined in commission for salespeople […]
AICPA Council Approves 12-Point Plan to Do F*ck All to Solve the Accountant Shortage
Last week, the AICPA released a revised pipeline acceleration plan, the goal of which is to get more young people into accounting to save the profession from extinction. To save you a click, I’m putting it here. At its spring meeting in Washington this week, the AICPA’s governing body (“Council”) approved this plan. Yay. Cue […]
Here’s the AICPA’s Revised 12-Point Plan to Herd Students Into Accounting
Good news, everyone! The AICPA released an expanded pipeline plan today. If you assumed the plan would revolve around an aggressive effort to bully firms into paying people what they’re worth, you’d be wrong. “The detailed plan features input from a significant set of stakeholders and calls for those stakeholders to work together to […]
Rise Up! BDO USA Is Gonna Double Its Offshore Workforce, Mostly in India
[Ed. note: scroll down for assy commentary and screenshots of BDO leadership’s visit to India just days after they laid off a bunch of people in advisory, I need to get this part out of the way first] Financial Times has written about BDO USA’s plan to double its offshore workforce and couched the move […]
What TF Is Going on With Deloitte Promotions?
It’s promotion time at Deloitte and what is usually a time of celebration has devolved into disappointment and confusion for many. We’ve been tipped to unexpected promotion results and pointed to a thread on r/Deloitte that breaks it down: I just met with my coach and although I was rated as strong in all categories, […]
Researchers Shockingly Discover That If You Pay Low Level Grunts More, They Do Better Financial Reporting
A new working paper from Stanford Graduate School of Business professors Christopher Armstrong, John Kepler, and David Larcker, and Shawn Shi, Ph.D. ’23, of the University of Washington’s Foster School of Business has found a connection between how well low-ranking accountants are paid and the quality of their work. This is a new area for […]
Accounting Firm Leaders Cite ‘Rising Salaries’ As The Second Biggest Problem Facing Their Firms
Accounting Today has published “The 20 biggest problems for firms in 2023” and no one will be surprised to find out that the war for talent ranks #1 among the firms AT surveyed. Talent actually has its tentacles in a number of problems on AT’s list and spills over into several items–capacity issues, burnout, retention. […]
Survey Says: Virginia Accountant Salaries By Experience Level
Skipping the smart-ass headline for this one and getting right to it: Virginia Society of CPAs surveyed a total of 84 public firms, 17 solo practitioners, 133 accountants in corporate/industry, and 48 in government/nonprofit for the 2022 VSCPA Compensation & Benefits Survey and here are the results: Virginia Accounting Salaries Mean Median Accountant I: 0-1.9 […]
The Accountant Shortage Has Finally Been Figured Out. You’re Not Underpaid, You’re Bored!
Ed. note: if you’re visiting from r/accounting, thanks for actually reading the article. Love ya. Another day, another article purporting to offer the solution to the precipitous drop in accounting talent over the past several years that doesn’t involve paying people more. “Young people” have been blamed for talent shortages long before an actual shortage […]
OK Now They Are Just Trolling With These ‘Newest Workplace Trend’ Buzz Phrases
Ever since professor Anthony Klotz coined the term “The Great Resignation” in 2021 we have been inundated with more and increasingly nonsensical workplace trends bouncing around the business rags. Quiet quitting, quiet hiring, bare minimum Mondays, ‘tang ping,‘ (‘lying flat’ in Mandarin Chinese), and now we have “rage applying” which we’ll get to in a […]
Accounting Firms Have Begun to See Mexico As a Goldmine for Accounting and Finance Talent, Says Guy
Max Tokarsky — whose Twitter bio reads: “We can help your company grow by augmenting your U.S. team with Ivy League class, bilingual professionals based in Mexico” — has written a piece for Forbes about the current outsourcing trend from his perspective as a guy who is helping companies grow by augmenting their U.S. team […]
Somehow Accounting Ended Up on This List of the Highest-Paying College Majors in 2022
CBS News crunched some Payscale data and by some miracle, accounting ranked #52 on this list of the 60 highest-paying majors. Because we anticipate people might ask for proof of this, we have screenshotted accounting’s entry on said list. Text: Accounting isn’t just accounting anymore. Experts must perform multiple functions at once — and that’s […]
Wall Street Journal Addresses the Accountant Shortage, Suggests a Recession Could Fix It
I made my entrée into accounting way back in 2007, at the time my job involved a three-hour roundtrip journey across four Bay Area counties and back and I was looking for something a bit closer to home. Shortly after starting in CPA review, I started seeing more and more “For Sale” signs on the […]
EY Dumbly Nixes Mid-Year Bonuses
On a Friday all-hands call, EYers learned not to expect a bonus from Santa this year. This despite EY having its best year in 20 years. In September, EY announced revenue of $45.4 billion for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2022, an increase of 13.7% from prior year and the most year-over-year growth the […]
How Are Public Accounting Salaries Stacking Up For 2023? (Part 4, Hays U.S.)
