[lakersfan24]

I have an offer at a firm in Sacramento and I was wondering if 46K is the market rate there. They have overtime at the firm as well if that info changes anything. Any help would be appreciated, I just want to make sure I’m making the correct decision. Thanks in advance for any help,

[smalltimeauditor]

I'd say yes… if you were in the midwest @ small to medium size firm.

B - Passed
A - Passed
R - Passed
F - Passed

[GO Hawks]

Did you just graduate? is it public accounting? it sounds slightly bellow market rate to me. I just got an offer for 54k plus CPA exam expenses in Illinois. I would think that CA would be higher. Check Glassdoor.com to get an idea of what the range is. Either way you might want to take it if you don't have any other options since experience is so important to achieve right out of school, not to mention required to officially become a CPA. You can always jump ship after a year if you feel your value exceeds your wages.

BEC 88 5/25/2013
FAR 96 7/01/2013
AUD 99 7/08/2013
REG 93 8/01/2013

Straight Becker'in it

[lakersfan24]

Thanks for the quick responses. It's a mid sized firm and yes I did just graduate. I have not yet passed any parts of the CPA exam yet. The position is just a normal staff accountant position for a public accounting firm and I checked glassdoor but there doesn't seem to be too much data in the Sacramento area and if I had to guess this looks within the range but on the lower end. I was thinking about asking for more but I didn't know how to go about it as I received this offer pretty quickly (have to accept very soon) and I don't have any other competing offers yet. Any advice you guys can give me on negotiating? Should I even bother trying to negotiate or would that look bad on me, so should I just take the offer?

[Jennifer241]

salary .com is another site you can look into, some of the information you have to pay for, but they have some free information you can look at.

I say negotiate, if they offered you the position then you are the best candidate for the job. Research the starting positions salary at other firms in the area and go from there.

Congratulations on the job offer!

AUD - Jan 9,13 Pass
REG - Aug 30,13 Pass
BEC - Oct 26,13 Pass
FAR - Dec 4,13 Pass

Licensed CPA in the state of Oregon

[P or F.. I think Im gonna BARF]

That seems really low in public accounting. Similar position in Texas would start you anywhere from 50-55K, and this is TX. I would think California would be higher (55-60K).

Side note, public accounting firms are notorious for NOT negotiating salary at the entry level positions. So, in my opinion, if you want this job bad, first see if they will wiggle on the entry number. If not, accept the 46K but get them to put it in the offer letter that once you complete the CPA exam, you will receive X amount more per year. Also, I know firms won't negotiate starting salary, but they will negotiate a signing bonus. Other questions to ask them is what is their policy on CPA exam reimbursement / bonus for completing the exam.

Food for thought.

B - (08/29/2013) Passed
A - (07/02/2013) Passed
R - (10/17/2013) 73 - Rematch
F - (05/29/2013) Passed

[lakersfan24]

Wow thanks for all the great info. One last thing I wanted to mention is that this is job is paid by the hour with overtime so it isn't a set salary for the year. Does the make any difference at all?

[P or F.. I think Im gonna BARF]

Yes, that makes a huge difference! I wish my public accounting firm paid me by the hour. I feel like I made way more money as a summer intern than I did as an associate because of OT. However, you have some follow up questions you need to ask… I would get in touch with some of their staff to see what their typical work weeks are like. Are they working 30 hours a week, or are they working like other public accountants 50-80 hours per week.

Honestly, I highly doubt they are working much overtime if the firm is paying them hourly. If all public accounting firms paid their staff hourly, the industry would cripple as they work us much more than 40 hours / week. Really, I've never heard of a position at a public accounting firm being hourly other than for internships and admin. This would raise some red flags, that you may want to address.

B - (08/29/2013) Passed
A - (07/02/2013) Passed
R - (10/17/2013) 73 - Rematch
F - (05/29/2013) Passed

[littlenumberrobot]

I'm down the highway from you laker…. That's way more than what I accepted right out of school! I know jobs requiring 3 some experience in public offering less than that in my city.

CA CPA - All because of the journey listed below
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
FAR - 53('10), 8/25/12 79 PASSED!
REG - 66('11), 69('12), 12/06/12 77 PASSED!!
BEC - 58('10), 74('12), 01/05/13 77 PASSED!!!
AUD - 43('11), 66('12), 69('13), 74('13) 7/29/13 85 PASSED!!!!!

(Combinations of Roger, Yaeger, Wiley Book, Wiley TB, & NINJA Notes)

Ethics 90%

[lakersfan24]

@P or F…I don't think the number of hours will be a problem because they have a minimum amount of hours that employees have to work during off-season and busy season. Off-season is 40+ and busy-season is 55+ and I believe that anything past that would be OT (I'll make sure about this). How does that sound? Should I just take the offer without asking for more pay so I don't burn any bridges before I even start?

@robot…where are from man? Fairfield? Vaca?

Thanks for all the help guys/girls. I really appreciate it.

[P or F.. I think Im gonna BARF]

Doesn't sound right. No way they will set you up hourly and eligible for OT if they know you are going to be going over 40 hours/week consistently. Any your starting salary is extremely important, so I wouldn't accept to “not burn bridges.” If they start you out at 46K and give you a 10% raise (which by most would be considered EXTREMELY generous)… then you are only at 51K… an amount which would be considered a low starting salary in Texas.

Think about it.

B - (08/29/2013) Passed
A - (07/02/2013) Passed
R - (10/17/2013) 73 - Rematch
F - (05/29/2013) Passed

[P or F.. I think Im gonna BARF]

Just to clarify, this is public accounting firm? Are they local, regional, national, etc? What's the department – audit, tax, consulting?

B - (08/29/2013) Passed
A - (07/02/2013) Passed
R - (10/17/2013) 73 - Rematch
F - (05/29/2013) Passed

[littlenumberrobot]

I'm farther down in Central Valley. So your offer being higher sounds about right as Sacramento is bigger city. Another user hustlinhustlin lives up by you and they posted their income in one of those salary forums. I'd search for you but I'm on a little break from studying gotta get back haha from my memory it wasn't too different than yours.

p.f. Nooooo one in my city makes 50 out of college maybe unless they got a masters and had some experience. Maybe in la or San Fran but not the smaller cities.

CA CPA - All because of the journey listed below
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
FAR - 53('10), 8/25/12 79 PASSED!
REG - 66('11), 69('12), 12/06/12 77 PASSED!!
BEC - 58('10), 74('12), 01/05/13 77 PASSED!!!
AUD - 43('11), 66('12), 69('13), 74('13) 7/29/13 85 PASSED!!!!!

(Combinations of Roger, Yaeger, Wiley Book, Wiley TB, & NINJA Notes)

Ethics 90%

[Anonymous]

I'm also in CA. I got 44k plus overtime and bonuses when I started last year. Overtime makes a difference. Your offer sounds fair.

[Anonymous]

The fact that you get OT makes it seem like a fair salary to me. I started at $50K right out of college with no OT at a Big 4 firm in New England. So $46K in mid-market with OT sounds pretty good.

[Author]

Replies