[Anonymous]

Hey all,

Does anyone have experience with asking for raises of this size? Long story short, I work at a small firm (12 employees, 5 of which are CPA’s) in Central PA. I have been working there since August 2012 and am called a Senior Accountant, though I think my actual responsibilities fall more towards supervisor/manager. I work primarily on audits and am in charge of audits from planning to completion. In tax season I handle the tax work for most of our largest manufacturing clients. I have my CPA license, CMA Certification, and a Master’s Degree in accounting.

My current salary is $39,000. We get paid overtime so I think it winds up around $43,000-$45,000. I’ve done a fair bit of research using Robert Half, Glassdoor, trade journals, etc, and the consensus I am seeing is that a senior accountant should be making around $50,000-$55,000 minimum (adjusted to my local market), not including overtime. To make matters worse, there are private industry postings around here for accounting jobs that make $60,000, without the utter chaos of tax season to deal with.

I have a review coming up in a month or two and am trying to figure out what to do. I absolutely love where I work and the workplace environment could not be replicated anywhere else, but at the same time I have student loans and a mortgage and the bills need paid. I would like to discuss my salary being brought up to the $53,000 to $54,000 range, but I don’t know how to phrase that without the powers that be shutting down before I can even make my case. If I was on the other side of the table, if someone started talking about a 35-40% raise I would probably shut down too. I don’t have very much insight into the financial health of the company, but I do know that it is very profitable and growth has been absolutely exponential in the last few years.

Has anyone else been in a similar situation? How did you approach it/how did it go?

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Just to give everyone an update – I had a performance review that went very well, very positive…appreciation for long hours, happy with work and performance, etc. Talked about salary and the managing partner said that he did some research on salaries after tax season and I'm not underpaid. He said he would look at tweaking benefits over the next month or so to provide people with a bit of a compensation bump, but that's not something I'm particularly interested in holding my breath for. Essentially, he thinks my salary is fair.

So, out the resumes go. I'm applying to quite a few places I'm hopeful about, so we'll see how it goes.

My question for you all is this – As I mentioned in the original post, a firm this small has a certain “family” feel to it, and I've become pretty good friends with the other partner. He and I are the only two with the yellow book CPE to be able to work on single audits, and he and I work on a few pretty big 6/30 year end single audits. If I leave over the next couple months it is going to wreck his summer in a big way and I would feel horrible. Can you folks think of a way I could somehow “indicate” that I might not be around much longer so that it isn't a complete shock when I hand him my two weeks notice? I

On one hand, he's good people and I think he would keep the secret for me. On the other hand, he's a partner and has a duty to let the managing partner know if I told him I was thinking about leaving. Any input would be appreciated!

[Anonymous]

Just to give everyone an update – I had a performance review that went very well, very positive…appreciation for long hours, happy with work and performance, etc. Talked about salary and the managing partner said that he did some research on salaries after tax season and I'm not underpaid. He said he would look at tweaking benefits over the next month or so to provide people with a bit of a compensation bump, but that's not something I'm particularly interested in holding my breath for. Essentially, he thinks my salary is fair.

So, out the resumes go. I'm applying to quite a few places I'm hopeful about, so we'll see how it goes.

My question for you all is this – As I mentioned in the original post, a firm this small has a certain “family” feel to it, and I've become pretty good friends with the other partner. He and I are the only two with the yellow book CPE to be able to work on single audits, and he and I work on a few pretty big 6/30 year end single audits. If I leave over the next couple months it is going to wreck his summer in a big way and I would feel horrible. Can you folks think of a way I could somehow “indicate” that I might not be around much longer so that it isn't a complete shock when I hand him my two weeks notice? I

On one hand, he's good people and I think he would keep the secret for me. On the other hand, he's a partner and has a duty to let the managing partner know if I told him I was thinking about leaving. Any input would be appreciated!

[Kimboroni]

Shoot.

Well, we did have a thread recently where someone got fired from their firm since they heard s/he was job shopping. I don't know how common that is.

AUD 84 (1/9/14-Wiley books/TB + free materials)
FAR 83 (5/21/14-the above + NINJA 10 Pt Combo Lite)
REG 84 (7/9/14-Wiley books/TB + NINJA Audio/FC/Notes)
BEC 76 (10/5/14-Wiley books/TB + NINJA Audio/FC)

Disclaimer: My ninja avatar is not meant to imply that I have any affiliation with this site other than being a forum member. That's a pic of a T-shirt that my daughter gave me for my birthday. 🙂

[Kimboroni]

Shoot.

Well, we did have a thread recently where someone got fired from their firm since they heard s/he was job shopping. I don't know how common that is.

