[OneStep]

What a day! I found out early this morning that I passed my last section of the CPA exam, and later in the afternoon I had my annual review. I thought perfect timing, right? Especially since my boss told me during last annual review that once I pass the exam, i will surely be promoted to a Senior Accountant. I have been working as a Staff Accountant with this firm for about 18 months now. Well, I was not promoted, instead I was given a raise of $0.50.

During last year’s review I asked for more work because i didnt have enough clients to work on, and my boss told me that he will give me more work. Several months later, everything was still the same. Throughout the whole year when I was out of work, I have asked my boss or supervisor over and over again for more work, and all I got was just small projects, and mostly nonbillable work. I have constantly looked for work and asked the other Senior managers in the firm if there is anything I can help them with or if they have a client I can work on. End of last year, I was finally given two clients (only 2! small clients).

I remember last summer, i was upset because I could see my productivity ratio going down, and my husband was comforting me that probably it is slow in the summer. I was really busy during tax season this year and my productivity ratio increased a little bit, but overall it was still low.

And today, during the review he mentioned that my productivity ratio has been low, and i need to work more in order to achieve my target for the year, and thus increase my compensation. Do you see where my frustration is, I feel like I m in a magical circle. On my annual reviews, I m told I need to work more, so I can have more billable hours. When I ask for more work, he promises he will give me more work. And after that, nothing…. Today he told me if I reach my next year’s target (which is 95% of my total hours !), that this will get me to $51K. My current salary has been $42K and the new increase gets me another 1K.

What’s frustrating is that during our conversation today he mentioned that he will try to give me more work so I can get to 30 billable hrs a week. Well, that’s about 75% of the hours in a work week. If he can give me billable work for only 75% of my total hours, why is he setting target hours of 95%?! There is no way i can reach next year’s target with only 30hrs per week. I have the feeling I m going to be screwed again next year, and get another $0.50 increase!

I know that in order to get a promotion and pay increase, you have to first prove yourself, your abilities, and skills. But I feel that I am not given the opportunity to do that. I know I can do more, but i m limited by the small number of clients I have.

Also, it is interesting that about half a year ago they hired new staff accountants, and they work pretty much all the time. I just dont get it, and I m really frustrated…

I m also starting to think that they might be discriminating against me because I m a foreigner. He asked me today if I have any communication problems (I assume he is considering to give me new clients and wants to make sure i represent the firm well). I m fluent in English, and don’t have any communication problems, only a mild accent, but people tell me they love my accent. And some people tell me they didnt know I wasnt born in the States because I look like an American.

For now, i think I m going to see how much work I will get in the next months, hoping that it will change for the better.

I doubt anyone has had a similar experience… But what would be your advice if you were in a similar situation?

FAR - Apr 2013 - PASSED
REG - Oct 2013 - PASSED
AUD - Apr 2014 - PASSED
BEC - May 2014 - PASSED

[fuzyfro89]

When do you get your license?

Once you have the license in hand, I'd start looking elsewhere. Seems like he/they are not interested in developing their staff. I would only consider staying for another year if I saw an immediate uptick in billable hours.

It's bs that all the firms give you. They tell you to hit a 90% chargeable target, and then have you unassigned for 4 weeks in the summer, and then somehow you have to make up all that time by working crazy overtime during interim/busy season… but then managers cry wolf if you start hurting their budgets… and it starts all over again.

Such is life in public, but if you're not getting valuable experience, it's not worth it at all. You're at $43k now, almost all mid-size and larger firms will easily start you at $50k base plus CPA bonus.

[RIST]

I hate to say this, but I worked at a small-ish accounting firm and I saw this very thing happen 🙁 They are crowding you out and seeing if the new help is a better fit.

You should look to greener pastures. You are not appreciated. Since you are married and probably don't want to work 70 hours a week might I suggest industry? With a CPA your base salary will be strong. Getting 50K will be effortless with a CPA and the hours and workload will be great. I know plenty of people who love these jobs. Getting much more than 50K is possible as well, I just don't want to get your hopes up too much 🙂

No more detailed timesheets and billable hours… All jobs well defined… It is a beautiful thing.

Less client interaction if your accent is a problem is a bonus too. You never know if people are lying about your communication skill. I can't know unless I hear you myself.

[OneStep]

Thanks for your replies!

@Fuzyfro89, you made a good point that they might not be interested in developing their staff. I never thought about that but I have noticed when i looked through old work papers that every year they had new staff accountants, and their Senior Accountants and Managers have been with the firm for over 10 years. When I was hired, there was another girl hired as a staff accountant a month before me. She is not working here anymore, I dont know why. So maybe that's why they hired the other two staff accountants end of last year, to replace us both. So may be they are replacing their staff accountants every year once they become overqualified for their staff position. That way they always have inexpensive accountants helping during tax season.

FAR - Apr 2013 - PASSED
REG - Oct 2013 - PASSED
AUD - Apr 2014 - PASSED
BEC - May 2014 - PASSED

[Anonymous]

Public accounting… story of our lives (for some… not all)

[Study Monk]

In my humble opinion a 50 cent raise is a sign that they would like you to leave. You should definitely plan on leaving sooner than later. If you get a heads up they are hiring I would put your 2 week in ASAP, because this would be a sign that they are unhappy with your performance. It may not be your fault. They might not have enough clients to keep you busy and they are hoping you will quit to avoid paying unemployment. Welcome to Corporate America!

