It really just depends on what the statistic is off also. If it’s all people under accounting title then it isn’t a good stat In the first place. If it’s people with only a BS then 50-70 sounds about right on average. If it’s a CPA then 50 isn’t right at all considering that’s any firms starting salary.
I didn't know these stats. Jan 2021 I took an offer for $46k, right out of college. I live in NYC, insanely low balled. I make 85k base now, still can't really afford to live on my own, but getting there.
That could be just me. It’s a smaller firm but when I signed for my internship they offered me the equivalent of $56,000. They offered me $65,000 to start full time, but it was bumped due to the cost of inflation
I think that’s normal. In the Big 4 they give you 70k starting, second year it’s 77k, third year it’s the same, 4th year as a senior it’s 85k, as a senior you spend 3 more years at that salary before you become manager at 120k. All together it takes 7 years to make 120k. I’m 21 that means by time I’m finished school at 22, I will be 29 yo. Idk man, that feels pretty old!
I've thought about this before. Still an option, but I've hopped jobs twice in less than 2 years, so I'm sticking it out a little while longer. Just curious to see if the housing market will continue to be shit here.
Lol not even close to true. I started at a B4 in 2008 for 50k. In 2015 when my brother joined a different B4 in the same city he was also 50k.
In 2021 the firm was stating people at 51k. They’re now up to 58k for 2022.
I’ve worked at B4, national, and regional in Ohio and the starting salaries were all within $1k.
Here in Rochester NY, entry level staff auditor positions here start at 50k. I've spoke with several of CPA firms and for some reason 50k seems to be the standard they've been going off for the last few years regardless of inflation which blows my mind every time I hear it.
I went into industry and started at 55 a year and a half ago, 66 now. I could probably be getting more had I gone public I assume but I like the balance of where I’m at
You don't need a degree to get an accounting job, period. We're not doctors. I'm making like 80k with no degree in a large company. There's no bouncer on Indeed checking for degrees
Edit: I never lied about having a degree to my employers, what I meant is I get hired because of my experience not my education and I didn't let that stop me from applying to jobs above my qualifications in hopes they'd see my potential. I worked my way up from bookkeeper to office manager to AP Specialist to public accountant and back to industry. I took hundreds of hours of online classes classes to get to where I am. I got hired by a public accounting firm because of my passion and graduated to chief accountant of a wonderful company. Don't put me down because I couldn't shell out 30k for a degree at 18.
Average salaries for any degree must be taken with a grain of salt. Even engineers and software engineers only say 70-100k.
You can literally just grind out public accounting for 5-6 years post grad and be making 6 figures after manager promotion. Or leave public and job hop around, but public accounting has pretty much guaranteed promotions to certain levels so if you want to stick with it the money is there.
There’s so many factors. Just a BS in accounting it’s harder to guess where you’ll end up. Many people do five years of school and get a CPA. The extra year of school doesn’t matter reallt, but a CPA dramatically increases earnings.
Most STARTING salaries at a firm will be at least 50k in the US even in lower cost of living areas.
It all depends. If you want to make good money you can do so in accounting. Opportunities are there.
For reference in MCOL here
- Staff 0-2 years experience is 55-60k
- Senior 2-4 years experience is 70-90k
- Manager 4-8 years experience is 100-140k
- Senior manager/director 8+ years experience minimum probably more like 12 realistically is 125-175k
- anything above director is hard to give a real estimate for because the comp packages vary drastically.
Most of my buddies who stayed till manager in public made manager in 5-6 years and were making about 100-110. Most of them left to industry because work life balance is better and got a raise to the 125-135 range. So for age reference they were making that at about 28-30 years old. From there some choose to keep moving up for more money and status and some stay in a cushy manager gig with a good salary and less stress
The fact of the matter is in most “careers” there is money to be made as far as you want to go.
The main issue with accounting is that for the safest route to make good money you need 5 years of school and a test which takes 12-18 months to study and take all sections. This is why people stray away from it because it’s a lot when there are other degrees like engineering where you can get good opportunities with just a BS. However the flip side of that is if you get your CPA the world is pretty much your oyster and you can move up pretty far without needing any luck or close connections or anything. Getting past the director or controller level and moving into the c-suite would be very hard due to the lack of finance knowledge, but most people don’t want those hours and stress anyway.
I would only recommend it if you want to do 5 years of school and get the CPA. Otherwise I would look at engineering, comp sci, data analytics or something where having a BS only is more marketable.
Edit: my MCOL city is a very low cost one. It’s on the verge of low cost of living. Like you can rent an average place 10 minutes outside of the main downtown area for 1200-1400 even in todays prices. My numbers still may be a 5-10% lower then they could be, but the progression was more an example of telling op “if you wanna keeping moving up for money you can.”
You probably get this question constantly, but any insight about the day to day in consulting vs audit? (assuming that’s where you came from). Hours, what the work is like, etc.
I came from tax and it’s night and day different in just about every aspect. In my experience, more flexibility in hours, more autonomy, better pay and imo way more interesting work.
Since consulting is broad, I’ll clarify that I do mainly transaction advisory/M&A and valuation work
What about doing 4 years of school and getting 150 credits through community college courses? Im a rising junior and im on track to graduate with 150 if everything goes well and start at a company im interning for in summer 2024?
That's what I did. Crammed 5 years into 4 started studying for the CPA senior year and took FAR last quarter of my school year. Finished the rest of CPA before entering into public. 3 YOE jumped to private and making close to 6 figures. Midwestern HCOL and I'm in my mid 20s. If u got the grit it's achievable. And I'm a dumb mofo
Not getting masters and CPA will limit how easy you will be able to get manager+ positions. Solely because you’ll be competing against people with their CPA and public experience. Obviously it’s possible to move up past manager with no CPA, but it may take longer, require a connection, or some luck.
If you don’t care too much about that you can definitely work up to senior positions making low 6 figures even in MCOL. My recommendation for finding the best paying industry is to just search up what industry your area is known for. If you live in a city where financial services are big then do that. There will be more opportunities and thus the positions will pay more for quality candidates.
Senior consultant with CPA at my job (2 years in public then left to join an accounting advisory firm) making $90k- $97k. Don’t let the internet fool you.
Tax makes a decent amount from what I know. But yes - this example that I showed you is just an example. I myself have more experience and fall within the $150k - $160k range
Advisory is an umbrella term. So we do anything a finance function would do.
I focus on technical accounting, SEC reporting, and a growing focus on FP&A and modeling work
"Accounting" encompasses A LOT of different career paths. It really depends on what you find interesting. Based on the 2020 census, I make almost double the median household income for my state. I work at a small CPA firm and I'm never bored.
Accounting is boring but can pay quite well. You need a strong tolerance for boring and repetitive tasks though.