AUD 84 (1/9/14-Wiley books/TB + free materials)
FAR 83 (5/21/14-the above + NINJA 10 Pt Combo Lite)
REG 84 (7/9/14-Wiley books/TB + NINJA Audio/FC/Notes)
BEC 76 (10/5/14-Wiley books/TB + NINJA Audio/FC)

Disclaimer: My ninja avatar is not meant to imply that I have any affiliation with this site other than being a forum member. That's a pic of a T-shirt that my daughter gave me for my birthday. 🙂

[Lindrobe]

I wouldn't recommend it. No matter how good of friends you are, it is a business relationship. I am in the same boat as you. I have posted some threads on here about my situation. Basically, I was hired in at an entry level job 5 years ago and have received a bunch of additional responsibilities, asked for a raise a year ago, and was told at the beginning of April that my P.D. would be updated to reflect the additional responsibilities, but no additional money. I was really upset when I found out, and basically told my boss that I feel that I am being taken advantage of and I don't think I can do it much longer. He obviously knows that I am looking now and it has made the situation really strange. I used to receive great performance reviews and 2 days ago, I got the first bad performance review of my life. I know that it is only due to the fact that I stuck up for myself. So, the moral of the story is, I think you should keep a good attitude and don't let anyone know that you are looking.

FAR 12/3/14, 87
AUD 2/3/14, 90
BEC 4/1/14, 88
REG 5/27/14, 94

Licensed CPA, Indiana

"Successful people do things that unsuccessful people don't want to do"

[Lindrobe]

I wouldn't recommend it. No matter how good of friends you are, it is a business relationship. I am in the same boat as you. I have posted some threads on here about my situation. Basically, I was hired in at an entry level job 5 years ago and have received a bunch of additional responsibilities, asked for a raise a year ago, and was told at the beginning of April that my P.D. would be updated to reflect the additional responsibilities, but no additional money. I was really upset when I found out, and basically told my boss that I feel that I am being taken advantage of and I don't think I can do it much longer. He obviously knows that I am looking now and it has made the situation really strange. I used to receive great performance reviews and 2 days ago, I got the first bad performance review of my life. I know that it is only due to the fact that I stuck up for myself. So, the moral of the story is, I think you should keep a good attitude and don't let anyone know that you are looking.

FAR 12/3/14, 87
AUD 2/3/14, 90
BEC 4/1/14, 88
REG 5/27/14, 94

Licensed CPA, Indiana

"Successful people do things that unsuccessful people don't want to do"

[taxman89]

Yeah i wouldnt mention it. you mentioned that you did research and are vastly underpaid in your review so they should know you are going to look now (their “we did research too” is bull —-). Dont worry about telling the partner. 2 weeks is fine. If they really are not underpaying you they should have no problem finding someone new (lol). PLUS the fact that you and a partner are the only ones that can do single audits kinda proves your point that you are worth more. go find a normal paying job and tell them to kya….they have certainly earned it

Aud-75 3x I knew i never liked you
Bec-77 1x being in the bubble is stressful
Reg-82 4x its not me its you...and no we cant be friends
Far-78 1x easiest section

[taxman89]

Yeah i wouldnt mention it. you mentioned that you did research and are vastly underpaid in your review so they should know you are going to look now (their “we did research too” is bull —-). Dont worry about telling the partner. 2 weeks is fine. If they really are not underpaying you they should have no problem finding someone new (lol). PLUS the fact that you and a partner are the only ones that can do single audits kinda proves your point that you are worth more. go find a normal paying job and tell them to kya….they have certainly earned it

Aud-75 3x I knew i never liked you
Bec-77 1x being in the bubble is stressful
Reg-82 4x its not me its you...and no we cant be friends
Far-78 1x easiest section

[fuzyfro89]

Boojum:

You are way too nice, to a fault. If they cared whether an employee, especially a key employee, leaves, they wouldn't be paying you “at” the market level (in their eyes), they should be paying a premium to keep the talent around.

In a 12-person shop, one employee leaving is a hit. It's not your fault they are underpaying you. If you and the partner had a mutually beneficial relationship, he would recognize your importance and have your salary reflect that.

It's a business decision, not a personal one.

[fuzyfro89]

Boojum:

You are way too nice, to a fault. If they cared whether an employee, especially a key employee, leaves, they wouldn't be paying you “at” the market level (in their eyes), they should be paying a premium to keep the talent around.

In a 12-person shop, one employee leaving is a hit. It's not your fault they are underpaying you. If you and the partner had a mutually beneficial relationship, he would recognize your importance and have your salary reflect that.

It's a business decision, not a personal one.

[Author]

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