I spoke to an ancient wise man who sent me on a mushroom induced journey through an ancient forest to find the key to passing the CPA exam. A talking spider monkey told me to throw the last of my drinking water in the dirt to find what I was looking for. So I followed his instructions and the following message appeared in the soil:

"Do 5000 multiple choice questions for each section"

[KBinMN]

Yep welcome to life at a small firm. They want to keep wages low, don't have the work, don't want to train you and move you up, but probably don't want you to leave. Or maybe they don't care. You sound like you could work at my office. This is a pretty common theme.

Like others have said – look around and see what else is out there.

They keep their 10 year, manager types and shuffle in interns and 1-2 year staff. Apparently training isn't a cost they consider in some of these decisions.

They have to knock you down at reviews, I swear. “Oh you don't have enough chargeable time” yeah well I'm not in charge of giving myself projects. Even if you met your goal they have to find reasons to not increase your pay. Sad but this is my opinion of how this stuff works. They put the carrot out there for you, but you'll never actually get it. Not usually at a small firm (unless you are extremely, extremely intelligent accounting wise).

[mla1169]

I'd definately be looking for another job. Be careful of how you're asking for work at your current firm. There's a big difference between saying “I have nothing to do, do you have anything for me?” and saying “I see you're working on X, what can I take off your plate?” The latter expresses confidence, which you should have. I doubt it will advance your career at this place since they don't seem interested in your career but any exposure in the meantime will be an asset at your next position.

FAR- 77
AUD -49, 71, 84
REG -56,75!
BEC -75

Massachusetts CPA (non reporting) since 3/12.

[joelseph]

“during the review he mentioned that my productivity ratio has been low”

^ The exact reason I left public accounting. Only thing you are judged on is unrealistic budget to actual.

I also just recently got my license and had an annual performance review… 20% raise. I'd be out the front door quickly if I was you.

FAR: 84 on 4/4/13
AUD: 91 on 7/27/13
BEC: 72 on 11/11/13, 82 on 01/03/14
REG: 80 on 02/27/14

[impska]

Maybe I'm misunderstanding what you're saying…

But if you got a 50 cent raise, them it's pretty much a direct insult and you should immediately start looking for jobs. Not in a few months or something… you should have been looking yesterday.

Later you say you had a $1000 increase to $43,000. That is still a pitifully low salary for a CPA. Move on.

This job is a dead end. They don't like you. There are bigger and better opportunities out there.

REG - 94
BEC - 92
FAR - 92
AUD - 99

[ipasscpa]

It really makes me feel sad whenever I hear these kind of stories about public. People work so hard to acheive these designation and all you get is this discouragement from top. Ofcourse, true accounting experience is learned at public but what's a point if you are treated like a junk in these places. I work in a real estate/property managment firm and we have around 60 plus accountants here. Honestly, all are making above 60k at staff level and managers go way beyond. only accouting we do here is month end and make jorunal entries.

Around 90% only have BS degrees with no certifications. It was three months I joined this company when I recieved my final passing scores. My managers were happy to give me a raise and appeciated the hard work which keeps me motivated. I always think I should go to public to gain a valuable accoutning knowndgle but these kind of stories always discourage me.

@onestep@atime: If you have enough experience under the belt form public, pick a private industry and I assure you will have decent salary without worrying about your billable hours. Your CPA license is a ferrari in private sector.

so far what I have learned, if company got the cash, they will keep the employees happy…

CPA- VA

[soyanks]

Ask HR to fill our your Work Experience portion of the CPA License application and as soon as they send it in, look for another job. Depending on where you live, the time it takes to get your license may vary (processing time, etc).

But with your CPA license, you can easily go get a job at another firm.

P.S. – Who gives out $0.50 raise? That's an insult

FAR - 86
REG - 85
BEC - 90
AUD - 84

[How many letters do you need]

Agree with pretty much all perspectives so far. Giving you an unobtainable goal is the classic way to kill motivation. Either your boss is an idiot when it comes to leadership or they are intentionally telling you to leave but just don't want to have a conversation about it (it's amazing to me how many cowards reside in middle management). Either way the future isn't bright there. Take your sparkly new CPA to somebody who will appreciate it…(and you)

MBA,CMA,CPA, CFF?, ABV?

[OneStep]

Thank you all for the encouraging words!! I felt horrible after my review Monday, I couldn't even celebrate passing the CPA exam, even though I have been awaiting this moment for so long. Instead of being rewarded from my boss for passing, i felt like I was punched in the face, i was hurt and discouraged. He knew that I m working on my CPA and he knew I just took my last test. Last year he promised a promotion but he never made the effort to assign me more responsibilities and work, so i can have the opportunity to earn my promotion. And then, I was punished for that. Horrible, I dont wish anyone to be in a similar situation.

I just want to clarify that the raise is $0.50 an hour, which is $1040 a year. My husband pointed out that is just a cost of living increase.

But I m getting over this, and I m starting to look around for another job. I will still have to wait to get my license though before I make any move. I dont know how long it will take. But maybe by the time I get my license in my hand, i will have about 2 years of experience in public, which I hope will be a stepping stone to my next job.

Even though working in public was my long term career plan, after this experience i changed my mind so quickly, and I m looking for a job in a private industry.

FAR - Apr 2013 - PASSED
REG - Oct 2013 - PASSED
AUD - Apr 2014 - PASSED
BEC - May 2014 - PASSED

[vanadium3]

That's unfortunate. I can understand the no work in summer part, but to ding you for lack of their management responsibility is just not cool.

They should give you at least a bonus for passing that darn exam.

Though overall, don't burn any bridges and have your hours signed off before you leave. Not all public treats you like this, but public is still public.

But yeah the pay is horrible. You should be making around 50k+ for staff.

CPA

[Author]

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