[weed74]

Hi Everyone,

I was just wondering, and have found no better area to ask this question, but what sorts of benefits are people receving at their public accounting job? Please include a general location to help apply relevance to the situation for myself and others.

My qualifications:

BS – Accounting and Finance

Masters – Accounting

Passed 2 of 4 parts of CPA so far

4 years experience with one 20-30 person firm, Southern Ohio

Benefits:

2 weeks vacation

No set personal/sick time policy

No Comp Time

No reimbursement for CPA or Schooling

Interest free loans for CPA/School (up to $5k)

1% of salary max match on 401k

4-5% of salary profit sharing employer contribution

salary around $50k, bonus generally between $2500-4000

total hours around 2300-2400 each year, of which about 1400-1500 are chargeable

AUD - 84
BEC - 80
REG - 75
FAR - 80

[Anonymous]

I'll give my breakdown since I have had a few jobs over the past 7ish years.

After college (2003) I started out at a Big 4 firm making $43k – I was a newly wed and never saw my husband, so I quit after a year. I went to work at a large retail corporation in the Risk Management department making $55k. After a year there, the company merged with another company and the headquarters was moved out of state, so I had to find a new job. My next job was for a large automotive supplier doing SEC reporting for $65k a year. I stayed there 2 years, had a baby and decided to be a stay at home mom. I went back to work about 18 months ago for another large automotive supplier doing consolidations. I work part time (24 hours a week) and I make $35/hour. I know if I were to look for a full-time position I'd be making closer to $85k right now.

2003 – $43k

2004 – $55k

2005 – $65k

2008 – $35/hr part time

I think I've been pretty lucky.

[skiw97]

do what you can to get in and out of public accounting as fast as possible, try and work for a big 4 firm on their private clients so you get a lot more experience with the balance sheet, different clients, non-sox controls (bc sox is a joke)

the big 4 will take your life away, if that is what you want, congrats and I'm happy for you. I came in as an experienced associate after working for a regional firm for 1.5 years, made senior after 3 busy seasons, and was laid off after my second brutal busy season. I was making 70k and my firm froze raises on everyone that did not get promoted. I feel so bad for all my friends who still work there, after you make senior, over 70% of your time is spent doing stuff that doesnt matter, and all your bosses want you just to work late and have you do their work. its truly horrible. I wouldnt go back for 90k right now, no way. You get good benefits but seriously you will not have a life. Partners average life span is 55 years. Senior Managers walk around looking at their blackberries all day while there wife is at home with the kids while they are cracking jokes about how crappy the client is and how cool they are for drinking 12 red bulls and solving some TPS report which no one in their right mind cares about. No ones cares about any thing you do, public accounting is a joke for all the hours you put in, about 10% of your hours are value added, the other 90% is you wasting your life and thinking you are cool wokring for “big 4”, no one cares other then your buddy who just worked on a spreadsheet for 300 hours, came up with a SUD, but then you and the manager made it go away and you either ate hours or got a bad performance. Good luck to all of you.

FAR 11/13 - 78, BEC 1/13 - 82, AUD 2/23 - 94, REG 5/15 - 86

[Anonymous]

Wow, that was quite the rant.

[Anonymous]

nice rant at 3am (or midnight – wherever you are)

[PursuitCPA]

cant even get into the big 4…I don't care what you here out there

CPA EXAM - Passed

[luckypenny786]

wow skiw97, that definitely sounds terrible… I've heard similar things from some of my friends that work for big 4. I work at a small local CPA firm (4 full time employees and 4 more part time) and it's totally the opposite. I'm not wasting my time doing pointless work and I'm actually taken seriously even though I don't have much experience (I graduated in May and only had a couple years of interning at another small company before that). Pay is probably a little less than big 4, but I get pretty good benefits and my company pays 100% of my insurance premiums. I like public accounting at a smaller firm because you actually get to know your clients and you're able to make a real difference. I do mostly tax and business consulting work so I'm actually able to add value with the majority of my work.

D O N E !

