End of First Year Salary Increase - Page 2

  • Creator
    Topic
  • #192945
    shanek327
    Participant

    I work in private, the company is a real estate investment firm and I an a property accountant. They started me at $50k first year out of school.

    After a year, there’s a review and a salary increase. I am suppose to do a self-appraisal and make a request as to the increase.

    Also, management knows I’m a CPA candidate and they gave me their word that they would increase my salary once all parts are passed.

    If the year end comes, AND the exam is passed….what do you think is a reasonable salary increase request???

    thanks!

    FAR - 75
    AUD - 78
    BEC - 82
    REG - 77

    2 Corinthians 5:21

    Our value does not come from our skills and abilities, as good as they may be; it does not come from our GPA, our job, a promotion from that job to a better job, our success on the CPA exam, or anything of the like; but our value comes from the fact that we have a Creator who loves us, cares for us, and desires to help us navigate the rough waters of this life in a way that provides security, hope, and true, everlasting joy while we anticipate the life to come, with Him.

Viewing 15 replies - 16 through 30 (of 30 total)
  • Author
    Replies
  • #660134
    mw798
    Member

    That's why you negotiate a good starting salary. Once you are in, you are in and your merit increases are based on that starting number.

    As for transparency in private, that is non-existent. I can tell you that people with the same job title that a $20k difference in salary can be common which is unlike public where everyone is pretty much making the same.

    Under 5% is the norm in private which is why negotiating that starting salary is so very important, much more so than in public.

    #660135
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    That would irk the hell out of me. There is no way that would I let some guy make $20k more than me unless he's my boss.

    As far as negotiating. You can always negotiate. It's expectation management. Your boss should know what your expectations are. If you're performing, they'll make it happen.

    If they don't make it happen, keep them honest with an outside offer.

    If that doesn't work, take the other offer.

    #660136
    mw798
    Member

    And that's why talking about salary is frowned upon in private as it creates conflict and animosity. I'll give you an example, that happened just over a year ago. I had hired a new accountant and she negotiated a salary that was $12k higher than the person she would be working with and he would be the one training her. They both had the same job title and over the course of 6 months he somehow found out how much she was making. His work started going downhill which I noticed immediately as I guess he lost motivation. He finally came up to me asking for a bump, which I unfortunately couldn't give him due to HR guidelines. He left soon after.

    That's why in private, you better know what you're worth when you they ask you what you'll accept before you take the job as that is pretty much set in stone. If you ask for $65k and the range for the position is $70k to $115k (which is hidden from you), HR will give you $65k to $70k, someone else can ask for $95k and they can very well get $95k. You won't be able to negotiate after that.

    #660137
    shanek327
    Participant

    Do you think that a first year to second year increase should or could potentially be more than a third to fourth year or fifth to sixth year etc. due to the amount of learning and competence-development you actually do in year one?

    FAR - 75
    AUD - 78
    BEC - 82
    REG - 77

    2 Corinthians 5:21

    Our value does not come from our skills and abilities, as good as they may be; it does not come from our GPA, our job, a promotion from that job to a better job, our success on the CPA exam, or anything of the like; but our value comes from the fact that we have a Creator who loves us, cares for us, and desires to help us navigate the rough waters of this life in a way that provides security, hope, and true, everlasting joy while we anticipate the life to come, with Him.

    #660138
    mw798
    Member

    In private, the increases are pretty uniform year after year.

    #660139
    Mamabear
    Member

    In my experience everything that mw798 has said is true in private. I have worked for quite a few companies and been on the worker side and the management side. In most of them the raises are part of a bucket. You have X% of the total department wages to split between your employees and you can split it up how you see fit among them. The more you give one, the less you can give another. That % bucket doesn't change much from year to year.

    CPA Exam - Finally DONE (November 2014)
    BEC (08/10/13) 80
    AUD (08/24/13) 65 (11/13/13) 85
    FAR (04/12/14) 81
    REG (07/19/14) 69 (11/29/14) 87!!

    #660140
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    After hearing all that, I think I'll be sticking with public. It's more like a biergarten than a bucket.

    If the keg you're at runs dry, you just walk over to the other keg. They'll pour you a full beer, not just ladle you out your allotment.

    #660141
    ajurew1
    Participant

    Or start your own business and own the keg.

    BEC - 84 (4/13/2013)
    REG - 82 (10/17/2013)
    AUD - 85 (12/5/2013)
    FAR - 75 (10/11/2014)

    #660142
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    I'll agree with you there, ajurew.

    That's actually why I joined public. A well run firm will be more like an apprenticeship than a typical company would.

    #660143
    ajurew1
    Participant

    Very true. A great learning experience.

    BEC - 84 (4/13/2013)
    REG - 82 (10/17/2013)
    AUD - 85 (12/5/2013)
    FAR - 75 (10/11/2014)

    #660144
    san4596
    Member

    Passing all the exams is a $3K raise on average, and 3% raise on $50K is $1,500. So, I would say ask for a 10% raise of $5K and expect something around $4K.

    CPA EXAM: DONE!!!!
    Ethics Course: Passed
    Application Mailed: 3/16/15
    Professional Conduct Exam: 97
    Certification Date: 4/2/15!!!

    #660145
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    The private companies I've worked at (one was Fortune 500, top 200, so I guess you could call that “Fortune 200”), there was a hard cap and it was below 4%. I'm not sure what compensation was available for management-levels, but below that, it was capped below 4%; most recent job was capped at 3%. It was a bucket model like Mama talked about, but was also 3% cap per person, so you couldn't give 10% to one person and none to the rest of the department.

    As for the knowledge acquired in your first year on the job, most places consider you at the end of the year to just now be able to perform at the level they're paying you for, and see the 1st year salary as a training investment. So, they're not likely to pay you more for learning your job. I'd think 2nd or 3rd year is more when you've got potential to be doing more than your job and get paid more accordingly (though some do start over-performing in their 1st year).

    #660146
    kettlecorn
    Member

    Ask for $100k, land at $60k

    #660147
    mw798
    Member

    More like ask for $100k, get shown the door

    #660148
    Mamabear
    Member

    Lilla said it perfectly. That first year factors in a lot of learning curve and isn't supposed to be your big bump year. You spent the year learning your job, not making it better. Now if you came in and automated everything and saved the department 30 hours of work per week then sure, ask for more, but if all you did was learn how to do your job and pass the CPA I would stick to a more reasonable raise and save the big guns for when you have proved you deserve them.

    CPA Exam - Finally DONE (November 2014)
    BEC (08/10/13) 80
    AUD (08/24/13) 65 (11/13/13) 85
    FAR (04/12/14) 81
    REG (07/19/14) 69 (11/29/14) 87!!

Viewing 15 replies - 16 through 30 (of 30 total)
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