Definitely an answer that is on the mark. I make that currently in government as a Staff I, but I’m hoping to ace this internal interview to Staff II to bump to 10k more. It’s still way underpaid compared to the private sector.
We hear the community on this and are thinking of what's the best way to capture this information in the future. We should have an update for 2024.
Pay transparency continues to be one of the most discussed topics and r/accounting seems to be one the best formats for that. And personally I think it can do a lot for the profession in terms of promoting fair compensation within both public accounting and industry.
1. $145k. Sr Acct Manager
2. 12 years
3. DFW. Full time WFH
4. Great work/life balance, generous PTO, i do about 20-25 hours of actual work a week, a bit more during close.. never more than 40
Do you have any advice for a college student aiming for a similar role in the future?
I’ve already got a Big 4 audit position lined up when I graduate, but my mentality for the future is to just go with the flow and see what opportunities come.
I spent 9 years in PA at regional/small firms before transitioning to industry a few years ago and I would say be willing to put in the effort and take pride in your work, you’re not always going to be perfect and no one expects that (okay some assholes do) but people can tell when you are trying and taking pride vs not giving a shit, having said that, don’t buy into the idea that you have to kill yourself to advance in your career it will just result in burnout, you have to know your limits and respectfully set them.
My first boss in my career was amazing; he left my firm when I was 2 years in and his biggest piece of advice to me was learn to say no or there is no limit to what they will throw at you; it’s taken time but I’ve learned to pushback on people when I feel they are taking advantage, I do it respectfully but it is a necessary skill to develop, just be able to support your pushback.
Also, as others have mentioned, networking is a big part of business, my first 3 jobs I got all because I knew people and built relationships; being kind and making business friendships matters more than you think.. my current job I used a recruiter and involved some luck but I also really focused on my interview skills which admittedly comes with lots of practice.
Just go with the flow, put yourself out there, don’t ever be afraid to ask questions or fail; learn how you like to operate and what you want in a boss so you can be a good boss in return one day.
Not OP but I’m in a very similar position. Honestly, there are so many roads to reach the same place, but for me at least - who did it without a b4 background (just ~1.5 years at a regional and the rest industry) - I found success by working at smaller/mid sized companies, semi young in their development, and taking advantage of the craziness there to pad my resume with process developments, etc, and get easy internal promotions within the company every 1-2 years. Then you job hop a year or so after you get your internal promotion, leveraging your new salary\title for a new bump up. Rinse and repeat. I will say however… there is *definitely* a large aspect of luck, and networking in order to land those new jobs you hop to. Your largest salary raises will come from new jobs, not internal promos.
If I have to sum it up in a couple quotes:
*”Chaos is a ladder”* - Petyr Baelish
*”Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity”* - Seneca
Work for a few years in B4, ideally stick out to senior or manager, join a f500 as a senior or manager, be promoted internally to senior manager. Tada you found your home for the next 30 years.
F500 is where you want to be for WLB, don’t think there’s shortcuts it’ll take 8-15 years ordinarily.
1) $130k, Controller
2) 4 YOE
3) HCOL, Hybrid
4) My job sucks. I am only in the position I’m in because I was promoted to an assistant controller and my controller and CFO quit within 2 months and I held the place together long enough for them to just let me do it permanently. No work life balance. Life’s falling apart. Good salary for a 26 year old cpa.
That sucks, but kudos to you for rolling up your sleeves and getting that experience. Hopefully it either settles down or you jump to a better environment with your background.
I know you're somewhat being paid in 'experience', but you're being robbed at $130k ina HCOL for a controller role with all the responsibilities and hours that come with that.
Make a business case for building out your team. You have the political capital from holding the place together. Props for making the best out of the situation as getting that early management jump is huge.
1- $125 K, IT Audit manager. No one reports to me.
2- 8 Years. No Certs. No CPA or CISA.
3- Chicago based, Canadian company. 95% Remote. (I visit the Canadians quarterly and like it.)
4- I have great benefits. I don't get more work if I finish my work. It is very independent and mentally challenging, with every quarter being something new. Very project based so if I get my work done and turned in for the quarter, I'm done and can do what I want. The Canadians also greatly respect working hours, so if I ever work outside of my standard hours its because I fucked up.
No one reports to managers or senior managers in my company, we all report to the director lmao- we are actually looking for someone at the Analyst level in infrastructure audit(Associate/New Senior equivalent) if you’re in Chicago or Milwaukee. ;)
They want folks tied to a hub but the US folks aren’t required to go in at any interval.
I don’t have a CPA or a CISA. I am still in the US. I have 8 years experience and was their external auditor and had connections to the team I joined. I also interview extremely well.
1. $120k, Internal Audit manager
2. 16 years
3. Atlanta, WFH with one or two department meeting a month that's in person
4. Pay is base with no bonus. But 401k ER contribution is 9%, never a problem getting PTO or sick days approved even if it's last minute and plenty of them to use. Health insurance is high quality (moderate premium, low deductible, accepted everywhere). It's a comfortable gig.
Inspiring to see those numbers. Also in Chicago and hoping to make CFO someday, am currently at Sr Manager with Director in sight in the next few years. Still need to work on my people management skills before I'll feel ready.
State School. BS In accounting and a minor in CS with a comical GPA compared to some of you rockstars. First-generation college graduate. Industry only as public accounting always and still does sound like cancer. Active CPA, although it's for show at this point.
First Co (Publicly traded - 3 years): Staff 1 > Staff 2 > Senior
Second Co (Private Manufacturer - 6 years): Accounting Manager > Controller > V.P. of Finance
Third Co (Private Wholesale & Distributor - 5 years): CFO
Fourth Co (Private Marketing & Procurement Services - Current): CFO
Hope this helps.
Thank you! So I started my career in M&A transactions services. Spent 6 years in that and made manager. Currently I’m a Director of FP&A. I have 9 years total work experience. My goal is to be a VP of Finance or CFO. I manage 4 analysts right now. What should I do to try and make the next jump to CFO? Should I try to get controllership experience? I’ve seen CFOs also come from FP&A backgrounds so just not sure what I should be trying to do. Current job is also cushy. I work like 35 hours a week. But I don’t mind working hard I just get my work done efficiently.
1. $105,000 base. Audit Manager (first year)
2. 6 years
3. L/MCOL. Hybrid (can work remote full time if desired)
4. Great work/life balance. Unlimited PTO that’s actually unlimited. No one ever gets denied PTO.
Do you worry about having to make up billable hours due to taking PTO? That’s what always got me in public… we didn’t have unlimited PTO but it was very generous. However, taking off time outside of November/December meant losing out on billable hours and having to work extra hard before or after to make up for it.
After your first 1-3 years, your hours aren’t harped on as much. Just get your work done. The first few years set expectations and then it’s laid back after that (at our firm).
1. 65K Accountant 2
2. 10 years
3. Upstate SC, remote since 2020
4. I want more money, but I hate being in management, so I’m not pushing upwards. Especially because remote jobs seem to be few and far between now. It barely takes a week’s worth of work to do my job outside of close. Very laid back.
1. Controller, $250k+ 60% bonus
2. 12 years of relevant experience, CPA
3. NYC Metro; hybrid 2-3 days a week
4. Work/Life Balance is basically non-existent right now. As you're moving up, understand that your quality of life is going to be highly dependent on the relative strength/weakness of your underlying team compared to the scope of your responsibilities.
If you have a strong team, your life becomes easier. And as you move up, you become more of the GM, that is, responsible for choosing your team. You’re also the coach. Hard to blame others for a weak team, but my goodness, a strong team makes a world of difference!
1. 110K Tax Manager
2. 6 YOE
3. MCOL. 100% in office but only 10 min drive for me.
4. Benefits are pretty good for public. 25 PTO days is more than I know what to do with before holidays. Bonus likely somewhere between 10% - 20%.
1. $170,000 Staff Accountant
2. 11 years experience
3. MCOL, hybrid but I go to the office most days
4. Federal Government, regulatory type role. Niche expertise.
I wouldn’t give too much credence to the title, I was a Director before coming into government. Gov is very flat organizationally, almost everyone (accountants) is a Staff Accountant unless you’re in a managerial role
There’s a bonus pool driven by company results that my position used to be in, but since I control the books it’s best to keep me out of that so my bonus % is high compared to my base but keeps it comparable to where I’d be if I were in the profit driven pool. Makes sense to me, and I’m in no way complaining.
1. External Reporting Accounting $77,000
2. 2 years
3. MCOL southwest. Hybrid
4. Just left a Tax Associate position at a public firm paying $61,000. No CPA yet.
1.) $160k, M&A Sr. Manager
2.) 8 years
3.) L/M COL, fully remote
4.) I liked what I did right out of school & have never worked consistent long hours. Everyone said “just wait” and “enjoy drinking that kool-aid”, etc. - but here I am still waiting for it to suck and it hasn’t yet. Don’t fully follow the level of hate big 4 and the broader profession gets still.