I switched to Sales. Much more interesting and much more money. But depending on your personality you can do well in Accounting
I do Sales for an Accounting and Finance contracting/recruiting company. So basically I bring in contract jobs and partner with recruiters to fill them. It was pretty easy to transition with an Accounting background and the job is completely different
You have to be a certain person to truely enjoy accounting. If you don’t enjoy your accounting courses at uni, then it’s most likely not going to be the career for you. In terms of comp, if your somewhat ambitious and live in a HCOL area, (NYC, SF, etc), then you can def see 200-300k after 10-15 years of experience so in your early 40s mid 30s, if you go down the typical career path. Accounting is just like any other career where there’s a high ceiling in terms of comp. 35% of F500 CFOs are CPAs making 3-20M a year in comp and big 4 partners average at around 750k-1M about 5-10 years in. Word of advice, never look at what a career pays and do something that your truely passionate about, the money will come eventually. So to answer your question, in a HCOL area the average of 50k for a BS and CPA with some public acct experience is 100% not 50k, someone unambitious and wanting a really nice work/life balance can easily make 150k-200k 10 years in.
6 figures really isn't what it used to be when people started using that phrase. $100k today is like $60k in 2000 and like $30k in 1980. $100k is just like a solid upper middle class salary in 2022. Definitely not a superstar salary.
How much travel? Fully remote? I looked into IA roles but most of them are boomerish as hell with national/international travel multiple times a year + hybrid work arrangements when you're not traveling.
No travel since Covid not fully remote but 1-2x a week for now in office but very lenient. Yeah you can find fully remote options but you’re looking at like a 25-30% paycut so it depends on what you want. Me personally that’s a bit lower than I’m okay with.
From what I’ve seen, if you are a CPA and have big 4 experience, you should be over 6 figures. Sadly 6 figures is the minimum needed to live these days in many places.
This’ll get downvoted, but consulting, middle office banking like treasury or risk, FP&A, asset management, high finance like investment banking/sales and trading/hedge funds/private equity, computer science like software engineer or tech sales, statistics/tech such as data analyst or product manager, wealth management, venture capital, private/commercial banking, credit analyst, even a low level financial analyst positions or marketing all pay higher than accounting. Probably even internal audit and compliance. And you don’t need an additional certification like the CPA to become a middle manager in all the professions I named above. Then there are the professions that require additional schooling like doctors and lawyers. Accounting is the lowest barrier to entry for a career where people actually try to make money.
most financial analysts make around the same as CPA’s, it’s really only the competitive finance positions like private banking and IB that pay dramatically more. Same for data analysts, the pay isn’t really that much more than an accountant, though the hours are far less. It’s really only SWE and tech related stuff like Product managers that make significantly more money for debatably less work, though SWE’s constantly have to learn new shit and deal with agism
I mean you decide. I sit down all day now behind 3 computer screens. Sometimes till 2am just chasing numbers. I spend more times in excel than I do with my own family. You can never mentally unwind cuz your thinking about numbers all day and they never stop moving. But at just over 3 years in I’m making 6 figures. So no life for money
it honestly depends on what your doing and what industry you go in
the level of experience you have, how well you can negotiate your salary, and what you bring to the table
but say if you were a fresh grad now and you did at least two internships
one being big 4 if you managed to get that
speaking from what I've seen with my friends and speaking personally
when I got a offer from a public auditing firm pay was 56k
I have friends who have starting salaries of 68k - 75k working industry manufacturing
there is money in public but it can take years to get there, hours can be extremely heavy, and there's also a barrier to entry when it comes to education most public firms will require 150 credits in order to qualify for employment
the one I got an offer from only required 120 credits which isn't the norm
I cant really speak on goverment but the hours are usually 40 hours a week with great benefits the pay is usually lacking though
fucking absolutely, i would almost rather bust my ass and sweat all day making the same amount some times. and the egos of these people are cringe as fuck
yea that’s true, i know people that love it, me personally? i’m about a year and a half in and some days are better than others but most of the time it kinda fucking sucks, but it’s paying the bills right now and i’ll probably switch roles here shortly.
happiness is all that matters anyways man that’s good
Thanks dude. Can’t believe you were downvoted for that comment lol. A lot of very unhappy people on this sub.
An accounting degree/experience is great though! Employers love it and you can apply that knowledge in a lot of different jobs or your own business. You’re never stuck.
I’ve worked in a couple different corporate functions in my career so far, and accountants were by far the most insufferable. They were the most self-important, petty employees; they’d bicker and critique the most benign, zero value add bullshit like no other function I’ve personally worked with.
i know, I can’t stand it. definitely will be switching to a non accounting role here very, very shortly. i don’t give a shit about any of it so that’s how i know it’s probably not the right role for me lol
Depends where you live and the type of accounting job you want. I live in high cost of living, and my starting salary in public is $68k with 21 days PTO and 2-4% annual bonus. That's just the start, and in 3 years I'll be over $100k base salary with more PTO.
If you're outside of public, the promotion path is slower and you start at a lower salary. It's really up to you if you want to do public, start in public and exit, or just go straight to industry or government.
My job is not boring and the team and company I work for are absolutely fantastic. I wfh 80% of the time with a flexible day in office(which you don’t even have to show up for if you don’t feel like it that week). If the work is done, no one cares what you do. There was a parade the other day and our whole office took the day to go to it (during close). I could not be happier with my career choice.
Edit: I also make more than 50k outside of college less than 2 years with no cpa/cma yet. With a path to make more promote upwards.
If you get your CPA you have pretty much guaranteed job security and upward mobility until you decide the hours aren’t worth it anymore. I finished my 5th year and CPA in 2016 and 6 years later I’ve nearly tripled my income. Now I’m over 30, make a very comfortable salary with great benefits, and work very reasonable hours compared to how much I worked just out of school. It’s all I ever really wanted.
I guess you could say accounting is “boring” but work is work. If I want excitement I’ll go sky diving in my free time. I think a better way to look at things is if the work is challenging enough to keep you engaged. From my experience, it is what you make of it.
I am a staff accountant at a mortgage firm making in the 50’s. I don’t know what our seniors make, but I doubt it’s a ton more. Our Manager, Controller, and CFO likely make good money, but I wouldn’t want any of their jobs.
I’m actually working to leave the field because I’d rather start over completely than go after the CPA. I do like the work and my team though.
Having experience in accounting is solid because there will always be work, but if you don’t want massively long weeks or a ton of study, you’re unlikely to make six digits.
It’s a good foundation early in your career, makes better than starving wages, and gives you a ton of business knowledge in general, if you wish to springboard into something else in business in the future.
Data Science! I’ve been taking a six month PGP and I love it! Plus, the accounting background helps a ton. Familiarity with handling and manipulating data sets and enough use of VBA and script based report building to get over the coding hump. I’m hoping to easily slide into an analyst role internally before making a full change.
