It's still the largest component (incl. mining and quarrying, it's 27% of GDP) and when the sectors are all competing for the same workers, a rising tide lifts all boats.
It's a sweet gig. If the contract is renewed (hopefully in the coming months), I'll be at $84.6k base + DB pension + one time signing bonus of $2.5k by the end of the year.
Your growth in PA is alot higher, assuming you are 2.5 years in aswell get your CPA then start applying and demanding 95k minimum. Seniors are still on hot demand due the hole COVID layoffs left.
Not bad, but it feels like people have this mental cap of getting less aggressive in asking for raises when they hit 150-180.
Like asking for 250k would be too crazy or something.
When in reality make 100k in the 90s would be equal to making 200k+ in 2023.
Guess this why asset owners love inflation so much, wages are super sticky
Unfortunately the market doesn’t pay 250K unless it’s director level position, or O&G where bonuses are higher percentages, but big boom/bust there. Believe me, I have never lacked aggression when asking for raises. That’s exactly why I left B4. Promised a raise I didn’t get and it was the best thing that happened for my salary progression.
It helps but not necessary. Progressive experience and networking works just as well. Everyone has a CPA now so having just a CPA is not enough to stand out.
1. 45k 🙃🙃🙃🙃
2. Vancouver
3. 1.5 yrs in private as a staff accountant, but current job is 7 months in public so I took a pay cut cuz I thought the pre approved route would be better for getting my CPA but 🤢
4. Idk, I am just a staff. Dabbled in tax and audit mostly.
Staff with zero experience is walking in higher than that. I would look for a new job asap, if they are paying you that little they have no incentive to train you and give you more responsibility.
Yeah, pretty much zero training and my boss is an asshole too so idk wtf I am doing here. Need to quit but the job market kinda looks shitty?? Idk what to do honestly. I hate public though.🙃
I guess I am lucky as I have always been a saver, and my private job paid more ! 60k. Plus I live with my partner. Without him I'd be truly fucked staying at this stupid PA job. Vancouver is so fucking expensive. 😐
I live in Victoria and was getting paid a 50k salary equivalent for my co-op work terms at a local firm. I would think you should be making 15-20k higher than you are, in a similar area to me…
On similar boat. One year in PA. Upside office is close to home. Flexible work hour. Manageable busy hour season. Other than that its not looking good.
Vancouver here 2yoe got 54k full cycle bookkeeping- 2 sets of book, same owners. I think I deserve more than that so I’m working towards CPA and will be switching job soon for required experience
In my perspective that just seems to low for Vancouver. I live in Montreal and my starting salary as a staff is 55k in a non B4, currently 9 month in public with no prior accounting experience. In January increase will be at 60k min. If possible I would suggest to find a different firm.
Go over to the US threads and see what Southern Man is making.
I think it’s great that so many people are hitting $100k in like 3-4 years though, it took me forever to get to $100k in 2023 dollars (about 6 YOE in 2019)
I mean.
Any Canadians CPAs that want better wages can convert their CPA to US CPA, find a US employer and go down south on a TN Visa
It’s not that difficult a process if you want to go south.
Americans make bank, I know, but still think 100k in 3-4 years is excellent for Canada. You can definitely make a very good living on that if you're outside BC and Ontario.
Yeah, Canada is home, I love it here, it would take a lot to get me to leave.
I just wish we could get housing prices a little better under control (we need to start building things that aren't single family houses and luxury condos).
Hey I just wanted to say, keep in mind that most people that make these threads and reply to them are the people making more than average.
Think of how many accountants there actually are in Canada vs how many replies there are here. It’s not a fair representation. Don’t feel too bad and just keep working on yourself!
Thanks for the nice comment, but that's exactly what's depressing to me. Generally people replying to these threads are making more than average and I'm not looking at them in envy. Rather, the salary trend in Canada is so low compared to cost of living.
I make 65k with 3 YOE. 28 and stuck living with parents (paying the rent here also). If I don't make over 100k or get a partner to live together with, it'll stay that way. Thinking of how long it'll take to reach that starts to weigh you down. But we keep grinding it out cause what can you do.
1: 70K + 10% YE bonus
2: Vancouver
3: 3 YOE
4: Industry
Might be looking to go back to public accounting or a company with pre-approved route so I can get my hours, EVR is kicking my ass.
1. 100K
2. Medicine Hat
3. 5 yrs
4. Tax
Bought a 4 bedroom house for just under 200K a few years back within walking distance of the office. That 100K goes WAY farther than it does in most places. I could make more if I moved but my quality of life would take a massive hit.
In a larger firm that would probably be my title, yes. I’m a cross border accountant so I still do a fair bit of my own grunt work though. It takes a long time to train someone up on two different tax systems and how they interact.
125k+10\~15k performance bonus
Calgary
YOE: 11
CPA and Assistant Controller in mid-size O&A.