The latest group of fortune tellers gazing into crystal balls to figure out what accounting salaries will be like next year are from the recruitment firm Hays U.S. In its 2023 salary guide, Hays provides salary ranges for accounting and finance jobs in nine states, plus the District of Columbia. For this article, we selected […]
Here Is a Massive List of Accounting Salaries Broken Down By City
Came across this list from Smartest Dollar of “the best-paying American cities for accountants in 2022” on the Googs and thought it worth sharing because getting paid is the only reason many of you do this job. Before the salary data appears at that link there are several paragraphs about the Inflation Reduction Act that […]
Someone Looked Up Audit Senior Salary Ranges at the Top 25 Firms to Catch Them Breaking the New NYC Pay Transparency Law
A week ago, u/DoritosDewItRight visited the websites of the top 25 public accounting firms to find out if they’d listed reasonable salary ranges for open positions, as required by a new law effective November 1 that requires employers in New York City — or employers of employees who will perform their work in New York […]
Industry Accounting Salary Outlook for 2023 is Not Horrible
Unless you have the word “chief” in your job title, accounting salaries in industry for 2023 are projected to be higher than in 2022—including 11 roles that are expected to have double-digit increases, according to our analysis of the 2022 and 2023 Accounting & Finance Salary Guides from LHH Recruitment Solutions (formerly Accounting Principals). Of […]
Another Deloitte Survey Says ‘Purpose’ is Just as Important as Pay (Yeah Right)
Deloitte pushed out some survey results this week that confirm what leaders have been telling themselves ever since the first Millennials entered the workplace at the turn of the century: ‘purpose’ is just as important as pay. Sure, guys. Sure. A Deloitte survey of over 4,000 respondents* found that over half of employees (62%) consider […]
Accountants Don’t Bitch About Their Pay as Much as Workers in Other Professions Do
LinkedIn recently came out with its latest Workforce Confidence Index survey, in which more than 32,000 U.S. professionals—including accountants—were asked if they felt well-compensated for the work they do. Fortunately for LinkedIn researchers, they conducted an online poll instead of having to wade through all the muck posts of accountants giving digital fellatio to their […]
How Are Public Accounting Salaries Stacking Up For 2023? (Part 3, Accounting Principals/LHH Recruitment Solutions)
Over the past couple of weeks, we found out from Robert Half that public accounting starting salaries will likely increase in the range of 2.3% to 5.8% in 2023, and that Randstad predicts salaries for traditional public accounting roles will increase for nearly all positions next year. Today we’re reviewing the 2023 Accounting & Finance Salary […]
How Are Public Accounting Salaries Stacking Up For 2023? (Part 2, Randstad)
Next up in our preview of accounting salaries for 2023 is the latest Finance & Accounting Salary Guide from staffing agency Randstad. Randstad, Robert Half, and Accounting Principals are probably the “big 3” when it comes to publishing accounting and finance salary prognostications for the coming year. We wrapped up analyzing Robert Half’s 2023 Accounting […]
These 10 LCOL Cities Are Expected to Have Higher-Than-Average Public Accounting Starting Salaries in 2023