[The GaJone]

I'm 25 years old and have been at the same CPA firm (8 partners, 14 staff accountants) in SW Ohio for a little over 3 years. We don't deal with any publicly traded companies and have a lot of not-for-profit clients. I'm pretty much 50/50 between tax an audit although I'm starting to get a little more audit work than tax. Here's my breakdown:

Salary: about $45k (started at $37,500)

No standard bonuses, though I have received two separate new higher referral bonuses of $1,500 each since I've started

20 days of paid time off (started with 20)

Crappy HSA health plan

401K with 75% match on first 5%

37.5 hours per week non-busy season

Flex time in non-busy season (probably the greatest thing ever)

50 hours per week through February

55 hours per week March – April 15

Today is January 27th and busy season hours still haven't started yet (may start next week though)

Saturdays are not mandatory in busy season

No set requirement for billable hours or percentage

They pay $3,000 per year in tuition if you are working towards you 150 semester/225 quarter hours requirement (which I took full advantage of)

Becker (or a CPA review service of your choice) is paid for

Literally $0 bonus for passing the CPA exam, though you need it to advance in the firm obviously

All in all it's a pretty good gig. The hours are less than basically every CPA firm I have heard of, and to not have a set minimum amount of billable hours is very nice.

FAR: 81 (1/20) AUD: 88 (2/27) REG: 91 (4/19) BEC: 75 (5/20)

[skiw97]

yeah, bottom line, if you want work life balance, pick a small firm, non-sec… so much of the big 4 time is spent on COMLIANCE, internal quality control programs are never-ended, PCAOB, SEC, it just never ends, the worst is when you work so hard and so long on something that isnt even a client deliverable, just gets thrown in the database (maybe) and you dont get any credit for it. You will get paid a large premium for working in big 4 and have access to many more high paying jobs, but I mean these people live horrible personal lives. I witnessed it for 5 years. Bigger the company, the bigger the problems, the greater the competition, its cut-throat.

2003 i worked for regional firm, 38k plus quarterly travel bonues (ended up being 2.5k every quarter for me), not much overtime because it was all outsourced internal audit and SOX implementation projects… these jobs really dont exsist any more.

2004 I was bumped to 45k plus the normal bonuses.. left to join big 4 at the end of the year, started at 52.5 but this is when SOX was EXPLODING and business was booming.

2005 up to 55.5

2006 up to 58.5

2007 promoted to senior and 66.5k

2008 70k

laid off in july 2009 making 70k

In my opinion, the big 4 is not what it used to be, there was such a move towards lucrative 404 projects, then that business split in half, now so many compannies are distressed, we always want to charge more, but our clients look at us as COMPLIANCE, no value added, and want us to reduce our fees. There was also a ton of M&A activity in 2004-2007 that led to a number of great opportunies for audit/consulting firms. Clients HATE auditors. and when HR calls you and tells you they have a great “opportunity for you”, know that it means they are sending you to austin texas for 3 months to work on a project in which you will work till 10pm everyday in a room full of road warriors who pound coffees and diet coke while checking their blackberries 39 times per 6 hours.. oh and guess what, no one cares what you are doing.

I think I did these vents because I'm finally studying for the CPA exam and currently on audit and its bringing back all the memories and nonsense. If you want more money, no life, and more vacation that you will never use, join the big 4. bottom line, PA is brutal and getting to be more and more cutthroat.

FAR 11/13 - 78, BEC 1/13 - 82, AUD 2/23 - 94, REG 5/15 - 86

[Anonymous]

Qualifications:

BA in Accounting

Masters in Accounting

Hired as a new hire, no experience (other than summer internship), for $54K at a Big 4

Benefits: 25 days PTO, 10 paid holidays

Resigned from the firm 1 year later, hired for $60,500 in internal audit at a public healthcare company.

Benefits: 19 days PTO, 10 paid holidays, no busy season, get to go home between 5 – 5:30 PM everyday, enjoy the sun and beach, never work weekends, get great experience learning the operations of a company and seeing how a company runs inside and out as opposed to ticking and tying and making sure the senior manager is happy with the way I worded my work papers or the size of my font, and where I underlined something instead of having it in italics.

Big 4 is “a great place to launch a career”, no argument there whatsoever, but unless you are on the fast track to partner and that is what you're truly passionate about, there's more money to be made in industry or consulting vs external audit at a B4.