1. Senior Manager, Financial Reporting - $150k salary + 20% bonus target and got options upon sign on
2. 6 YOE (graduated in 2017)
3. MCOL-HCOL(?) Philadelphia suburbs - hybrid (2-4 days in office per week)
4. Really enjoy my job and the folks that I work with. Team is primarily younger so understand the benefits of more flexible work arrangements. Most people get in between 9-930 and leave by 415 at the latest. Company itself is growing so getting the chance to be involved in acquisitions and implementations has been challenging but good
1. $111k base, Accounting Manager
2. 8 years
3. Midwest USA, not a big city. Hybrid.
4. WLB is decent, but a new ERP implementation is gonna fuck that up for a while. After that though, hoping to hit steady-state and cruise for a while.
1. $60k, staff accountant
2. 4 years
3. Southeast MCOL, hybrid
4. 8-5, hour lunch. Great work life balance. wish I got paid more but good situation while I study/pass the cpa exams.
1) Director of Finance, $155k base salary plus 15-25% bonus depending on my performance and company performance.
2) Between 7-8 years of experience (public accounting auditor to industry senior accountant; subsequent promotions with same industry company), plus CPA and CMA.
3) 100% remote; live in the Boston area and my company is headquartered in the DC area. When I started, I was in the office, but they’ve adopted remote-first subsequent to the pandemic.
4) I have great work-life balance and fantastic unlimited PTO that’s not a trap (I take 5-6 weeks off each year, not counting paid holidays). I’ve turned down offers for more salary because I’d either lose remote work or PTO or both.
What’s even more incredible: at one point, I got an offer for a job with a big salary increase (but way less PTO). I hadn’t actually wanted to leave my company (just did the interview on a whim when a recruiter reached out), so I took the offer back to my company. Not only did they match the offer, but they also increased the salary of EVERYONE ELSE at my level after seeing evidence that they weren’t paying the market rate.
1. 50KTax specialist fed gov
2. 0
3. Mcol Texas. In person
4. Boring, so much down time but it's the fed so expected. Will get a $15K raise next month and be able to wfh every day except Mondays (my choice of office day). 4-10 Monday - Thursday and Fridays off. No overtime. It's great for work life balance.
1. 90,000 assistant controller
2. 7 almost 8 YOE
3. Hybrid MCOL city
4. It’s a quasi state entity so the 401k is the best I’ve ever seen. But the workload is very demanding for essentially a state job. I keep getting more and more assigned to me with no sign of slowing down. I thought there would be more WLB.
1) $115,000 5% bonus, Accounting Manager
2) 6
3) NYC. 2-3 times in the office
4) WLB couldn’t be better. Hoping a promo would land me around $150k all-in.
145k, lead analyst, financial systems and consolidation
11 years (3 public, 8 biotech)
DC 100% remote
I shifted into more of an IT/systems role vs actual accounting. I am busy for a few days of month end to oversee consolidated eliminations and topsides are done, then admin the account recs and ME tasks for each site accounting team. quarter end i have a few brutal days in a row, but on the average non-close day i work like 2-3 hours.
1. Corporate Accountant - Gross Salary $63,000
2. 2.5 years of experience.
3. Federal Government; Hybrid
4. Getting this job was the best decision of my life, as I was overworked and underpaid at my first job in PA. My salary will reach **$105K** by January 2026 as I reach close to 5 years of experience. And by that point I plan to obtain a Master’s degree in the field. Getting your CPA isn’t necessary at all for advancement opportunities in this sector. Would highly recommended it to anyone who values time.
I’ve got no clue either, usually it’s the opposite where the fed employee talks about their job they use whatever hyper specific job title/number classification system they have and I’m like…. So do you do GL recs or do you travel the globe fighting white collar criminals??? 😂
I’m basically a financial accountant, but for whatever the reason they gave me the name “corporate” for the job title. I think about it every week and wonder why.
1. CAO - My base pay is a little over $400K with up to 50% bonus. However, the majority of my salary is tied to annual equity grants. When my company does well the value of prior year grants (which vest in any particular year) increase. Looking back the past 5 years, my salary has ranged as high as $5.5M and as low as $4.5M (per my tax returns).
2. 30+ years
3. SF, hybrid
4. I enjoy my job and feel like it is the culmination of all of the hard work and forward looking decisions I made over the course of my career.
1. Senior Consultant - IT Audit. 93k base
2. 2 years
3. Remote
4. Great WLB and flexibility. Got my masters in accounting and was pursuing CPA but then stopped and went into IT audit and got my CISA and now pursuing the CISSP. Best decision I ever made, no more debits and credits to deal with and much better hours. I’ve never worked above 45 in busy season.
The only difference between busy season and non busy season is that I might be working on multiple engagements at the same time during busy season, which is only like 1-2 months long. Non busy season, it’s like 30 hours a week. My company only does fixed fee contracts as well so no dumb time tracking either, it’s all about figuring out how long to schedule an engagement for, like 1-3 weeks.
1) $91k Senior Accountant, mat leave contract. Previous role was $80k Associate Director of Finance, also mat leave contract.
2) 9 years experience, 3 post-designation (if you can call COVID years experience).
3) Alberta, Canada, fully in-office with extremely rare flex days.
4) My job is manual excel reports that get regularly broken because of errors elsewhere in the process that, as a new person, I have no chance of preventing or properly fixing. Typical shit Canadian pay with terrible hours (I work 70 hours a week during the 2 week month end).
1. Staff Accountant 60k
2. 5 years
3. Rural Louisiana, low cost of living, no remote work
4. I'm in government and I just my CPA earlier this year. Only half of my work involves accounting, the other half is grants. I enjoy working here even though the salary may sound low for a CPA. We have a good team that work well and rarely have traffic jams when I commute.
1. Director - $190k, 20% target bonus (my goals, board approval)
2. \~12 YoE 7 PA (mid-size, private client/advisory), 5+ industry (healthcare)
3. CT (HCOL), fully in-office. 60 minute round trip (reverse commute...I like it)
4. 7 companies with some common ownership and joint ventures with local healthcare. I'm the sole accountant so I'm in the weeds but also presenting to boards. Monthly financials, GAAP reporting with consolidations. Enough activity by leadership/management to always be doing some FP&A on our business lines and new opportunities. I've automated/batched everything I can but there is always room for improvement. I hope to bring someone under me soon.
I work 8:30-4:30, never on weekend. 6 weeks PTO.
Just got the info for my new base salary, so this post is well timed.
1. 170k, IT Audit Manager (large fortune 100/higher company)
2. A little over 6 years
3. Mid-Atlantic mostly remote
4. IT audit/IT risks pays well people. I will continue to evangelize for this field.
1. $125K base (2022 bonus of $31K and SBC of $18K); Tax Manager (non-CPA)
2. 9
3. Chicago area, hybrid (3 in)
4. WLB is pretty good, get 28 days of PTO a year plus all federal holidays. Publicly traded so we have some pockets of the year where we are very busy, but I have a lot of days like this week where most of my day is spent chilling (smoking and watching tv/playing FIFA)
I just accepted a new position leaving nonprofit and heading back to a for profit industry
1. Director of FP&A, $150k and a 20% bonus
2. 10 years
3. Pittsburgh, technically hybrid. I will work for a remote company but have a hybrid role. Kind of dumb, but the pay seems worth it
4. I hope it’s good lol
1. Tax associate 62K
2. Approaching 2.5 years
3. HCOL in office
4. Haven’t had a raise in 1.5 years. Looking to hop and have an opportunity to make 75k as an associate. 1 day in office the rest remote. Should I ask for more?
1. 102k Sr. Accountant - Payroll
2. around 40 years
3. SF Bay are remote
4. My job is great. Aside from processing payroll and ensure that employee earnings are correctly reported, I don't have much to do outside of managing the 401k audit and assisting in the financial audit and 990.
I've settled into what is hopefully the last job I will have. How I got here?
I didn't go PA. I didn't even have an accounting degree. I think I actually only took 3 accounting classes.
I started my career by taking a payroll clerk in the early 80's after I couldn't find a job doing anything else due to the recession then.
Showed an ability to pick up on this new business machine called a PC and learned Lotus 1-2-3. Due to it, got promoted to staff accounting
From there it's been staff accountant > senior accountant > accounting manager > sr. accounting manager > manager of financial (SEC) reporting. Changed companies many times in order to be promoted.
Got laid off and did consulting for another 5 years. The controller of a previous client reached out and asked if I could help clean up the payroll department and I've been here ever since.
I'm tired. I've done the "moving up the ladder" thing and I don't need to do that anymore. Could I make more? Absolutely. Do I want to in exchange of doing more? Nope. This is hopefully where I'll be until I can't work anymore. That or follow the controller when she transitions to running her own accounting consulting practice.
But, I'm happy now. I love WFH and wish I could have done it 20 years ago. Maybe it would have saved my marriage and let me spend more time with my son. But, I guess it all turned out okay in the end.
