[Monkey Wrench]

In a nutshell, I have a year in a half experience working for the State in the audit shop and I have a phone interview/screening in the afternoon for an assurance experienced associate position that the email clearly states that they want to know salary expectations up front, I know that generally big 4 have a pretty definitive pay scale for staff so I was wondering what it would be, I am in the Nashville, Tennessee area.

Oh, I do have my 150 hours, and studying for CPA exam, but have yet to get one. COME ON REG IN JULY!

[WaivingMyHands_ALOT]

Just a guess, depending on what experience you have, I'd say $55-$60K. Maybe more if you have good experience

AUD 99
BEC 96
FAR 94
REG 96

[Monkey Wrench]

Thanks, the experience really isn't great for the industry they are looking to hire in. I will probably just give a generic range and hope I don't have to try and pinpoint it down!

[taxman89]

i would always say “in my research there is a wide range of salaries for these types of positions. I am more interested in the experience that this position will bring me then i am in the salary $$.”….did that for my first job out of college and ended up being offered about 25% above my top end range…..which is why i will never give a number or a range if i can help it

AUD - 75
BEC - 77
FAR - 78
REG - 82

AUD: 61-67-75 (Thanks ninja aud)
BEC: 77
FAR: 78
REG:69-73-70-82

Aud-75 3x I knew i never liked you
Bec-77 1x being in the bubble is stressful
Reg-82 4x its not me its you...and no we cant be friends
Far-78 1x easiest section

[Monkey Wrench]

I think that will be my go to answer. I was thinking about that, I guess i'm not the most comfortable with essentially avoiding questions!

[EuroAddict]

I hate that desired salary question. They know what they are going to pay you.

-----------------------------
BEC - 77, 03/2015 (first try)
FAR - 79, 05/2015 (second try)
REG - 83, 12/2015 (first try)
AUD - 84, 03/2015 (first try)

I got 99 problems but the CPA ain't one.

[Monkey Wrench]

Unless I or you foolishly say lower!

[Anonymous]

$85k

[juuustin]

I have no idea of the Nashville market, but DC is starting at $57k right now for new hires, but there is an expected bump across the board coming this fall. From what I understand the $57k has been the standard for big Metro Big4 for about 3-4 years, so the bump could be up to $60k for new hires if it actually comes.

Again, take all that with a grain of salt for Nashville, but just giving you an idea that the PA industry seems to be lagging a bit on raising starting salaries, so there is probably some room for you to come in a bit higher, especially if there are already plans in the works for an across the board raise.

MD Candidate: 10/1/14

FAR - 87 (11/23/14)
REG - 87 (1/30/15)
BEC - 89 (4/19/15)
AUD - 98 (5/30/15)

Ethics - 100

Experience - In Progress!

[mkrohmer]

I have friends working in all big 4 in NYC strait out of college with masters degrees and internship experience (not sure if the masters effects the salary). From what they have told me, Audit is between 57-59K and Tax is 65-68K.

Please let me know how it turns out, I'm in the same boat. I have almost a year experience as a state auditor and am looking to apply big 4 once I get those letters after my name. I agree that the experience from the state is not really what they are looking for so most likely I will be looking at a regular staff position to start instead of waiting it out here longer in attempts to land an experienced position. But let me know the outcome and maybe it will change my approach.

BEC - 83 (1/23/15)
FAR - 80 (4/3/15)
REG - 88 (5/14/15)
AUD - 81 (7/3/15)

[Anonymous]

I'd say it depends… Between 55K to 60K

[fuzyfro89]

It depends on what you'd come in as….

.. an experienced associate (staff 2) or entry level (staff 1).

My guess would be staff 1 are around 53k and staff 2 are around 56k (for internal employees). Experienced hires tend to get slightly more depending on how quickly they need to get people in the door. For reference, in 2012, big 4 atlanta paid staff 1 ~51k and staff 2 ~55k. I'd expect Nashville to be comparable, more or less… and then adjust a bit for the 3 years that have passed since.

If it were me, and if I just wanted to get the experience and head out after 2-3 years, I'd ask for mid/high 50s. It will let them know you're serious, although their pay bands are so tight anyway that it won't make much of a difference what you say.

[Author]

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