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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
$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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
FT Offer Watch: Public Accounting Starting Salaries for the Class of 2014
We know those of you awaiting offers have been watching compensation threads tick by thinking to yourselves "man, I can't wait to get my offer and compare my salary to those of my fellow interns-turned-FTers in one big monetary weenie measuring contest on GC!" and day after day goes on with no one mentioning offers. […]
Comp Watch ’13: This Year’s Accounting Graduates Will Be Resented More Than Ever
With an average starting salary of $53,300, the class of 2013 might have to endure some envious snipes from their Class of '12 co-workers: The average starting salary for accounting graduates this year is $53,300, up from $49,700 in 2012, Andrea Koncz, employment information manager for the NACE, told AccountingWEB. In 2011, the average starting […]
(UPDATE) Recruiting Season: Public Accounting Salaries for The Starting Class of 2013
~ UPDATE includes updated salary info after a flood of new submissions. Thanks to everyone that wrote in. Welcome to the final recruiting season roundup for 2012. Thanks for all your questions and freak outs this fall. If you ever encounter any interesting situations or simply have something on your mind that you want to […]
Recruiting Season: Crossing State Lines; Starting Salary Disappointment; Choosing an Industry
Welcome to this week's roundup of baffled buckaroos. Each week we'll try to save some hapless accounting students from embarrassing themselves somewhere along recruiting trail. Have a question about recruiting season? Email us at [email protected] with "Recruiting Season Questions" in the subject line. We'll kick things off with a follow-up from last week when "Pissed […]
Comp Watch ’11: Big 4 Starting Salaries North of the Border
There’s been quite a bit of chatter out of Canada recently (Happy Thanksgiving, btw) and we now have some of the details for those receiving offers from 3 of the Big 4.
KPMG is offering $40,800 per year. They claim they will pay over time if you work over 40 hours per week.
PwC is offering $40,800 per year with a 0-15% bonus based on performance.
EY is offering $40,500 per year. No mentions of overtime.
This is for the Toronto offices and these figures are all in Canadian Dollars, which comes out to slightly below $40k USD but with the possibility of overtime, obviously the haul could be a lot more. If you’ve heard different numbers (or any Deloitte numbers at all) for these firms, get in touch or discuss below.
(UPDATE) Fulltime Offer Watch ’11: Interns, Let’s Talk About Offers
A wise suggestion from the mailbag:
I had an idea for an interesting blog topic – most Big 4 interns will be finishing up within the next week or two. It would be interesting to see what the starting salaries and bonuses are turning out to be across the firms and across the different offices for new hires starting Fall 2012. I know you did a similar compensation blog a while back and it had several hundred comments with people sharing their respective numbers.
Thanks, astute future capital market servant! Jesus, is it really August already? We did do this last year around this time and you are correct that we got some great feedback from the kids. Except for the ones who got kicked off the team before the big trip to Disney, awww sucks for them.
Instructions this year are the same as last year, please be sure to include 1) your starting salary 2) your office 3) practice 4) signing bonus (if applicable) 5) Bonus for CPA (if applicable). Remember that anything you post will be seen by everyone you know including your colleagues, lover, dog and grandma so please, if you want to remain anonymous, post as such. Mommy won’t be around to moderate your discussion.
Because not everyone fits into the Big 4 cookie cutter, all interns looking forward to full-time offers are welcome to join the conversation, compare packages (erm) and brag about how much better their firm is than others. There’s no crying in baseball but this is public accounting, which means whining is also welcome.
Get on that, future leaders of the industry!
UPDATE:
The latest:
I believe PwC and DT offers come out this Friday. I’d really appreciate the input from other readers. It could affect my own FT offer.
Starting Salaries for The Big 4 Class of 2010
Per a request from our earlier post on full time offers for interns:
Hey Caleb,
I think it would be interesting to start a post on full time/internship compensation offers that have been rolling in and will continue coming to students for the next few months. Are the firms trying to lower starting compensation?