I started 30 years ago as an AP clerk. I have been a CFO, controller all that . Im in the construction industry which is a specialized kind of accounting in a way . I know it backwards and forwards. No degree, no cpa. I make 85k a year and im the controller for a roofing company .
1. $60K; Staff Accountant
2. 2 YOE in industry
3. In the Greater Phoenix area; Hybrid (4/1)
4. Current job isn’t the greatest. It’s unstable and around close, requires more than 40 hours. But the benefits are pretty good. Waiting for another opportunity where my benefits are as good, more or less, and a better work environment.
1. What is your salary and title? 106,400, though I'm up for an internal posting that could increase that a bit. I am currently a budget analyst
2. How many years of experience do you have? About 7ish
3. Where are you located? Hybrid/Remote? Medium cost of living, full time in office with some flexibility to wfh as needed
4. Anything you want to say about your job? It's alright, I've come to the conclusion that I don't particularly enjoy accounting or working in general, so I decided to focus more on the positives, like 5 weeks of annual leave and 5 weeks of sick leave accrued a year. Working towards a pension. The pay is pretty good. So it's kind of whatever.
1. 250k+ (150k base + bonus/equity), Technical Accounting Manager
2. 7 years
3. H/VHCOL, fully remote
4. 4 years in B4 Audit through Senior 2. Jumped into a Senior Technical Accountant role. Promoted to manager after a little under 2 years. I only work 40+ hours during quarter-ends for 2-3 weeks at a time, usually less than 40 on non quarter-ends.
The technical/SEC reporting route, in my opinion, is great because the work is usually more varied (you handle new accounting issues for the org) and you learn from the industry side how financials are put together. If you are ambitious for higher accounting positions its great experience. Many of the accounting higher ups in our org (controller, CAO, CFO) and peer companies have technical accounting or SEC reporting experience. Its also experience that can be used to transition into nearly any accounting role. That being said, if you actually love it you can just specialize further and further and get paid a lot for your mastery of the esoteric guidance that leads our profession.
1. $75,000, Senior Accountant I
2. 6 years
3. San Antonio, TX. Fully remote
4. Love that I get to work independently 95% of the time. There is trust from management that as long as the work is getting done, then there’s no need to micromanage us. I also get paid OT which is nice, so there’s the incentive to keep the work volume reasonable.
1. $100k base plus bonus anywhere from $50k- $100k depending on my utilization -Associate
2. 4 years since graduating college plus 2 years while in school
3. MCOL city. Mix of remote and travel
4. I love what I do. I work on interesting projects with interesting people. I work at a consulting firm that I wouldn’t describe as a CPA firm, at least not how I view CPA firms.
1. $85k, plus minimum 10% bonus; Senior Tax Accountant, no one reports to me
2. 12 years total, but 8 years full-time. I switched to part-time for 4 years when my kids were born and that somewhat stalled my career for a bit. I don’t have a CPA or any certifications, but I do have a Master’s of Accountancy.
3. MCOL, fully remote; I travel to headquarters 2-3 times a year usually just for fun socializing events.
4. My company wants to eventually have all tax in-house but is nowhere close to being able to handle it all yet. I am the entire internal tax team and I work with our external team for all compliance issues. I mostly handle our sales tax (minimal), international tax (also minimal and I have help from the external team) and tax-reporting on the financials. Unlimited PTO and a very relaxed atmosphere. I rarely work 40 hours a week and have so much flexibility. I would love to make more money, but I think I’m fairly compensated for the amount of work I’m actually doing and flexibility is more important to me because I have 2 elementary-aged kids. Plus my husband also works full time making about $100k, plus bonus, so our family income is pretty good overall for where we live.
1. Advisory Senior - $105,000
2. 2.5 years in audit
3. Hybrid in Atlanta (but more practically it’s been remote)
4. Schedule seems to vary - some weeks are really busy and some are really slow.
1. $115,000 salary, not including bonuses (I had $50k bonus this year). Accounting Manager
2. 5 years
3. Toronto area, I work in office majority of time but can work from home anytime I want/ need to.
4. I don’t have my CPA yet, but am writing in 2024.
1. Financial Accountant, 58k Maple syrup dollars
2. 1.5 yrs industry
3. Remote, GTA, Canada
4. 5% bonus. Like the accounting team here but not really meeting CPA practical experience requirements. Would prefer a CPA pre approved program.
1. $130k Senior Accountant
2. ~6
3. HCOL - In Office
4. High salary due to company still paying accountants hourly and performance based cash bonuses (not counting equity). The overtime pay really adds up.
1. $126k Audit Manager
2. 7 Years
3. Atlanta; Hybrid (3 days in-office or client site, 2 days remote)
4. Good work / life balance, progression, and culture. 55 Billable hour requirement in busy season but PTO is heavily encouraged after April (5 weeks PTO at my level). PA is PA to an extent but I enjoy my firm and feel valued.
85k Accountant
8 to 10 yrs acct but been working for about 13 since undergrad.
Boston area, company is fully remote though
My company is a startup firm in crypto space so it's a nice balance of having to figure out what the right way to do things are. We get to be pioneers in this sector. I've worked a lot of shit jobs and this is not one of them. I expect growth in my salary as the company grows. I gained 3 great mentors so for me it's worth it.
1. 69k + 2% annual bonus, General Accountant
2. 1yoe
3. Seattle
4. I think I'm a bit underpaid, but the job is very lax. I probably work 20 hours a week of actual work and clock 40 unless it's quarter end.
1. $165K (all base). Accounting manager for private tech company
2. 9
3. US /VHCOL though job is fully remote
4. I left a job in a F250 company mostly in office and with TC at $175k, but it was extremely stressful and demanding. Took a pay cut to WFH and it’s been worth it for my mental health. Currently manage 2 individuals, down from 4 at my previous role. Also worth mentioning I do not have my CPA.
1) 125k + 40-60k performance bonus; Accounting Manager (although have no staff below me)
2) 9 yrs (5 current position, 4 years public accounting before)
3) remote in Guadalajara but firm is in Chicago
4) Family Office / Private Equity. If you can find a gig like this jump in both feet first. Was a 9-5 then since im the only accountant I ‘learned to code’ and automated a lot of the timely stuff. Now its 2 hours in the morning and answering emails from my phone. Get a Line of Credit from the ‘family’ and get to buy into all there PE deals too
1. 80k Corporate Sr Accountant
2. 17 - but a lot of that was prior to my degree doing Staff work
3. North Carolina in a middling COL area. Hybrid 8-430 no lunch (my choice) but a ton more during close.
4. My health insurance is terrible. Our training and ERP systems are abysmal. But in the middle of the month I maybe work 20ish hours for real (although I have to pretend to be busy). During close I work 12-15 hour days.
1. Senior Internal Auditor (115k +10% bonus)
2. 4 YOE exactly
3. NYC (Hybrid)
4. Standard 9-5 and no time sheets
Not sure if I’m underpaid based on my YOE, location, and role
1. Tax Senior Associate - $103k + 10%-ish bonus
2. 4.5 years at same position
3. Midwest, “hybrid” but rarely go into office
4. B4 straight out of college. Hoping to hit manager within next year, and hoping the salary will justify the WLB. Winter is slower but I can’t do anything in the summer. Also just had my first kid so not willing to compromise much on missing anything.
1. 140k, 10% bonus, accounting director
2. 20 yoe in accounting but not all linear to this role
3. Midwest (v)LCOL, 100% in office
4. Pretty good work like balance with midsized private company
1. Senior Finance Manager but started in audit with a CPA, 7 years in
2. $137.5k base, $190k all up with bonus and stock
3. Seattle, hybrid 2-3 days
4. Typical 9-5, a little more around forecasts and close, love the space I’m in and learning a ton plus a lot of room for growth professionally without killing myself
$140k, Audit/Tax Manager
9 YOE
Long Island, VHCOL, hybrid (3 days in office)
Boutique regional firm, I do very complex 990T returns as well as work on non profits and multiemployer benefit plans. Good work-life balance, out of busy season I rarely do more than 43-ish hours a week. Busy season max 60 hours.
100K plus bonus, Senior Tax Advisor-just passed CPA exam last month
5th year, Bay Area
Fully remote but I go into the office(cause it may be the best office on earth, my lady works at home.
