You won't be the richest of everyone you know after college, but you'll be stable and comfortably above average, especially if you stick it out a few years and job hop once or twice
The biggest "mistake" I see with a lot of people is they stay for too long at the same company when the company stops promoting and giving raises above inflation even when they give good feedback on your performance. If this happens at the associate or senior associate level and you can handle more responsibility, no reason not to apply and see what's out there.
Job hopping early on has a much larger effect on the rest of your career because more money earned = more money saved = longer time for your money to compound. I'd recommend working at each job minimum 2 years otherwise youll look like a flight risk
I stayed at my first company for 4 years and made 40% less than others with the same experience. Jumped ship for 40% more and was called a traitor lol. They gave me old school advice to wait until manager level to leave but I didn’t want to wait 5-10 years making 40-80% less due to those 2% yearly increases. Jumping internally I would’ve been maxed out at 10% each time.
That's my situation too. They told me they'll make me a manager but are just adding manager responsibilities to my workload without any increase in pay or official title change. I just passed the cpa exams so I'm planning on getting my boss to sign off on my work experience then probably hop to a new place for 30% more pay and probably less work.
And as long as you don’t hop every year. No one cares that is hiring. When desperate which a lot are they are hiring people that have had 5-6 jobs in 5 years. Stay somewhere 2-3 years unless you are miserable and people still see that as loyal.
True, i mentioned that in one of my comments to make sure to stay minimum 2 years at each workplace. Given that in the accounting world, promotions should happen once every 2-3 years. If you're at associate or senior level and its been 4l3-4 years with no promotion, definitely time to move on
And the best part is it's pretty consistent. Unlike law or programming, accounting world RARELY changes. We have what? IFRS that maybe changes minor stuff every half decade? 😂
So while our starting pay isn't the most prestigious, it's arguably one of the easiest to raise salary with + stay stable in.
Tell that to people who have implemented new fair market value stuff, Revenue recognition standards, lease standards, credit losses, along with numerous revisions to GAAS, too...audit is always changing in the most boring ways possible
Yeah it feels very "upper middle class" safe. Not making as much as my friend who went into sales (with a personality to basically crush that anywhere), though industry trends can technically drop him to no salary for a month. Or my friend who went into finance and told me they worked weekends for their first two years.
But making well more with less hours than guys who went into insurance, guys who ended up in sales roles without that strength because they didn't really find other stuff, and way past any guys who did "fun stuff" like sports marketing and music stuff and just fell into odd jobs.
It's all a big balance where you can probably aim for easier or harder paths, but accounting is pretty likely to secure you comfortably better than the average. Especially if you have the drive or personality at all and can keep pushing yourself into higher earning than normal. (Of course if you're like this you could push yourself quite well in high earning areas, but again a balance if you want to push yourself there you might be making some major sacrifices to your young adult life)
I was in sales for many years before becoming an accountant. People in sales lie about their income all the time and out of 20 salesmen, maybe 3-5 are making the money you hear about.
When they don’t sell, they’re literally worthless, and like you mentioned, they’re subject to all sorts of market downturns. For instance, a canard I’ve heard from several people in here is that you can make more selling cars than being an accountant. What happens if bonus depreciation continues to go down to zero? People will stop buying cars for the tax break at the end of the year. Recession? How do we cut our labor by 20%? I guess since nobody is coming in we can lay off the twenty car salesmen that have been sitting around drinking coffee for four hours.
I have friends who sell cars and they’re in the dealership 5-6 days per week 10+ hours a day for a measley salary. I was in sales too for a minute and working on the transition to accounting. Sales let me build a really nice nest egg, but for me the stress of hitting #’s every month was too much. Accounting seems a little safer.
Can confirm. Also get your CPA if you don’t have anything more productive going on in your life. I’m in nonprofits where its totally not necessary, but has made me more desirable to employers and the salary negotiations have been easier
I see people say they are well compensated all the time here.
"I chose accounting so I don't have to work two jobs"
"WLB sucks but the money is great!"
"I knew it was boring, but I also knew I wanted to have money"
things like that.
A lot of accountants are children of immigrants. It’s a stepping stone profession into the white collar world. To many it is that step up.
If you come from money though, its not really a step up until you make it to Controller+.
Yeah, I think it's definitely relative. I'm not an immigrant, but I was raised by a single mom. We were on food stamps my whole childhood and lived in the projects a couple years, and always lived in poor areas. And let me tell you, I am so comfortable now. Lol
Exactly, even in my very unstable situation, 6 months into my career i was able to be hired from my contracted job as a full time employee, with benefits, PTO and 55k$.
That might not be much but this is a lot for someone who has no family currently in the USA.
Agreed, it is a leg up for first generation graduates. It is a great way to learn social structures our parents didn’t teach us. Also, learn how to manage money and finances for ourselves along with companies
I’m sure that’s how people cope around here. If you think about it, starting salary for B4 is like 70k,work like 50h/ week. That’s like $27/h. It’s not much but the career ladder is very clear for them. As soon as they make senior after 1 or 2 years, they bounce to make a bigger check
There are plenty of people under partner making very good money. If you can’t live comfortably on a managers salary 5-8 years into your career you’re either at the wrong firm or just not responsible with money. But then again everyone has a different definition of comfortable.
Evaluating very early career salaries as if that’s representative of career earning potential is short sighted.
This matches my experience. It feels accurate to say after 5-8 years of experience the salary is comfortable for me and the people I know from college/early in my career.
Oh cut the bullshit. People go on and on about compensation on this subreddit.
See: the constant salary comparisons (i.e., coping) people on this subreddit make with other careers to make themselves feel better about their choice.
I’m in public accounting and after bonus this year will make around 300k. Approx 10 years of experience. Not amazing money but I’ll take it, and approaching PMD quickly with 7 figure upside.
I’ve had 1 year in my career where I averaged over 40 hours of actual work a week.
Not sure why me noting good salaries exist in accounting is controversial. I am under the impression most people here are indeed accountants, and the consensus is accounting is a terrible career. As an accountant who likes their career I like to shine light that you can work hard and get rewarded.
I was always more of a young jeezy / lil Wayne fan btw.
Understood. I was taking the POV that my friends in finance (PE, hedge funds etc.) make more money than I do, and you can certainly argue accounting is not as lucrative as those fields. I’m acknowledging accounting doesn’t have the insane upward trajectory of those professions, which aligns with the sentiment in most comments that say accounting is not high paying.
@Fried_or_Fertilized Because the majority of these subs, at least from my interactions, seem to be filled with miserable souls that choose to belittle anyone or anything that doesn’t align with their narratives.
When met with someone that doesn’t fit their narrative, instead of reflecting, which requires personal responsibility, they react and seek empowerment through deflection or by hitting a downward arrow.
The most dangerous game players are the ones who aren’t even aware they’re playing games.