Over the last week we’ve taken a look at projected public accounting starting salaries in 2023 for eight cities with a high cost of living and 12 cities with a medium cost of living, and how those salaries compare to the national averages contained in the 2023 Robert Half Accounting & Finance Salary Guide. Today […]
Let’s Take a Look at the Projected 2023 Public Accounting Starting Salaries in 12 MCOL Cities
Increases in public accounting starting salaries for next year aren’t expected to even hit 6%, we reported a couple days ago after examining salary data from Robert Half’s 2022 and its newly released 2023 Accounting & Finance Salary Guides. At least those of you who work in/live within or near cities with the highest cost […]
Here Are the Projected 2023 Public Accounting Starting Salaries in Eight HCOL Cities
ICYMI yesterday, we reported that starting salaries for public accounting next year are expected to increase between 2.3% and 5.8%, depending on the position and an employee’s experience, according to data we analyzed from Robert Half’s 2022 and 2023 Accounting & Finance Salary Guides. Last year around this time we looked at how public accounting […]
How Are Public Accounting Salaries Stacking Up For 2023? (Part 1, Robert Half)
’Tis the season for Robert Half either inflating or popping your balloon when it comes to projected starting salaries in public accounting for the coming year. The staffing and recruiting giant released its 2023 Accounting & Finance Salary Guide on Monday, which includes starting salary expectations for jobs in 35 categories, including public accounting. In […]
How Much Should Public Accounting Starting Salaries Be to Make Public Accounting Starting Salaries Less Awful?
Title. Let’s talk about starting salaries in public accounting. Let’s assume a student has an undergraduate accounting degree, a MAcc degree, and has passed all 4 sections of CPA exam. What do we think is a fair starting salary? #Accounting — Dr. Josh McGowan, CPA (@Jmcgowan3838) September 19, 2022 Starting salaries in #accounting have gone […]
Would You Take a Pay Cut in Exchange For a 40-Hour Workweek in a Beachside Locale?
Citigroup has launched a new program in which a few dozen young analysts will trade big investment banking salaries for shorter work days in Málaga, Spain, a beautiful city on the southern coast known for its food, culture, and lovely weather. The best part? The analysts might even have some time to enjoy the scenery. […]
Word Hits TikTok That Big 4 Firms Are Cheap Bastards, “It’s Modern Day Slavery”
Deloitte Australia is trying to be transparent by releasing salary data but apparently this tactic isn’t working, not with Daily Mail writing headlines like Young Aussie reveals why many millennials no longer want to work in corporate jobs – after boomers said the generation was ‘lazy and entitled’ that is. Here’s the TikTok that inspired […]
Number of the Day: $103,880
This is the salary Gen Z undergrads expect to earn in their first job right out of college, according to a recent survey by Real Estate Witch. The survey goes on to say: The average starting salary for recent graduates is $55,260, but students expect to earn almost double that — $103,880 — one year out of […]
Here’s How Much Auditors and Consultants at Deloitte Australia Make
Deloitte Australia is putting it all out there and revealing exactly how much its people make. Australian Financial Review reports: Deloitte Australia chief executive Adam Powick has revealed the minimum pay rates for the firm’s audit and consulting divisions as part of a strategy to be more transparent with staff and attract more skilled professionals. […]
Canadian Accounting Firms Are Getting Rid of Bonuses So They Can Pay More?
