Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

Compensation Watch ’22: Were Raises at RSM US Sketchy or No?

The 2022 comp thread for RSM US is out on r/accounting, and it’s pretty meaty—just like the Omaha Steaks the firm’s been giving to employees.

Also meaty was RSM’s revenue for its 2022 fiscal year, which according to Accounting Today’s 2022 Top 100 Firms ranking, was $3.13 billion, up nearly 11% from 2021’s result of $2.87 billion. Many RSMers already benefited a bit from the firms record-setting revenue by getting a mid-year pay bump. Based on our calculations using data from a thread on r/accounting, associates got an average raise of 5.5%, seniors 10.8%, supervisors 9.75%, managers 6.8%, and senior managers 6.9%.

With comp talks for FY 2023 recently completed, we wanted to see if this latest round of raises kept the grunts at the House of Adams happy—and how raises compared to previous years. To do that, we examined RSM’s 2022, 2021, 2020 (here and here), and 2019 comp threads on Reddit, as well as the 2016 and 2015 comp threads on Going Concern (not a lot of info for both of those years, but it’s something). We then calculated the average raise percentage for each step up in rank or promotion where data was available (i.e., A1->A2, A2->S1, S1->S2, M1->M2, etc.).

These averages don’t take into effect factors like location/cost of living, line of service, academic degrees, rating (showing potential, doing great, game changer), and bonuses/awards. This is just the average percentage of how much base pay increased per step up in rank/promotion.

Let’s see what went down in early July (2022 raise percentages in bold):

A1->A2

  • 10.9% (2022)
  • 6.6% (2021)
  • 6.3% (2020)
  • 7.2% (2019)
  • N/A (2016)
  • 11.3% (2015)

A1->S1

  • N/A (2022)
  • 15% (2021)
  • N/A (2020)
  • 18.7% (2019)
  • N/A (2016)
  • N/A (2015)

A2->S1

  • 19.1% (2022)
  • 12.5% (2021)
  • 11.7% (2020)
  • 15.6% (2019)
  • N/A (2016)
  • 15% (2015; only one entry)

S1->S2

  • 8.6% (2022)
  • 7.2% (2021)
  • 8.3% (2020)
  • 10.3% (2019)
  • N/A (2016)
  • N/A (2015)

S1->Supervisor

  • 14.2% (2022)
  • 17% (2021)
  • 11.8% (2020)
  • 13.5% (2019)
  • 17.8% (2016)
  • N/A (2015)

S2->Supervisor 1

  • 14% (2022)
  • 12.9% (2021)
  • N/A (2020)
  • N/A (2019)
  • N/A (2016)
  • N/A (2015)

Supervisor 1->Supervisor 2

  • 7.5% (2022)
  • N/A (2021)
  • N/A (2020)
  • N/A (2019)
  • N/A (2016)
  • N/A (2015)

Supervisor 1->M1

  • 14.4% (2022)
  • 12.3% (2021)
  • 17.3% (2020)
  • 11% (2019)
  • 8% (2016; only one entry)
  • 14.5% (2015; only one entry)

Supervisor 2->M1

  • 14.9% (2022; only one entry)
  • N/A (2021)
  • N/A (2020)
  • N/A (2019)
  • N/A (2016)
  • N/A (2015)

M1->M2

  • 9% (2022; only one entry)
  • 13% (2021)
  • 10% (2020)
  • N/A (2019)
  • 7% (2016; only one entry)
  • N/A (2015)

M2->M3

  • 5.6% (2022; only one entry)
  • 6.8% (2021)
  • N/A (2020)
  • N/A (2019)
  • N/A (2016)
  • N/A (2015)

M3->M4

  • 13.2% (2022; only one entry)
  • N/A (2021)
  • N/A (2020)
  • N/A (2019)
  • N/A (2016)
  • N/A (2015)

M3->SM1

  • 10.4% (2022; only one entry)
  • N/A (2021)
  • N/A (2020)
  • N/A (2019)
  • N/A (2016)
  • N/A (2015)

SM1->SM2

  • 6.5% (2022; only one entry)
  • N/A (2021)
  • N/A (2020)
  • N/A (2019)
  • N/A (2016)
  • N/A (2015)

Raises for A2s were all over the place, ranging from 2.4% on the low end to 25.9% on the high end. Same for second-year seniors, with raises ranging from 3% to 12.9%. The biggest raise was 30.9% for one RSMer who got promoted from second-year associate to first-year senior. Overall, it seemed that most people who shared their raises on r/accounting were fairly pleased, especially experienced associates and new seniors.

Related articles:

Compensation Watch ’21: Did RSM US Make It Rain On Employees This Year?
Compensation Watch ’21: RSM US Employees Are Starting to Leak Their Mid-Year Raises