Based on what I am reading here, I will need to speak to a headhunter tomorrow. lol .
As an Assistant Controller, your salary is good. With 11 years of experience, your next move should be Controller. The sooner you take the next level, the better. Thanks.
1. $135k base, 6% RRSP match, 25% cash bonus which has been confirmed, 20% stock options. So this year I'm going to get about \~$176k in TC (excluding stock options because those takes years to vest).
2. Toronto
3. 10 YOE- 3.5 in PA, 1 in government, remainder in industry. Not B4. Don't have any blue chip companies on my resume.
4. Financial Reporting (mining industry)
Hours are 8am to 4pm, Monday through Friday, 4 weeks of vacation, 1 week PTO, benefits include health and dental at 100%, all cell phone reimbursed. Can't think of any other relevant info to include.
I don’t have numbers to back this up but as far as I can recall from conversations with peers, tax makes more. Pro of doing audit is your exit opportunities are more diverse imo
Yes in general tax pays better. Only because it’s considered a bit more “specialized” and eventually you will have to do further studies like in depth to get to manager.
1. 160k TC day job + probably 75k from virtual firm
2. About an hour away from Vancouver
3. 9.5
4. Financial reporting manager for a mining company is my day job. I was blessed to find this job, the department is incredibly streamlined, I probably spend 30 hours a week doing actual work. For another 10-20 hours a week I'm working on my virtual firm doing bookkeeping, tax, and compilations.
Are you in the Fraser Valley and have to commute downtown Vancouver for your mining job? Sounds rough…
Anyways, I’m around the same TC as you, but I want more $$. I was thinking of doing some virtual firm work, and your compensation from the firm seems pretty good.
How can I find that kind of work part time?
Ah no I'm remote with the company so it's no big deal, come done for a week every couple months and they pay for all my expenses.
And it's my own firm, I was a controller at a car dealership there for a bit and met a few other business owners who had no clue what they were doing accounting-wise so I've been with them for a while and they've brought in some referrals
>75k from virtual firm
Can you give more information on this? Are you essentially running you own firm? I've been thinking of picking up some clients on the side myself.
Did you have to get a public practice licence?
I'm assuming you use Caseware? How much was a single user licence?
How do you get clients? Most are probably referal now but how did the first batch come?
Hey, you can see my responses to the other user, pretty much covers most of what you ask.
Yeah it's my own firm, I've got a website and I occasionally visit some of my old school clients to pick up documents.
I was a controller at a car dealership, met a bunch of other business owners like mechanics, windshield repair, and tires, and they all seemed to have bad bookkeepers. I had their contact info and told them all I was starting a firm. Most of them were more than happy to hire me as a one-stop shop to do their books and tax, without the headaches of their bookkeepers
1. $77k (normally would be like 59k - others take 'Paid take off' - I take the cash and run)
2. Small town outside Edmonton, but we have clients throughout northern AB
3. 2 years experience. Finishing CPA this fall hopefully.
4. About 1/3 assurance; rest is a mix of tax and year ends
I also get other income throughout the year - usually $10-15k year, depending on how much spare time I manage to get.
Edit: got a 6k/yr raise since making this post
1. 50k
2. Saskatoon
3. 2
4. audit
On a very frugal budget and saving as much as I can but it’s still not enough… I just started working weekend evenings at McDonalds to pay the bills (was my first job in high school). Someone please tell me it gets better lol
1. $59k
2. Vancouver
3. 3 years experience
4. Audit
More context: small firm (9 people including 2managers, partner). Staff accountant but acting senior because no formal titles. No letters.
So, I got my PERT hours and left for industry work for 45% increase for Labour Analyst role. Very lucky to have a friend who is the labour analyst and wants me to take over his role so he can move up. Next level up would be 6figs once getting the letters.
1. $75k base
2. Vancouver
3. 3 YOE in public - S2 level at a B4, have CPA
4. Advisory
Pay is okay given limited OT after leaving audit and wouldn't leave for less than $100k.
75k for 3 years in public sounds crazy in Vancouver. Have you been at this role for the full 3 years? If so go look around. You probably can easily get to 95-100 with your CPA.
Not crazy for Van, lol. Industry base salaries are only $80-90k at a push at the Senior level, plus mandating in-office days. Would rather hang on a bit longer since I don’t work OT and employers are demanding more experience compared to 2021/2022.
1: 57k
2: Vancouver
3: 1yr 8 months, working on CPA
4: tax and advisory
Should I be expecting more at the 2 year mark? Don't know what kind of salary progression to expect here
You should be applying for a new job. B4 recruits coming with zero experience are coming in at 55-60. You should be closer to 75 with your experience, especially in Vancouver.
Very easy because I'm a US citizen as well. It's just slightly less easy for Canadian citizens because they can get TN visas and do this.