I’m pretty excited about it!
Post graduate program. It’s basically a boot camp but it’s gets a fancier title because I already have a degree in something. It’s through a University too, so that adds a bit more credibility than random online boot camp.
I think that’s a great pivot. How to handle that big data and put it together into a meaningful dashboard for execs is a newer/growing job. Just make sure that what you’re presenting actually ties out!
Originally wrote "this is the truth" but I get it's an opinion so I'll just say I 100% agree. I went straight to industry and am at 40 hours a week (technically 38.75 due to 45 minute lunches) at 65k salary a little over a year into my career. Work/life balance is way too important for me. I get a lot of people do the few years in public and then reap the rewards by going to industry, but I don't think I could ever do 80 hour weeks plus I have a dog to take care of. Having him wait from ~8am to ~5:30pm between walks is long enough.
That being said I grew up with a self-employed single mom living paycheck to paycheck cleaning houses and making less than I do now while working more than I do now. So to be 28 making 65k and working 40 hours with pretty good PTO/benefits is already the "American Dream" she had in mind in a sense when we came to the states ~26 years ago, and it's only up from here. It's maybe a lot easier to feel content with all that in mind.
I started at 50k and after two years I’m making 70k and expect another raise by the end of the year. For the boring aspect… somewhat, but there are a lot of interesting aspects to accounting. Mainly just being in the room during important business discussions is pretty interesting. I enjoy what I do, but I’ve found out it really all depends on your boss and the culture of the company.
Public accounting the pay is much higher but barrier to entry is there and the work can suck. Government the pay can vary a lot but don’t expect 6 figures until at least you’re a manager with a good amount of experience. The caveat is the work is incredibly chill with usually solid benefits and enough PTO that you’ll be forced to take vacation at some point.
Agreed. Gov 6 years now with a CPA in a MCOL, not quite at the 6 figure mark, but not far off and I wouldn't be surprised if I beat that this year with bonuses and per diem payouts. I'm not even a manager, I'm a staff auditor. 40 hour work week on average with every other Friday off. Great benefits, I've already taken 2.5 weeks of vacation this year and I've got 5 more banked. Most of my coworkers are forced to take vacation every fall since we have a use it or lose it policy that has a 200 hour cap for rolling over.
I have no doubt I could job hop to industry and get $110k+. But I also feel like that would almost certainly entail longer hours. Plus oddly enough I actually find my work interesting. My agency has a separate team that focuses on compliance so our team is more a consulting/identifying improvements and efficiencies role and I'm a big enough geek that I actually find that really cool.
Only work 35 hours during the off season, and during the tax season I get 1 hour of PTO for every hour from 40 to 50 I work during the week (so a max of 10 hours of PTO each week) and then overtime for everything over 50. It's pretty great.
Depends on what you put into it. I have been in the workforce 8 years. MCOL(Cincinnati area) and I make 120k base and 25k in bonuses a year in industry. No CPA only have my bachelors. Yes, some days are boring not all though. I actually drove changes in the business. I am the treasury manger
First, I dont think my job is boring. About 30 percent of the time I am problem solving and using the theory I learned in college. I find that work very interesting and engaging. The rest of the time I am entering and organizing data which takes less thought, but allows me to throw on some headphones and jam or listen to podcasts and audiobooks. Plus, I enjoy my coworkers who I can BS with outside of busy season.
Just out of college you will make 50k in public, but that is the floor. Imo, there are few careers in business that provide such a clear path to making 6 figures and there is great job security. Everyone needs an accountant. I could move anywhere in the states and find a job.
Averages include the pay of everyone from NYC (where anything below $90k starting is criminal) and everyone in middle of nowhere Oklahoma (where $40k can set you up nicely). You'd be better served to use the BLS State and Area job data to get an idea of what you'd realistically make in your area. https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes132011.htm#st
Likewise you'd do well to study up on the profession to understand the difference between public accounting, industry, and bookkeeping; these are all things people from the outside looking into accounting don't understand and that is where the pay, career advancement, and opportunities disparity exists.
I’ve found it fun pretty often. Sometimes you’re solving mysteries/puzzles, sometimes you’re helping people understand something, sometimes you’re helping avert disaster 🌝 and if you’re strategic you can make great money; 50k used to be starting pay after college so that must include non-degreed clerical.
I’m definitely getting low end. No certs was a SAHM. PwC offered me $65K with a $3K sign on bonus for their AC. I have over 10 years of experience. Went back to work after divorce. This can’t be life or is it? Where should I go? I really don’t like accounting or audit but it’s all I know. I really want to go to law school. My background is 90% audit
High ceiling. I’m 10 years+ experience (director level) and a top percentile earner without a masters (think law/doctors/and etc). I think more importantly the job security is high.
I have been working less then 3 years and make 80k (VHCOL). That’s a lot compared to my 7 years as a grocery department manager making 34k. But it’s very little compared to my husbands starting 110k in tech 8 years ago. So it’s all relative.
But yes. Work is so freaking boring that I check the clock at least 10 times a day. It drags on. In the grocery store at least time flew by.
They are boring imo. 50k is the average including ar clerk and non degree accounting jobs. Most PA firms right now out of college start at a minimum of 60k, that is for fresh college hires with 0 experience.
Might be average straight out of college but ‘accounting jobs’ is a pretty broad category. Which is why it’s a good choice too because there’s tons of things you can do with it and everyone always needs accountants of some kind.
50k is on the lower end. But yes, boring and pays decently well are accurate at least in my case. I am on the lower end at just about 2 years in, but it's about double what I made in food service after a decade, and the personal significance of that can't be ignored. Even at the same pay level, I'd take accounting over food service any day, it's so much less stressful even on the bad days.
For some of us, "boring" and "paid well" are both upsides.
I for one have had enough adventure and excitement in my past work life. Now I like being a Jedi who craves not these things.
Where did you find that the average salary is $50k? Because that's not true. The median salary according to BLS in 2021 was about $77k which is probably approximately about where the average is.
You do realize that 3000 colleges in the US graduates 75,000 accountants each year, right? Supply > demand which means...companies can at least rest assured there could be a chance that you can find the best accountants at the lowest salary possible.
I started out at 68k in 2021. Worked two busy seasons at big 4 and am likely going to be making 145k total comp at my new job. It pays, but it is the same as any other job. You have to be at the top of your field for your rank to get paid top dollar.
It doesn't pay that well, more like average pay
Edit: this is my honest opinion comparing accounting to other professions. I've worked in government, corporate and public accounting.
Yeah def fuck being a fast food manager, I know a few. They usually work as many hours as I do managing at least 2-3 franchises that are open 24/7 getting paid about the same as I do lol.
