[Q]

Hi guys,

How much is an entry level CPA salary?

[lam2848]

I think this depends heavily on the firm and where you live. Where I am the cost of living is pretty high so my firm pays about 5-10K more for for entry levels here versus down south.

[Ana]

what kind of work? audit firm, private, small, large, govt? what position? entry can be staff accountant at 50,000 regardless of cpa. cpa might help you have an advantage over other candidates in the same pool to actually get the job. but if both are just starting out I don't think you'll get more money just because you've passed you're a cpa.

[PNS2CLT]

Largely set by the Big 4; basically, they use a standard, nationalized wage but adjust it for (1) cost of living and (2) demand. A good generalization for entry level STAFF wages is high 40s to low 60s, depending on where you live. Ultimately, the wage system means Big 4 pays about the same in Los Angeles that they do in Cleveland — while LA has high cost of living, there's no shortage of applicants; meanwhile, Big 4 can't fill vacancies in Cleveland.

CPA isn't an automatic raise anymore — when you have a CPA, it'd be shocking if you weren't promoted to higher paying positions but having the license might not lead to a raise by itself. Depends heavily on the local office.

[DTXCPA]

I'd say 55k-60k in public and 45k-50k in industry.

[Superdude3000]

@DTXCPA
That sounds backwards to me. I think industry usually starts out higher than public but public usually surpasses private a few years down the road. I start at 56k in WA at a global middle market firm and get a 3k bonus for passing the exam but I dont get a raise at all. It does allow me to move up passed senior associate though which is where non-CPAs max out at my firm.

[DTXCPA]

From what I've seen industry starts out lower, but you make more in industry vs public if you've already worked in public for about 3 years. Public usually has good exit opportunities. For an entry level CPA in industry I think 50k is realistic, 55k max. It varies city to city though. 50-55K here in Texas, Possibly 60-65k in NYC or Cali.

[ukrainiangirl]

45-60k starting in CPA firm, 3-5k bonus for passing CPA within 1 year of starting at the firm.

[Bourne]

It really depends where you work. You can have a good indication with public firms because of the competition. However, private varies widely. I work at a small real estate investment firm in NYC, 3 months of experience, studying for CPA exam now – making $65k salary, approx. 75-80 after bonus.

There's not really a set scale to go off of, really just depends where you can get your foot in the door.

[Author]

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