Maybe 2023 Will Be the Year You Get That Big Promotion
If 2023 is anything like 2022, the odds are stacked in your favor if you work in public accounting, according to a recent LinkedIn analysis. Professional services was among the five industries that doled out the most promotions this year: And at the top seven largest public accounting firms in the U.S., that big promotion […]
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 […]
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 […]
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, […]
Tweet of the Day: Raises, Inflation, and Will Smith
Having gotten only a 3% raise this year, my wife (and many of you in public and industry accounting) can relate to this tweet: When you get a 5% raise but remember inflation is 7.9% pic.twitter.com/lgGtd96xvq — Not Jerome Powell (@alifarhat79) March 28, 2022 Related articles: PwC Briefcases Look Absolutely Stunning On the Oscars Red […]
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 ’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: 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: 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: 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 […]
Mazars USA Is Giving Its Employees an Incentive to Get a Sunburn
By now you’ve heard or read about the $250 bonus PwC is paying to employees each time they take a full week’s vacation for the next year. Now Mazars USA is throwing its hat into the “pay your employees to go away” ring. Mazars sent an email to employees late last month explaining its new […]
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 […]
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 […]
Compensation Watch ’20: EY Employees Don’t Get Screwed For Once
Yesterday, my esteemed colleague Bramwell regaled you with tales of boring lines at Starbucks along with the latest buzz on bonuses at EY Canada, while also insinuating that EY U.S. had already given its people a substantial gift when they announced unlimited PTO in October. That last bit is obviously a joke, perhaps not too […]
Compensation Watch ’20: PwC Making Mid-Year Salary Adjustments For Everyone
Christmas came early for those donning the orange, red, and yellow, as PwC employees were told the following today during a firmwide webcast, according to a tipster (bold emphasis added): PwC avoided layoffs by freezing pay, paid (smaller than target but still substantial) bonuses in the fall, now increasing base pay for nearly all staff […]
Comp Rumor of the Day: Some BDO USA Auditors Are Getting Raises, Some Are Not
[Updated with additional information.] While I was on staycation last week, this came through the tipline: BDO audit will be giving raises of 2% on average on 11/1. Some employees will receive nothing, some less than 2%, and some more than 2%. We haven’t heard anything yet about possible raises at Bravo Delta Oscar for […]
Comp Watch ’20: Here’s What We’re Hearing About Raises at Crowe
From the mailbag: Crowe raises are occurring and effective 10/1. Wide range as low as 2% to as high as 15%. Promotion raises lower than typical 12%. No back pay or bonuses for missed time since April cuts. No 401k match. So when we reported back in April about the hundreds of job cuts at […]
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 […]
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 […]
Newly Promoted RSM US Employee Ponders Life and COVID-19’s Impact on Future Earnings
RSM US isn’t making it rain much these days for those receiving a promotion. Compensation discussions are underway at RSM US, and if you remember, only those getting a promotion at the House of Adams are receiving raises—which were capped at 5% this year as the firm muddles its way through the COVID-19 crisis. Looking […]
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 […]
Carr, Riggs & Ingram Is Giving Employees Their Full Pay Back … Soon
Here’s the latest coming out of top 20ish accounting firm Carr, Riggs & Ingram, according to a couple of tips we got on Thursday night. Carr, Riggs & Ingram restoring income partner and staff pay a month early – Aug 31. And … Managing Partner sent out a firm wide email today. They plan to […]
Comp Watch ’20: Raises and Bonuses Are Looking a Bit Paltry at RSM US
If we look back at the firms in ’Murica that have sent the most people packing during the COVID-19 pandemic, three immediately come to mind: Deloitte (obviously), Crowe, and RSM US, which had not one but two rounds of job cuts. Those left standing at RSM must be feeling pretty resilient, having somehow dodged two […]
Bonus Watch ’20: EY Employees Aren’t Getting Performance-Based Bonuses, But Their Jobs Are Safe For Now
Checked in with two sources this afternoon who confirmed what I saw posted on Fishbowl yesterday: no performance-based bonuses at EY this fiscal year, but that decision was made in order to prevent layoffs during the COVID-19 pandemic. One source told me: That’s what we heard on the webcast yesterday. I think everyone appreciated that […]
Accountants: If You Got a Crappy Raise Last Year, Go Land a New Job
Photo: This could be you.
