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Compensation Watch

Compensation Watch ’22: Just How Scary Were Raises at KPMG This Year? (UPDATE)

[Updated original post from Oct. 19 with KPMG raise percentages for 2015 and 2013.] As the leaves start changing to PwC colors, it signals the start of compensation season at another Big 4 firm: KPMG. The results of the most recent round of comp talks are in and can be found on r/accounting, per usual. […]

Compensation Watch ’22: Here’s Everything We Know About EY Raises and Promotions

First it was Deloitte, then PwC, and most recently EY that waded into the Big 4 compensation discussion waters with its employees. We’ve written quite a bit over the past several months about EY being the only Big 4 firm that didn’t give its grunts a mid-year salary adjustment. But Uncle Ernie did make one […]

Compensation Watch ’22: Did Huge Revenue Boost = Better Raises For BDO USA Employees? (UPDATE)

[UPDATE: New average raise percentage for L6->L7 in 2022.] A couple weeks ago we reported on BDO USA’s stellar fiscal 2022, as the firm raked in just under $2.5 billion in revenue—a nearly 25% increase over 2021’s revenue of $2 billion. At the end of last week’s post, we wondered whether BDO’s large revenue gain […]

Compensation Watch ’22: Did the Purple Rose Reek of Bad Raises at Grant Thornton?

The most DYNAMIC firm in all of public accounting recently had comp discussions, according to r/accounting. It was the final round of raises during the reign of CEO Brad Preber, who was put out to pasture on Aug. 1 when new Grant Thornton CEO Seth Siegel took over. We’ve heard some rumblings that some GTers […]

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 […]

Compensation Watch ’22: Does the New Equation Add Up to Better Raises For PwC Employees? (UPDATED)

[Updated original post from July 2 with new raise percentages for A2->S1, A3->S1, and S1->S2; added raise percentages for 2015, 2014, and 2013.] Now that raises have been doled out at Deloitte, next up is PwC. This is the first compensation cycle in the era of the New Equation, which is just a fancy way […]

Compensation Watch ’22: Deloitte Lifts the Lid on Raises (UPDATED)

[Updated post from June 6 with new data from Going Concern’s 2013 comp thread.] Big 4 compensation season kicked off a little more than a week ago when Deloitte employees got their comp statements and then proceeded to head over to r/accounting to whip it out and show it off for all to see. Since […]

Compensation Watch ’22: Big 4 Firm With the Most Negative Publicity In the U.K. Tries to Change All That By Giving Staff Raises of At Least £2,000

If you’re a regular visitor to this website, it shouldn’t be too hard to figure out which Big 4 firm we’re referring to: Carillion, loads of fines from the Financial Reporting Council, chairman’s rant leads to his resignation, Carillion, “unacceptable” bank audits, partners who are bullies, lawsuits, and layoffs. And did we mention Carillion? Yes, […]

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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 […]

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. […]

Compensation Watch ’22: Mazars Opted to Give Employees a Mid-Year Raise Instead of Another Pizza Party

While our friends over at EY can’t get a sniff of a mid-year salary adjustment, another accounting firm decided to thank its employees with mo’ money instead of free pizza. We got confirmation over the weekend that Mazars USA leadership recently announced mid-year pay bumps for employees. Our source was a little skimpy on the […]

KPMG Rocks signs held by a woman in a KPMG shirt

Compensation Watch ’22: KPMG Employees Are Getting Richer on April 1 (Not An April Fools’ Joke)

KPMGers got some good news today as the firm announced salary adjustments for all Klynveldians effective April 1. Here’s what was sent to our tipline: KPMG US just announced firmwide mid-year raises effective 4/1. $5k for SM, $7k for manager and senior, $3k for staff. According to an internal document posted on Fishbowl yesterday, here’s […]

Compensation Watch ’21: PwC Employees Are Getting a 5% Bump In Pay (UPDATE)

[UPDATE] Now that PwCers got that sweet, sweet “Timmy Stimmy,” a mid-year raises thread was created on r/accounting, although there hasn’t been much action in it so far. The 5% raise nearly everyone got is reflected in a few posts, while a Senior 3 in Consulting Advisory Services mentioned getting the additional 10% adjustment (see […]

Compensation Watch ’21: RSM US Employees Are Starting to Leak Their Mid-Year Raises (UPDATE)