And a reader considering a mid-tier offer:
I am going into my fifth year this fall at a large university in the Southeast. I recently received an offer from mid-size firm to the tune of $49k, no signing bonus, and no CPA bonus (firm policy). My question is, in this market, is that what students are being offered in public accounting? I would just love to know what my friends at the Big 4 are getting! Because of these numbers, and me not being sure about whether or not I want to work for them, I am tinkering with the idea of going through another recruiting season. Do you think it’s a bad idea to keep this mid-size firm waiting?
So then. For those starting this fall in the Big 4, kindly enlighten the requesters with 1) your starting salary 2) your office 3) practice 4) signing bonus (if applicable) 5) Bonus for CPA (if applicable).
And give your thoughts on the reader’s question – should they keep the mid-tier firm waiting or take what they can get?
Or the commenter – are salaries looking lower from previous years or are the A1s already making A2s jealous?
Lowering the Bar – How the Big 4 Can Raise Morale by Reducing Starting Salaries
Last Friday’s post by Caleb surrounding the Bonus Watch at Deloitte sparked a handful of intuitive comments from GC readers.
In case you didn’t read the post and subsequent commentary, Commenter Anon51 responded to the question “what do readers suggest firms do to retain practitioners” with the following:
1. treat every team member with respect
2. you can’t just force your team to work harder year after year with fewer people and a smaller budget
3. pay 4-7 year people more, pay new hires less, so it seems there is an incentive to working harder
4. reward your people with an extra day off without having to utilize vacation time, especially after a really busy month/audit
Point 3 is bolded because it resulted in the following comment from Guest:
“That’s a really good idea, and I’m not being sarcastic. There is no reason why new hires fresh out of college need to make $59k ($55k + $4k sign-on bonus), when they would happily work for $50k. Then, a $5k bump every year would be a reward, with maybe a higher bump during promotion years…Pay disparity is a bigger issue than actual pay.”
Well said, Guest and Anon51.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – the Big 4 are constantly in cahoots with one another with regards to hiring benchmarks. So I propose that TBig4PTB get together and reassess their starting salaries. Behold, a template for all Big Wigs to follow:
1. Decrease starting total packages (salary + sign on) by seven percent. Lower the bar from the get-go.
2. Now is the time – blame the decrease on “a firm wide strategic response to the economic risks of being a major player in the professional services industry. Unofficial response – did you see the DOW sink like the Titanic the other day?!”
3. Spread gap created by initial decrease in salary over the next two years. This will create an artificial sense of accomplishment and praise.
4. Send internal emails stressing the “increase in raises for well deserving employees.” Everyone cheers.
5. In three years college graduates will not know the difference; this “decrease” becomes a non-issue.
Guest’s comment that “pay disparity is a bigger issue than actual pay” can become a non-issue with very little effort. Is this fair or ethical? Mehhhhh. I personally think it would be a slap in the face to those of you who have busted your humps and sacrificed career and personal opportunities all in the name of KPDeloitterhouseErnstMG. But it certainly wouldn’t be the most desperate attempt made by one of the firms in recent memory.
Raising morale – hardly. What are your thoughts?
Let’s Get Right to the Heart of this Thing
And by that we mean money. We’ve started hearing rumors about the starting salaries for new associates and we don’t know what the hell to believe, so we need your help to set us straight.
We’ve heard $50k in Atlanta, $52k in Houston, $57k in DC and $61k in New York. Nothing yet from the left coast, so help us out. Sounds like signing bonuses are either significantly reduced and in some cases completely eliminated. Nothing has been firm specific but we’re guessing they’re all pretty close.
Talk to your fellow newly minted bean counters and find out the sitch on this year’s salaries and how it compares to last year’s newbies for your respective city. Also let us know if your start date has been pushed back. Discuss in the comments or send us the deets at [email protected].