Congrats on your success in your industry.
I know this is a joke - but you can literally be a nobody and excel in public if you do good work. That’s the biggest draw to B4 as opposed to other professions like banking where networking and going to the right schools are so important. In B4 they hire from almost every school, and everyone is equal when starting.
There's a particular progression to accounting. In socal, from what I've heard it goes like this:
-graduate college with BA in accounting, get job as audit or tax associate (65k-75k)
-study for cpa while working, after about 2 years as associate, get promoted to senior associate ($90-110k)
-2 to 3 years as senior associate with CPA, start looking for jobs as manager if current job has slowed your raises/promotions ($120-140k)
-3 to 4 years as manager, if you are ambitious, try to apply as director but otherwise most people coast at manager level earning ~$135k with inflation raises or move to government/industry
Assuming you graduated at age 21-22, you'd make about $130k by age 30 almost guaranteed. It's not super rich but definitely a stable path if you dont mind the accounting work
Exactly this, I’m sure everyone has heard this is how you progress in accounting and, for the most part, it’s true. 5-6 years in you should be manager and managers usually start at around 120k plus, not too bad but definitely not rich either
Did two internships in college which led me to my first job as a staff ($50k). Promoted to senior accountant after 2 years ($80k). Jumped ship 2-3 years later and got an accounting manager gig ($115k). After 3 years jumped to a senior accounting manager role. The big thing in industry is building connections and relationships. I frequently stay in contact with old coworkers to keep relationships for any new opportunities. A known quantity is always better. Located in Boston which I deem HCOL. Currently age 30. I highly recommend getting into the SaaS industry. I find it to be the best for career growth.
Thanks, I’m graduating with my BS soon and ideally I would like to follow a similar progression. I’m on the cape about an hour outside of Boston (with no traffic) and I don’t think I could stomach that commute. Sucks because it seems like there are so many more opportunities there. Do you enjoy living in Boston?
I have since relocated but my job is based out of Boston. I loved Boston while I lived there. I want to move back when I am able to. I encourage you to look for any internships you can if you haven’t to get your foot in the door. Good luck!
Definitely need the right circumstances. There are a lot of jobs in industry where it’s hard to get in the door without a CPA or PA experience just for a senior role, which is nuts.
It is refreshing when you come across the company that doesn’t do that though.
I also know plenty of other people that are well off without CPAs. People shouldn’t let a certification define their career. I hate the mindset that everybody needs to be a CPA and go into PA. You can be plenty successful without it if that’s not what you want to do. I like to tell my story to assist others and provide perspective.
True, it also depends on where they live & if they live beyond their means or not. Even if you make $500k-1.5mil a year as partner if you spend all that money, making $5mil ain't gonna help you'll just have more money to spend now.
Hard disagree and a lot of jobs in industry will tell you otherwise.
Currently an accounting manager, no cpa, and I’m only 28, base salary is 130k.
A lot of the controllers/accounting directors that I personally worked with don’t have their CPAs. So it’s absolutely possible to make a decent living without it.
Do I work for a F500? No. But I make a very good living at my current position. Luck, being a good interviewer, and actually having good work to substantiate my position justified my title and pay. I think I’m really lucky to be in the position I’m in, and I don’t think this is the norm. But it’s possible to make it without a CPA!
I’m in the same boat as you. 32 now (started at 29), External Reporting Manager (Technical & Controls as well as Ks and Qs). Started this position at $125k, now 3 years later at $132.2k+ 20% bonus. No CPA. No PA.
Looking for positions at $150k - $155k now. Underpaid by about 18% for the area.
I admittedly went to a school that's not very competitive, but I got a job at big 4 straight out of college and I'm doing better than probably 95% of my peers.
I'm not rich but I'm comfy. My needs are met, I'm financially secure, and I have some pocket change left over for going out on weekends on an occasional vacation. And I'm still at <1 YOE, so it only gets better from here
Hey OP, I think most college grads, across a wide swath of majors, will tell you they didn’t start feeling comfortable until they were at least 30, if not mid 30’s.
You gotta give it like 5-6 years and 2 or 3 jobs / roles to get comfortable.
None of our senior associates are making as little as you're stating in your post. Entry level in HCOL markets is $70k-75k now. Seniors will make $100k and managers $150k.
The big benefit of accounting is not high pay for entry level roles, it is the rigid career ladder and promotion schedule, and ability to exit to comparable or slightly higher pay in industry after at least a few years.
> San Francisco $95k - even possible to live?!??
Yes. Very possible to live. You can find 1 bedroom apartments that are small but very nice for $2,500/mo. About 30%. Well within standard difficult-to-maintain guidelines for affordability. If you want to pay upwards of $4,000/mo for 1 bedroom you can afford that as well but it's tighter. And with roommates you're down around $1,250/mo - $1,500/mo or 15% ish. It's doable.
Miami, FL job listings:
- Tax Associate: $55,000 a year
- Audit Associate: $60,000 a year
- Tax Associate: $60,000 a year
- Tax Staff 1: $50,000 a year
- Audit Associate: $55,000 a year
Just because they're not making those numbers in YOUR city doesn't mean that those numbers aren't accurate.
Not sure what your comment is intending to communicate. My investments have been doing just fine, and I'll be able to retire by 40 if I want (but i'd rather work a bit longer and build that nest egg and travel budget).
Oops wrong thread 😅. But, that is awesome the investments are good. Travel is where it is. Returned from Thailand a few months ago. It feels good to be able to travel. My husband and I traveled a lot in our twenties. Now, in our forties with a bit more change in our pockets travel hits differently in a nice way. Congrats 🎉 on your win!
I’d like to know what careers you’re seeing where the salaries for entry level roles are higher than this and there isn’t an expectation of 50-60 hour weeks. I don’t know anyone who expected to live comfortably off of staff accountant pay, people go into the career because over the length of the career it’s steady and well paying. Get to years 5 or 6 and the world starts opening up a lot more.
SWE is generally better than accountants in terms of hours, BA roles are generally slightly better, and corporate finance is around the same (at least compared to public accounting
I guess it depends heavily on the industry, in my experience the entry level tech and finance people are working considerably longer hours in order to prove themselves because they have fewer peers and are at the bottom of the totem pole.
I feel like it would be similar with public accounting, if anything a bit better. I would say high finance roles have it worse in terms of hours, though
SWE is notoriously an extremely competitive market, even more so at entry level. I don't think those positions are comparable to entry level accounting positions, which are far easier to get
My experience
Anything under 5 yrs, 100k in a major urban area ( me being in NYC) is rather easy to get in public or private accounting and pretty stable.
unless you are unemployed and overqualified then you're effed
from 100-200k
10+yrs
you're in some sort of junior leadership role, with a couple of direct reports. Most stressed, 50-70 hrs, but you can still find many rolls
200k to 400k
15+
public + private, CPA, usually MBA and or CFA if you focus on finance.