[Update to original post from Nov. 23 with additional mid-year raise percentages.] We recently got a tip that RSM US had told employees that “they are re-evaluating market conditions and people/groups might get raises in December.” Our tipster added: “Another carrot to dangle in front of people to get them to not leave.” Apparently the phrase […]

Compensation Watch ’21: Cherry Bekaert Gave Out Some Mid-Year Morale Boosters

During this time of year when there’s hardly anything going on because most of you have started your holiday break and are (theoretically) not doing any work and spending time with your family and friends, this news from a manager at top 27 firm Cherry Bekaert dropped in our lap last week: People have started […]

Compensation Watch ’21: Grant Thornton Is Dragging Its Feet On Announcing Mid-Year Raises (NEW UPDATE)

[UPDATE on Dec. 23] Now that it’s been two weeks since we started to hear that Grant Thornton employees were getting mid-year salary adjustments, let’s take a look at the GT comp adjustment thread on Reddit to see what some GTers got: Associate 2 5% (audit) 5.7% (audit) Senior 1 9.5% (audit) Senior 2 7% […]

Compensation Watch ’21: BKD Is Handing Out Mid-Year Raises But It’s Anyone’s Guess As to How Much (NEW UPDATE)

[Updated on Dec. 22] Quick update on the folks at BKD. Apparently mid-year compensation adjustments were doled out on Dec. 17, and some BKDers posted their raises in the comments section. Based on what was posted, raises ranged from 2.3% to 4.2%. So, how did the rest of you fare? Let us know in the […]

Compensation Watch ’21: Crowe Is Full of Christmas Cheer

Three years ago this week, Crowe made the news for being fined $1.5 million by the SEC for its audits of Corporate Resource Services Inc., which can best be described in three words that are as follows, and I quote: “Stink, stank, stunk.” But this week, nothing but good news coming out of the Crowe […]

Compensation Watch ’21: Deloitte Puts Mid-Year Raises On the Table (NEW UPDATE)

[Updated on Dec. 14 with market adjustment message to employees, additional raise percentages.] Mid-year raises are definitely rolling out at Deloitte now that a comp thread has been created on Reddit. To recap, in late September, Deloitte CEO Joe Ucuzoglu told staff in an email (scroll down for the full text of Joe U.’s email) […]

Compensation Watch ’21: BDO USA Is Dangling a Mid-Year Raises Carrot (NEW UPDATE)

[Update on Dec. 13.] At the beginning of December, we got a tip from a BDOer who told us, “Communications started today. Mid-year raises are being awarded to all supposedly but individuals are getting different percentages.” This was after we were told that BDO was giving its employees an extra $500 stipend for both December […]

Compensation Watch ’21: Marcum Is Jumping On the Mid-Year Raises Bus

Marcum Chairman, CEO, and Going Concern fanboy Jeffrey Weiner must be feeling extra charitable during this season of giving, as he’ll be putting a little something extra in Marcum employees’ stockings on Jan. 1, 2022. A tipster provided us with this email that Weiner sent to Marcum employees today, with “Mid-Year Salary Increases” in the […]

Compensation Watch ’21: Is Plante Moran Rolling Out Salary Adjustments For the Masses? (UPDATE)

[Updated with additional comp information at the bottom of article originally posted on Nov. 22.] The answer is YES according to a tip we received last week: A few weeks ago Plante Moran announced to its employees that everyone is getting a January 1 market increase (separate from the normal market and merit increases that […]

Compensation Watch ’21: There Are Some Happy Folks At CohnReznick

I was scrolling through Fishbowl yesterday afternoon while I was watching that horrible Bears vs. Ravens game when this post caught my eye: At least those pay bumps are at or above current inflation levels, so that’s a plus. The thread continued … We hadn’t heard from anyone in the rank and file at CohnReznick […]

Compensation Watch ’21: Did EY Redeem Itself In the Eyes of Their Employees? (UPDATE)

(Updated post from Aug. 18 with a comparison of average raise percentages per promotion from 2018 and 2016.) 2020 was a pretty ugly year for the Black and Yellow—and especially for EY employees. Let’s recap, shall we? No performance-based bonuses. Raises only to those who received a promotion. Lots and lots of layoffs. Unlimited PTO; […]

Compensation Watch ’21: Deloitte Staff Gets Some Encouraging News About Raises and Promotions (NEW UPDATE)

(Updated post from July 14 with a comparison of average raise percentages per promotion from 2020 and 2016.) In July we took a look at how raises this year at PwC compared to 2019 and 2017 because they were hyped up so much by PwCers on the usual chatter sites, and for the most part, […]

Compensation Watch ’21: How ’Bout Them Raises At PwC? (NEW UPDATE)

(Updated original post on July 8 with a comparison of average raise percentages per promotion from 2020 and 2016.) PwCers expected really good raises this year. They trust that management would make that happen, given that PwC U.S. had record-setting revenue of $18 billion last year during a global pandemic. Last year PwCers had to […]

Compensation Watch ’21: Did BDO USA Ante Up This Year?