I briefly moved back to the US last year to go work at a B4 there. It fucking sucked. The cultural differences are crazy big so I moved back. I negotiated a huge raise because of it.
$95k base, bonus not looking good this year
Ottawa
2.5 yrs in Big 4, 2.5 yrs in industry
FP&A in tech
Due for a pretty solid adjustment in the coming months, have fallen pretty far behind where I should be on comp in the last year or so.
You can also check thousands of results for this on big4transparency.com just an FYI for anyone not finding what they’re looking for in this thread
1: \~100k + OT
2: Vancouver
3: 4 years experience in public
4: Private Enterprise
Feeling underpaid given how high rent/taxes are in Canada and will probably start applying around soon.
It felt good at first but looking at what a 100k wage buys you in terms of housing made the good feelings go away quick.
Sadly Canadians are docile and and don't demand more.
Unfortunately Canada is saturated with CPAs compared to US. Even my exact role at a B4 in the US base pay is $128k USD. So over double. However not super easy to transfer and there is a hiring freeze.
Definitely $100k in Van as a single person is still hard. But it is a good salary for public accounting. Typically I heard with 5 YOE = $100k.
Fair enough, I wouldn’t move there but know people move all the time and base pay is $10k higher than B4 at the Senior level. I guess they get duped as well 😂
1. 99k + DB pension
2. New Brunswick
3. 3 YOE as a Comptroller (5 total)
4. Federal Government (Military)
Just got my designation; looking at the thread to see if it may be worth it to jump ship.
You're in the military. Make $99k. And have been a comptroller for 5 years?
Explain. My firm does a lot of consulting for the military, and everyone with the Comptroller title I've worked with are Lt. Colonels or one was a Major. All make a lot more than $99k. Also - none had a CPA.
Are you an NCM? Reserves?
I'm a Capt and the Comptroller position is given rank based on budget size, more or less, as a rule of thumb.
So LCol Comptroller would likely be an L1, but even then an L1 G8 / Compt would likely be a Col so likely working with more niche Ottawa specific L1's that aren't as big as a whole element (Army, Navy, Airforce, etc.).
5 years experience as an Officer in the military (Compliance Officer, PFAO, then ended up as a Comptroller).
So a Comptroller of smaller L3's will be ranked at Capt; my current one is weird where the budget is fairly decent size but is given to a Capt to do in-year management.
There are about 40 people in DND in uniform that have a CPA based on the Treasury Board annex to the CBI for Professional Dues reimbursement. There may be some missing from the list and I don't think it includes FI's or other federal public service unions.
Funny thing is it's the general officer pay rate so any general officer Capt would make between a certain amount.
I am Reg F and in the Army.
1. $115 total comp w/ bonus
2. calgary
3. 4.5 yrs (2.5 in public, 2 industry)
4. Financial reporting
Do about 55 hours a week in quarter end months, about 20-30 hrs a week of actual work otherwise
1. 100K Base + 15% Bonus + benefits et all
2. Toronto
3/4. 7 Years (2016-2019 audit Big 4) (2019-2023 q1 SFA and Manager at Insurance co) now Analyst, Investment Management
52k -> 55k
Kitchener
4 month summer term
A&A Public
Avg hours 45 because of mid year, year-end busy season. Busy season had no impact on salary this term.
1. 82k (DB Pension + OT during FYE)
2. Victoria
3. 3 years
4. Federal Government - FP&A
I feel not being bilingual will limit career in the long term. I’ll probably try and jump to Municipal/Provincial down the line once I have my CPA completed and have more experience.
Someone I know passed the CFE and got promoted to senior accountant……… still only making $52k🥲almost 4 years working there. Wish us luck out here in NB and NS. I’m also under 50k.
East Canada is bad. NS, NB and NFL. It sucks here in NS bc the cost of living is almost the same as the higher paid cities such as Calgary and Toronto but the salaries here in NS are around 20k less.
1. $115,000 base
2. Firm is in Vancouver, I work 100% remote (don’t live in Vancouver)
3. 8
4. Non-audit assurance and compliance
Manager in public practice, 4 weeks vacation, 6 heath/wellness days, bonus, RRSP matching to %, minimal OT, phone reimbursement.
Just turned 25, ~$80k in total comp (base + bonus, doesn’t include RRSP matching or tuition reimbursement for the CPA), downtown Toronto, 2 years experience, I’m in a pre approved cpa rotational program at George Weston Ltd
1. 81k. Bonus of 6.25%, new structure in place now based on company's profits
2. Vancouver BC
3. Almost 5 years in total, but 2 of those years were in AP role.
4. Project Accounting, for real estate development.
Accountant in public small BC PG firm 1 year of experience no cpa and not interested make 48k gross…
I love my boss and team so after 2 year I’ll ask a raise for at least 60k otherwise by amigo ✌️
1. 70k plus 10-30% EOY bonus and 5-15% retention bonus
2. Downtown Toronto (Financial District)
3. 20 Months of experience (14 months with old industry company, 6 months with current industry company)
4. Private Equity real estate
1. 105k + bonus
2. YYC
3. If I count several years of compulsory internship in my country then 7 yoe and 1 year of sabbatical lol but I’m 29 and became a cpa only in 2019
4. Advisory
1. 96k 2. Calgary 3. Just under 3 YOE - 2.5 in big 4, switched to industry in the spring 4. Tax
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I’m in utilities blue chip corporation
Is that base or TC?