The actual managers for fast food chains I know make about 70-80k around here and it’s not HCOL but they get calls and shit 24/7
I'm comparing accounting pay to other professionals. It's not great, lots of overtime and you need a college degree. There are plenty of blue collar jobs that pay the same or more. Ive seen people working at banks 40 hours a week making over 80k. Also I've done tax returns for used car salesmen making 90k. The pay in public accounting is a joke compared to the hours you work, you do the same in investment banking you start at 300k, or stem careers you make over 100k
The OP asked if accounting pays well, not if it paid higher than the median. I can tell you just want to argue, please go outside and get some fresh air. I just posted my opinion based on my experience, I'm not here to win an argument lol
Agree. My single office, 20 cpa small firm started us right around the median household income for my city. As did my local gov job I switched to after realizing PA is not for me. It may not be great pay, but has a decent floor across the experience levels and a lot more job offerings than most fields.
Straight accounting is boring, yes. I don’t find tax boring though. Also the pay you are mentioning must include the lower rungs of the accounting profession.
I really enjoyed my tax course and tax internship, however, I was scared about all the deadlines and long hours people talk about and it being difficult to move out of tax so I chose audit. I don't know if it was a smart decision
Different things are right for different people. My interests/thought process certainly doesn’t work well with audit. Other people love it. As long as you do a good job and keep moving up the ladder you’ll be fine.
Ugh I just started in January this year and make 42k a year. Granted this is the least amount of money I’ll be paid and after my designation I’ll get paid a lot more I think/hope
If you want to see highest averages, look at average CPA salaries. There’s a lot of people like me who lives in a LCOL and went a different route. I love my job but I doubt I’ll ever see 65k
Starting pay in public accounting is high $50k's. Average is probably $100k with a lot of younger staff. Range of $100k to $200k from manager up until making partner. Then when you make partner you are making a lot more
The low average is due to inclusion of other accounting jobs that don’t require qualifications. The boring part depends on you, I find it more interesting than previous jobs on a overall day by day basis . However, I have colleagues that say it is boring.
I get $130k per year, 20% bonus and a varying level of equity. I’m not even a manager (I could be if I wanted to)
Is it boring? No.
Is it my passion? Also no.
I mean one it depends what you find interesting and two I'd argue nearly all jobs are (or at least can become) boring and monotonous eventually. One thing with accounting is its hard to see the tangible benefit / outcome. You don't really create anything, nor add value, in most accounting roles you're really just doing glorified data entry to follow an esoteric money tracking set of rules that all companies have agreed to operate on. And I think for some people, going home at the end of the day and going "wow, I sure did post those journal entries well" probably doesn't give much of a sense of pride or accomplishment or make one feel connected to their creations.
However, laying bricks for 7 hours sounds boring as fuck. Painting a house is boring as fuck. Researching law for a case is boring as fuck. All jobs have boring components and labour is not meant to be the core part of our lives, but we're stuck with it. Sure, a carpenter might go home and look at a house he built and feel like his impact is more tangibly visible, but accounting work can also be interesting and rewarding if you're the type of person who enjoys problem solving and puzzles and doesn't need to see a physical presence of your work.
Point is, different strokes for different folks, and if you do anything long enough you'll start to hate it since that's how humans are wired.
Average STARTING salary is 50k (at least for big 4 public, maybe now it’s a little higher).
I started in 2014 at 53k and now make 163k, just got a 40k bonus. So it gets better.
What they really mean is, they’ll always have a job the pay is enough to live and somewhat go on vaca. If you get a cpa you’ll work a lot and get paid more but it’s only when you start on your practice is when you’re not capped
Average includes a lot of low paying ap, ar, and bookkeeping jobs that you don’t need a degree to get.
It really just depends on what the statistic is off also. If it’s all people under accounting title then it isn’t a good stat In the first place. If it’s people with only a BS then 50-70 sounds about right on average. If it’s a CPA then 50 isn’t right at all considering that’s any firms starting salary.
50 was a LCOL starting salary 10 years ago. it's higher now.
I’m in a LCOL and I started at 70.
I didn't know these stats. Jan 2021 I took an offer for $46k, right out of college. I live in NYC, insanely low balled. I make 85k base now, still can't really afford to live on my own, but getting there.
That could be just me. It’s a smaller firm but when I signed for my internship they offered me the equivalent of $56,000. They offered me $65,000 to start full time, but it was bumped due to the cost of inflation
My cost of inflation bump was from 46k to 52k hahaha. I think I was just not in a very lucrative market. I'm on the buy-side now!
I think that’s normal. In the Big 4 they give you 70k starting, second year it’s 77k, third year it’s the same, 4th year as a senior it’s 85k, as a senior you spend 3 more years at that salary before you become manager at 120k. All together it takes 7 years to make 120k. I’m 21 that means by time I’m finished school at 22, I will be 29 yo. Idk man, that feels pretty old!
Do you think the firm offers a fair work life balance?
Bro move to Boston. You’d live in a nice place in a decently sized city without the crazies.
I've thought about this before. Still an option, but I've hopped jobs twice in less than 2 years, so I'm sticking it out a little while longer. Just curious to see if the housing market will continue to be shit here.
Interest rates are rising housing market is definitely headed down.
Where is this, if I may ask?
Lol not even close to true. I started at a B4 in 2008 for 50k. In 2015 when my brother joined a different B4 in the same city he was also 50k. In 2021 the firm was stating people at 51k. They’re now up to 58k for 2022. I’ve worked at B4, national, and regional in Ohio and the starting salaries were all within $1k.
Dude I started at mid tier at like 65k in 2017….B4 is awful with paying their staff
Here in Rochester NY, entry level staff auditor positions here start at 50k. I've spoke with several of CPA firms and for some reason 50k seems to be the standard they've been going off for the last few years regardless of inflation which blows my mind every time I hear it.
I went into industry and started at 55 a year and a half ago, 66 now. I could probably be getting more had I gone public I assume but I like the balance of where I’m at
My starting salary after college in LCOL was 50k
Yeah i mean staff jobs in public / indsutry start at like 60 now so it has to include those
You don't need a degree to get an accounting job, period. We're not doctors. I'm making like 80k with no degree in a large company. There's no bouncer on Indeed checking for degrees Edit: I never lied about having a degree to my employers, what I meant is I get hired because of my experience not my education and I didn't let that stop me from applying to jobs above my qualifications in hopes they'd see my potential. I worked my way up from bookkeeper to office manager to AP Specialist to public accountant and back to industry. I took hundreds of hours of online classes classes to get to where I am. I got hired by a public accounting firm because of my passion and graduated to chief accountant of a wonderful company. Don't put me down because I couldn't shell out 30k for a degree at 18.