Over the last week or so we analyzed how raises this year compared to previous years at RSM US and Grant Thornton. Now it’s time to take a look at raises this year at the last of the mini-Big 3 firms, BDO USA, which leapfrogged GT to become the sixth-largest public accounting firm in the […]

Compensation Watch ’21: Did Grant Thornton Give Employees Briefcases Full Of Money This Year?

Grant Thornton was another firm last year that decided it would be financially irresponsible to give its hardworking employees raises during the height of the pandemic, even though GT’s revenue in fiscal year 2020 hit a record of $1.92 billion. But that was then, this is now. We still don’t know Grant Thornton’s revenue results […]

Compensation Watch ’21: Did RSM US Make It Rain On Employees This Year?

At this time a year ago, RSM employees had just found out if the firm was handing out raises and bonuses while the Rona was still raging in the U.S. Management decided to give raises—capped at 5%—to only those employees who received a promotion (i.e., A2->S1, S1->Supervisor, Supervisor->Manager, etc.). As summer turned to fall, and […]

Compensation Watch ’20: Who Is Getting Mid-Year Raises At KPMG?

With all this talk about mid-year raises at PwC starting Jan. 1, $1,500 holiday/mid-year bonuses at Deloitte, and mid-year salary bumps at EY effective Jan. 9, all we’ve heard are crickets on our tipline about what’s going on at KPMG. But I did notice this post on Fishbowl last Friday: In a different post on […]

Bonus Watch ’20: Oh Right, Deloitte U.S. Employees Got a Bonus Before the Holidays Too

Yesterday we posted a short article about the holiday bonuses that were recently bestowed on employees of EY U.S. EY Canada, which was either $750 or $1,500 depending on rank. (Although EY U.S. employees found out earlier today they are getting mid-year raises. More on that here.) Our lone commenter thus far on the EY […]

Bonus Watch ’20: EY Canada Made It Rain Christmas Bonuses

On Saturday while I was waiting in line at Starbucks, I was scrolling Reddit and saw a couple posts on r/Big4 about EY of the Canadian variety handing out Christmas bonuses to senior managers on down. According to one post, here’s what everybody got: $1,500 for managers and senior managers $750 for staff and seniors […]

Comp Watch ’20: Here’s What We Know About Raises This Year at KPMG (UPDATE)

[Updated on July 31 with additional information.] And we don’t know much at this point. We’ve seen and been told different things about what was said during a webcast on Thursday morning regarding raises at KPMG. But the one thing we do know is that KPMG is following in line with what the other Big […]

Comp Watch ’20: EYers Who Are Not Getting a Promotion Probably Are Not Happy Right Now

This delicious-looking sundae is the promotion bonus at EY in 2020. An EY all-hands webcast was held earlier this afternoon, and a lot of topics were apparently discussed, including raises … or a lack thereof, according to a source: No raises this year. Only those getting promoted will get the promotion portion of the raises. […]

Comp Watch ’20: BDO USA Is Restoring Everyone’s Pay—But Promotions and Raises Will Have to Wait

Hope everyone had a good weekend celebrating the ol’ red, white, and blue. Speaking of red, white, and blue, the firm that sports these colors, BDO USA, is ending pay cuts effective Aug. 1, according to sources. You gotta hand it to BDO thus far. The firm cut employee pay 5% to 10% in early […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

Comp Watch ’14: Here’s Your Open Thread For McGladrey Compensation Discussions

We're coming straight out of Comp…ensation today with word that McG is joining the comp party with talks that started late last week: I just wanted to mention that McGladrey has started their compensation meetings so you may want to create a thread at this point. Consider your wish granted, young man. Two things: this […]

Comp Watch ’14: Anticipatory Anxiety in Deloitte Advisory

Last year, it was someone in tax who wanted to get a jump on Deloitte comp talks, this year it's an eager beaver in advisory who would like the honor: Deloitte Advisory ratings will be approved.  We should be hearing of our rating (and possible promotions) any day this week).  Raise %'s wont be communicated […]

Compensation Watch ’12: Deloitte

Lest our friends at Deloitte feel left out during comp season, let's get this started. No one's given us any indication of the comp discussion timeline this year so if you know something we don't (that should be a large majority of you), let us know. Hey Caleb — Can you let Deloitte slaves join […]

(UPDATE) Comp Watch ’11: Things Are Looking Up for KPMG Advisory

~ UPDATE: Email sent to audit professionals added to the end of the post.