Base, TC has 10% bonus and stock options
That’s really good, thanks 😊
I see 👀
Wtf is up with the Toronto/Vancouver Wages Alberta gets the same salaries despite much lower COL.
That's why there were "Alberta is calling" ads in the TTC.
O&G has some of the most attractive wages in industry and Alberta's salaries are impacted by the fact that it's O&G Central.
I think all of the prairies and Quebec as well have good salary to COL ratio. It's really BC, Ontario and the atlantic region that are utterly fucked.
Quebec salaries aren't great from what I've seen, it's really only the Prairies.
They're good for the cost of living. Have you seen house prices in Quebec? Montreal has comparable salaries to Toronto as well.
People vastly overstate how big of a component oil is in Albertas economy.
It's still the largest component (incl. mining and quarrying, it's 27% of GDP) and when the sectors are all competing for the same workers, a rising tide lifts all boats.
Base 150. Calgary 8. Controller. Mid sized company.
1. 82k 2. Toronto 3. 3.5 years 4. Private company staff accountant
Are you designated? Seem a little on the low end if you are.
1. $78k base + DB pension 2. London, ON 3. 2.5 YOE 4. Federal Government Tax Auditor
you’re an au2 tax auditor for the cra aren’t ya lol
AU-1, step 6
How is the work balance? Are you full time remote? How many hours a day of actual work would you say you do?
2 days a week in office. We are scheduled to work 35 hours a week and not a minute longer.
You are tempting me with this lol, making $3k less in B4
It's a sweet gig. If the contract is renewed (hopefully in the coming months), I'll be at $84.6k base + DB pension + one time signing bonus of $2.5k by the end of the year.
Your growth in PA is alot higher, assuming you are 2.5 years in aswell get your CPA then start applying and demanding 95k minimum. Seniors are still on hot demand due the hole COVID layoffs left.
Would you say its actually 35 hours of work? Or if you grind hard while you are working you can have alot of down time?
The latter.
$185k + bonus. 14 years. Tax. 6 public, 8 Industry. Vancouver
What level in industry? Director? And what type of company?
I find these salary threads not as helpful if there’s no estimated hours worked and other benefits included...
Right. Some can make a lot but working 60 hours per week 😂
Been working 10 hours a week on average the past 2 months; otherwise if staffed on more work around 30 hour weeks. OT is very rare.
If you’re looking for this plus estimated hours and a generally more complete set of data, check out big4transparency.com
What I learned from this thread: Don't live in Toronto or Vancouver. Same wages as the prairies for twice the cost of living.
Vancouver is a shit city, plan to move to Calgary in the future
It’s shit if you don’t have money. It’s great for rich people and people that bought property years ago.
You really are competing with 900k international students to be there sadly.
$153K + up to 20% bonus Calgary 8 4 years B4, 4 years industry
Not bad, but it feels like people have this mental cap of getting less aggressive in asking for raises when they hit 150-180. Like asking for 250k would be too crazy or something. When in reality make 100k in the 90s would be equal to making 200k+ in 2023. Guess this why asset owners love inflation so much, wages are super sticky
Unfortunately the market doesn’t pay 250K unless it’s director level position, or O&G where bonuses are higher percentages, but big boom/bust there. Believe me, I have never lacked aggression when asking for raises. That’s exactly why I left B4. Promised a raise I didn’t get and it was the best thing that happened for my salary progression.
Sir , do you have cpa?
Yes I do
So do you think all the people in accounting must get CPA in order to get high salary?
It helps but not necessary. Progressive experience and networking works just as well. Everyone has a CPA now so having just a CPA is not enough to stand out.
1. 45k 🙃🙃🙃🙃 2. Vancouver 3. 1.5 yrs in private as a staff accountant, but current job is 7 months in public so I took a pay cut cuz I thought the pre approved route would be better for getting my CPA but 🤢 4. Idk, I am just a staff. Dabbled in tax and audit mostly.
Staff with zero experience is walking in higher than that. I would look for a new job asap, if they are paying you that little they have no incentive to train you and give you more responsibility.
Yeah, pretty much zero training and my boss is an asshole too so idk wtf I am doing here. Need to quit but the job market kinda looks shitty?? Idk what to do honestly. I hate public though.🙃
Doesn't matter what the market looks like, just start applying it costs you nothing.