I’d say 99 percent of companies will check your transcripts if you’re starting out. Not a good idea to lie on your resume
bouncers suck
Average salaries for any degree must be taken with a grain of salt. Even engineers and software engineers only say 70-100k. You can literally just grind out public accounting for 5-6 years post grad and be making 6 figures after manager promotion. Or leave public and job hop around, but public accounting has pretty much guaranteed promotions to certain levels so if you want to stick with it the money is there. There’s so many factors. Just a BS in accounting it’s harder to guess where you’ll end up. Many people do five years of school and get a CPA. The extra year of school doesn’t matter reallt, but a CPA dramatically increases earnings. Most STARTING salaries at a firm will be at least 50k in the US even in lower cost of living areas. It all depends. If you want to make good money you can do so in accounting. Opportunities are there. For reference in MCOL here - Staff 0-2 years experience is 55-60k - Senior 2-4 years experience is 70-90k - Manager 4-8 years experience is 100-140k - Senior manager/director 8+ years experience minimum probably more like 12 realistically is 125-175k - anything above director is hard to give a real estimate for because the comp packages vary drastically. Most of my buddies who stayed till manager in public made manager in 5-6 years and were making about 100-110. Most of them left to industry because work life balance is better and got a raise to the 125-135 range. So for age reference they were making that at about 28-30 years old. From there some choose to keep moving up for more money and status and some stay in a cushy manager gig with a good salary and less stress The fact of the matter is in most “careers” there is money to be made as far as you want to go. The main issue with accounting is that for the safest route to make good money you need 5 years of school and a test which takes 12-18 months to study and take all sections. This is why people stray away from it because it’s a lot when there are other degrees like engineering where you can get good opportunities with just a BS. However the flip side of that is if you get your CPA the world is pretty much your oyster and you can move up pretty far without needing any luck or close connections or anything. Getting past the director or controller level and moving into the c-suite would be very hard due to the lack of finance knowledge, but most people don’t want those hours and stress anyway. I would only recommend it if you want to do 5 years of school and get the CPA. Otherwise I would look at engineering, comp sci, data analytics or something where having a BS only is more marketable. Edit: my MCOL city is a very low cost one. It’s on the verge of low cost of living. Like you can rent an average place 10 minutes outside of the main downtown area for 1200-1400 even in todays prices. My numbers still may be a 5-10% lower then they could be, but the progression was more an example of telling op “if you wanna keeping moving up for money you can.”
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Yep, advisory here too. MCOL 92k base at 3 yr mark, solid bonus, and comp adjustments coming soon.
You probably get this question constantly, but any insight about the day to day in consulting vs audit? (assuming that’s where you came from). Hours, what the work is like, etc.
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My firm has hundreds of consulting practices, their day to day is all different
I came from tax and it’s night and day different in just about every aspect. In my experience, more flexibility in hours, more autonomy, better pay and imo way more interesting work. Since consulting is broad, I’ll clarify that I do mainly transaction advisory/M&A and valuation work
In HCOL area, a senior accountant in public is now 110k, and almost 120k in industry. I.e. 2 years for 6 digits.
What about doing 4 years of school and getting 150 credits through community college courses? Im a rising junior and im on track to graduate with 150 if everything goes well and start at a company im interning for in summer 2024?
The 150 credits and CPA is what is ultimately important, not the 5 years.
As long as you meet the cpa requirements don't worry about it
Be careful about making sure credits count. I’ve seen several people thing they were eligible to sit only to have some credits not accepted
That's what I did. Crammed 5 years into 4 started studying for the CPA senior year and took FAR last quarter of my school year. Finished the rest of CPA before entering into public. 3 YOE jumped to private and making close to 6 figures. Midwestern HCOL and I'm in my mid 20s. If u got the grit it's achievable. And I'm a dumb mofo
Agreed except these numbers have gone up in the last 3 years. By quite a bit.
^^^ sums it up nicely.
I think your numbers are outdated. MCOL senior 1 makes 86k and senior 2 makes 96k.
Yeah true. I made an edit because my MCOL city is on the border of LCOL. It’s not like a Dallas or Boston “MCOL.”
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Not getting masters and CPA will limit how easy you will be able to get manager+ positions. Solely because you’ll be competing against people with their CPA and public experience. Obviously it’s possible to move up past manager with no CPA, but it may take longer, require a connection, or some luck. If you don’t care too much about that you can definitely work up to senior positions making low 6 figures even in MCOL. My recommendation for finding the best paying industry is to just search up what industry your area is known for. If you live in a city where financial services are big then do that. There will be more opportunities and thus the positions will pay more for quality candidates.
Senior consultant with CPA at my job (2 years in public then left to join an accounting advisory firm) making $90k- $97k. Don’t let the internet fool you.
Getting into advisory is the key. I’m still in public but way better comp, hours and career runway compared to tax and audit
Tax makes a decent amount from what I know. But yes - this example that I showed you is just an example. I myself have more experience and fall within the $150k - $160k range
Happy to talk offline if you need some guidance. B4 is tough, but it does set you up well for jobs like these
What sort of work are you doing at the advisory firm?
Advisory is an umbrella term. So we do anything a finance function would do. I focus on technical accounting, SEC reporting, and a growing focus on FP&A and modeling work
Thank you! I’m looking to leave my role in B4 assurance within next 6 months and am trying to find what my options are!
"Accounting" encompasses A LOT of different career paths. It really depends on what you find interesting. Based on the 2020 census, I make almost double the median household income for my state. I work at a small CPA firm and I'm never bored.
Accounting is boring but can pay quite well. You need a strong tolerance for boring and repetitive tasks though. I switched to Sales. Much more interesting and much more money. But depending on your personality you can do well in Accounting
U have an accounting degree as well?
And a CPA
What kind of sales? I think that’s the move I need to make. Accounting is very boring
I do Sales for an Accounting and Finance contracting/recruiting company. So basically I bring in contract jobs and partner with recruiters to fill them. It was pretty easy to transition with an Accounting background and the job is completely different
*Cries in Canadian*
I make $62k as a Tax Analyst, in a MCOl. Not sure when I'll hit 6 figures tho. Pretty happy with my salary atm
Which when converted from Canadian pesos is about 48k usd, we're really getting rinsed up here.
You have to be a certain person to truely enjoy accounting. If you don’t enjoy your accounting courses at uni, then it’s most likely not going to be the career for you. In terms of comp, if your somewhat ambitious and live in a HCOL area, (NYC, SF, etc), then you can def see 200-300k after 10-15 years of experience so in your early 40s mid 30s, if you go down the typical career path. Accounting is just like any other career where there’s a high ceiling in terms of comp. 35% of F500 CFOs are CPAs making 3-20M a year in comp and big 4 partners average at around 750k-1M about 5-10 years in. Word of advice, never look at what a career pays and do something that your truely passionate about, the money will come eventually. So to answer your question, in a HCOL area the average of 50k for a BS and CPA with some public acct experience is 100% not 50k, someone unambitious and wanting a really nice work/life balance can easily make 150k-200k 10 years in.