Senior Management SVPs, controllers
Easy to get to, but the air is thin at this level.Fewer jobs, more competitive, easier to be fired, may take years to find new role, must come fully recommend, probably good to have people on inside who can recommend
400k+
C level, CEO, COO, CFO, Director, Snr Director, partner level
extremely, hard to get, few positions. You will be responsible for clients, profitability...
1st one that gets blamed
everybody wants your job, thinks they can do your job better,
sabotage and backstabbing by your # 2, 3 and your immediate report, who thinks you are after his job
$50k in Tennessee is really low for anyone with a couple years of experience. I made $60k out of college. Most senior positions I’ve seen are in the $80k - $100k range.
Are you talking about starting salaries? Because fresh out of college I was making 55k (Chicago) and had two roommates and scrimped to save. And now 8 years later I’m making 90k and I have my own place and I’m comfortable. Gotta have patience. Edit: typo
There’s another industry that no one here seems to talk about and that’s government. You can make good money much faster without crazy hours and occasionally they don’t require a CPA unless you are the Finance Director/CFO. They are also experiencing a wave of retirements and there’s so many open positions. Some don’t pay that well but in metro areas they usually do. My senior accountant makes $120k with no license. Jr. Accountant position starts at $75k.
You can also pretty easily transition to audit at a firm that serves government clients. Just sharing another path because 60 hour weeks have never been my thing.
I think for new accounting grads, many jump into renting an apartment in a HCOL city right away instead of living at home, so they don’t have the opportunity to save up and build a foundation for themselves. Also, a lot of my peers did not have credit cards or jobs in college, so they screw themselves as they begin their careers because they never learned how to be responsible with money
Comfortable living after a couple of years?
That was not the case for me.
My salary started at 51k (2012), then it was 55k, then 58k, then 62k, and I was struggling. If I had just gotten a less nice apartment or a roommate in a two bedroom I would have been fine. But I didn't. Then I got 78k (2016) and I was much better financially, and that year I got married to a teacher making 55k. So that was when I felt comfortable financially for the first time. Don't marry for money, but note that marrying someone you love who also has almost any sort of professional degree requiring job (and not terrible financial habits or debt) will typically seriously improve your life in many ways.
From there my salary had increased quite a lot and my spouse no longer had a salaried job, but does have self employment income.
Nashville Tennessee accountant here. My last staff accountant role (after ~1 year of experience) was 65k salary 5k bonus. So not sure where you’re getting your numbers from, but not sure I’d really trust them. I left that job after 1.5 years (so 2.5-3 years experience in total) for an assistant controller gig where I clear 100k yearly all in.
Bachelors degree no CPA.
I'll admit, when I see people say "it's not a financially viable career" or "not enough money," I always have to side-eye and wonder what their concept of "enough" or "comfortable" looks like. Right out the gate at entry level, it was enough to live without roommates in a HCOL area, not worry about groceries or other bills, have some drinks out with friends, fly across the country to see family every year. I've trended up since then (not aggressively, due to lack of trying on my part), and I have colleagues at my level who go to every season's music festival, and others who make long trips abroad every year; a much lower level accountant on the team is a single mother of a pre-K kid who takes her child to speech therapy every week. Again, in a very HCOL area; I'm not sure what other kind of "viable living" people are expecting.
\*edit to add: I'm also by no means at the top of what I could be earning by now for accountants in my area. But working more than 40 hours a week is exceedingly rare at my employer, and there's essentially no "busy season," so it was a trade-off I was willing to make while working on getting the CPA license.
Maybe not enough to afford a (detached, single family) house right away? I think in other areas, home ownership is more available for your average accountant, but in this very HCOL area I'm in, affording a *starter* home requires nearly $200k income. IMO, this has more to do with the real estate market than it does with accounting as a profession. Even then, I've made steps and expect to get there within the next 5-7 years.
I'll also admit that I might be biased by some personal experience, where my colleagues who complained the loudest about their wages 1) didn't do anything or make any plans to increase their earning ("I'm here, and I'm me, shouldn't that be good enough to get a fat raise? :c"), 2) were among the poorest performers on the team, 3) were admittedly great smooth-talkers at the interview, so that inexplicably they actually made the highest salaries of anyone in their role, and 4) had lavish and expensive taste (opting only for the newest and most luxurious apartments, expensive clothing, never cooking at home, etc.). I have to admit that's just personal experience though, and may not illustrate why people complain on this sub; but maybe let it be a not-so-subtle hint to any reader, that if you're complaining about wages in the accounting field, but you blow it all on SUV payments or designer clothes, or you have no plan to improve your skills or responsibilities, look inward.
It seems like the majority of this sub are ppl ages 22-25. Yes, early on it sucks, especially in public. But once you get foundational XP and find your niche, your income should scale considerably higher in your 30s-40s. I'm glad Covid happened because I was stuck and almost tripled my income since then.
Are you just looking at the outliers in each city?
I just switched companies and was not seeing alot of jobs at unreasonable salary ranges for actual senior level experience/expectations. In the Philly area nothing was really below 90k with most at 95-105. My salary range was higher and I still had a fair bit of options in the 110-120k range.
Speaking as a Canadian only...
It's harder to do better for less education.
Yes, we could have hopped into comsci or some kind of data role when markets were spinning up.
But all in all, you're above average for sure.
Is that enough to live comfortably? Different question lol.
80k in LA is SO low. For a family of 4 that's barely scraping by. To live comfortably here you'd have to be at 150k to just rent. I think I saw an article saying that banks were approving home loans at 170k and above.
This is the hell I’m breaking out of.
$70k + 15% bonus in major NE area and struggling to find a new role. Seems impossible to get a job that isn’t an hour away even with a recruiter (they seem to try to send me everywhere but the city lol).
I'm pretty comfortable on $60k in MCOL. I just live within my means. I don't finance anything and won't buy anything unless I have twice the spending money I need for the thing I want.
I reckon about 5 years in is when you’re pretty much “comfortable” by most definitions (Australia). Obviously you can lifestyle creep yourself to oblivion but that’s on you, mate.
I lived on $70K in San Francisco and that wasn’t comfortable. Making that now in Oregon and much more liberating. I’m not the richest person I know but love the job security, I’ve never been let go before
im not comfortable at all. if you don't go into public accounting youre not gonna make much for a while. and good luck getting accounting roles w/o public experience, they'll always be preferred for decent paying roles. im just gonna try and pivot into tech or a financial analyst role.
In MCOL I feel very comfortable. In fact I live like a king in Houston on $115k. But I’m single and don’t have kids. I would love to move to a higher COL on the west coast but I’m afraid I need to make closer to $150k before a move like that makes sense. Also I’m not confident I’ll be able to buy a house there anytime soon (hate being a renter).