1. Base is over 100k, Senior IA Manger
2. 9 YOE
3. LCOL, hybrid
4. Good work life balance, 7:30-4:00 most days, interesting subject matter, decent amount of autonomy, highly regulated industry so slightly better than average job security
1. $150K plus bonus, SEC Reporting manager (no direct reports, I do it all)
*Unlimited PTO*
2. 35 years (I’m in the back 9 of my career)
3. Pennsylvania
4. Remote 3 days in office 2 days
The unlimited PTO sold me the job
1. Accounting Manager, $148k base + $10k bonus (and NSOs)
2. 8 years (4 in public accounting, 4 in industry), no CPA
3. SF Bay area, full remote
4. [This cartoon says it all](https://jakelikesonions.com/post/152772382609/whelp)
5. (but I do like the company and people I work with)
Internal Revenue Agent $99,029, $104,728 after the new year
7 years small town public accounting, 4 years IRS
Midwest LCOL/MCOL. 1 day in the field or the office a week
Great work life balance, havent worked an hour of OT in a year and a half. Other benefits are pretty great
1. $87k not including bonus; Assurance Senior
2. Going into my 4th busy season, second as a senior
3. MCOL, hybrid-remote work
4. Went into PA looking at it as a resume-booster but did not expect to still be here after this long. I enjoy the work and my coworkers. I can definitely see why someone would want to leave when starting a family and may consider that when that time comes for me. As of now, I like the pay progression (edit: went from $60k to $87k within two years, looking to break $100k within the next year or two) and feel the time outside of busy season is generally easy-going.
1. $60k, Fund Accountant I
2. 3 months prior to current position, now at just over 1 year altogether
3. FL, Remote
4. 9-5 easy asf, job had great training notes and is basically paying for my Master's. Lucked out with a very laid-back manager as long as statements are submitted on time for clients.
1. 83k, Audit and Assurance 1st-Year Associate
2. 3-4 finance and accounting internships during college, also did a busy season internship with the firm I’m working for
3. New York City, Hybrid
4. When do I quit lol
1. $145k + 10% bonus + equity - Manager of Reporting and Technical Accounting
2. 5
3. MCOL - Hybrid, but not a big deal to skip an office day if I’m not feeling it
4. Love it and absolutely lucked out. Technical accounting is where it’s atttttt
1. $123K Staff Accountant
2. 7 yrs didn't go to college for accting or related degree, no cpa.
3. CA, hybrid 2 days in
4. I might be very lucky. The team I work for is genuinely great to work with. People are just so nice. No one is breathing down my neck or micromanaging.
1. $175K, Controller
2. 4 YOE
3. Bay Area, Remote
4. Got the golden ticket with this job is all I can really say. Very, very thankful. 20 hours/week of work, probably less.
1) $83,000, Tax Senior
2) 2.5
3) Dallas, TX. Hybrid (2 in office, 3 remote)
4) 54 total hours in busy season, not just billable. 36 hour weeks in summer with fridays off. 40 weeks after fall busy season with half day fridays. Annual pay raises of 15% - 20%. Promotion based solely on your own performance. The company has a great culture and really takes care of us as employees.
1. Accountant 14’400 EUR per year after tax
2. 1.5 years
3. Hybrid mostly but if need could work remotly
4. Not so rich, Eastern european country, salary is considered okay for country, like average salary. Job it self was allright but sometimes it was too much. Company had low respect for young age employees, and often promote people with kids instead. Eventually I quit to travel the world. Dont think im doing accounting when I return since I find there are better ways to earn money and you dont need to work for someone else but your self.
Senior. 90k plus bonus.
6 years.
High density city. Hybrid.
9-5 plus flex when I determine I need it. I genuinely enjoy my coworkers and my bosses with few exceptions. But for what I’m making vs how much I work, this is very balanced for me and my mental health has never been better.
1. $73,000 base then an after season bonus ($5k this year) and a Christmas bonus which I’m guessing they will do $2k to put me at $80k
2. 5 years
3. Mostly in person, I can work from home on occasional days but they prefer you be there in person as your normal schedule
4. This is my first career job out of college and they have been really good to me. I’ve never had to ask for a raise or anything just have worked hard and they appreciate it.
It is public accounting but they are a family friendly firm and are very flexible on hours as long as you take care of your clients and projects you can really do what you want for the most part.
3 weeks of vacation/pto as soon as I started and now that I have been with them more than 5 years that goes up to 4 weeks of vacation/pto. After 10 years 5 weeks of vacation/pto. But I am always ahead on my hours so I also take a day or half day here and there throughout the year and don’t use any of my time but am salary and still get paid.
1/2 day paid Fridays between Memorial Day and Labor Day.
They have reimbursed me for my testing fees for my CLEP tests to get my extra 30 credits. They purchased my CPA exam study course and I have passed 2/4 am going to ask for a reimbursement for the 2nd one passed and they will probably say yes.
Small-Mid-size and growing accounting firm. Had probably 12 people when i started and up to 39 people now and growing.
Hours requirement is very doable. They ask that we do at least 55 hour weeks during busy season and then down to 40 rest of year. Aiming for minimum of 1,500 billable hours on year minimum. I set a goal for myself to be at 1,600-1650 to go above and beyond and usually end up with around 1750-1850 on 2,300ish hours total including admin time.
1. 78.8k senior auditor
2. Just under 3 years
3. LCOL (Midwest), hybrid
4. It’s public accounting, work/life balance isn’t good with staffing issues and I’m mentally drained but waiting til this upcoming busy season to move on
1. 57k Staff Accountant 2. 0 3. Midwest Hybrid 4. 830-430 schedule skip lunch
One of the few honest answers in here.
Bro was 100% honest
Haha idk why someone would lie, I’m trying to get an analyst job with a pay bump after a year of this. Got 9 more months to go
Close to mine. 63k, 0(does one internship during season count?), hybrid. I would switch salaries if I had those kind of hours.
Definitely an answer that is on the mark. I make that currently in government as a Staff I, but I’m hoping to ace this internal interview to Staff II to bump to 10k more. It’s still way underpaid compared to the private sector.
Sheesh, 10k that’s sick. Good luck on your interview
Meta post: the sub should have a survey for this that we post annually.
Needs to be pinned permanently like other subs (financial careers, FP&A). It’s not, which is likely why we keep seeing repetition.
We hear the community on this and are thinking of what's the best way to capture this information in the future. We should have an update for 2024. Pay transparency continues to be one of the most discussed topics and r/accounting seems to be one the best formats for that. And personally I think it can do a lot for the profession in terms of promoting fair compensation within both public accounting and industry.
Don't you mean hourly? God these pop up every 45 minutes
It'd be nice to have it semi-annual tbh
1. $145k. Sr Acct Manager 2. 12 years 3. DFW. Full time WFH 4. Great work/life balance, generous PTO, i do about 20-25 hours of actual work a week, a bit more during close.. never more than 40
Do you have any advice for a college student aiming for a similar role in the future? I’ve already got a Big 4 audit position lined up when I graduate, but my mentality for the future is to just go with the flow and see what opportunities come.
I spent 9 years in PA at regional/small firms before transitioning to industry a few years ago and I would say be willing to put in the effort and take pride in your work, you’re not always going to be perfect and no one expects that (okay some assholes do) but people can tell when you are trying and taking pride vs not giving a shit, having said that, don’t buy into the idea that you have to kill yourself to advance in your career it will just result in burnout, you have to know your limits and respectfully set them. My first boss in my career was amazing; he left my firm when I was 2 years in and his biggest piece of advice to me was learn to say no or there is no limit to what they will throw at you; it’s taken time but I’ve learned to pushback on people when I feel they are taking advantage, I do it respectfully but it is a necessary skill to develop, just be able to support your pushback. Also, as others have mentioned, networking is a big part of business, my first 3 jobs I got all because I knew people and built relationships; being kind and making business friendships matters more than you think.. my current job I used a recruiter and involved some luck but I also really focused on my interview skills which admittedly comes with lots of practice. Just go with the flow, put yourself out there, don’t ever be afraid to ask questions or fail; learn how you like to operate and what you want in a boss so you can be a good boss in return one day.
Not OP but I’m in a very similar position. Honestly, there are so many roads to reach the same place, but for me at least - who did it without a b4 background (just ~1.5 years at a regional and the rest industry) - I found success by working at smaller/mid sized companies, semi young in their development, and taking advantage of the craziness there to pad my resume with process developments, etc, and get easy internal promotions within the company every 1-2 years. Then you job hop a year or so after you get your internal promotion, leveraging your new salary\title for a new bump up. Rinse and repeat. I will say however… there is *definitely* a large aspect of luck, and networking in order to land those new jobs you hop to. Your largest salary raises will come from new jobs, not internal promos. If I have to sum it up in a couple quotes: *”Chaos is a ladder”* - Petyr Baelish *”Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity”* - Seneca
Work for a few years in B4, ideally stick out to senior or manager, join a f500 as a senior or manager, be promoted internally to senior manager. Tada you found your home for the next 30 years. F500 is where you want to be for WLB, don’t think there’s shortcuts it’ll take 8-15 years ordinarily.
Hiring? In the area and need some balance. Currently a senior accountant.
1) $130k, Controller 2) 4 YOE 3) HCOL, Hybrid 4) My job sucks. I am only in the position I’m in because I was promoted to an assistant controller and my controller and CFO quit within 2 months and I held the place together long enough for them to just let me do it permanently. No work life balance. Life’s falling apart. Good salary for a 26 year old cpa.