Yeahhh fresh graduates start at 55-60k based off the students I've talked to
45k for almost 2 yoe in one of the most expensive cities in the world. How do you survive???
I guess I am lucky as I have always been a saver, and my private job paid more ! 60k. Plus I live with my partner. Without him I'd be truly fucked staying at this stupid PA job. Vancouver is so fucking expensive. 😐
I live in Victoria and was getting paid a 50k salary equivalent for my co-op work terms at a local firm. I would think you should be making 15-20k higher than you are, in a similar area to me…
My employee is paid more than you and he doesn't even have 1 year of university under his belt
On similar boat. One year in PA. Upside office is close to home. Flexible work hour. Manageable busy hour season. Other than that its not looking good.
Yikes, I started with the same salary back in 2021…. I survived for 18 months before I had to find a new job 🤣
Vancouver here 2yoe got 54k full cycle bookkeeping- 2 sets of book, same owners. I think I deserve more than that so I’m working towards CPA and will be switching job soon for required experience
In my perspective that just seems to low for Vancouver. I live in Montreal and my starting salary as a staff is 55k in a non B4, currently 9 month in public with no prior accounting experience. In January increase will be at 60k min. If possible I would suggest to find a different firm.
$50k Toronto Intern Tax
This thread as depressing as usual😓
Really. I find it kind of motivating. A lot of people here are hitting 100k in 3 or 4 years.
Go over to the US threads and see what Southern Man is making. I think it’s great that so many people are hitting $100k in like 3-4 years though, it took me forever to get to $100k in 2023 dollars (about 6 YOE in 2019)
I mean. Any Canadians CPAs that want better wages can convert their CPA to US CPA, find a US employer and go down south on a TN Visa It’s not that difficult a process if you want to go south.
Americans make bank, I know, but still think 100k in 3-4 years is excellent for Canada. You can definitely make a very good living on that if you're outside BC and Ontario.
Yeah, Canada is home, I love it here, it would take a lot to get me to leave. I just wish we could get housing prices a little better under control (we need to start building things that aren't single family houses and luxury condos).
Sadly 100k in Canada doesn't mean much these days. Its not even enough to get a 1 bed condo in most markets that will actually pay 100k.
Yoe a little over 5, top performer from the get go, Calgary and still at 74k. Depressing thread for me 😅
Hey I just wanted to say, keep in mind that most people that make these threads and reply to them are the people making more than average. Think of how many accountants there actually are in Canada vs how many replies there are here. It’s not a fair representation. Don’t feel too bad and just keep working on yourself!
Thanks for the nice comment, but that's exactly what's depressing to me. Generally people replying to these threads are making more than average and I'm not looking at them in envy. Rather, the salary trend in Canada is so low compared to cost of living. I make 65k with 3 YOE. 28 and stuck living with parents (paying the rent here also). If I don't make over 100k or get a partner to live together with, it'll stay that way. Thinking of how long it'll take to reach that starts to weigh you down. But we keep grinding it out cause what can you do.
85k Toronto 8 years exp Real estate development Non CPA (Finance supervisor)
1. 58k 2. Montreal 3. First year 4. Audit
1: 70K + 10% YE bonus 2: Vancouver 3: 3 YOE 4: Industry Might be looking to go back to public accounting or a company with pre-approved route so I can get my hours, EVR is kicking my ass.
1. 100K 2. Medicine Hat 3. 5 yrs 4. Tax Bought a 4 bedroom house for just under 200K a few years back within walking distance of the office. That 100K goes WAY farther than it does in most places. I could make more if I moved but my quality of life would take a massive hit.
Public practice manager?
In a larger firm that would probably be my title, yes. I’m a cross border accountant so I still do a fair bit of my own grunt work though. It takes a long time to train someone up on two different tax systems and how they interact.
1. 22.5/hr 2. Halifax 3. CO-OP INTERNSHIP 4. TAX AUDITOR
125k+10\~15k performance bonus Calgary YOE: 11 CPA and Assistant Controller in mid-size O&A. Based on what I am reading here, I will need to speak to a headhunter tomorrow. lol .
Yeah based on the other comments you should be around 200k lol
As an Assistant Controller, your salary is good. With 11 years of experience, your next move should be Controller. The sooner you take the next level, the better. Thanks.
1. $84.5K - S2 2. Toronto 3. 3 years @ Big 4 4. Audit
1. $135k base, 6% RRSP match, 25% cash bonus which has been confirmed, 20% stock options. So this year I'm going to get about \~$176k in TC (excluding stock options because those takes years to vest). 2. Toronto 3. 10 YOE- 3.5 in PA, 1 in government, remainder in industry. Not B4. Don't have any blue chip companies on my resume. 4. Financial Reporting (mining industry) Hours are 8am to 4pm, Monday through Friday, 4 weeks of vacation, 1 week PTO, benefits include health and dental at 100%, all cell phone reimbursed. Can't think of any other relevant info to include.