How do variable increases “larger than last year for most of you and much larger for many” sound?

With the first half of FY2011 in the books, we want to provide you with an update on the firm’s and Advisory’s performance and share information about our plans for employee compensation.

We are pleased to report that the firm and Advisory are ahead of plan for the first half of the year. Advisory’s revenues have grown 18% compared to last year and our pipeline of opportunities stands at a record $1.5 billion, confirming the marketplace relevance of our services.

We have also successfully added more professionals to our team (over 800 new and ennovated high value services (including services around cloud and data analytics), acquired a strategic sourcing business (placing us No. 1 in that important piece of the market) and strengthened our training programs (through Advisory University and many targeted programs).This is great news, and a direct result of your contributions!

Further, we are confident that we can finish the year in a very strong position if we continue to work together with a sharp focus on the marketplace, our people, the profitability of our engagements (including expanding the work we offshore to KPMG Global Services), and the timely billing and collection of our receivables.

So what does this mean for compensation? As we have said in the past, our philosophy is that as the business does well, we will share those rewards with our people. And, assuming we stay on plan the remainder of the year, that’s exactly what we plan to do:

Variable Compensation and Salary Increases

Based on our strong results to date, variable compensation will be larger than last year for most of you and much larger for many. Further, we expect that approximately 80% of you will receive a variable compensation award in October. And if you are a client service associate or senior associate, variable compensation is in addition to any awards earned as part of the Above & Beyond program.

Market conditions are dynamic and will vary greatly across our many service disciplines within Advisory. Therefore the range of salary increases will also vary greatly by individual and skill set. We have increased the planned spend for salary increases as well, so increases in base salaries on average will also be better than last year. We know that rewarding and recognizing our people is critical to fostering a high-performance culture, so you can be sure that we will continue to meet our commitment to provide an attractive and competitive total compensation package that differentiates exceptional performers with superior rewards.

Accelerated Compensation Communication

To help provide you with more clarity on what you can expect in the way of compensation come October 1, in July, a leader will meet with you individually to provide you with a line of sight into what you can personally expect to receive regarding salary increase and variable compensation. (As in past years, employees promoted as of July 1, will receive a promotion bonus at that time that will be in addition to any salary increase or variable compensation effective October 1).

And we ask that each of you continue working as a team, providing the best service you can to your clients and colleagues, and helping us to drive outstanding business results. Remember, the better the business does, the better we all do.

Thanks for everything you’re doing to build KPMG’s reputation as the best firm to work with, and to contribute to our success!

Reactions are welcome at this time.

UDPATE: Henry Keizer lays it down for the audit side of the house and while rosy (nearly identical wording as noted in the comments), there’s no specific “larger” or “much larger” language which may be of concern:

With the first half of FY2011 in the books, I want to provide you with an update on the firm’s performance and share information about our plans for employee compensation.

I am pleased to report that the firm is ahead of plan for the year. This is great news, and a direct result of your contributions. And, while there is still a lot more work to do, we are confident that, working together, we can finish the year in a strong position. We have good traction in the marketplace and anticipate that the demand for our services and skills will continue to be strong.

So what does this mean for compensation? As we have said in the past, our philosophy is that as the business does well, we will share those rewards with our people. And, assuming we stay on plan the remainder of the year, this year’s compensation pool will be enhanced compared to last year.

We know that rewarding and recognizing our people is critical to fostering a high-performance culture, so you can be sure that we will continue to meet our commitment to provide an attractive and competitive total compensation package that differentiates exceptional performers with superior rewards.

And we ask that each of you continue working as a team, providing the best service you can to your clients and colleagues, and helping us to drive outstanding business results. Remember, the better the business does, the better we all do.

Thanks for everything you’re doing to build KPMG’s reputation as the best firm to work with, and to contribute to our success.

Tax people – anything to report?