Career & Salary Progression At The Big 4 – A Guide For CPAs – Education Blog (2024)

FAQs

What is the salary of US CPA in Big 4? ›

$44,000 is the 25th percentile. Salaries below this are outliers. $106,000 is the 90th percentile.

The Different Levels and Ranks of a Big 4 Consultant

The ranking structure typically starts with an entry-level consultant role, followed by Senior Consultant, Manager, Director, and Partner or Principal.

Which big 4 accounting firm pays the most? Well it depends on which practice you want to go into. If you want to make the most money in consulting, Deloitte pays the best. However if you want to make the most money in auditing or tax PwC is likely your best bet.

The Big 4 firms have a well-defined and structured career progression path that typically consists of four levels – Associate/Staff, Senior Associate, Manager, and Partner. Each level is associated with a set of responsibilities, expectations, and corresponding salary ranges.

Location - Major metro areas like San Francisco and Los Angeles have the highest salaries. Experience level - Entry-level vs senior-level roles have vastly different pay. Industry - Technology and finance jobs pay the most. CPA certification - Obtaining a CPA license leads to much higher pay.

The following is the typical Deloitte career path:

Analyst (Undergraduate) Consultant (MBA or advanced degree) Senior Consultant. Manager.

Working as a Big 4 Senior Manager can be a stepping stone to higher positions within the firm, such as Director or Partner. Salaries among the Big 4 accounting firms are generally comparable, although there may be some variation based on department and location.

Sometimes it can be done in 8 if you get an early promotion, but most times it's 2–3 years to make senior accountant, 3–4 years to make manager, and 3–4 years to senior manager. Some people on larger, high profile accounts tend to move up quicker because those teams are often given more say on who gets promoted.

PwC is considered the most prestigious due to its position as the largest professional services firm in the world by revenue.

Which Big 4 accounting firm is hardest to get into? ›

EY is the second biggest of the Big Four in terms of headcount, which lends credence to this claim in 2019 that their acceptance rate was approximately 3.5%, based on 69,000 global hires from 2,000,000 global applicants.

Though the smallest of the Big 4 firms, KPMG is known to have the best work-life balance amongst its employees.

The most natural transition from a Big 4 into industry includes roles as Financial Controller, Business Controller and FP&A Analyst.

However, it can be a real challenge when pursuing a career with these major accounting firms—the level of competition you'll face is fierce. There are hundreds of thousands of people working for each of these firms, and each year, they face more applicants than they can reasonably handle.

Realities from Big 4 Employees

for consultants. As employees advance into manager and director roles, flexibility and autonomy may improve, but more responsibilities can also mean higher stress and poorer work-life balance.

CPA I Salaries

The average salary for CPA I is $2,02,217 per year in the United States. The average additional cash compensation for a CPA I in the United States is $72,031, with a range from $54,023 - $1,00,844.

They pay for your CPA study materials, reimburse you for CPA exam, and give $5k bonus if you pass the exam in the first year.

The "Big 4" refers to the four largest accounting firms and includes Deloitte, PwC, KPMG, and EY. All four companies provide audit, assurance, consulting, financial advisory, risk management, and tax compliance services. Deloitte. "Deloitte Ranked 6th on World's Best Workplaces 2023."

As of Sep 8, 2024, the average annual pay for a Big Four in the United States is $107,005 a year. Just in case you need a simple salary calculator, that works out to be approximately $51.44 an hour.