How to ask for a salary raise when you get the CPA?

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  • #189611
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    That’s my first year as a Staff Accountant (graduated in May), I work in the industry. I heard when you get the CPA, you can ask for a salary increase, but I am not sure how to deal with that. Our company does compensation reviews annually. So, when I get the CPA, who should I ask for the salary increase? HR, my manager, Controller? I have no clue… What’s the right way to do it? How much should I ask for 5,000-7,000 increase or less. And, the MAIN THING, if by the time they do the annual review am not done with the CPA (the review is January, I will be done by June), can I still ask for a raise???It’s just, I am in the industry and the license is not required here. Am I wrong?

Viewing 15 replies - 1 through 15 (of 23 total)
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  • #615600
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    From what I have gathered, you can only ask for a raise if it actually increases your worth to the company. In public, they can bill more per hour for a CPA than for a non-CPA, so it instantly increases the worth to the company. In industry, your skillset doesn't really change that much with having the certification vs not having the certification, so there's really no reason for them to give you a raise for it and thus you can't really ask for you. I was in industry when I got my CPA and the timing of my official licensing coincided nicely with the timing of my annual review, so I mentioned in my review that I had completed my CPA…but I don't think it affected my raise at all. My raise was just a standard “You've done decent work and this is the decent work raise” type raise, no $5k-7k type thing. The reason is because honestly, it doesn't help my employer make money in any way, so why would they pay me more for it?

    The way that you get more money for your CPA in industry is by switching jobs. With a CPA, maybe you're qualified for a higher-level position than without it. To get that higher-level position, you either have to move up within your company (which is rare), or switch companies. In changing positions either way, that's the time to negotiate higher, but even then the negotiations will be more because this job demands more and therefore pays more, rather than because you've got an additional piece of paper. The customer pays them the same amount regardless of whether the person sending their invoice to them has “CPA” in their email signature or not, so the value of the CPA in industry is to qualify you for a position where you aren't sending invoices to the customer at all, rather than to make you more valuable to the company in your current position.

    #615601
    ala72
    Participant

    I'm interested in the answer to this question as well. How do you go about phrasing this request when you work in a (really) small firm?

    Licensed NH CPA as of July 2015

    AUD - 74 (Oct '13), 84 (Jan '14)
    FAR - 79 (Feb '14)
    REG - 61 (May '13), 81 (Aug '14)
    BEC - 79 (Nov '14)

    #615602
    mla1169
    Participant

    I work in industry and did not get a raise for passing the CPA exam. Do you have the experience requirement met already?

    Think from your employers perspective, does a CPA license add any value to your current position of staff accountant. In some cases it does but in other cases it does not.

    Most importantly is your work performance EXCEPTIONAL, as in you consistently go above and beyond what you are asked to do. Nobody cares that you're trying to further your career if you're only doing the bare minimum to get by. As for how much? You can certainly ASK for $5-$7k but honestly its going to get shot down. Most raises are somewhere between 2.5-7%. If you're making $50k now you'd be doing very well to get a $3500 raise.

    Having a CPA is nice, but its obviously more valuable in public than in industry especially at a staff level. It is a huge mistake to just assume that you deserve more money for having it. I think a lot of new CPA's somehow feel superior or elite to other people in accounting but the hard truth is (at least in industry) most people with an undergrad degree in accounting can do exactly the same set of tasks with exactly the same level of accuracy and precision.

    FAR- 77
    AUD -49, 71, 84
    REG -56,75!
    BEC -75

    Massachusetts CPA (non reporting) since 3/12.

    #615603
    yourmomsaCPA
    Participant

    In industry, your salary is based on comparable positions in the area. If yours is less and you want more, you have to at least be *prepared* to leave when going in to ask for a raise. My company is currently under a salary freeze so even though I just received my license, I won't even be getting a cost of living increase. Know what that means? My company just put me in a great position to leave. I'm working – so not desperate – but motivated to go somewhere else (a year ago I would have NEVER believed I would leave my cushy position).

    FAR - 87 2/18/14
    AUD - 84 4/2/14
    REG - 87 7/23/14
    BEC - 78 8/26/14

    I'm finally an *official* CPA - TX

    #615604
    Tripp11
    Member

    @yourmomsacpa – You are EXACTLY right. And congrats on the cushy job you're currently in! =)

    To the OP: Many of our clients have frozen salaries for 5 years now. Imagine going 5+ years without even a cost of living raise. Some of those same clients have also put in a hiring freeze where accounting departments are not able to hire anyone, and if certain staff leave, the existing people will simply be asked to do more.