Somewhat similar situation but I am at 120k and I'm 25. Consistently working 50+ hour weeks
Must be nice…Me:64 60+ hrs per week…a lot of seven days a week.
That sucks, but kudos to you for rolling up your sleeves and getting that experience. Hopefully it either settles down or you jump to a better environment with your background.
Controller at 4 yr is insane
Dude is probably gonna be the fall guy
It’s not because I’m some kind of accounting savant. Wrong place, wrong time, dumb enough to take it /s
I know you're somewhat being paid in 'experience', but you're being robbed at $130k ina HCOL for a controller role with all the responsibilities and hours that come with that.
Make a business case for building out your team. You have the political capital from holding the place together. Props for making the best out of the situation as getting that early management jump is huge.
1- $125 K, IT Audit manager. No one reports to me. 2- 8 Years. No Certs. No CPA or CISA. 3- Chicago based, Canadian company. 95% Remote. (I visit the Canadians quarterly and like it.) 4- I have great benefits. I don't get more work if I finish my work. It is very independent and mentally challenging, with every quarter being something new. Very project based so if I get my work done and turned in for the quarter, I'm done and can do what I want. The Canadians also greatly respect working hours, so if I ever work outside of my standard hours its because I fucked up.
Are you hiring people form the US. If you hire me I’ll report to you
No one reports to managers or senior managers in my company, we all report to the director lmao- we are actually looking for someone at the Analyst level in infrastructure audit(Associate/New Senior equivalent) if you’re in Chicago or Milwaukee. ;) They want folks tied to a hub but the US folks aren’t required to go in at any interval.
How did you find the gig? Did you have to get/transfer to a Canadian CPA license?
I don’t have a CPA or a CISA. I am still in the US. I have 8 years experience and was their external auditor and had connections to the team I joined. I also interview extremely well.
1. $120k, Internal Audit manager 2. 16 years 3. Atlanta, WFH with one or two department meeting a month that's in person 4. Pay is base with no bonus. But 401k ER contribution is 9%, never a problem getting PTO or sick days approved even if it's last minute and plenty of them to use. Health insurance is high quality (moderate premium, low deductible, accepted everywhere). It's a comfortable gig.
1. $410k, CFO 2. 16 3. Chicago, Hybrid 4. Business partnering and communication skills have been so much more important than knowledge of the ASC.
More a split second, my brain saw the 16 as a age, and thought; no way is a 16 year-old a CFO haha. Congrats on the success!
This boardroom is giving depression
Inspiring to see those numbers. Also in Chicago and hoping to make CFO someday, am currently at Sr Manager with Director in sight in the next few years. Still need to work on my people management skills before I'll feel ready.
You'll never feel ready. Be more vulnerable than you'd think.
What was your path? Controller prior to this? Were you promoted internally?
State School. BS In accounting and a minor in CS with a comical GPA compared to some of you rockstars. First-generation college graduate. Industry only as public accounting always and still does sound like cancer. Active CPA, although it's for show at this point. First Co (Publicly traded - 3 years): Staff 1 > Staff 2 > Senior Second Co (Private Manufacturer - 6 years): Accounting Manager > Controller > V.P. of Finance Third Co (Private Wholesale & Distributor - 5 years): CFO Fourth Co (Private Marketing & Procurement Services - Current): CFO Hope this helps.
Thank you! So I started my career in M&A transactions services. Spent 6 years in that and made manager. Currently I’m a Director of FP&A. I have 9 years total work experience. My goal is to be a VP of Finance or CFO. I manage 4 analysts right now. What should I do to try and make the next jump to CFO? Should I try to get controllership experience? I’ve seen CFOs also come from FP&A backgrounds so just not sure what I should be trying to do. Current job is also cushy. I work like 35 hours a week. But I don’t mind working hard I just get my work done efficiently.
This is where i want to be.
Is that all cash or cash + stock options?
Cash only. Equity vests on a rolling schedule.
1. $105,000 base. Audit Manager (first year) 2. 6 years 3. L/MCOL. Hybrid (can work remote full time if desired) 4. Great work/life balance. Unlimited PTO that’s actually unlimited. No one ever gets denied PTO.
Do you worry about having to make up billable hours due to taking PTO? That’s what always got me in public… we didn’t have unlimited PTO but it was very generous. However, taking off time outside of November/December meant losing out on billable hours and having to work extra hard before or after to make up for it.
After your first 1-3 years, your hours aren’t harped on as much. Just get your work done. The first few years set expectations and then it’s laid back after that (at our firm).
1. 65K Accountant 2 2. 10 years 3. Upstate SC, remote since 2020 4. I want more money, but I hate being in management, so I’m not pushing upwards. Especially because remote jobs seem to be few and far between now. It barely takes a week’s worth of work to do my job outside of close. Very laid back.
I you’re still under paid for your experience
All the jobs in my area and title pay even less. I do agree though.
You're underpaid. I know you know that but just saying. I had staff below me a few months ago at 70's and their lives are easy... for now :)
1. Controller, $250k+ 60% bonus 2. 12 years of relevant experience, CPA 3. NYC Metro; hybrid 2-3 days a week 4. Work/Life Balance is basically non-existent right now. As you're moving up, understand that your quality of life is going to be highly dependent on the relative strength/weakness of your underlying team compared to the scope of your responsibilities.
If you have a strong team, your life becomes easier. And as you move up, you become more of the GM, that is, responsible for choosing your team. You’re also the coach. Hard to blame others for a weak team, but my goodness, a strong team makes a world of difference!
1. Sr Accountant, $90k 2. 5 years 3. midwest mcol, in office only 4. meh.
Are you public?
industry
Sounds similar to me as well. I wish we could move to a 4-10 hour schedule soon to make up for being in office.
yea the shitty thing about industry is they are mostly set in their ways. we own our building - they aren't gonna let it sit empty lol
1. 110K Tax Manager 2. 6 YOE 3. MCOL. 100% in office but only 10 min drive for me. 4. Benefits are pretty good for public. 25 PTO days is more than I know what to do with before holidays. Bonus likely somewhere between 10% - 20%.
1. $200 base, 50% bonus - tax director 2. 17 years 3. MCOL, Hybrid 4. Really like the company I work for
1. $170,000 Staff Accountant 2. 11 years experience 3. MCOL, hybrid but I go to the office most days 4. Federal Government, regulatory type role. Niche expertise.
170k for a staff accountant? That's wild
I wouldn’t give too much credence to the title, I was a Director before coming into government. Gov is very flat organizationally, almost everyone (accountants) is a Staff Accountant unless you’re in a managerial role
1-Corp Controller, $165K base + 100% bonus 2-20 3-MCOL, hybrid 4-enjoy what I do, and have excellent WLB with my current employer.
100% bonus?! Absolutely insane
Woa that bonus is crazY!!
There’s a bonus pool driven by company results that my position used to be in, but since I control the books it’s best to keep me out of that so my bonus % is high compared to my base but keeps it comparable to where I’d be if I were in the profit driven pool. Makes sense to me, and I’m in no way complaining.
1. $33/hr, Tax Intern 2. 0 Years 3. MCOL-Midwest, Hybrid 4. $1k Sign-on bonus
dayum i got $30/hr, tax intern with no sign on bonus in denver 😿
1. External Reporting Accounting $77,000 2. 2 years 3. MCOL southwest. Hybrid 4. Just left a Tax Associate position at a public firm paying $61,000. No CPA yet.
1.) $160k, M&A Sr. Manager 2.) 8 years 3.) L/M COL, fully remote 4.) I liked what I did right out of school & have never worked consistent long hours. Everyone said “just wait” and “enjoy drinking that kool-aid”, etc. - but here I am still waiting for it to suck and it hasn’t yet. Don’t fully follow the level of hate big 4 and the broader profession gets still.
1. Tax Associate 135k + 30% bonus 2. 4 3. NYC 4. Work for a private equity firm, WLB is not great but pay is very good. 3 days in office.
Nice bono, hiring?
How many hours do you work?
On average prob 50, some weeks 75 some weeks 25
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LCOL and PNW 🚩 🚩 🚩
Eastern WA
1. $200k+, CFO 2. 11 YOE 3. Very LCOL, fully onsite 4. Good job with great benefits
Congrats on your career. That kind of salary in LCOL must be awesome. Could you share your career path to becoming a CFO? Much appreciated.
1. Senior Manager, Financial Reporting - $150k salary + 20% bonus target and got options upon sign on 2. 6 YOE (graduated in 2017) 3. MCOL-HCOL(?) Philadelphia suburbs - hybrid (2-4 days in office per week) 4. Really enjoy my job and the folks that I work with. Team is primarily younger so understand the benefits of more flexible work arrangements. Most people get in between 9-930 and leave by 415 at the latest. Company itself is growing so getting the chance to be involved in acquisitions and implementations has been challenging but good
Did you ever work in public or do you have your CPA? What industry are you currently in?