CPA Canada has shared some Canadian accounting firm hiring trends worth keeping an eye on. Among them? Ditching bonuses. Despite their longtime presence in the traditional CPA compensation package, bonuses are being abandoned in some firms, notes Adele Harraway, managing partner, Canadian Accounting Consultants, which specializes in CPA recruitment. Instead, firms are upping the starting […]
A Labor Shortage in Singapore Is Forcing Big 4 Firms to Cough Up Higher Salaries
Picture it. Singapore. 2022. Bloomberg reports: The Big Four accounting firms are showering staff with pay increases in Singapore, where an acute labor shortage is driving a fierce contest for talent. PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP and Deloitte LLP lifted base salaries starting from July 1, according to internal documents from the two firms reviewed by Bloomberg News. […]
EYers Are Waking Up to Overdrafts This Morning Due to a Serious Payroll Snafu (UPDATED)
We’re learning this morning that folks at EY will not be getting lunchtime DoorDash today, their paychecks from last Friday have been unceremoniously yeeted from their bank accounts. Per a tipster: There’s a payroll snafu of some sort at EY and seems just about everyone had their payroll reversed. Mass panic and overdrafts. And a […]
New Hires Are Making Absolutely Wild Demands Like Decent Salaries and Remote Work, Says Guy
Fresh off the ole tweet machine today we have this: New hires in accounting with 0 exp are demanding: – $80k-$100k – Remote work – 30 hours a week – Client contact / advisory roles This is unsustainable. What does the future of U.S. talent strategy look like? — Brandon Hall (@bhallcpa) July 8, 2022 […]
Raises at the Queen’s PwC Are Better Than Other Big 4s But Still Not Beating Inflation
UK inflation is at a balmy 9.1% and rising, the job market is red hot, and accounting firm partners everywhere are digging through their kitchen junk drawers for all the buy-one-get-one pizza coupons they can find. It’s rough out there — for employers. eFinancialCareers is busy sharing details on Big 4 salaries across the pond […]
Former EY Partner Calls Newly-Released Tax Salary Data “Disturbingly Low”
Australian Financial Review said this morning they are in possession of tax salary data that EY is providing to some of its teams internally: Staff in EY’s tax division have learnt for the first time the salary ranges paid for graduates, consultants, managers and directors as part of a pay transparency drive at the big […]
Accounting Bottoms Out the List of Master’s Degrees That Offer the Best Salary Boost (Read: It Doesn’t)
The AICPA finally got around to releasing its Trends in the Supply of Accounting Graduates and the Demand for Public Accounting Recruits report (hereby referred to as the Trends report), which we’ve been waiting to see since last August, but hey, I get it, people are busy. As we work on crunching the data and […]
Here’s Everything We Know So Far About 2022 Accounting Salary Projections
As of February 2022, inflation in the United States has hit a 40-year high at 7.9%; the last time inflation was this bad, many of you weren’t even alive so yay, think of this like Halley’s Comet, some day in the distant future you’ll get to say “I was there!” You don’t need us to […]
The IRS Wants to Hire 10,000 New Employees in the Next Year. So What Are They Paying?
Last Friday I buried a link about the IRS’ latest hiring push in Footnotes but I think it deserves its own little mention if only to discuss the pay. That’s all that matters, right? Before we get to that, my handlers have asked me to remind you that Footnotes is a weekly wrap-up of accounting […]
How Are Public Accounting Salaries Stacking Up For 2022? (Part 5, Century Group)
It’s been a minute since we’ve talked about projected salaries for this year in public accounting, and compensation discussions will be happening for many of you in mere months. So today we have a new entrant in our continuing series of 2022 public accounting salary projections, and it is staffing and recruitment firm Century Group, […]
Compensation Watch ’22: EYers Should Expect Raises to Hit Their Bank Accounts Come August
EY sent out a very ambitious, repetitive email to its loyal US grunts yesterday that can be summed up in one short statement: here’s some money so you people stop complaining. Will it be enough to stop the bleeding at this particular Big 4 firm and keep warm bodies in their chairs? Time will tell. […]