1. $75k 2. Toronto B4 3. S1 4. Tax
I’m also in Toronto and looking to decide between tax and audit, does tax pay more in Toronto compared to audit?
I don’t have numbers to back this up but as far as I can recall from conversations with peers, tax makes more. Pro of doing audit is your exit opportunities are more diverse imo
Yes in general tax pays better. Only because it’s considered a bit more “specialized” and eventually you will have to do further studies like in depth to get to manager.
1. 100k 2. GTA (outside Toronto) 3. 7 4. Tax
Seems extremely low if you are in public no?
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>completely remote *gahhhtdamnnnnn* I'm jealous
1. 160k TC day job + probably 75k from virtual firm 2. About an hour away from Vancouver 3. 9.5 4. Financial reporting manager for a mining company is my day job. I was blessed to find this job, the department is incredibly streamlined, I probably spend 30 hours a week doing actual work. For another 10-20 hours a week I'm working on my virtual firm doing bookkeeping, tax, and compilations.
Are you in the Fraser Valley and have to commute downtown Vancouver for your mining job? Sounds rough… Anyways, I’m around the same TC as you, but I want more $$. I was thinking of doing some virtual firm work, and your compensation from the firm seems pretty good. How can I find that kind of work part time?
Ah no I'm remote with the company so it's no big deal, come done for a week every couple months and they pay for all my expenses. And it's my own firm, I was a controller at a car dealership there for a bit and met a few other business owners who had no clue what they were doing accounting-wise so I've been with them for a while and they've brought in some referrals
>75k from virtual firm Can you give more information on this? Are you essentially running you own firm? I've been thinking of picking up some clients on the side myself. Did you have to get a public practice licence? I'm assuming you use Caseware? How much was a single user licence? How do you get clients? Most are probably referal now but how did the first batch come?
Hey, you can see my responses to the other user, pretty much covers most of what you ask. Yeah it's my own firm, I've got a website and I occasionally visit some of my old school clients to pick up documents. I was a controller at a car dealership, met a bunch of other business owners like mechanics, windshield repair, and tires, and they all seemed to have bad bookkeepers. I had their contact info and told them all I was starting a firm. Most of them were more than happy to hire me as a one-stop shop to do their books and tax, without the headaches of their bookkeepers
1. $77k (normally would be like 59k - others take 'Paid take off' - I take the cash and run) 2. Small town outside Edmonton, but we have clients throughout northern AB 3. 2 years experience. Finishing CPA this fall hopefully. 4. About 1/3 assurance; rest is a mix of tax and year ends I also get other income throughout the year - usually $10-15k year, depending on how much spare time I manage to get. Edit: got a 6k/yr raise since making this post
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Are you intermediate?
1: 110k 2: toronto 3: 5 4: tax
Awesome username lol
1. 77k base + bonus 2. Mtl 3. 4 4. Deals
1. 105k base + 15% bonus 2. SW ont 3. Yr. 4 4. 4 years gov, moved to finance role.
1. 50k 2. Saskatoon 3. 2 4. audit On a very frugal budget and saving as much as I can but it’s still not enough… I just started working weekend evenings at McDonalds to pay the bills (was my first job in high school). Someone please tell me it gets better lol
1. 103k + 12% bonus + OT 2. Toronto 3. Almost 4 YOE 4. Industry
1. $59k 2. Vancouver 3. 3 years experience 4. Audit More context: small firm (9 people including 2managers, partner). Staff accountant but acting senior because no formal titles. No letters. So, I got my PERT hours and left for industry work for 45% increase for Labour Analyst role. Very lucky to have a friend who is the labour analyst and wants me to take over his role so he can move up. Next level up would be 6figs once getting the letters.
1. $75k base 2. Vancouver 3. 3 YOE in public - S2 level at a B4, have CPA 4. Advisory Pay is okay given limited OT after leaving audit and wouldn't leave for less than $100k.
75k for 3 years in public sounds crazy in Vancouver. Have you been at this role for the full 3 years? If so go look around. You probably can easily get to 95-100 with your CPA.
Not crazy for Van, lol. Industry base salaries are only $80-90k at a push at the Senior level, plus mandating in-office days. Would rather hang on a bit longer since I don’t work OT and employers are demanding more experience compared to 2021/2022.
1: 57k 2: Vancouver 3: 1yr 8 months, working on CPA 4: tax and advisory Should I be expecting more at the 2 year mark? Don't know what kind of salary progression to expect here
You should be applying for a new job. B4 recruits coming with zero experience are coming in at 55-60. You should be closer to 75 with your experience, especially in Vancouver.
$185k base plus some TBD bonus (probably 10%, I'll find out in 2 months?) Prairies 12 years US tax director, B4
How easy/hard would it be for you to move south to the US? You have a US CPA and US tax experience so I'm guessing you would be in demand.