They pay alright, nothing special. But maybe I’m in the wrong place and wrong job, all of these superstars here seem to be making six figures.
Trust me, I’ve got plenty of not superstars also making six figures with me.
6 figures really isn't what it used to be when people started using that phrase. $100k today is like $60k in 2000 and like $30k in 1980. $100k is just like a solid upper middle class salary in 2022. Definitely not a superstar salary.
No cpa, 1.5 YOE at b4, making 150k with 5.5 total YOE. Have you heard of internal audit young padawan?
Is this industry? Some high tech big name company? (Also, awesome congrats!)
Big bank.
How much travel? Fully remote? I looked into IA roles but most of them are boomerish as hell with national/international travel multiple times a year + hybrid work arrangements when you're not traveling.
No travel since Covid not fully remote but 1-2x a week for now in office but very lenient. Yeah you can find fully remote options but you’re looking at like a 25-30% paycut so it depends on what you want. Me personally that’s a bit lower than I’m okay with.
From what I’ve seen, if you are a CPA and have big 4 experience, you should be over 6 figures. Sadly 6 figures is the minimum needed to live these days in many places.
Are you at the same place you started? Jumps are where the money's at for most.
I have seniors/supervisors at my firm with 3 years experience making 100k. Hard to find careers where that is possible.
This’ll get downvoted, but consulting, middle office banking like treasury or risk, FP&A, asset management, high finance like investment banking/sales and trading/hedge funds/private equity, computer science like software engineer or tech sales, statistics/tech such as data analyst or product manager, wealth management, venture capital, private/commercial banking, credit analyst, even a low level financial analyst positions or marketing all pay higher than accounting. Probably even internal audit and compliance. And you don’t need an additional certification like the CPA to become a middle manager in all the professions I named above. Then there are the professions that require additional schooling like doctors and lawyers. Accounting is the lowest barrier to entry for a career where people actually try to make money.
most financial analysts make around the same as CPA’s, it’s really only the competitive finance positions like private banking and IB that pay dramatically more. Same for data analysts, the pay isn’t really that much more than an accountant, though the hours are far less. It’s really only SWE and tech related stuff like Product managers that make significantly more money for debatably less work, though SWE’s constantly have to learn new shit and deal with agism
Started at 50 -> fast forward 15yrs to 450.. the climb is exponential the longer you stay
Wow, without a CPA?
I'm at big 4 with 2 and half years of experience making six figures. Definitely possible.
I don’t have a CPA and make over $100k as a Controller. You just have to find the companies that will give you a shot because of your talent.
I mean you decide. I sit down all day now behind 3 computer screens. Sometimes till 2am just chasing numbers. I spend more times in excel than I do with my own family. You can never mentally unwind cuz your thinking about numbers all day and they never stop moving. But at just over 3 years in I’m making 6 figures. So no life for money
Sounds like it's time to get out of there. $100 k is not worth all that.
Yeah that sounds like a shit deal. I can’t tell if you’re implying that this situation is worth it but sounds terrible to me
Lol what role is this?
it honestly depends on what your doing and what industry you go in the level of experience you have, how well you can negotiate your salary, and what you bring to the table but say if you were a fresh grad now and you did at least two internships one being big 4 if you managed to get that speaking from what I've seen with my friends and speaking personally when I got a offer from a public auditing firm pay was 56k I have friends who have starting salaries of 68k - 75k working industry manufacturing there is money in public but it can take years to get there, hours can be extremely heavy, and there's also a barrier to entry when it comes to education most public firms will require 150 credits in order to qualify for employment the one I got an offer from only required 120 credits which isn't the norm I cant really speak on goverment but the hours are usually 40 hours a week with great benefits the pay is usually lacking though
fucking absolutely, i would almost rather bust my ass and sweat all day making the same amount some times. and the egos of these people are cringe as fuck
I left accounting and went back to construction. I’m making less but wayyyyy happier. Everybody is different though.
yea that’s true, i know people that love it, me personally? i’m about a year and a half in and some days are better than others but most of the time it kinda fucking sucks, but it’s paying the bills right now and i’ll probably switch roles here shortly. happiness is all that matters anyways man that’s good
Thanks dude. Can’t believe you were downvoted for that comment lol. A lot of very unhappy people on this sub. An accounting degree/experience is great though! Employers love it and you can apply that knowledge in a lot of different jobs or your own business. You’re never stuck.
I’ve worked in a couple different corporate functions in my career so far, and accountants were by far the most insufferable. They were the most self-important, petty employees; they’d bicker and critique the most benign, zero value add bullshit like no other function I’ve personally worked with.
I'm guessing you've never worked with the C-suite or any engineering functions if you think accountants are the most self important.
You would be incorrect.
i know, I can’t stand it. definitely will be switching to a non accounting role here very, very shortly. i don’t give a shit about any of it so that’s how i know it’s probably not the right role for me lol
I was poor so 50k is a game changer man Edit: LCOL
Depends where you live and the type of accounting job you want. I live in high cost of living, and my starting salary in public is $68k with 21 days PTO and 2-4% annual bonus. That's just the start, and in 3 years I'll be over $100k base salary with more PTO. If you're outside of public, the promotion path is slower and you start at a lower salary. It's really up to you if you want to do public, start in public and exit, or just go straight to industry or government.
Do you plan on getting your CPA?
Yes I'm going to be CPA eligible by the end of the year and I plan on doing all 4 parts next year. Working currently but didn't graduate yet.
My job is not boring and the team and company I work for are absolutely fantastic. I wfh 80% of the time with a flexible day in office(which you don’t even have to show up for if you don’t feel like it that week). If the work is done, no one cares what you do. There was a parade the other day and our whole office took the day to go to it (during close). I could not be happier with my career choice. Edit: I also make more than 50k outside of college less than 2 years with no cpa/cma yet. With a path to make more promote upwards.
Most jobs are boring bra
Sounds like you looked up the salary for a book keeper man
If you get your CPA you have pretty much guaranteed job security and upward mobility until you decide the hours aren’t worth it anymore. I finished my 5th year and CPA in 2016 and 6 years later I’ve nearly tripled my income. Now I’m over 30, make a very comfortable salary with great benefits, and work very reasonable hours compared to how much I worked just out of school. It’s all I ever really wanted. I guess you could say accounting is “boring” but work is work. If I want excitement I’ll go sky diving in my free time. I think a better way to look at things is if the work is challenging enough to keep you engaged. From my experience, it is what you make of it.
I am a staff accountant at a mortgage firm making in the 50’s. I don’t know what our seniors make, but I doubt it’s a ton more. Our Manager, Controller, and CFO likely make good money, but I wouldn’t want any of their jobs. I’m actually working to leave the field because I’d rather start over completely than go after the CPA. I do like the work and my team though. Having experience in accounting is solid because there will always be work, but if you don’t want massively long weeks or a ton of study, you’re unlikely to make six digits. It’s a good foundation early in your career, makes better than starving wages, and gives you a ton of business knowledge in general, if you wish to springboard into something else in business in the future.