How Are Public Accounting Salaries Stacking Up For 2022? (Part 4, Accounting Principals)
Accounting Principals has finally released its salary guide for 2022, and the main takeaway is average base salaries for roles in public accounting are expected to increase 6.4% across the board next year. So you guys get a salary adjustment that would barely cover the current inflation rate. Hooray. For 2022’s salary guide, Accounting Principals […]
How Are Public Accounting Salaries Stacking Up For 2022? (Part 3, Hays US)
In today’s edition of “How Much Are You Worth?” let’s take a look at public accounting salary projections for 2022 from recruitment firm Hays US. We chose four tax and four audit roles from Hays’s 2022 Salary Guide to highlight in this post. Hays provides accounting salary ranges, with the first figure indicating minimum pay […]
How Are Public Accounting Salaries Stacking Up For 2022? (Part 2, Alliance Resource Group)
While we await the release of Accounting Principals’ 2022 Accounting & Finance Salary Guide, let’s take a look at the salary projections in public accounting for next year from Alliance Resource Group. ARG provides its 2022 salary outlook for 11 positions within public accounting (six in tax and five in audit), with a salary range […]
10 Cities Where Starting Pay In Public Accounting Will Be the Lowest In 2022
Earlier this week we gave you 10 cities where starting salaries in public accounting are expected to be on the very high end of the spectrum in 2022. Today we’re giving you 10 cities where starting pay in PA is expected to be on the very low end of the spectrum next year, according to […]
10 Cities Where Starting Pay In Public Accounting Will Be the Highest In 2022
The Powers That Be want me to squeeze every last bit of juice from the bountiful fruit that is the public accounting portion of the 2022 Robert Half Accounting & Finance Salary Guide. ICYMI, we’ve written about the projected starting salaries for each of the 10 public accounting jobs in the 2022 salary guide by […]
2022 Projected Public Accounting Salaries In Eight LCOL Cities
Our series of articles based on the Robert Half 2022 Accounting & Finance Salary Guide continues as we look at public accounting starting salaries in eight low cost of living cities that have a Big 4 presence and a national accounting firm presence (i.e., RSM US, BDO USA, Grant Thornton). Most of these cities are […]
Pictured: Accounting Firm Partners Testing Out a New Bonus Distribution Structure For Next Year
Seen on r/antiwork And no, it’s not actually an accounting firm. According to OP, a hotel posted this to LinkedIn “as a fun how much we love our employees” post. Almost had ya tho eh?
Paying People More Will Not Win the Talent War, Says PwC India Leader Adamantly Opposed to Paying People More
From the moment ‘Generation Y’ entered the workforce at the turn of the century, the business leaders, politicians, and academics who came before us have been suffering from endless anguish over our alleged lack of loyalty and our pesky desire to find fulfillment in life beyond work. Many of us watched our parents give their […]
2022 Projected Public Accounting Salaries In Eight MCOL Cities
Earlier this week we looked at public accounting starting salaries in five of the most expensive US cities to live in and how much higher they are than the projected national averages recently published in the Robert Half 2022 Accounting & Finance Salary Guide. A discussion you often see among professionals on Fishbowl and Reddit […]
2022 Projected Public Accounting Salaries In Five HCOL Cities
One of the cool features of the Robert Half 2022 Accounting & Finance Salary Guide is the location feature, where you can type in the name of a city and it spits out the projected starting salaries next year for that city, taking into account factors like cost of living and talent availability. It also […]
Compensation Watch ’21: So Many People Are Bailing That KPMG UK Had to Change Its Bonus Structure
Attrition is the word on everyone’s lips these days, and you can bet that the ongoing Big 4 exodus is keeping plenty of partners up at night. Given the aforementioned stress-related insomnia, surely firm leaders are spending their extra awake hours coming up with creative, generous ways to hold on to the staff they have […]
How Are Public Accounting Salaries Stacking Up For 2022? (Part 1, Robert Half)