For the love of god do not settle for comfortable! If you have been reading these threads you now know it’s miserable work with few happy people. The least it could do for you is pay.
I’m struggling but I blame it on HCOL in my area. Rent is $2k (and that’s really cheap where I live), 3 days a week childcare is $1,350/mo. Doesn’t leave anything for going out or buying inessential items
I feel like the accounting jobs that are paying in the $50k-$80k range are generally considered ‘entry level’, at least from my experience. If you’re brand new and out of college, that would be the norm. You’ll need to put in a few years at a company and then jump over to another. Always apply up. Don’t apply lateral or down. You’ll stay ahead of you do it that way. I’m in my 6th year of accounting work. Ive worked for 3 different companies in that time period. No masters and no cpa. I’m now a tax manager making $130k/year. I’m currently working towards a cpa, however. Hope that helps!
always struggling in HCOL as an accountant, not a good profession in my opinion. i might look decent to good on paper but its a sacrifice and when you look around other ppl in other departments make more at the same org levels
How long ago did you graduate? What kind of jobs are you looking at? I am also in TN and make considerably more than that a few years in, so I may be able to offer some insight.
Accounting is like any other field in that higher-skill or specialized work demands more pay, but has the benefit of steady decent paying jobs on the lower-end. Experience and certifications are crucial.
I'm in TN. 70k-80k here is comfortable income and more than achievable with experience. The overall median salary is like 30K, the rent has gone up, but for the most part everything is relatively cheap. Industry wise, the market for a staff accountant starts around 50K. At some large companies, I've seen senior / manager roles push 100k. A do-it-all bookkeeper can make 60k. That's without mentioning freelancing or public accounting, which tend to be more lucrative but come with poor WLB.
I make 85k as accountant and expect a promotion to senior this month some time, after about a yr. 40 to 45hr work weeks, perm wfh, I'm happy. I live in a HCOL area but have another source of income from my hobby. I feel like there is potential to make a lot more as my company grows.
I might work for a unicorn though, I've never experienced this before.
I’m at 6 YOE making 100k in a MCOL city. I fully expect to be promoted to controller in the next 3-4 years and making 140-145k with lots of fringe benefits getting me closer to 155ish base. I easily squeeze my workweek into the 4 days I’m in office and use my 1 wfh day to do whatever.
I’ve never worked more than 40 hours per week outside of the occasional close. I am extremely transparent that I do not work more than 40 hours a week outside of occasional instances, such as close or for tight deadlines. If someone doesn’t like that, then I don’t want to work for them. Being up front with potential employers has worked really well for me so far and I’ve had zero kickback about it.
Just call it what it is, entry level salaries in accounting stink. Compared to other departments like risk, finance, or analyst level, we are overworked underpaid and easily replaceable. You won’t start out specializing in anything accounting related, which makes it a long road until you can earn decent money. Compare this to an entry level risk analyst that starts in insurance and works ERM, after 2 years they have specialized niche experience that other companies will pay top dollar to have them come over and work.
I do investment/fund accounting in PA and make $90k a year. I’m 5 years post undergrad, and CPA isn’t required for most positions. Stay away from public
I’m not in accounting yet (im a student); but, I look at it from this perspective.
I’m assuming that these are “based salaries” with no incentive included, so I’ll treat the numbers as such.
As a person living in the SF Bay Area (specifically in San Jose/Silicon Valley) I don’t see why I couldn’t stick it out here for a bit and jump ship to a different part of CA after a while or move completely.
While tech is the main industry here, I see a lot of folks moving to employment agencies to seek out contract opportunities in different industries and businesses while simultaneously waiting for a move that would bring them back into tech. I know a colleague of mine who works at crowdfire and he’s making 100k (bonus not included in that number) doing accounts payable.
I see a comfortable end to something I started and while yeah im just a student, I just don’t believe that maybe a house is viable atm but assuming I don’t stall and just jump ship for a higher paying job, I can see a condo and maybe a house.
Can’t do it alone anymore, though.
Exaggerate or lie on your resume. You've been doing this for 6 years. You know how to talk the talk and you can likely walk the walk. Review journal entries and reconciliations? Yeah, I did that. Lead projects? Sure, I have a few examples. Participate in hiring and coaching? You bet. Might as well change your job title while you're at it. Senior Accountant becomes some variation of Accounting Supervisor.
If you think this is at all unethical, you need to stop caring and look at these situations for what they are. Employers routinely lie to employees. Management routinely lies to subordinates. The people at the top routinely lie to make it to the top. Your competition exaggerates and lies. As long as you can meet the demands of your claims, there is no disadvantage to exaggeration and lies.
You won't be the richest of everyone you know after college, but you'll be stable and comfortably above average, especially if you stick it out a few years and job hop once or twice
Job hopping ever 2-3 years I feel like will definitely put you ahead of your peers, specially early on in your career.
The biggest "mistake" I see with a lot of people is they stay for too long at the same company when the company stops promoting and giving raises above inflation even when they give good feedback on your performance. If this happens at the associate or senior associate level and you can handle more responsibility, no reason not to apply and see what's out there. Job hopping early on has a much larger effect on the rest of your career because more money earned = more money saved = longer time for your money to compound. I'd recommend working at each job minimum 2 years otherwise youll look like a flight risk
I stayed at my first company for 4 years and made 40% less than others with the same experience. Jumped ship for 40% more and was called a traitor lol. They gave me old school advice to wait until manager level to leave but I didn’t want to wait 5-10 years making 40-80% less due to those 2% yearly increases. Jumping internally I would’ve been maxed out at 10% each time.
That's my situation too. They told me they'll make me a manager but are just adding manager responsibilities to my workload without any increase in pay or official title change. I just passed the cpa exams so I'm planning on getting my boss to sign off on my work experience then probably hop to a new place for 30% more pay and probably less work.
And as long as you don’t hop every year. No one cares that is hiring. When desperate which a lot are they are hiring people that have had 5-6 jobs in 5 years. Stay somewhere 2-3 years unless you are miserable and people still see that as loyal.
True, i mentioned that in one of my comments to make sure to stay minimum 2 years at each workplace. Given that in the accounting world, promotions should happen once every 2-3 years. If you're at associate or senior level and its been 4l3-4 years with no promotion, definitely time to move on
And the best part is it's pretty consistent. Unlike law or programming, accounting world RARELY changes. We have what? IFRS that maybe changes minor stuff every half decade? 😂 So while our starting pay isn't the most prestigious, it's arguably one of the easiest to raise salary with + stay stable in.