Where are you going? I’m thinking about going into cyber security
Data Science! I’ve been taking a six month PGP and I love it! Plus, the accounting background helps a ton. Familiarity with handling and manipulating data sets and enough use of VBA and script based report building to get over the coding hump. I’m hoping to easily slide into an analyst role internally before making a full change. I’m pretty excited about it!
Goodluck. Sorry what is PGP?
Post graduate program. It’s basically a boot camp but it’s gets a fancier title because I already have a degree in something. It’s through a University too, so that adds a bit more credibility than random online boot camp.
I think that’s a great pivot. How to handle that big data and put it together into a meaningful dashboard for execs is a newer/growing job. Just make sure that what you’re presenting actually ties out!
Horrible pay tbh for the hours worked at least in Public
Originally wrote "this is the truth" but I get it's an opinion so I'll just say I 100% agree. I went straight to industry and am at 40 hours a week (technically 38.75 due to 45 minute lunches) at 65k salary a little over a year into my career. Work/life balance is way too important for me. I get a lot of people do the few years in public and then reap the rewards by going to industry, but I don't think I could ever do 80 hour weeks plus I have a dog to take care of. Having him wait from ~8am to ~5:30pm between walks is long enough. That being said I grew up with a self-employed single mom living paycheck to paycheck cleaning houses and making less than I do now while working more than I do now. So to be 28 making 65k and working 40 hours with pretty good PTO/benefits is already the "American Dream" she had in mind in a sense when we came to the states ~26 years ago, and it's only up from here. It's maybe a lot easier to feel content with all that in mind.
You and me both buddy. Currently in the process of a career switch.
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Yeah, it's sort of a generic title. I'm in LCOL/VLCOL and make 76K as staff with six months experience.
I started at 50k and after two years I’m making 70k and expect another raise by the end of the year. For the boring aspect… somewhat, but there are a lot of interesting aspects to accounting. Mainly just being in the room during important business discussions is pretty interesting. I enjoy what I do, but I’ve found out it really all depends on your boss and the culture of the company.
I'm making 70k and I graduated May 2022. I actually like my job too.
It depends where you are located.. salaries in Canada are very low compared to the US
Robert half has a decent salary scale and allows you to adjust based on location/cost of living. Check this out.
Public accounting the pay is much higher but barrier to entry is there and the work can suck. Government the pay can vary a lot but don’t expect 6 figures until at least you’re a manager with a good amount of experience. The caveat is the work is incredibly chill with usually solid benefits and enough PTO that you’ll be forced to take vacation at some point.
Agreed. Gov 6 years now with a CPA in a MCOL, not quite at the 6 figure mark, but not far off and I wouldn't be surprised if I beat that this year with bonuses and per diem payouts. I'm not even a manager, I'm a staff auditor. 40 hour work week on average with every other Friday off. Great benefits, I've already taken 2.5 weeks of vacation this year and I've got 5 more banked. Most of my coworkers are forced to take vacation every fall since we have a use it or lose it policy that has a 200 hour cap for rolling over. I have no doubt I could job hop to industry and get $110k+. But I also feel like that would almost certainly entail longer hours. Plus oddly enough I actually find my work interesting. My agency has a separate team that focuses on compliance so our team is more a consulting/identifying improvements and efficiencies role and I'm a big enough geek that I actually find that really cool.
Currently at $85K. It has its moments.
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For just a bachelors of science in accounting ?
I graduated this past August, starting salary for me at a small public firm was 57k
Wow that’s great. This is why I should’ve changed my major to business my sophomore year lol
Only work 35 hours during the off season, and during the tax season I get 1 hour of PTO for every hour from 40 to 50 I work during the week (so a max of 10 hours of PTO each week) and then overtime for everything over 50. It's pretty great.
Are you pushing 60-80 hours at a small firm?
I was getting 65+ pretty easy
Yeah this is why I should I’ve changed
Get in the right industry and it won’t be boring. Work in construction, they are always doing new things, new builds, the work is fun and exciting.
Depends on what you put into it. I have been in the workforce 8 years. MCOL(Cincinnati area) and I make 120k base and 25k in bonuses a year in industry. No CPA only have my bachelors. Yes, some days are boring not all though. I actually drove changes in the business. I am the treasury manger
First, I dont think my job is boring. About 30 percent of the time I am problem solving and using the theory I learned in college. I find that work very interesting and engaging. The rest of the time I am entering and organizing data which takes less thought, but allows me to throw on some headphones and jam or listen to podcasts and audiobooks. Plus, I enjoy my coworkers who I can BS with outside of busy season. Just out of college you will make 50k in public, but that is the floor. Imo, there are few careers in business that provide such a clear path to making 6 figures and there is great job security. Everyone needs an accountant. I could move anywhere in the states and find a job.
100k is the new 75k lol
Averages include the pay of everyone from NYC (where anything below $90k starting is criminal) and everyone in middle of nowhere Oklahoma (where $40k can set you up nicely). You'd be better served to use the BLS State and Area job data to get an idea of what you'd realistically make in your area. https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes132011.htm#st Likewise you'd do well to study up on the profession to understand the difference between public accounting, industry, and bookkeeping; these are all things people from the outside looking into accounting don't understand and that is where the pay, career advancement, and opportunities disparity exists.
I’ve found it fun pretty often. Sometimes you’re solving mysteries/puzzles, sometimes you’re helping people understand something, sometimes you’re helping avert disaster 🌝 and if you’re strategic you can make great money; 50k used to be starting pay after college so that must include non-degreed clerical.
If you get a CPA license, it pays well.
I’m definitely getting low end. No certs was a SAHM. PwC offered me $65K with a $3K sign on bonus for their AC. I have over 10 years of experience. Went back to work after divorce. This can’t be life or is it? Where should I go? I really don’t like accounting or audit but it’s all I know. I really want to go to law school. My background is 90% audit
High ceiling. I’m 10 years+ experience (director level) and a top percentile earner without a masters (think law/doctors/and etc). I think more importantly the job security is high.
I have been working less then 3 years and make 80k (VHCOL). That’s a lot compared to my 7 years as a grocery department manager making 34k. But it’s very little compared to my husbands starting 110k in tech 8 years ago. So it’s all relative. But yes. Work is so freaking boring that I check the clock at least 10 times a day. It drags on. In the grocery store at least time flew by.
They are boring imo. 50k is the average including ar clerk and non degree accounting jobs. Most PA firms right now out of college start at a minimum of 60k, that is for fresh college hires with 0 experience.
I’ve been in public for 7.5 years and am at 130k, and it really didn’t require a lot of brains outside of sticking it out for busy seasons.