Robert Half finally released its 2022 Accounting & Finance Salary Guide late last week, and the good news is starting salaries in public accounting are expected to increase by more than 1% next year, unlike in Bob’s salary projections for 2021. Of the five positions each under “tax services” and “audit/assurance services” in the 2021 […]
Public Accounting Firms Don’t Need to Increase Salaries to Retain Staff Says Guy Who Obviously Never Worked In Public Accounting
In the 12 years since this website was founded, we’ve heard a lot of complaints from accounting students and early career public accountants. A LOT. Many things have changed since 2009, but one thing has remained consistent all these years and it’s the overwhelming sentiment that public accountants are paid far too little for the […]
Thanks to Employee Surveys, PwC Australia Discovers the Startling Truth That Money Motivates Their People
Australian Financial Review is reporting today that PwC Australia is digging deep into their pockets and expanding the bonus pool based on input from employees who shocked the firm by making it clear that money is what motivates them above all else. PwC will increase the pay of its 8000-strong staff at a faster rate […]
Big 4 Firms Increase Salaries to Compete With Investment Banks For Talent, Still Pay Less Than Investment Banks
Have you heard? There’s a talent crisis. Which is glorious for those bright-eyed, business-minded college students choosing from any one of countless lucrative career paths right now. But for the gatekeepers of those paths, it means they’ll need to dig deeper into their pockets to secure the talent they need. And we know how much […]
Let’s Hop In a Time Machine and Talk About Public Accounting Perks and Comp Circa 2011
Imagine if you will being magically transported back to the year 2011. As you aggressively yank your jeggings over your calves while waiting for Angry Birds to update over your 3G connection, “Somebody That I Used to Know” plays gently (and incessantly) in the background. The phrase “orange Cheeto man” didn’t even exist in your […]
$58,508: The Average Starting Salary for New Accounting Grads
Accounting students who are graduating in 2021 are the beneficiaries of an average starting salary that has increased by nearly 11% over last year, according to the most recent salary survey from the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE). The average starting salary for accounting undergrads this year is projected to be $58,508, up […]
Number of the Day: $5.7 Million
No, that isn’t the latest fine given to a Big 4 firm by the SEC for shitty auditing. That is the median cash compensation—after graduation and working for 35 years—for someone who got an MBA from one of the top 50 business schools in the U.S., according to an analysis for the website Poets&Quants by […]
These Colleges Give Accounting Grads the Most Bang For Their Buck In the Real World
We’re less than two months away from the class of 2021 tossing their mortarboards high in the sky (either in-person with their classmates or virtually, not sure which at this point), thus signaling a new batch of eager beavers who will soon be starting their journeys in the meat grinder that is public accounting. But […]
Number of the Day: $79,520
This is the average salary for an accountant in 2021 based on an analysis by AdvisorSmith of accounting salaries, number of accounting jobs, and the cost of living from 363 U.S. cities. That salary is up about 2% from 2019’s average accountant salary of $77,920. The business research website used data from three sources—Bureau of […]
Let’s All Hope This Finding From Korn Ferry’s 2021 Global Salary Survey Is Wrong
Do what you will with this information. I’m just throwing it out there. Korn Ferry recently released the results of its 2021 Global Salary Survey, in which the management consulting firm combines “ongoing data we collect from 25,000 clients across 150+ countries with additional data gathered at key points throughout the year.” OK. So. Right […]
Most People Would Leave Their Job For This Raise, According to Some Survey
It seems based on the amount of time Adrienne and I spend lurking on Reddit and Fishbowl that more people are fleeing the meat grinder that is public accounting lately than in previous years. It’s not because they’re working ungodly Goldman Sachs-type hours, but some people are just not cut out to be capital market […]
Women, Can You Love Your Job But Still Be Pissed About Your Compensation?