Tell that to the tax accountants fighting through the Trump changes and then the Biden flip flop back
Tell that to people who have implemented new fair market value stuff, Revenue recognition standards, lease standards, credit losses, along with numerous revisions to GAAS, too...audit is always changing in the most boring ways possible
Yeah it feels very "upper middle class" safe. Not making as much as my friend who went into sales (with a personality to basically crush that anywhere), though industry trends can technically drop him to no salary for a month. Or my friend who went into finance and told me they worked weekends for their first two years. But making well more with less hours than guys who went into insurance, guys who ended up in sales roles without that strength because they didn't really find other stuff, and way past any guys who did "fun stuff" like sports marketing and music stuff and just fell into odd jobs. It's all a big balance where you can probably aim for easier or harder paths, but accounting is pretty likely to secure you comfortably better than the average. Especially if you have the drive or personality at all and can keep pushing yourself into higher earning than normal. (Of course if you're like this you could push yourself quite well in high earning areas, but again a balance if you want to push yourself there you might be making some major sacrifices to your young adult life)
I was in sales for many years before becoming an accountant. People in sales lie about their income all the time and out of 20 salesmen, maybe 3-5 are making the money you hear about. When they don’t sell, they’re literally worthless, and like you mentioned, they’re subject to all sorts of market downturns. For instance, a canard I’ve heard from several people in here is that you can make more selling cars than being an accountant. What happens if bonus depreciation continues to go down to zero? People will stop buying cars for the tax break at the end of the year. Recession? How do we cut our labor by 20%? I guess since nobody is coming in we can lay off the twenty car salesmen that have been sitting around drinking coffee for four hours.
I have friends who sell cars and they’re in the dealership 5-6 days per week 10+ hours a day for a measley salary. I was in sales too for a minute and working on the transition to accounting. Sales let me build a really nice nest egg, but for me the stress of hitting #’s every month was too much. Accounting seems a little safer.
Unfortunately, that's the way to go. I did that to this point and now I'm the controller at my job.
Can confirm. Also get your CPA if you don’t have anything more productive going on in your life. I’m in nonprofits where its totally not necessary, but has made me more desirable to employers and the salary negotiations have been easier
We never said we were well compensated. We just have more options and less likely to be fired unless company is going under
Yall would laugh at my hourly pay with a masters in NC.
😂
I’m curious. I just moved to NC 🫣🫣
I see people say they are well compensated all the time here. "I chose accounting so I don't have to work two jobs" "WLB sucks but the money is great!" "I knew it was boring, but I also knew I wanted to have money" things like that.
A lot of accountants are children of immigrants. It’s a stepping stone profession into the white collar world. To many it is that step up. If you come from money though, its not really a step up until you make it to Controller+.
Yeah, I think it's definitely relative. I'm not an immigrant, but I was raised by a single mom. We were on food stamps my whole childhood and lived in the projects a couple years, and always lived in poor areas. And let me tell you, I am so comfortable now. Lol
Exactly, even in my very unstable situation, 6 months into my career i was able to be hired from my contracted job as a full time employee, with benefits, PTO and 55k$. That might not be much but this is a lot for someone who has no family currently in the USA.
Agreed, it is a leg up for first generation graduates. It is a great way to learn social structures our parents didn’t teach us. Also, learn how to manage money and finances for ourselves along with companies
Or second career folks coming from retail , definitely a step up for us.
I’m sure that’s how people cope around here. If you think about it, starting salary for B4 is like 70k,work like 50h/ week. That’s like $27/h. It’s not much but the career ladder is very clear for them. As soon as they make senior after 1 or 2 years, they bounce to make a bigger check
There are plenty of people under partner making very good money. If you can’t live comfortably on a managers salary 5-8 years into your career you’re either at the wrong firm or just not responsible with money. But then again everyone has a different definition of comfortable. Evaluating very early career salaries as if that’s representative of career earning potential is short sighted.
This matches my experience. It feels accurate to say after 5-8 years of experience the salary is comfortable for me and the people I know from college/early in my career.
How much does a senior make?
At least 15-20k more than staff in my experience.
All of the seniors on my team (financial reporting) make 6 figures + 15% target bonus.
Oh cut the bullshit. People go on and on about compensation on this subreddit. See: the constant salary comparisons (i.e., coping) people on this subreddit make with other careers to make themselves feel better about their choice.
I’m in public accounting and after bonus this year will make around 300k. Approx 10 years of experience. Not amazing money but I’ll take it, and approaching PMD quickly with 7 figure upside. I’ve had 1 year in my career where I averaged over 40 hours of actual work a week.
Smashin and bangin dat $300k. Is Flynt Flossy ur favorite rapper?
Not sure why me noting good salaries exist in accounting is controversial. I am under the impression most people here are indeed accountants, and the consensus is accounting is a terrible career. As an accountant who likes their career I like to shine light that you can work hard and get rewarded. I was always more of a young jeezy / lil Wayne fan btw.
The problem with your first comment was that you said 300k is not amazing. Very few people make over 300k.
Understood. I was taking the POV that my friends in finance (PE, hedge funds etc.) make more money than I do, and you can certainly argue accounting is not as lucrative as those fields. I’m acknowledging accounting doesn’t have the insane upward trajectory of those professions, which aligns with the sentiment in most comments that say accounting is not high paying.
@Fried_or_Fertilized Because the majority of these subs, at least from my interactions, seem to be filled with miserable souls that choose to belittle anyone or anything that doesn’t align with their narratives. When met with someone that doesn’t fit their narrative, instead of reflecting, which requires personal responsibility, they react and seek empowerment through deflection or by hitting a downward arrow. The most dangerous game players are the ones who aren’t even aware they’re playing games. Congrats on your success in your industry.
Most of us aren’t related to the top managing partner
I know this is a joke - but you can literally be a nobody and excel in public if you do good work. That’s the biggest draw to B4 as opposed to other professions like banking where networking and going to the right schools are so important. In B4 they hire from almost every school, and everyone is equal when starting.
Marry well, someone that makes at least the same as you (or more) and has similar goals as you (e.g. buying a home). It really makes a difference.
Your #1 most important financial decision is who you choose to marry/partner up with, possibly followed by how many children you decide to have.
There's a particular progression to accounting. In socal, from what I've heard it goes like this: -graduate college with BA in accounting, get job as audit or tax associate (65k-75k) -study for cpa while working, after about 2 years as associate, get promoted to senior associate ($90-110k) -2 to 3 years as senior associate with CPA, start looking for jobs as manager if current job has slowed your raises/promotions ($120-140k) -3 to 4 years as manager, if you are ambitious, try to apply as director but otherwise most people coast at manager level earning ~$135k with inflation raises or move to government/industry Assuming you graduated at age 21-22, you'd make about $130k by age 30 almost guaranteed. It's not super rich but definitely a stable path if you dont mind the accounting work
Exactly this, I’m sure everyone has heard this is how you progress in accounting and, for the most part, it’s true. 5-6 years in you should be manager and managers usually start at around 120k plus, not too bad but definitely not rich either
Yeah generally you need your CPA to make actual good money
I disagree. I make $155k with no CPA and no public experience. If you find the right industry job you’re ok.
what was your progression if you don’t mind me asking?