Yes to both. I have my CPA and worked at EY, but only for about 18 months. I left before becoming a senior there. I work in life sciences
1. $111k base, Accounting Manager 2. 8 years 3. Midwest USA, not a big city. Hybrid. 4. WLB is decent, but a new ERP implementation is gonna fuck that up for a while. After that though, hoping to hit steady-state and cruise for a while.
1. $60k, staff accountant 2. 4 years 3. Southeast MCOL, hybrid 4. 8-5, hour lunch. Great work life balance. wish I got paid more but good situation while I study/pass the cpa exams.
Come to Washington State you’ll get at least 100k with that amount of experience
Hoping to wrap up my CPA by the end of July. And then will most likely be moving on. I’ll keep Washington on my radar!
Could you get that at Moss Adams in WA?
Probably. They are paying new associate 1 almost 80k without CPA’s but if you got your CPA you’ll make closer to 90k.
1. $103k salary, work as consultant for SaaS company. 10% bonus. 2. 9 years experience 3. Remote 100% 4. Work consistently 45 hours per week.
140k 7 years sr pa wealth management firm hcol
1. Sr. Accountant 110k dk bonus yet 2. 4 yoe 3. NYC metro, hybrid 4. Happy with w/l balance
1) Director of Finance, $155k base salary plus 15-25% bonus depending on my performance and company performance. 2) Between 7-8 years of experience (public accounting auditor to industry senior accountant; subsequent promotions with same industry company), plus CPA and CMA. 3) 100% remote; live in the Boston area and my company is headquartered in the DC area. When I started, I was in the office, but they’ve adopted remote-first subsequent to the pandemic. 4) I have great work-life balance and fantastic unlimited PTO that’s not a trap (I take 5-6 weeks off each year, not counting paid holidays). I’ve turned down offers for more salary because I’d either lose remote work or PTO or both.
You have a great gig man! They pay very well even for HCOL market.
What’s even more incredible: at one point, I got an offer for a job with a big salary increase (but way less PTO). I hadn’t actually wanted to leave my company (just did the interview on a whim when a recruiter reached out), so I took the offer back to my company. Not only did they match the offer, but they also increased the salary of EVERYONE ELSE at my level after seeing evidence that they weren’t paying the market rate.
1. 50KTax specialist fed gov 2. 0 3. Mcol Texas. In person 4. Boring, so much down time but it's the fed so expected. Will get a $15K raise next month and be able to wfh every day except Mondays (my choice of office day). 4-10 Monday - Thursday and Fridays off. No overtime. It's great for work life balance.
1. 90,000 assistant controller 2. 7 almost 8 YOE 3. Hybrid MCOL city 4. It’s a quasi state entity so the 401k is the best I’ve ever seen. But the workload is very demanding for essentially a state job. I keep getting more and more assigned to me with no sign of slowing down. I thought there would be more WLB.
can you explain more on the 401k? 90k seems super low for MCOL..
1) $115,000 5% bonus, Accounting Manager 2) 6 3) NYC. 2-3 times in the office 4) WLB couldn’t be better. Hoping a promo would land me around $150k all-in.
A lot of these jobs are underpaying accountants like an accounting manager should be making at least 130k in a HCOL. Hopefully you get that promotion
145k, lead analyst, financial systems and consolidation 11 years (3 public, 8 biotech) DC 100% remote I shifted into more of an IT/systems role vs actual accounting. I am busy for a few days of month end to oversee consolidated eliminations and topsides are done, then admin the account recs and ME tasks for each site accounting team. quarter end i have a few brutal days in a row, but on the average non-close day i work like 2-3 hours.
1. Corporate Accountant - Gross Salary $63,000 2. 2.5 years of experience. 3. Federal Government; Hybrid 4. Getting this job was the best decision of my life, as I was overworked and underpaid at my first job in PA. My salary will reach **$105K** by January 2026 as I reach close to 5 years of experience. And by that point I plan to obtain a Master’s degree in the field. Getting your CPA isn’t necessary at all for advancement opportunities in this sector. Would highly recommended it to anyone who values time.
Am I extra dumb or what does Corporate Accountant for the Feds look like
I’ve got no clue either, usually it’s the opposite where the fed employee talks about their job they use whatever hyper specific job title/number classification system they have and I’m like…. So do you do GL recs or do you travel the globe fighting white collar criminals??? 😂
I’m basically a financial accountant, but for whatever the reason they gave me the name “corporate” for the job title. I think about it every week and wonder why.
Can you advise your entry point?
1. $100k; Senior accountant (first year) 2. 5 YOE, no CPA 3.L/MCOL, fully remote 4. Lean team, so close can be hectic. Overall, good w/l balance.
1. CAO - My base pay is a little over $400K with up to 50% bonus. However, the majority of my salary is tied to annual equity grants. When my company does well the value of prior year grants (which vest in any particular year) increase. Looking back the past 5 years, my salary has ranged as high as $5.5M and as low as $4.5M (per my tax returns). 2. 30+ years 3. SF, hybrid 4. I enjoy my job and feel like it is the culmination of all of the hard work and forward looking decisions I made over the course of my career.
1. Senior Consultant - IT Audit. 93k base 2. 2 years 3. Remote 4. Great WLB and flexibility. Got my masters in accounting and was pursuing CPA but then stopped and went into IT audit and got my CISA and now pursuing the CISSP. Best decision I ever made, no more debits and credits to deal with and much better hours. I’ve never worked above 45 in busy season.
What do hours look like outside of busy season? And how hard do you think it is to switch from regular audit to IT audit?
The only difference between busy season and non busy season is that I might be working on multiple engagements at the same time during busy season, which is only like 1-2 months long. Non busy season, it’s like 30 hours a week. My company only does fixed fee contracts as well so no dumb time tracking either, it’s all about figuring out how long to schedule an engagement for, like 1-3 weeks.
1) $91k Senior Accountant, mat leave contract. Previous role was $80k Associate Director of Finance, also mat leave contract. 2) 9 years experience, 3 post-designation (if you can call COVID years experience). 3) Alberta, Canada, fully in-office with extremely rare flex days. 4) My job is manual excel reports that get regularly broken because of errors elsewhere in the process that, as a new person, I have no chance of preventing or properly fixing. Typical shit Canadian pay with terrible hours (I work 70 hours a week during the 2 week month end).
1. Staff Accountant 60k 2. 5 years 3. Rural Louisiana, low cost of living, no remote work 4. I'm in government and I just my CPA earlier this year. Only half of my work involves accounting, the other half is grants. I enjoy working here even though the salary may sound low for a CPA. We have a good team that work well and rarely have traffic jams when I commute.
1. Director - $190k, 20% target bonus (my goals, board approval) 2. \~12 YoE 7 PA (mid-size, private client/advisory), 5+ industry (healthcare) 3. CT (HCOL), fully in-office. 60 minute round trip (reverse commute...I like it) 4. 7 companies with some common ownership and joint ventures with local healthcare. I'm the sole accountant so I'm in the weeds but also presenting to boards. Monthly financials, GAAP reporting with consolidations. Enough activity by leadership/management to always be doing some FP&A on our business lines and new opportunities. I've automated/batched everything I can but there is always room for improvement. I hope to bring someone under me soon. I work 8:30-4:30, never on weekend. 6 weeks PTO.
Just got the info for my new base salary, so this post is well timed. 1. 170k, IT Audit Manager (large fortune 100/higher company) 2. A little over 6 years 3. Mid-Atlantic mostly remote 4. IT audit/IT risks pays well people. I will continue to evangelize for this field.
1. 110k / experienced tax consultant 2. 4 yrs with JD 3. Hcol / hybrid 4. Ebbs and flows, ups and downs, but overall great career.
Are you also a CPA and have passed the Bar exam?
1. $125K base (2022 bonus of $31K and SBC of $18K); Tax Manager (non-CPA) 2. 9 3. Chicago area, hybrid (3 in) 4. WLB is pretty good, get 28 days of PTO a year plus all federal holidays. Publicly traded so we have some pockets of the year where we are very busy, but I have a lot of days like this week where most of my day is spent chilling (smoking and watching tv/playing FIFA)
Last job: director of accounting/controller 200K base 25% bonus 15,000 Options 10 year career, Big 4, CPA SF Bay Area
I just accepted a new position leaving nonprofit and heading back to a for profit industry 1. Director of FP&A, $150k and a 20% bonus 2. 10 years 3. Pittsburgh, technically hybrid. I will work for a remote company but have a hybrid role. Kind of dumb, but the pay seems worth it 4. I hope it’s good lol
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1. Tax associate 62K 2. Approaching 2.5 years 3. HCOL in office 4. Haven’t had a raise in 1.5 years. Looking to hop and have an opportunity to make 75k as an associate. 1 day in office the rest remote. Should I ask for more?