If there was such a thing as a “I love my job” gap, men and women would be equals, according to the latest U.S. salary survey from the Institute of Management Accountants. And that boggles my mind because, as we all know, women’s salaries in accounting are definitely not equal to men’s. So as a […]
Certifications = Higher Salaries, Natch
Those of you who are still on the fence about pursuing a professional accounting certification should, if for no other reason, consider getting your CPA or CMA or both because of this: more money. The Institute of Management Accountants polled its U.S. membership last September for its 2021 U.S. Salary Survey. Of the 1,300 or […]
Listicle of the Day: Best- and Worst-Paying States For Accountants
Gather ’round, kids, we’re going to talk about accounting salaries. The other day, Business.org came out with a report on which states (plus the District of Columbia) pay accountants the best and the worst. To do this, the site said it used data from the Bureau of Labor’s annual occupational employment stats and compared each […]
Protip: Moving Soon? You Might Want to Hide Your ZIP Code From HR
Remember a couple weeks ago when we discussed potential work-from-home adjustments for salaried workers now living in lower COL areas thanks to the Rona? In case you forgot, the gist of it is that this is already happening in the tech industry, so there’s no reason to assume accounting couldn’t possibly follow suit. The comments […]
How Are Public Accounting Salaries Stacking Up For 2021? (UPDATE)
[Updated on Oct. 29 with salary data from Accounting Principals. Article was originally posted on Sept. 10.] You know fall is right around the corner when Robert Half releases its latest Accounting & Finance Salary Guide, and the 2021 edition is now available for download. But be warned: Due to everyone’s favorite pandemic, starting salaries […]
Number of the Day: $502,417
Last week we posted that the average annual compensation of equity partners who work in the top 100 public accounting firms in the U.S. (excluding the Big 4), as ranked by INSIDE Public Accounting, was $682,000, according to IPA’s latest practice management survey. For context, those firms range from RSM US ($2.7 billion of revenue) […]
After a Tough Spring, Raises Are Back on the Table at RSM
In April of this year, we reported that RSM had begun performance-based layoffs which likely had little to do with that whole Rona thing that caused multiple firms to start laying people off and slashing salaries back then. Then in June we reported that more than a few tipsters were upset to hear raises would […]
Number of the Day: $682,000
That is the average annual compensation of equity partners in the top 100 accounting firms (excluding the Big 4) in the U.S., according to INSIDE Public Accounting’s latest practice management survey. That is up 3.3% from the average annual equity partner compensation of $660,000 at firms ranked No. 5 to No. 100 last year. Other […]
Compensation Watch ’19: Partners Are Down with IPP
I got an email the other day about the latest Rosenberg MAP Survey being available for purchase, and because I don’t have an extra $500 laying around (and neither do The Powers That Be at Accountingfly), I went looking for highlights from this year’s survey instead. And I stumbled upon some updated info about income […]
UPDATED: How Are Public Accounting Salaries Stacking Up for 2020?
By now you guys and gals in public accounting have most likely had compensation discussions with your respective firms. We assume that some of you were pleased with the outcome. But it’s probably more realistic to say that a majority of you were somewhat or extremely disappointed. While they might not have the most up-to-date […]
Compensation Watch ’19: MBA Starting Salaries In Accounting/Finance Aren’t Too Shabby
After reading through the latest Business School Hiring Report from the Graduate Management Admission Council, there’s some good news and some bad news for newly minted MBA accounting grads. First, the good news: 1. MBA starting salaries are the highest on record: Adjusted for inflation, the median annual base starting salary U.S. companies will offer […]
Compensation Watch ’19: Highest-Paying Cities Don’t Give Accountants the Most Bang for Their Buck
Last week, we perused a report from AdvisorSmith on the 50 best U.S. cities in which accountants can pursue their careers and gave you the top 25. Two of the variables used by AdvisorSmith for its ranking were average annual accounting salaries per city and cost of living, so let’s focus on those today. Using […]
Best Cities to Find a Job and Raise Your Little Accountants
Through the years, we’ve done several “Best Cities for Accounting Jobs” articles. We think they are pretty worthwhile, especially for those of you youngins who are looking to get your foot in the door and want to live and work in the hustle and bustle of a big city. Or maybe you want to work […]