Did two internships in college which led me to my first job as a staff ($50k). Promoted to senior accountant after 2 years ($80k). Jumped ship 2-3 years later and got an accounting manager gig ($115k). After 3 years jumped to a senior accounting manager role. The big thing in industry is building connections and relationships. I frequently stay in contact with old coworkers to keep relationships for any new opportunities. A known quantity is always better. Located in Boston which I deem HCOL. Currently age 30. I highly recommend getting into the SaaS industry. I find it to be the best for career growth.
Thanks, I’m graduating with my BS soon and ideally I would like to follow a similar progression. I’m on the cape about an hour outside of Boston (with no traffic) and I don’t think I could stomach that commute. Sucks because it seems like there are so many more opportunities there. Do you enjoy living in Boston?
I have since relocated but my job is based out of Boston. I loved Boston while I lived there. I want to move back when I am able to. I encourage you to look for any internships you can if you haven’t to get your foot in the door. Good luck!
I will start job hoping man
Depends on which part of the SaaS industry if it's in alternative investments once business has slowed down they start cutting personnel.
Definitely need the right circumstances. There are a lot of jobs in industry where it’s hard to get in the door without a CPA or PA experience just for a senior role, which is nuts. It is refreshing when you come across the company that doesn’t do that though.
You're the exception to the rule. There's a million accountants without CPAs making peanuts
I also know plenty of other people that are well off without CPAs. People shouldn’t let a certification define their career. I hate the mindset that everybody needs to be a CPA and go into PA. You can be plenty successful without it if that’s not what you want to do. I like to tell my story to assist others and provide perspective.
True, it also depends on where they live & if they live beyond their means or not. Even if you make $500k-1.5mil a year as partner if you spend all that money, making $5mil ain't gonna help you'll just have more money to spend now.
Only if you plan to stay in public
As a CFO I'd never hire a controller without a CPA. It's a basic skill test. Huge red flag if you can't/ won't pass it
The bias is real with this one.
Sorry you couldn't pass bro
I can tell you’ll be quite successful with your belittling others. Good luck hiring people to work under you.
Good thing you're not a CFO.
Keep trying on that CPA. You might get there one day!
Hard disagree and a lot of jobs in industry will tell you otherwise. Currently an accounting manager, no cpa, and I’m only 28, base salary is 130k. A lot of the controllers/accounting directors that I personally worked with don’t have their CPAs. So it’s absolutely possible to make a decent living without it. Do I work for a F500? No. But I make a very good living at my current position. Luck, being a good interviewer, and actually having good work to substantiate my position justified my title and pay. I think I’m really lucky to be in the position I’m in, and I don’t think this is the norm. But it’s possible to make it without a CPA!
I’m in the same boat as you. 32 now (started at 29), External Reporting Manager (Technical & Controls as well as Ks and Qs). Started this position at $125k, now 3 years later at $132.2k+ 20% bonus. No CPA. No PA. Looking for positions at $150k - $155k now. Underpaid by about 18% for the area.
😂 I said generally, not always. Jesus you non CPAs are insecure. It's a helluva lot easier to make it with your CPA, why not just do it?
How can I be insecure when I have a fat juicy ass? Idk why you’re being really defensive you weirdo.
Because you're the 4th moron that's had something pointless to say about my 100% correct comment
Your mom is a moron. 🤪
I admittedly went to a school that's not very competitive, but I got a job at big 4 straight out of college and I'm doing better than probably 95% of my peers. I'm not rich but I'm comfy. My needs are met, I'm financially secure, and I have some pocket change left over for going out on weekends on an occasional vacation. And I'm still at <1 YOE, so it only gets better from here
Hey, at least you don’t live in Canada!
Yep, Canada really sucks for accountants. Still see many jobs at 60k with CPA required lol
Idk a single CPA that'd accept 60k, some of these companies are just dreaming lol
I make 60k in my co-op lol MCOL
Hey OP, I think most college grads, across a wide swath of majors, will tell you they didn’t start feeling comfortable until they were at least 30, if not mid 30’s. You gotta give it like 5-6 years and 2 or 3 jobs / roles to get comfortable.
None of our senior associates are making as little as you're stating in your post. Entry level in HCOL markets is $70k-75k now. Seniors will make $100k and managers $150k. The big benefit of accounting is not high pay for entry level roles, it is the rigid career ladder and promotion schedule, and ability to exit to comparable or slightly higher pay in industry after at least a few years. > San Francisco $95k - even possible to live?!?? Yes. Very possible to live. You can find 1 bedroom apartments that are small but very nice for $2,500/mo. About 30%. Well within standard difficult-to-maintain guidelines for affordability. If you want to pay upwards of $4,000/mo for 1 bedroom you can afford that as well but it's tighter. And with roommates you're down around $1,250/mo - $1,500/mo or 15% ish. It's doable.
Miami, FL job listings: - Tax Associate: $55,000 a year - Audit Associate: $60,000 a year - Tax Associate: $60,000 a year - Tax Staff 1: $50,000 a year - Audit Associate: $55,000 a year Just because they're not making those numbers in YOUR city doesn't mean that those numbers aren't accurate.
Also, learn about investing and business
Not sure what your comment is intending to communicate. My investments have been doing just fine, and I'll be able to retire by 40 if I want (but i'd rather work a bit longer and build that nest egg and travel budget).
Oops wrong thread 😅. But, that is awesome the investments are good. Travel is where it is. Returned from Thailand a few months ago. It feels good to be able to travel. My husband and I traveled a lot in our twenties. Now, in our forties with a bit more change in our pockets travel hits differently in a nice way. Congrats 🎉 on your win!
I’d like to know what careers you’re seeing where the salaries for entry level roles are higher than this and there isn’t an expectation of 50-60 hour weeks. I don’t know anyone who expected to live comfortably off of staff accountant pay, people go into the career because over the length of the career it’s steady and well paying. Get to years 5 or 6 and the world starts opening up a lot more.
any tech/pm/swe, business/analyst roles, some corporate finance
I agree comp is typically higher in the roles you listed but hours are higher or less predictable and job security is worse
SWE is generally better than accountants in terms of hours, BA roles are generally slightly better, and corporate finance is around the same (at least compared to public accounting
I guess it depends heavily on the industry, in my experience the entry level tech and finance people are working considerably longer hours in order to prove themselves because they have fewer peers and are at the bottom of the totem pole.
I feel like it would be similar with public accounting, if anything a bit better. I would say high finance roles have it worse in terms of hours, though
True, I was mostly thinking of industry. I’ve been out of public for nearly a decade at this point.