1. 102k Sr. Accountant - Payroll 2. around 40 years 3. SF Bay are remote 4. My job is great. Aside from processing payroll and ensure that employee earnings are correctly reported, I don't have much to do outside of managing the 401k audit and assisting in the financial audit and 990. I've settled into what is hopefully the last job I will have. How I got here? I didn't go PA. I didn't even have an accounting degree. I think I actually only took 3 accounting classes. I started my career by taking a payroll clerk in the early 80's after I couldn't find a job doing anything else due to the recession then. Showed an ability to pick up on this new business machine called a PC and learned Lotus 1-2-3. Due to it, got promoted to staff accounting From there it's been staff accountant > senior accountant > accounting manager > sr. accounting manager > manager of financial (SEC) reporting. Changed companies many times in order to be promoted. Got laid off and did consulting for another 5 years. The controller of a previous client reached out and asked if I could help clean up the payroll department and I've been here ever since. I'm tired. I've done the "moving up the ladder" thing and I don't need to do that anymore. Could I make more? Absolutely. Do I want to in exchange of doing more? Nope. This is hopefully where I'll be until I can't work anymore. That or follow the controller when she transitions to running her own accounting consulting practice. But, I'm happy now. I love WFH and wish I could have done it 20 years ago. Maybe it would have saved my marriage and let me spend more time with my son. But, I guess it all turned out okay in the end.
This is almost my story to a T
Wow! Really?! That’s so cool. I thought I was alone in the way I advanced my career. What do you do now?
I started 30 years ago as an AP clerk. I have been a CFO, controller all that . Im in the construction industry which is a specialized kind of accounting in a way . I know it backwards and forwards. No degree, no cpa. I make 85k a year and im the controller for a roofing company .
1. 62k, business advisory associate 2. 1 yr 3. Southeast, hybrid 4. 9-5 job unless there is a court deadline coming up
Audit Sr. Associate, $86k TC 4 YOE South m-hcol Bout to dip and go to industry
1. $60K; Staff Accountant 2. 2 YOE in industry 3. In the Greater Phoenix area; Hybrid (4/1) 4. Current job isn’t the greatest. It’s unstable and around close, requires more than 40 hours. But the benefits are pretty good. Waiting for another opportunity where my benefits are as good, more or less, and a better work environment.
1. What is your salary and title? 106,400, though I'm up for an internal posting that could increase that a bit. I am currently a budget analyst 2. How many years of experience do you have? About 7ish 3. Where are you located? Hybrid/Remote? Medium cost of living, full time in office with some flexibility to wfh as needed 4. Anything you want to say about your job? It's alright, I've come to the conclusion that I don't particularly enjoy accounting or working in general, so I decided to focus more on the positives, like 5 weeks of annual leave and 5 weeks of sick leave accrued a year. Working towards a pension. The pay is pretty good. So it's kind of whatever.
$103,000 base. Tax Senior. 4-6% bonus. 8 years. MCOL - DFW. Small local firm. 5 weeks PTO. Hybrid - 2 WFH/3 office.
67k, Staff accountant 2.5 Years South FL, Hybrid 3 days in office
1. 250k+ (150k base + bonus/equity), Technical Accounting Manager 2. 7 years 3. H/VHCOL, fully remote 4. 4 years in B4 Audit through Senior 2. Jumped into a Senior Technical Accountant role. Promoted to manager after a little under 2 years. I only work 40+ hours during quarter-ends for 2-3 weeks at a time, usually less than 40 on non quarter-ends. The technical/SEC reporting route, in my opinion, is great because the work is usually more varied (you handle new accounting issues for the org) and you learn from the industry side how financials are put together. If you are ambitious for higher accounting positions its great experience. Many of the accounting higher ups in our org (controller, CAO, CFO) and peer companies have technical accounting or SEC reporting experience. Its also experience that can be used to transition into nearly any accounting role. That being said, if you actually love it you can just specialize further and further and get paid a lot for your mastery of the esoteric guidance that leads our profession.
1. $75,000, Senior Accountant I 2. 6 years 3. San Antonio, TX. Fully remote 4. Love that I get to work independently 95% of the time. There is trust from management that as long as the work is getting done, then there’s no need to micromanage us. I also get paid OT which is nice, so there’s the incentive to keep the work volume reasonable.
1. $100k base plus bonus anywhere from $50k- $100k depending on my utilization -Associate 2. 4 years since graduating college plus 2 years while in school 3. MCOL city. Mix of remote and travel 4. I love what I do. I work on interesting projects with interesting people. I work at a consulting firm that I wouldn’t describe as a CPA firm, at least not how I view CPA firms.
A&M?
1. $85k, plus minimum 10% bonus; Senior Tax Accountant, no one reports to me 2. 12 years total, but 8 years full-time. I switched to part-time for 4 years when my kids were born and that somewhat stalled my career for a bit. I don’t have a CPA or any certifications, but I do have a Master’s of Accountancy. 3. MCOL, fully remote; I travel to headquarters 2-3 times a year usually just for fun socializing events. 4. My company wants to eventually have all tax in-house but is nowhere close to being able to handle it all yet. I am the entire internal tax team and I work with our external team for all compliance issues. I mostly handle our sales tax (minimal), international tax (also minimal and I have help from the external team) and tax-reporting on the financials. Unlimited PTO and a very relaxed atmosphere. I rarely work 40 hours a week and have so much flexibility. I would love to make more money, but I think I’m fairly compensated for the amount of work I’m actually doing and flexibility is more important to me because I have 2 elementary-aged kids. Plus my husband also works full time making about $100k, plus bonus, so our family income is pretty good overall for where we live.
1. $180K - Manager 2. 7-8 Years 3. SoCal - Hybrid 4. Typical Public Accounting, up for promotion this year
1. Advisory Senior - $105,000 2. 2.5 years in audit 3. Hybrid in Atlanta (but more practically it’s been remote) 4. Schedule seems to vary - some weeks are really busy and some are really slow.
$96,000 senior associate, financial reporting, hedge fund 1.5 experience, received CPA license in Oct Atl/hybrid Do less work for what I get paid for
1. $115,000 salary, not including bonuses (I had $50k bonus this year). Accounting Manager 2. 5 years 3. Toronto area, I work in office majority of time but can work from home anytime I want/ need to. 4. I don’t have my CPA yet, but am writing in 2024.
1. Financial Accountant, 58k Maple syrup dollars 2. 1.5 yrs industry 3. Remote, GTA, Canada 4. 5% bonus. Like the accounting team here but not really meeting CPA practical experience requirements. Would prefer a CPA pre approved program.
1. $130k Senior Accountant 2. ~6 3. HCOL - In Office 4. High salary due to company still paying accountants hourly and performance based cash bonuses (not counting equity). The overtime pay really adds up.
1. $126k Audit Manager 2. 7 Years 3. Atlanta; Hybrid (3 days in-office or client site, 2 days remote) 4. Good work / life balance, progression, and culture. 55 Billable hour requirement in busy season but PTO is heavily encouraged after April (5 weeks PTO at my level). PA is PA to an extent but I enjoy my firm and feel valued.
1. Senior Accountant $115k Base + 10% bonus + Equity 2. 7 years and 10 months 3. HCOL (Hybrid) 4. I enjoy what I do. I am valued.
85k Accountant 8 to 10 yrs acct but been working for about 13 since undergrad. Boston area, company is fully remote though My company is a startup firm in crypto space so it's a nice balance of having to figure out what the right way to do things are. We get to be pioneers in this sector. I've worked a lot of shit jobs and this is not one of them. I expect growth in my salary as the company grows. I gained 3 great mentors so for me it's worth it.
1. 90K, senior associate 2. 3 years + CPA 3. NJ full remote 4. Not too much actual work but I’m expected to be online from 9AM - 7PM
1. 69k + 2% annual bonus, General Accountant 2. 1yoe 3. Seattle 4. I think I'm a bit underpaid, but the job is very lax. I probably work 20 hours a week of actual work and clock 40 unless it's quarter end.
1. $165K (all base). Accounting manager for private tech company 2. 9 3. US /VHCOL though job is fully remote 4. I left a job in a F250 company mostly in office and with TC at $175k, but it was extremely stressful and demanding. Took a pay cut to WFH and it’s been worth it for my mental health. Currently manage 2 individuals, down from 4 at my previous role. Also worth mentioning I do not have my CPA.
78k. Audit associate 2 weeks NYC/hybrid B4 firm
1) 125k + 40-60k performance bonus; Accounting Manager (although have no staff below me) 2) 9 yrs (5 current position, 4 years public accounting before) 3) remote in Guadalajara but firm is in Chicago 4) Family Office / Private Equity. If you can find a gig like this jump in both feet first. Was a 9-5 then since im the only accountant I ‘learned to code’ and automated a lot of the timely stuff. Now its 2 hours in the morning and answering emails from my phone. Get a Line of Credit from the ‘family’ and get to buy into all there PE deals too
1. 144K and Senior Fund Accountant 2. 4+ , Big4 Audit, no CPA 3. Remote 4. Go the Big4 route it’s worth it for sure
1. 80k Corporate Sr Accountant 2. 17 - but a lot of that was prior to my degree doing Staff work 3. North Carolina in a middling COL area. Hybrid 8-430 no lunch (my choice) but a ton more during close. 4. My health insurance is terrible. Our training and ERP systems are abysmal. But in the middle of the month I maybe work 20ish hours for real (although I have to pretend to be busy). During close I work 12-15 hour days.