Compensation Watch ’19: Tax Professionals
Hey there, tax jockeys. How’s your Wednesday been so far? Feeling less whiny today? Good. We have some new salary data to share with you, from the folks over at Korn Ferry, that might be of interest. The management consulting firm dug deep into its pay database, did some math, punched some buttons, and came […]
Gender Pay Gap at KPMG U.K. Is Actually Getting Larger, You Guys
From the Financial Times: KPMG is the only Big Four accounting firm [in the U.K.] to have failed to close its gender pay gap over the past 12 months, with the median gap between what its male and female staff earn increasing to 28 per cent. The other three firms, EY, PwC and Deloitte, all […]
Compensation Watch ’19: Credentialed Accountants vs. Non-credentialed Accountants
In its annual salary survey, the Institute of Management Accountants always includes a section comparing compensation for accountants who are either CPAs, CMAs (Certified Management Accountants), or both with accountants who hold neither credential. And every year the IMA finds that credentialed accountants make more money than those without a CPA or CMA. Makes sense. […]
Compensation Watch ’19: Internal Auditors
Ah, internal auditors. The “guardians of trust,” as Institute of Internal Auditors President and CEO Richard Chambers likes to call you. So how much money do “guardians of trust” make these days? Let’s take a look at the latest salary data from Randstad, Robert Half, and Accounting Principals. Randstad Randstad organizes non-executive accounting and finance […]
Compensation Watch ’19: CFOs
Some of you grinding away in public accounting might have “champagne wishes and caviar dreams” of being a CFO one day. So, let’s see how well that job pays these days, courtesy of three accounting and finance salary guides that have been released in the past six months. Randstad Randstad organizes executive titles in its […]
Compensation Watch ’19: Controllers
TPTB would like Adrienne and I to try to post an article each week that is compensation-related because, well, you guys like money and you guys like to read about how much money you could or should be making. So now that Randstad just released its 2019 Salary Guide, and Robert Half and Accounting Principals […]
MBA Holders Have Bigger Paychecks, Especially White Dudes
Last October, we published an article written by a former KPMG senior associate, which you guys seemed to like, on why accountants should have both a CPA and an MBA. But what the article really doesn’t talk about is the earning potential of having an MBA. Well, a new study from the Forté Foundation sheds […]
CONFIRMED: Public Accounting Firm Partners Are Filthy Rich
Hear that squeaky, rattling sound? That’s a partner pushing a wheelbarrow full of cash through the hallways of your firm. Accounting Today has some highlights from the latest Rosenberg MAP Survey, which includes this tidbit: This year, the survey found that income per partner increased to $441,000, or 3 percent higher than last year. However, […]
How Are Public Accounting Salaries Stacking Up for 2019?
It’s the end of August, which means Starbucks is already slinging pumpkin spice lattes, Oktoberfest and pumpkin beers are now on the shelves of your favorite bottle shop, the college football season is about to kick off, and Robert Half and Accounting Principals have released their latest salary guides for accounting and finance professionals. Both […]
Congrats, Tax Managers, You (Barely) Made Glassdoor’s List of the Highest-Paying Jobs in the U.S.
Glassdoor recently came out with its new ranking of the top 25 highest-paying jobs in the United States, and it was slim pickings for accounting-ish positions. Keep scrolling, scrolling, scrolling down until you reach No. 24, where you’ll find tax manager sandwiched between cloud engineer and data scientist. Tax manager has a median base salary […]
Here’s Your Open Thread for PwC Compensation (2018)
So, yeah, the whole “putting the 2018 PwC compensation thread in Open Items” thing didn’t go too well. After just two responses (thanks to SlowlyDying1065 and Franchise) and a minus-27 vote rating, this thread had become a dumpster fire. But now that we’ve resurrected the article comment section, we’ve taken this discussion out of Open […]
These 10 Accounting and Finance Jobs Are Hot, Hot, Hot
So say the folks at recruiting firm CyberCoders, so plan your career accordingly: In 2018, the CyberCoders data shows that the most in-demand accounting and finance position is financial advisor, with an average salary of $85,860, followed by loan officer at $68,000 and tax supervisor with an average salary of $96,944. The job of financial […]
Accountants: If You Got a Crappy Raise Last Year, Go Land a New Job
Photo: This could be you.