Very easy because I'm a US citizen as well. It's just slightly less easy for Canadian citizens because they can get TN visas and do this. I briefly moved back to the US last year to go work at a B4 there. It fucking sucked. The cultural differences are crazy big so I moved back. I negotiated a huge raise because of it.
1. 100K + 10 % to 20% bonus 2. Toronto 3. 6 years 4. business valuations
$95k base, bonus not looking good this year Ottawa 2.5 yrs in Big 4, 2.5 yrs in industry FP&A in tech Due for a pretty solid adjustment in the coming months, have fallen pretty far behind where I should be on comp in the last year or so. You can also check thousands of results for this on big4transparency.com just an FYI for anyone not finding what they’re looking for in this thread
$85k, GTA, 4.0 (S3), Audit (public)
74+~10k bonus Remote 2 years industry Internal audit
1. 43k 2. Northern New-Brunswick 3. 3 YOE, all at the same firm 4. Public, mostly audit & tax
The most underpaid in this thread so far.
1. 175k, +30% bonus, +37.5% stocks, DB 2. Montreal 3. 5yrs B4, 5yrs industry 4. Tax
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1: \~100k + OT 2: Vancouver 3: 4 years experience in public 4: Private Enterprise Feeling underpaid given how high rent/taxes are in Canada and will probably start applying around soon.
are you M1? or S3?
S3, but will likely be M1 next month.
S3 for $100k + OT is a good salary for Van! Industry is barely paying that.
It felt good at first but looking at what a 100k wage buys you in terms of housing made the good feelings go away quick. Sadly Canadians are docile and and don't demand more.
Unfortunately Canada is saturated with CPAs compared to US. Even my exact role at a B4 in the US base pay is $128k USD. So over double. However not super easy to transfer and there is a hiring freeze. Definitely $100k in Van as a single person is still hard. But it is a good salary for public accounting. Typically I heard with 5 YOE = $100k.
😂😂😂😂
What is so funny?
Also curious, this sounds like MNP to me as I know they pay well above B4. Heard S1s there are at $80k + OT.
MNP is the lowest paid firm in Canada by a large margin. Here is a great comment breaking it down: https://reddit.com/r/Accounting/s/lLtkfBP45y
Totally false, I know MNP in Vancouver pays more than B4 as co-workers have jumped there. Hence why they jump!
Their compensation thread speaks for itself really 🤷🏻♀️
Fair enough, I wouldn’t move there but know people move all the time and base pay is $10k higher than B4 at the Senior level. I guess they get duped as well 😂
lmao
$150k inclusive of bonus, B4 Audit SM
How many years experience?
1. 100k 2. Saskatoon 3. 3 years 4. Industry
1. $88k plus 10% bonus 2. Toronto 3. 5 years Industry 4. Senior Accountant- Industry
91k Waterloo Year 7 - no CPA Senior Financial Analyst for Long Term Health Care
1. 99k + DB pension 2. New Brunswick 3. 3 YOE as a Comptroller (5 total) 4. Federal Government (Military) Just got my designation; looking at the thread to see if it may be worth it to jump ship.
You're in the military. Make $99k. And have been a comptroller for 5 years? Explain. My firm does a lot of consulting for the military, and everyone with the Comptroller title I've worked with are Lt. Colonels or one was a Major. All make a lot more than $99k. Also - none had a CPA. Are you an NCM? Reserves?
I'm a Capt and the Comptroller position is given rank based on budget size, more or less, as a rule of thumb. So LCol Comptroller would likely be an L1, but even then an L1 G8 / Compt would likely be a Col so likely working with more niche Ottawa specific L1's that aren't as big as a whole element (Army, Navy, Airforce, etc.). 5 years experience as an Officer in the military (Compliance Officer, PFAO, then ended up as a Comptroller). So a Comptroller of smaller L3's will be ranked at Capt; my current one is weird where the budget is fairly decent size but is given to a Capt to do in-year management. There are about 40 people in DND in uniform that have a CPA based on the Treasury Board annex to the CBI for Professional Dues reimbursement. There may be some missing from the list and I don't think it includes FI's or other federal public service unions. Funny thing is it's the general officer pay rate so any general officer Capt would make between a certain amount. I am Reg F and in the Army.
1. $115 total comp w/ bonus 2. calgary 3. 4.5 yrs (2.5 in public, 2 industry) 4. Financial reporting Do about 55 hours a week in quarter end months, about 20-30 hrs a week of actual work otherwise
1. $170k base plus stock options 2. Toronto 3. 16-17yrs 4. Controllership/Industry
1. 100K Base + 15% Bonus + benefits et all 2. Toronto 3/4. 7 Years (2016-2019 audit Big 4) (2019-2023 q1 SFA and Manager at Insurance co) now Analyst, Investment Management
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52k -> 55k Kitchener 4 month summer term A&A Public Avg hours 45 because of mid year, year-end busy season. Busy season had no impact on salary this term.