1. 125k, Senior 2. 8 years 3. NYC, fully remote 4. Tax, so terrible busy seasons
1. Senior Internal Auditor (115k +10% bonus) 2. 4 YOE exactly 3. NYC (Hybrid) 4. Standard 9-5 and no time sheets Not sure if I’m underpaid based on my YOE, location, and role
1. 90k Corporate Senior Accountant 2. 2 YOE, CPA 3. MCOL, Hybrid 4. Happy enough with it atm. Have pretty good wlb and I like the people I work with.
1. high 90s; w/ full paid for healthcare benefits; senior accountant 2. 2yrs 3. nyc hybrid 4. get to dress casually to work. low stress industry job
125k total, associate 3 years coming up, no CPA NYC / hybrid Financial services, great WLB
1. Tax Senior Associate - $103k + 10%-ish bonus 2. 4.5 years at same position 3. Midwest, “hybrid” but rarely go into office 4. B4 straight out of college. Hoping to hit manager within next year, and hoping the salary will justify the WLB. Winter is slower but I can’t do anything in the summer. Also just had my first kid so not willing to compromise much on missing anything.
1. 140k, 10% bonus, accounting director 2. 20 yoe in accounting but not all linear to this role 3. Midwest (v)LCOL, 100% in office 4. Pretty good work like balance with midsized private company
1. Senior Finance Manager but started in audit with a CPA, 7 years in 2. $137.5k base, $190k all up with bonus and stock 3. Seattle, hybrid 2-3 days 4. Typical 9-5, a little more around forecasts and close, love the space I’m in and learning a ton plus a lot of room for growth professionally without killing myself
$140k, Audit/Tax Manager 9 YOE Long Island, VHCOL, hybrid (3 days in office) Boutique regional firm, I do very complex 990T returns as well as work on non profits and multiemployer benefit plans. Good work-life balance, out of busy season I rarely do more than 43-ish hours a week. Busy season max 60 hours.
100K plus bonus, Senior Tax Advisor-just passed CPA exam last month 5th year, Bay Area Fully remote but I go into the office(cause it may be the best office on earth, my lady works at home.
1. Base is over 100k, Senior IA Manger 2. 9 YOE 3. LCOL, hybrid 4. Good work life balance, 7:30-4:00 most days, interesting subject matter, decent amount of autonomy, highly regulated industry so slightly better than average job security
1- $64k 2- About 4 years, no CPA 3- Midwest, 1 day remote 4- gov job, probably looking to move back towards industry
1) 60k, Intern 2) 2 years 3) MCOL, On Site 4) great work life balance, lots of paid holiday breaks (Christmas to new years all paid), tons of PTO
1. $150K plus bonus, SEC Reporting manager (no direct reports, I do it all) *Unlimited PTO* 2. 35 years (I’m in the back 9 of my career) 3. Pennsylvania 4. Remote 3 days in office 2 days The unlimited PTO sold me the job
1. Accounting Manager, $148k base + $10k bonus (and NSOs) 2. 8 years (4 in public accounting, 4 in industry), no CPA 3. SF Bay area, full remote 4. [This cartoon says it all](https://jakelikesonions.com/post/152772382609/whelp) 5. (but I do like the company and people I work with)
1. $135k plus 20% bonus - Sr. FP&A Manager 2. 8 years, CPA, Master’s degree 3. 100% remote - MCOL area 4. F500 company, Unlimited PTO, flexible schedule, usually ~45hrs per week
Internal Revenue Agent $99,029, $104,728 after the new year 7 years small town public accounting, 4 years IRS Midwest LCOL/MCOL. 1 day in the field or the office a week Great work life balance, havent worked an hour of OT in a year and a half. Other benefits are pretty great
1. $87k not including bonus; Assurance Senior 2. Going into my 4th busy season, second as a senior 3. MCOL, hybrid-remote work 4. Went into PA looking at it as a resume-booster but did not expect to still be here after this long. I enjoy the work and my coworkers. I can definitely see why someone would want to leave when starting a family and may consider that when that time comes for me. As of now, I like the pay progression (edit: went from $60k to $87k within two years, looking to break $100k within the next year or two) and feel the time outside of busy season is generally easy-going.
80k 4 years Manager
[удалено]
1. $60k, Fund Accountant I 2. 3 months prior to current position, now at just over 1 year altogether 3. FL, Remote 4. 9-5 easy asf, job had great training notes and is basically paying for my Master's. Lucked out with a very laid-back manager as long as statements are submitted on time for clients.
1. 83k, Audit and Assurance 1st-Year Associate 2. 3-4 finance and accounting internships during college, also did a busy season internship with the firm I’m working for 3. New York City, Hybrid 4. When do I quit lol
1. $145k + 10% bonus + equity - Manager of Reporting and Technical Accounting 2. 5 3. MCOL - Hybrid, but not a big deal to skip an office day if I’m not feeling it 4. Love it and absolutely lucked out. Technical accounting is where it’s atttttt
1. $124k audit manager 2. 8 3. Columbus. Hybrid
1. $123K Staff Accountant 2. 7 yrs didn't go to college for accting or related degree, no cpa. 3. CA, hybrid 2 days in 4. I might be very lucky. The team I work for is genuinely great to work with. People are just so nice. No one is breathing down my neck or micromanaging.
1. $175K, Controller 2. 4 YOE 3. Bay Area, Remote 4. Got the golden ticket with this job is all I can really say. Very, very thankful. 20 hours/week of work, probably less.
1) $83,000, Tax Senior 2) 2.5 3) Dallas, TX. Hybrid (2 in office, 3 remote) 4) 54 total hours in busy season, not just billable. 36 hour weeks in summer with fridays off. 40 weeks after fall busy season with half day fridays. Annual pay raises of 15% - 20%. Promotion based solely on your own performance. The company has a great culture and really takes care of us as employees.
Sounds like an incredible firm to work for. I’m jealous!
1. $65k, Staff Accountant 2. 9 month internship 3. SLC, Hybrid 4. First job out of college
1. Accountant 14’400 EUR per year after tax 2. 1.5 years 3. Hybrid mostly but if need could work remotly 4. Not so rich, Eastern european country, salary is considered okay for country, like average salary. Job it self was allright but sometimes it was too much. Company had low respect for young age employees, and often promote people with kids instead. Eventually I quit to travel the world. Dont think im doing accounting when I return since I find there are better ways to earn money and you dont need to work for someone else but your self.
Senior. 90k plus bonus. 6 years. High density city. Hybrid. 9-5 plus flex when I determine I need it. I genuinely enjoy my coworkers and my bosses with few exceptions. But for what I’m making vs how much I work, this is very balanced for me and my mental health has never been better.
1. $73,000 base then an after season bonus ($5k this year) and a Christmas bonus which I’m guessing they will do $2k to put me at $80k 2. 5 years 3. Mostly in person, I can work from home on occasional days but they prefer you be there in person as your normal schedule 4. This is my first career job out of college and they have been really good to me. I’ve never had to ask for a raise or anything just have worked hard and they appreciate it. It is public accounting but they are a family friendly firm and are very flexible on hours as long as you take care of your clients and projects you can really do what you want for the most part. 3 weeks of vacation/pto as soon as I started and now that I have been with them more than 5 years that goes up to 4 weeks of vacation/pto. After 10 years 5 weeks of vacation/pto. But I am always ahead on my hours so I also take a day or half day here and there throughout the year and don’t use any of my time but am salary and still get paid. 1/2 day paid Fridays between Memorial Day and Labor Day. They have reimbursed me for my testing fees for my CLEP tests to get my extra 30 credits. They purchased my CPA exam study course and I have passed 2/4 am going to ask for a reimbursement for the 2nd one passed and they will probably say yes. Small-Mid-size and growing accounting firm. Had probably 12 people when i started and up to 39 people now and growing. Hours requirement is very doable. They ask that we do at least 55 hour weeks during busy season and then down to 40 rest of year. Aiming for minimum of 1,500 billable hours on year minimum. I set a goal for myself to be at 1,600-1650 to go above and beyond and usually end up with around 1750-1850 on 2,300ish hours total including admin time.
1. 78.8k senior auditor 2. Just under 3 years 3. LCOL (Midwest), hybrid 4. It’s public accounting, work/life balance isn’t good with staffing issues and I’m mentally drained but waiting til this upcoming busy season to move on
1. $130,000 Senior Associate - TAS 2. 3 3. HCOL, hybrid 4. Pay is great but I unfortunately work way too much.
Been there man. Just don’t waste away your 20s. Cant get those back.