[skiw97]

well said, launch a career and do what you can to get the heck out. I put an audit plan together for an entire week (this is in addition to the one I had already put together but a new S. Manager came in and wanted it his way).. no one ever looked at it, ever, it was a complete waste of time yet I spent minimal 2 hours a day updating it and distributing it to staff and client. basicially, when he came in, he had me spend 3 weeks doing things that were not in the budget, we were already short staffed to begin with. THe prior 3 years we used a 3 slided powerpoint presentation that we used for the kickoff meeting… it worked well, covered everything that was required, and was just simple, 4 hour project. This guy took it over and created a 70 slide one, the presentation took all day, people called in from other clients, no value, complete waste of time.

That is just big 4 though, smaller firms have much less requirments and dont have to deal with politics nearly as much. This guy was in line for partner and there is a very long line so he was just willing to do whatever to impress whoever. A real dink.

If you truly have plans to “put your time in”, go big 4 but work in their private company practice. You'll do laps around people that get put on a fortune 100 and spend two years doing simple balance sheet account audits and controls, you'll be out doing plant visits, assisting with purchase accounting, and have your hands all over a variety of substantive tests over key asset and liablity cycles/accounts.

FAR 11/13 - 78, BEC 1/13 - 82, AUD 2/23 - 94, REG 5/15 - 86

[Anonymous]

I wish I had found this site and this topic when I was in college. Back then everyone I talked to told me to start in public accounting at a large firm to see and work on a variety of clients. Ha!

As an auditor at a large firm I got stuck mainly on one client type, and like many previous posts I found myself doing far more “busy work” than I like such as reformatting spreadsheets to meet the managers specifications, ticking and tying, making copies, etc. I worked 60 hours minimum during busy season, and often was on the road for weeks at a time which my girlfriend hated. The worst was working a 10-12 hour day at the client and then being told I needed to do 3-4 hours of work in my hotel room that night. That was not what I signed up for. I'd be exhausted all week, have to work Saturday, and spend the rest of the weekend trying to recover for the next week.

I was laid off from that job, which at the time seemed unlucky but now I'm not so sure. I found a job with a smaller CPA firm where I get paid the same, work 40 hours a week, and have a lot more flexibility in my life. In addition there is not the competition I felt while working at the large firm. Working at the large firm was good for only one thing, it opened more doors for me when people saw that experience on my resume. My advice is to find a private company, small CPA firm, or Government entity that you fit with and pursue that. You will be happier.

[weed74]

I really enjoyed the posts by skiw97 and GaJone and they definitely agree with what I've seen in public accounting and with what I've heard from other public accountants. It looks like the best way to make more cash is to move around from company to company. Government looks like the best job if you want work/life balance. Respectable salary, 40 hour week, and plenty of vacation and holidays.

I have to agree with them. Get a few years in public and get out. The only bad news is that the job market is tight and many accountants with 10-20 years of experience are looking for jobs, just like those with 5 years experience. May have to stick it out another year or two until the economy gets going again.

AUD - 84
BEC - 80
REG - 75
FAR - 80

[Anonymous]

do you guys think this is crap?

Small accounting firm in CA

40K since I started, about 2 years ago, and NO raise and NO bonus

prior accounting experience in previos jobs, B.A. in accounting/business economics

passed 3 out of 4 CPA exams so far

is it as crappy as it seems?

[Anonymous]

any thoughts?

[skiw97]

well, its not crap bc its valuable work experience… I worked for a smaller firm in a smaller market, made the jump to big 4 and got like a 20% increase.. if you are working normal hours, not traveling around the country on sunday nights and getting back late friday nights, stay there, get your cpa, and make the jump to a nice cushy corporate job when the time is right.. it all depends what you want. I wouldnt go back to my big 4 job for 90k, and I was making 70k when I left. I really never wanted that lifestyle (go go go go go go go, give the company more), but you just kinda get sucked in, and “everyone else is doing it” so you just turn into a hardcore auditor, lol. $$$ is not everything, focus on what you want in life and you'll get it!!

FAR 11/13 - 78, BEC 1/13 - 82, AUD 2/23 - 94, REG 5/15 - 86

[Author]

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