Here’s Your Open Thread for BDO Compensation Discussions (2016)
BDO is a firm on a roll. Just last week they announced a third straight year of 20%+ growth in revenue to $1.29 billion. They admitted 39 new partners this year, the largest class since we began covering those promotions. They're snapping up firms left and right. Yep, everybody sounds pretty happy. Oh, who am […]
Unhappy Accountants: Go Get a 10% Raise
Are you sick of your job? Overworked? Unappreciated? Disrespected? Micromanaged? Ignored? Underdeveloped? Harassed? Thinking to yourself, "I don't get paid enough for this shit"? Well, you're right! You can totally go somewhere else and experience the exact same thing for 10% more than you're earning now: Businesses are vying for accountants, financial reporters and data […]
CGMA Twitter Account Figured ‘Accountants Want Raises’ Was Stating the Obvious
No superfluous tweets here! 25% of #finance and #accounting employees would like to be rewarded for their hard work with a promotion. pic.twitter.com/Xmn5urn4f9 — CGMA (@CGMA) January 7, 2016 Just remember, make that promotion to a position that doesn't involve managing people. That'd be great.
Comp Watch ’14: KPMG Variable Comp is Out and Some Folks Aren’t Pleased
This just arrived in our inbox this morning, let's skip the formalities and get right to it: FY15 variable comp ranges for us behind-the-scenes slaves were announced today, 12/11. Who are they kidding? Don't they realize nearly everyone at Manager and below gets a 3 rating no matter how much they do, how much they […]
What Kind of Raise Can a New CPA at a Publicly Traded Company Expect?
Looking for the right way to tell your colleague he has a hygiene issue? Not sure if dark khakis go with that dusty blue button-up shirt? Want confirmation that you haven't sold your soul to the Devil himself? Get in touch with us and we'll do our best to help without making you cry. Hello […]
Comp Watch ’11: Follow-up on KPMG Transaction Services Midyear Adjustment
Sounds like the previously mentioned potential raises got the John Veihmeyer stamp of approval.
Follow up on the midyear comp email from last wk- srs get 4% and mgrs get 5%. Does not apply to corporate finance and restructuring. Call is still going on right now trying to sell KPMG big time and convince people to not leave
We’ve been told that the raises are effective immediately. We’ll keep you updated.
The Latest Results from the Deloitte Mid-year Salary Adjustment
Deloitte Raises 2.0 rolls along with the latest news from New York and Cleveland. Continue to keep us updated.
New York:
I am a senior at Deloitte based in New York.
Our engagement partner and I had a brief meeting- a 8k raise for seniors.
The second year was told a $5k raise for his level.
My manager also spoke to a partner and was told a $6k raise.
Nothing for new hires and senior managers.There will not be a retrospective adjustment to pay us more for the past two months as if the increase happened in end of August.
The increase is effective starting 11/1/2010, meaning the first paycheck to reflect the increased pay will be 11/12/2010.
Cleveland:
1st years – $0
2nd years: $2,500
All seniors: $4,000
All Managers (excluding sr. managers): $3,000
Sr. Managers and up: $0
UPDATE – Friday circa 12:50 pm:
The latest from Houston:
2nd year: $3,500
Seniors: $5,000
Manager:$6,000
Comp Watch: Early Returns at Ernst & Young Keeping Pace with PwC
So far there are several reports of low to mid-teens and some as high as 20%, which some simply don’t believe.
We do have some specific details for assurance associates in New York and they don’t sound terrible:
NYC first year associate went from $55k to $64k, associate raises [are] coming in around 11-18%
So if you’re keeping score at home (and we know you are) it appears that the partner at E&Y who prognosticated that raises at his firm would beat PwC’s Raises appears to be right in some cases but perhaps not all.
Sooo, Ernie troops – are you happy? Disappointed? Suicidal? Ready to jump ship? Or calling your friends at PwC to brag how you’re keeping the pace? Discuss.
Earlier:
Are Ernst & Young and PwC Neck and Neck in the Compensation Race?
AFP Survey: Financial Staff Salary Growth Outpaced CFO’s in 2009
This story is republished from CFOZone, where you’ll find news, analysis and professional networking tools for finance executives.
Salaries of financial executives and their staff continued to outpace national averages in 2009, and raises were also larger than other white-collar professionals. But the pay of lower level finance professionals outpaced those of CFOs and other senior-level types.
Average annual salaries for financial professionals increased by 2.5 percent in 2009 and were 13 percent above the national average, according to the Association for Financial Professionals’ 2010 compensation survey.