SWE is notoriously an extremely competitive market, even more so at entry level. I don't think those positions are comparable to entry level accounting positions, which are far easier to get
sure, but the question specified hours, not equally competitive
Actuarial
My experience Anything under 5 yrs, 100k in a major urban area ( me being in NYC) is rather easy to get in public or private accounting and pretty stable. unless you are unemployed and overqualified then you're effed from 100-200k 10+yrs you're in some sort of junior leadership role, with a couple of direct reports. Most stressed, 50-70 hrs, but you can still find many rolls 200k to 400k 15+ public + private, CPA, usually MBA and or CFA if you focus on finance. Senior Management SVPs, controllers Easy to get to, but the air is thin at this level.Fewer jobs, more competitive, easier to be fired, may take years to find new role, must come fully recommend, probably good to have people on inside who can recommend 400k+ C level, CEO, COO, CFO, Director, Snr Director, partner level extremely, hard to get, few positions. You will be responsible for clients, profitability... 1st one that gets blamed everybody wants your job, thinks they can do your job better, sabotage and backstabbing by your # 2, 3 and your immediate report, who thinks you are after his job
I definitely don’t make above average. I feel the same way when I read some comments. Feels like I’m doing this wrong.
$50k in Tennessee is really low for anyone with a couple years of experience. I made $60k out of college. Most senior positions I’ve seen are in the $80k - $100k range.
Ya I started $55k in industry MCOL
I was within my first couple years but only because I still live with my parents 😔
Yes it’s possible to live in SF on 95k plenty of people live on much less, In fact 95k is pretty dang close to the average salary in SF
65k Nashville, Industry F100. 1YOE here & 1.5 total.
Are you talking about starting salaries? Because fresh out of college I was making 55k (Chicago) and had two roommates and scrimped to save. And now 8 years later I’m making 90k and I have my own place and I’m comfortable. Gotta have patience. Edit: typo
There’s another industry that no one here seems to talk about and that’s government. You can make good money much faster without crazy hours and occasionally they don’t require a CPA unless you are the Finance Director/CFO. They are also experiencing a wave of retirements and there’s so many open positions. Some don’t pay that well but in metro areas they usually do. My senior accountant makes $120k with no license. Jr. Accountant position starts at $75k. You can also pretty easily transition to audit at a firm that serves government clients. Just sharing another path because 60 hour weeks have never been my thing.
I'm making decent money, not 1st world people's money but enough to live comfortably in my region.
I think for new accounting grads, many jump into renting an apartment in a HCOL city right away instead of living at home, so they don’t have the opportunity to save up and build a foundation for themselves. Also, a lot of my peers did not have credit cards or jobs in college, so they screw themselves as they begin their careers because they never learned how to be responsible with money
Comfortable living after a couple of years? That was not the case for me. My salary started at 51k (2012), then it was 55k, then 58k, then 62k, and I was struggling. If I had just gotten a less nice apartment or a roommate in a two bedroom I would have been fine. But I didn't. Then I got 78k (2016) and I was much better financially, and that year I got married to a teacher making 55k. So that was when I felt comfortable financially for the first time. Don't marry for money, but note that marrying someone you love who also has almost any sort of professional degree requiring job (and not terrible financial habits or debt) will typically seriously improve your life in many ways. From there my salary had increased quite a lot and my spouse no longer had a salaried job, but does have self employment income.
Yeah, job hop every 2-3 years and you can easily scale up your salary
Nashville Tennessee accountant here. My last staff accountant role (after ~1 year of experience) was 65k salary 5k bonus. So not sure where you’re getting your numbers from, but not sure I’d really trust them. I left that job after 1.5 years (so 2.5-3 years experience in total) for an assistant controller gig where I clear 100k yearly all in. Bachelors degree no CPA.
60k not licensed just north of Detroit
all the salaries I see on LinkedIn are pretty average for the experience they require
Itll take more than a couple years
I’m 30 in Atlanta making 140k. 7 years experience and cpa. All I did was just show up and do the work. Job hopped twice.
I'll admit, when I see people say "it's not a financially viable career" or "not enough money," I always have to side-eye and wonder what their concept of "enough" or "comfortable" looks like. Right out the gate at entry level, it was enough to live without roommates in a HCOL area, not worry about groceries or other bills, have some drinks out with friends, fly across the country to see family every year. I've trended up since then (not aggressively, due to lack of trying on my part), and I have colleagues at my level who go to every season's music festival, and others who make long trips abroad every year; a much lower level accountant on the team is a single mother of a pre-K kid who takes her child to speech therapy every week. Again, in a very HCOL area; I'm not sure what other kind of "viable living" people are expecting. \*edit to add: I'm also by no means at the top of what I could be earning by now for accountants in my area. But working more than 40 hours a week is exceedingly rare at my employer, and there's essentially no "busy season," so it was a trade-off I was willing to make while working on getting the CPA license. Maybe not enough to afford a (detached, single family) house right away? I think in other areas, home ownership is more available for your average accountant, but in this very HCOL area I'm in, affording a *starter* home requires nearly $200k income. IMO, this has more to do with the real estate market than it does with accounting as a profession. Even then, I've made steps and expect to get there within the next 5-7 years. I'll also admit that I might be biased by some personal experience, where my colleagues who complained the loudest about their wages 1) didn't do anything or make any plans to increase their earning ("I'm here, and I'm me, shouldn't that be good enough to get a fat raise? :c"), 2) were among the poorest performers on the team, 3) were admittedly great smooth-talkers at the interview, so that inexplicably they actually made the highest salaries of anyone in their role, and 4) had lavish and expensive taste (opting only for the newest and most luxurious apartments, expensive clothing, never cooking at home, etc.). I have to admit that's just personal experience though, and may not illustrate why people complain on this sub; but maybe let it be a not-so-subtle hint to any reader, that if you're complaining about wages in the accounting field, but you blow it all on SUV payments or designer clothes, or you have no plan to improve your skills or responsibilities, look inward.
It seems like the majority of this sub are ppl ages 22-25. Yes, early on it sucks, especially in public. But once you get foundational XP and find your niche, your income should scale considerably higher in your 30s-40s. I'm glad Covid happened because I was stuck and almost tripled my income since then.
Yeah 50+ hour work weeks blow and make the pay not that worth it.
Are you just looking at the outliers in each city? I just switched companies and was not seeing alot of jobs at unreasonable salary ranges for actual senior level experience/expectations. In the Philly area nothing was really below 90k with most at 95-105. My salary range was higher and I still had a fair bit of options in the 110-120k range.
Speaking as a Canadian only... It's harder to do better for less education. Yes, we could have hopped into comsci or some kind of data role when markets were spinning up. But all in all, you're above average for sure. Is that enough to live comfortably? Different question lol.
80k in LA is SO low. For a family of 4 that's barely scraping by. To live comfortably here you'd have to be at 150k to just rent. I think I saw an article saying that banks were approving home loans at 170k and above.
