Kicking off our series of posts on the Vault Accounting 50 is the Top 10 firms. While we’ve got two very familiar names at the top, the rest of the top ten you may not be familiar with.
Feel free to comment on any of the firms in the top ten and their appropriateness or lack thereof or whatever else strikes you.
Plus If you’ve got any news, gossip or other information (compensation, cost-saving ingenuity and so on) for any of these firms that is fit for this here site, do get in touch with us at [email protected].
Now before we get to the highlights and lowlights on each, let’s refresh your memory on the top ten:
1. Deloitte – New York, NY
2. PricewaterhouseCoopers – New York, NY
3. Rothstein Kass – Roseland, NJ
4. Marcum – Melville, NY
5. Dixon Hughes – High Point, NC
6. Moss Adams – Seattle, WA
7. Elliott Davis – Greenville, SC
8. Friedman – New York, NY
9. Kaufman, Rossin & Company – Miami, FL
10. Cherry, Bekaert & Holland – Richmond, VA
Here’s some of the buzz (and maybe a comment from us) from Vault’s profiles on the top ten:
• Deloitte – “Earning potential as a partner is huge” but “Long path to partner” (that includes working “a lot of hours and weekends”)
• PricewaterhouseCoopers – “The dean of public accounting” but “Pompous; GPA’s their only concern—they don’t consider experience or ambition”
• Rothstein Kass – “Underdogs; competitors, hard workers” that are “Understaffed and undertrained”
• Marcum – “Close to the Big Four—and growing in size daily”; “Works you to death; will spit you out if they don’t think you’re top talent”
• Dixon Hughes – “Plenty of opportunities to advance”; “Headaches of rapid growth yet still limited by regional size”
• Moss Adams – “Well-run, great firm”; “Could do better with its overall minority recruiting efforts” (Barry Salzberg might be willing to help!)
• Elliott Davis – “Good, smaller firm”; “Lacks technical expertise”
• Friedman – “Easy going atmosphere”; “Heavy pressure” (Jekkyl and Hyde?)
• Kaufman, Rossin & Company – “Great working environment”; “Works with a lot of hedge funds; boys’ club”
• Cherry, Bekaert & Holland – “Very reputable; Southern powerhouse”; “Work product is subpar”
And a sample of stories around these parts on the Top 10:
• Deloitte associates attempting hip-hop
• A PwC partner in Houston that might make you think twice about attending happy hours
• Pre-Labor layoffs at Rothstein Kass
• Consider hitting the books before interviewing at Marcum
• Moss Adams picked up Grant Thornton’s Albuquerque office
• Kaufman, Rossin settled their lawsuit over their role in missing the Petters Ponzi Scheme for a shade under $10 mil.