But like other workers, CFOs, treasurers and their staff also enjoyed smaller salary growth than what they had been used to. The average salary increase for financial professionals in 2009 was a full percentage point below the average increase reported in 2008. Salaries went up 3.4 percent in 2008 and 4.5 percent in 2007.
But in previous surveys, executives and management-level financial professionals earned the largest salary increases, but that wasn’t the case in 2009. Instead, staff-level financial professionals experienced the highest salary growth, with a 2.7 percent increase on average compared with 2.5 percent for executives and management.
On a more granular level, budget analysts averaged the highest base salary increase within staff professionals, with a 3.4 percent increase. Treasurers saw the highest average increase of all senior executives, with a 3.2 percent boost, and assistant cash managers received the highest average salary increase within the middle management tier, with a 3.8 percent increase, also the highest increase of all positions.
With high losses at banks and the prospect of regulatory changes impacting Wall Street as well as great technological innovation in 2009, financial professionals in the Western half of the US earned the most, although those in the East had earned the most in prior years. Financial executives at technology companies earned the most in 2009.
The latest AFP compensation survey also found that the economy had almost no impact on bonuses of financial professionals. In 2009, 71 percent of organization awarded incentive-based compensation bonuses to financial professionals, down four percentage points from 2008. Incentive pay in 2009 was stable at about 14 percent of base salary.
Ernst & Young “Believes” It Will Have Pay Raises This Year
Great news Ernstiverse! If you didn’t have the pleasure of hearing it yesterday, Steve Howe, your Americas Area Managing Partner, announced that he “believes” that you’ll be back to pay increases this year, but he’ll let you know for sure as you get closer to the “salary adjustment date”. Sounds like a guarantee to us!
Plus! Being a general believer in resolutions (and noticing you haven’t don’t anything about that paunch), we heard that the firm will now reimburse “reasonable fitness fees incurred while traveling.”
No doubt Steve-o was in a good mood yesterday after seeing that E&Y was the highest ranking Big 4 firm on the F100BCTWF list and he felt like spreading more good news. In his mind, the title was never in doubt but it’s still nice to see the confirmation.
SH makes three accounting firm big shots to announce that happy times are here again in 2010. Along with soon-to-be blogger Stephen Chipman and the original shot-caller, Bob Moritz, the thawing of salaries might be gaining momentum.
The question does remain: will T Fly and Dr. Phil make similar announcements? Have they already? Are they saving it for a better time, say, mid-February when many of you will be close to losing your shit and are about to storm out once and for all? If they’ve made guarantees, kindly let us know, we’d like a superfecta if possible.
More Grant Thornton Details: Declining Revenues, Raises in 2010, and Stephen Chipman Will Be Blogging
We stumbled across the playback of the all-personnel call that went out to Grant Thornton professionals last Friday and we decided to give it a listen. It was about as snoozerific as we expected but we did come away with some additional information to share with you
Stephen Chipman, GT’s new CEO in the States spent about 40 minutes explaining the good the bad and the ugly at G to the T and here are some highlights:
• 81% of those survey and Grant Thornton are proud to work there. High? Low? Completely made up? Does this consider the Sue Sachdeva effect?
• Chip is going to be focusing on various new forms of communication including his own blog. This makes him the second CEO to do so, following Newman over at BDO. We hope, for your sake, that Chip won’t moderate the comments. We insist that you notify us of this as soon as it goes live.
• The new CEO got pretty somber when he described the prospects for GT’s revenue in FY 2010, stating revenues for core services were declining 11% year over year. Global Six…slipping…away.
• Because of this decline, it was decided that layoffs at the senior manager and partner level would occur (many have been notified already) along with those in the “internal client services function”.
• Despite the bad news, Steve-o did his best Bob Moritz, and made it clear: “We will be giving pay raises this summer.” He did qualify that this would be based on 1) the performance of the firm and 2) individual performance.
So that’s the long/short. Like we said, dude went on for 40 minutes and we didn’t have the thing transcribed to give it to you verbatim. If you happened to be one of the unfortunate senior managers, partners or support professionals that aren’t making the “next stage of the journey” get in touch with us about your experience.
For those that remain on team GT, discuss the big guy’s big promise of raises, the blog, revenue issues, etc.
PwC’s Moritz: ‘We Will Have Base Increases Next Year’
Now we’re talking! Nothing like calling your shot.
Moritz did his best Joe Namath today on PwC’s firm wide webcast today (is it over?) so all that speculation of P. Dubs phoning in 2010 can be put to rest. WRITE. IT. DOWN.
If you’ve got other thoughts or details on the web cast, get in touch and discuss in the comments.