[Anonymous]

So you’ve put in all this time to get an accounting degree and your CPA license…

Ten years from now, what do you expect your salary to be? What salary/compensation would make you happy/comfortable enough to say “I can do this and be satisfied for the rest of my life”…?

[Parthamis]

It's hard to be specific, but my long term plans are to stay in public and eventually make partner. I am not working right now, but as a CPA, I expect 6 figures at bare minimum in 10 years from now. If I can make probably 150k 15-20 years from now, I will feel accomplished.

[Ana]

I'd say mid 200s, obviously the more the better

[Anonymous]

$100,000+ and I will be more than happy!

[beastmode]

7 years into my career – 6 in public; 1 in private – finally cracked $100K and became CPA. Like someone once said – it is better to aim high and miss than aim low and hit. I hope to get $250K in next 10 years. We will see.. Good luck everyone

[waffle_house]

10 years from now…hopefully not in accounting 🙂

[lysol12345]

230k

[Pork Flavored Bacon]

waffle_house, I feel the same way except I am thinking two or three years from now.

I have done five years of mixed tax and audit and my last three years in forensics.

The people I work with are great but I hate accounting. The only reason I am sticking with it is for my family and the money is pretty good. Not sure how much longer my soul can take it.

Money-wise, I feel like I have succeeded. Career-wise is a whole other story.

FAR - 75 | REG - 87 | AUD - 82 | LAW - 81

[Rachael]

@beastmode – where are you located? With cost of living varying so much across the US – I'm super curious. I live in Louisville, KY where the cost of living is significantly less than the West Coast or Northeast. Breaking six figures 7 years into my career would feel like a jackpot to me.

[Lentilcounter]

@Rachael, I'm in Lexington (neighbors geographically) but rivals in everything else I'm learning. I just moved from the DC/MD/VA area. My undergrad is in accounting and I am also an enrolled agent with my MBA. I have about 7 years of experience in budgeting, rates, forecasting, resource planning, accounts receivable, accounts payable, corporate finance, etc. I was at a company that allowed us to rotate into new positions every 18 to 24 months. Anyhow while I was at this company, I still went on practice interviews with other firms to see what my market's value was. The last offer I got at the beginning of this year was $95K + up to $10K in bonuses based on performance. So, you could say that I just about broke six figures.

I picked up a Robert Half salary guide recently and its interesting to look at what the accounting/finance jobs pay in various cities within the US. Yes, its more expensive to live in some cities than others but some cities still pay well relative to their cost of living. I don't know about Louisville but Lexington companies pay accounting/finance folk about 93% of the national average. I remember DC/MD/VA was like 105% of the national average but its also a lot more expensive to live there.

BEC = 72 (6/08/16)
FAR = ?
REG = ?
AUD = ?

[Ana]

@rachael I was wondering the same thing for all who answered. Locale matters a lot. I've broken 6 figures in SoCal two years ago (with Acct career of 5 years) and I feel broke as hell over here. Can't buy a decent house under 900,000.

[Lentilcounter]

The Robert Half website is down for maintenance now. When it goes back up, I'll post a link to the 2018 salary guide. Use that guide as a benchmark for where you should be in terms of pay.

BEC = 72 (6/08/16)
FAR = ?
REG = ?
AUD = ?

[Lentilcounter]

https://www.roberthalf.com/salary-guide

Unfortunately, you have to fill in some info to view it.

BEC = 72 (6/08/16)
FAR = ?
REG = ?
AUD = ?

[beastmode]

@rachel I am located in Texas. It's funny because in my younger days, I thought breaking 6 fig will be like hitting jackpot. As responsibilities and family grew it's no where close 🙂 with that said, I am truly grateful for the blessing that I have received and continue to receive.

[Rachael]

@beastmode, @ana, @lentilcounter,

Thanks so much for your feedback. I feel like for being 18 months into my career I'm doing pretty great compared to many of my peers. Bought my first home 3 months after graduation, not living paycheck-to-paycheck like 90% of the other 23 year olds I know.

I definitely feel like as life responsibilities change that bar of hitting the jackpot will rise. I couldn't imagine taking care of a single kid on my income, but for just lil ole me its a nice lifestyle.

I'll definitely be checking out the Robert Half guides. Last January my firm did raises for all the younger staff based on how the firm compared to industry averages, and that was a nice little jump. One of my close friends recently received a job offer in DC and it was an amazing opportunity, turned in down simply because the raise was less than the jump in cost of living.

[Author]

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