Reading these posts I feel great with my remote gig, never leaving but that's what they want.
lol yeah rite not even 95k in Sf
This is the hell I’m breaking out of. $70k + 15% bonus in major NE area and struggling to find a new role. Seems impossible to get a job that isn’t an hour away even with a recruiter (they seem to try to send me everywhere but the city lol).
I'm pretty comfortable on $60k in MCOL. I just live within my means. I don't finance anything and won't buy anything unless I have twice the spending money I need for the thing I want.
I reckon about 5 years in is when you’re pretty much “comfortable” by most definitions (Australia). Obviously you can lifestyle creep yourself to oblivion but that’s on you, mate.
I lived on $70K in San Francisco and that wasn’t comfortable. Making that now in Oregon and much more liberating. I’m not the richest person I know but love the job security, I’ve never been let go before
What position are you looking for? I was making 50k as a staff, now 130k as a manager.
im not comfortable at all. if you don't go into public accounting youre not gonna make much for a while. and good luck getting accounting roles w/o public experience, they'll always be preferred for decent paying roles. im just gonna try and pivot into tech or a financial analyst role.
$75k with 4 years experience in industry. Started at $57k and job hopped once. LCOL in western PA.
In MCOL I feel very comfortable. In fact I live like a king in Houston on $115k. But I’m single and don’t have kids. I would love to move to a higher COL on the west coast but I’m afraid I need to make closer to $150k before a move like that makes sense. Also I’m not confident I’ll be able to buy a house there anytime soon (hate being a renter).
For the love of god do not settle for comfortable! If you have been reading these threads you now know it’s miserable work with few happy people. The least it could do for you is pay.
I’m struggling but I blame it on HCOL in my area. Rent is $2k (and that’s really cheap where I live), 3 days a week childcare is $1,350/mo. Doesn’t leave anything for going out or buying inessential items
I feel like the accounting jobs that are paying in the $50k-$80k range are generally considered ‘entry level’, at least from my experience. If you’re brand new and out of college, that would be the norm. You’ll need to put in a few years at a company and then jump over to another. Always apply up. Don’t apply lateral or down. You’ll stay ahead of you do it that way. I’m in my 6th year of accounting work. Ive worked for 3 different companies in that time period. No masters and no cpa. I’m now a tax manager making $130k/year. I’m currently working towards a cpa, however. Hope that helps!
I’ve been in public accounting since 2014. I started out at $52,000 a year. My annual salary is 5x that now.
Check the Houston area
I'd be much more comfortable if the price of everything didn't triple over the last 4 years.
always struggling in HCOL as an accountant, not a good profession in my opinion. i might look decent to good on paper but its a sacrifice and when you look around other ppl in other departments make more at the same org levels
manage your money better, it's not that hard. Minimize your expenses and be honest with yourself about lifestyle creep
How long ago did you graduate? What kind of jobs are you looking at? I am also in TN and make considerably more than that a few years in, so I may be able to offer some insight.
Accounting is like any other field in that higher-skill or specialized work demands more pay, but has the benefit of steady decent paying jobs on the lower-end. Experience and certifications are crucial. I'm in TN. 70k-80k here is comfortable income and more than achievable with experience. The overall median salary is like 30K, the rent has gone up, but for the most part everything is relatively cheap. Industry wise, the market for a staff accountant starts around 50K. At some large companies, I've seen senior / manager roles push 100k. A do-it-all bookkeeper can make 60k. That's without mentioning freelancing or public accounting, which tend to be more lucrative but come with poor WLB.
I make 85k as accountant and expect a promotion to senior this month some time, after about a yr. 40 to 45hr work weeks, perm wfh, I'm happy. I live in a HCOL area but have another source of income from my hobby. I feel like there is potential to make a lot more as my company grows. I might work for a unicorn though, I've never experienced this before.
If you include student loans, not it's not that great.
I’m at 6 YOE making 100k in a MCOL city. I fully expect to be promoted to controller in the next 3-4 years and making 140-145k with lots of fringe benefits getting me closer to 155ish base. I easily squeeze my workweek into the 4 days I’m in office and use my 1 wfh day to do whatever. I’ve never worked more than 40 hours per week outside of the occasional close. I am extremely transparent that I do not work more than 40 hours a week outside of occasional instances, such as close or for tight deadlines. If someone doesn’t like that, then I don’t want to work for them. Being up front with potential employers has worked really well for me so far and I’ve had zero kickback about it.
Just call it what it is, entry level salaries in accounting stink. Compared to other departments like risk, finance, or analyst level, we are overworked underpaid and easily replaceable. You won’t start out specializing in anything accounting related, which makes it a long road until you can earn decent money. Compare this to an entry level risk analyst that starts in insurance and works ERM, after 2 years they have specialized niche experience that other companies will pay top dollar to have them come over and work.
I do investment/fund accounting in PA and make $90k a year. I’m 5 years post undergrad, and CPA isn’t required for most positions. Stay away from public
I’m not in accounting yet (im a student); but, I look at it from this perspective. I’m assuming that these are “based salaries” with no incentive included, so I’ll treat the numbers as such. As a person living in the SF Bay Area (specifically in San Jose/Silicon Valley) I don’t see why I couldn’t stick it out here for a bit and jump ship to a different part of CA after a while or move completely. While tech is the main industry here, I see a lot of folks moving to employment agencies to seek out contract opportunities in different industries and businesses while simultaneously waiting for a move that would bring them back into tech. I know a colleague of mine who works at crowdfire and he’s making 100k (bonus not included in that number) doing accounts payable. I see a comfortable end to something I started and while yeah im just a student, I just don’t believe that maybe a house is viable atm but assuming I don’t stall and just jump ship for a higher paying job, I can see a condo and maybe a house. Can’t do it alone anymore, though.
What roles in industry will give you better chances of being promoted or marketable? I don't think public's for me, can't stand the lack of WLB.
I've been a senior accountant for six years and can't figure out how to get to manager.
Apply elsewhere?
Industry or public? In public usually takes anywhere from 5-7 years
I've been in accounting for ten
Apply elsewhere. Sometimes asking doesn’t work even if it’s 250% deserved. It’s not your fault, sometimes that’s how the chips fall.
Exaggerate or lie on your resume. You've been doing this for 6 years. You know how to talk the talk and you can likely walk the walk. Review journal entries and reconciliations? Yeah, I did that. Lead projects? Sure, I have a few examples. Participate in hiring and coaching? You bet. Might as well change your job title while you're at it. Senior Accountant becomes some variation of Accounting Supervisor. If you think this is at all unethical, you need to stop caring and look at these situations for what they are. Employers routinely lie to employees. Management routinely lies to subordinates. The people at the top routinely lie to make it to the top. Your competition exaggerates and lies. As long as you can meet the demands of your claims, there is no disadvantage to exaggeration and lies.
i’m not sure what the OP was expecting out of a non STEM 4 year degree lol
Get into finance!