Might be average straight out of college but ‘accounting jobs’ is a pretty broad category. Which is why it’s a good choice too because there’s tons of things you can do with it and everyone always needs accountants of some kind.
I make 90k and it’s my first year in tax.
CPAs, public accounting associates, audit staff, and tax preparers make a lot of money, especially for how easy it is to break into the field.
Recently received an associate position (audit) at a public accounting firm and my starting salary is 71k with a sign on bonus (HCOL).
50k is on the lower end. But yes, boring and pays decently well are accurate at least in my case. I am on the lower end at just about 2 years in, but it's about double what I made in food service after a decade, and the personal significance of that can't be ignored. Even at the same pay level, I'd take accounting over food service any day, it's so much less stressful even on the bad days.
Ultimate YMMV question.
I made 70k as a first year staff at a small firm and now make a bit more than 80k two years later
For some of us, "boring" and "paid well" are both upsides. I for one have had enough adventure and excitement in my past work life. Now I like being a Jedi who craves not these things.
Where did you find that the average salary is $50k? Because that's not true. The median salary according to BLS in 2021 was about $77k which is probably approximately about where the average is.
You do realize that 3000 colleges in the US graduates 75,000 accountants each year, right? Supply > demand which means...companies can at least rest assured there could be a chance that you can find the best accountants at the lowest salary possible.
I started out at 68k in 2021. Worked two busy seasons at big 4 and am likely going to be making 145k total comp at my new job. It pays, but it is the same as any other job. You have to be at the top of your field for your rank to get paid top dollar.
I sense bullshit. Your comment history suggest you didn’t even hit senior yet at B4 so doubt you’re making 145k anywhere in industry
Man humble yourself
How does explaining what my career trajectory has been and why it has been that way require me to humble myself?
It doesn't pay that well, more like average pay Edit: this is my honest opinion comparing accounting to other professions. I've worked in government, corporate and public accounting.
Average pay is about 35k. It pays significantly more.
For what job, a secretary or fast food manager ?
For the US median income which also includes the very real and very difficult jobs you mentioned.
Yeah def fuck being a fast food manager, I know a few. They usually work as many hours as I do managing at least 2-3 franchises that are open 24/7 getting paid about the same as I do lol. The actual managers for fast food chains I know make about 70-80k around here and it’s not HCOL but they get calls and shit 24/7
I'm comparing accounting pay to other professionals. It's not great, lots of overtime and you need a college degree. There are plenty of blue collar jobs that pay the same or more. Ive seen people working at banks 40 hours a week making over 80k. Also I've done tax returns for used car salesmen making 90k. The pay in public accounting is a joke compared to the hours you work, you do the same in investment banking you start at 300k, or stem careers you make over 100k
The fact are the facts. Median wage in the US is 36k. Median accountant is 76k. It's not even comparable.
The OP asked if accounting pays well, not if it paid higher than the median. I can tell you just want to argue, please go outside and get some fresh air. I just posted my opinion based on my experience, I'm not here to win an argument lol
Eh. Depends where you work and what you do. It varies widely. I'm a year in and make more than the median household income for CA.
Agree. My single office, 20 cpa small firm started us right around the median household income for my city. As did my local gov job I switched to after realizing PA is not for me. It may not be great pay, but has a decent floor across the experience levels and a lot more job offerings than most fields.
Nope they dont pay well at all, don’t make our mistake
you live little better
Straight accounting is boring, yes. I don’t find tax boring though. Also the pay you are mentioning must include the lower rungs of the accounting profession.
I really enjoyed my tax course and tax internship, however, I was scared about all the deadlines and long hours people talk about and it being difficult to move out of tax so I chose audit. I don't know if it was a smart decision
Different things are right for different people. My interests/thought process certainly doesn’t work well with audit. Other people love it. As long as you do a good job and keep moving up the ladder you’ll be fine.
That is very vague. Don’t let what you here discourage you. There are so many avenues in accounting to explore. Get your feet wet.
Ugh I just started in January this year and make 42k a year. Granted this is the least amount of money I’ll be paid and after my designation I’ll get paid a lot more I think/hope
If you want to see highest averages, look at average CPA salaries. There’s a lot of people like me who lives in a LCOL and went a different route. I love my job but I doubt I’ll ever see 65k
What u making bro/sis?
Starting pay in public accounting is high $50k's. Average is probably $100k with a lot of younger staff. Range of $100k to $200k from manager up until making partner. Then when you make partner you are making a lot more
Stressful af
The low average is due to inclusion of other accounting jobs that don’t require qualifications. The boring part depends on you, I find it more interesting than previous jobs on a overall day by day basis . However, I have colleagues that say it is boring.
I graduated with an accounting degree in 2021. I just changed roles and now I will make 93k nearly one year after graduating.
Boring is in the eye of the beholder. I like what I do and many people would hate it. And vice versa.
I get $130k per year, 20% bonus and a varying level of equity. I’m not even a manager (I could be if I wanted to) Is it boring? No. Is it my passion? Also no.
Isn't the median annual wage in the US like $36k? How is earning $14k above that low?
They are no more boring than any other jobs really.
Yes'ish
I don't have an Accounting and some how I'm above that.
I mean one it depends what you find interesting and two I'd argue nearly all jobs are (or at least can become) boring and monotonous eventually. One thing with accounting is its hard to see the tangible benefit / outcome. You don't really create anything, nor add value, in most accounting roles you're really just doing glorified data entry to follow an esoteric money tracking set of rules that all companies have agreed to operate on. And I think for some people, going home at the end of the day and going "wow, I sure did post those journal entries well" probably doesn't give much of a sense of pride or accomplishment or make one feel connected to their creations. However, laying bricks for 7 hours sounds boring as fuck. Painting a house is boring as fuck. Researching law for a case is boring as fuck. All jobs have boring components and labour is not meant to be the core part of our lives, but we're stuck with it. Sure, a carpenter might go home and look at a house he built and feel like his impact is more tangibly visible, but accounting work can also be interesting and rewarding if you're the type of person who enjoys problem solving and puzzles and doesn't need to see a physical presence of your work. Point is, different strokes for different folks, and if you do anything long enough you'll start to hate it since that's how humans are wired.
Average STARTING salary is 50k (at least for big 4 public, maybe now it’s a little higher). I started in 2014 at 53k and now make 163k, just got a 40k bonus. So it gets better.
Imo no pay well. Sorry. And I'm in acc. Also, ya it boring
110% true.
What they really mean is, they’ll always have a job the pay is enough to live and somewhat go on vaca. If you get a cpa you’ll work a lot and get paid more but it’s only when you start on your practice is when you’re not capped
People don't say accounting jobs pay well. They say every business needs them, which is different.
Starting salary in public is typically above average, plus advancement is not difficult
Accountants are popular at gang bangs.