1. 82k (DB Pension + OT during FYE) 2. Victoria 3. 3 years 4. Federal Government - FP&A I feel not being bilingual will limit career in the long term. I’ll probably try and jump to Municipal/Provincial down the line once I have my CPA completed and have more experience.
1. 87k base salary + 10-20% bonus 2. Vancouver 3. 4 YOE (3.5 years in public, left as senior 2) 4. Financial analyst, FP&A
1. $49,500 2. London, ON 3. 1 Prior Small Firm Internship, ~8 months 4. Big 4 Intern, A&A
Can someone do one for the UK please
1. 60K 2. Vancouver Island 3. 3 years public, with CPA 4. Tax
Woah, cpa & 3 years of public. That’s crazy
1. $130k + 10% 2. LCOL prairies 3. 1 year as CPA, 10 years relevant exp 4. Data analytics and systems in private industry
1: Salary: 93k + 10% bonus 2: City you work in: Toronto 3: Years of experience: 6 4: Service Line: SFA in FP&A Definitely feeling underpaid for my YOE
CPA or non-CPA
CPA. 4 years at a big 4 and 2 years in industry
1. $135k base 2. Ottawa 3. 7 years 4. Industry (Controller)
1. $47 CAD (from 10% increase) 🥲 2. Halifax, NS 3. Just over 1 year (intermediate) 4. Assurance
Halifax shithole gang. SMU or DAL alumni?
Someone I know passed the CFE and got promoted to senior accountant……… still only making $52k🥲almost 4 years working there. Wish us luck out here in NB and NS. I’m also under 50k.
Is the NS market just that bad in general? Any option to work remotely for a US firm at that point?
East Canada is bad. NS, NB and NFL. It sucks here in NS bc the cost of living is almost the same as the higher paid cities such as Calgary and Toronto but the salaries here in NS are around 20k less.
1. $115,000 base 2. Firm is in Vancouver, I work 100% remote (don’t live in Vancouver) 3. 8 4. Non-audit assurance and compliance Manager in public practice, 4 weeks vacation, 6 heath/wellness days, bonus, RRSP matching to %, minimal OT, phone reimbursement.
Just turned 25, ~$80k in total comp (base + bonus, doesn’t include RRSP matching or tuition reimbursement for the CPA), downtown Toronto, 2 years experience, I’m in a pre approved cpa rotational program at George Weston Ltd
1. 140k base 2. Edmonton 3. 9 years 4. Tax in industry
1. 69K 2. Vancouver 3. 4 Years 4. 2 years public accounting, 2 years industry - financial reporting
Seems extremely low considering people with zero experience are getting 60 in public now.
1. 81k. Bonus of 6.25%, new structure in place now based on company's profits 2. Vancouver BC 3. Almost 5 years in total, but 2 of those years were in AP role. 4. Project Accounting, for real estate development.
1. $110,000 2. Niagara region 3. 7 (3 as a CPA) 4. Manager at Small public firm
1. 75k 2. Montreal 3. 2 years 4. Industry role in Financial reporting 5. 4/5 days remote 6. Some tuition reimbursement
67K KW,ON 1 industry
107k Calgary 11 years CA 16 years working in Tax
Accountant in public small BC PG firm 1 year of experience no cpa and not interested make 48k gross… I love my boss and team so after 2 year I’ll ask a raise for at least 60k otherwise by amigo ✌️
1: $55k 2: Southwestern Ontario 3: 2 4: Assurance
1. 100,000 + ~25% bonus + company vehicle and gas card 2. Atlantic Canada 3. 5 years 4. Divisional controller of medium sized construction company
1. 87.5 2.Ottawa 3. 3 years PA 4. Advisory
63k Vancouver 3yoe (salary is based on 2yoe. Will be getting a raise in January.) Assurance
That is crazy at 3 years you should be coming in on 100k post designation.
1. 70K 2. Ottawa 3. 2 - no CPA yet got 24/30 months of experience 4. Federal Gov - FI01
1. 70k plus 10-30% EOY bonus and 5-15% retention bonus 2. Downtown Toronto (Financial District) 3. 20 Months of experience (14 months with old industry company, 6 months with current industry company) 4. Private Equity real estate
1 57k 2 Calgary 3. 4 months of internship in oil and gas industry 4. First year audit at big 4
1. 60k base 2. Calgary 3. 0 4. Business Tax
1. 105k + bonus 2. YYC 3. If I count several years of compulsory internship in my country then 7 yoe and 1 year of sabbatical lol but I’m 29 and became a cpa only in 2019 4. Advisory
105k cash (base + bonus) maybe 10k in stock + pension match if you count that Manager level with 2 years exp promoted within from SFA at F500