    Depending on your company's situation right now, I would be very cautious asking for a raise simply because you passed the exam.

    AUD - 93
    BEC - 80
    REG - 86
    FAR - 83

    #615605
    tomq04
    Participant

    I told my boss that he was paying me $45k, while my classmates were already breaking $60k, and that I was planning on looking for a new job as soon as my “time” commitment was up. (We had an agreement that I was sticking around for as long as it took me to complete the exam, 17 months).

    I had a raise that afternoon.

    REG- (1) 76
    FAR- (2) 64, (5)74, (7)83 (Over achiever!)
    AUD- (3) 70, (4) 75
    BEC- (6) 75

    #615606
    Mamabear
    Member

    “Show me the MONEY!!!”

    CPA Exam - Finally DONE (November 2014)
    BEC (08/10/13) 80
    AUD (08/24/13) 65 (11/13/13) 85
    FAR (04/12/14) 81
    REG (07/19/14) 69 (11/29/14) 87!!

    #615607
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    I think you need to consider a few things before you ask for a raise. What are you being paid compared to the market rate for a similar position? Since it looks like you are relatively new to your role, you are probably still below the mid point for your range, which is normal. Then from there I would lay out what you are contributing to the company. As others have mentioned, you get a raise for additional contributions to the company not necessarily obtaining a license. Hopefully the license will help you to be able to contribute to the company in a greater sense, but that doesn't necessarily begin the day you get your license.

    Also, I can't tell exactly from the dates you've listed, but as a manager I would find it highly presumptuous if someone who has been there less than a year asked for a raise. The caveat being if a significant shift in responsibilities occurred during that first year. You'd probably get a pro-rated cost of living adjustment and maybe a prorated merit, but not a 5-7k raise. Knowing the Milwaukee market, 5-7k raise would be a 10%+ increase or so… that's a big jump.

    My advice would be to go through your review and ask your manager for specific feedback on what you should be focusing on for you to grow in your role. Then finish up your exams and master all the things your manager gives you to work on. Ask for more. Then, you can ask for a raise.

    #615608
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    I would just jump ship to public.

    You should be able to get a nice lil bump out of that.

    I'm not sure what you're making now, but a year and a CPA should be able to get you around $60k at a Big 4 or Regional.

    #615609
    NYCaccountant
    Participant

    I agree with @Mamabear – Show me the Money!! I have an annual review coming up and I plan on asking for a raise. Not based on passing the exam, but performance. I may throw in passing the exam if it's going to help me get more money.

    AUD - 99
    BEC - 84
    FAR - 93
    REG - 87
    NYC born and raised.

    FAR - 93
    REG - 87
    BEC - 84!!!!
    AUD - 99!!!!!! CPA exam complete.

    #615610
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    What I heard so far is really weird. First of all, to be at least considered for a Sr. Accountant at my company, you have to have a CPA (I don't know why). I work for a big consulting company, nevertheless, I do only internal accounting, no accounting for the clients, that's why I said I work in the Industry. Second, I was asked questions about my plans as to passing all four parts during the initial interview. Now, when I took the first exam and about to take the second, the managers are asking “how'd exam go?”, “when is your next one?” questions all the time. And all the job postings in my area hire ONLY CPAs or CPA candidates even for Staff Accountant positions…Any ideas? I would appreciate everybody's $0.02. Thanks!

    #615611
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    BTW, every accountant in our company is getting 5,000 increase every year up to a certain point, where you either stuck in your position or climb up that career ladder.

    #615612
    y_u_no_pass
    Participant

    I say go for it. It is always worth asking. I would wait to ask until I actually passed the exam though. I'm planning to do that. Would have been in December, but now I guess around February.

    Florida CPA!
    Took final exam 2/25/15.
    Sent in Application 3/12/15.
    Issued License 3/20/15.
    Used CPA Excel solely for all exams.

    #615613
    Skynet
    Participant

    @ MKE Accountant – You tell your bosses explaining why you should get a raise by explaining the Mulitplier Effect from your BEC studies and how it will increase your company's revenues.

    AUD - 90
    BEC - 78
    FAR - 84
    REG - 87
    World Domination Plan

    Phase I : Pass CPA Exams - Complete
    Phase II : Megan Fox - In Progress
    Phase III : Megan Fox & Scarlett Johansson Lingerie Pillow Fight
    Phase IV : Form the new Charlie's Angels with Megan Fox, Scarlett Johansson, & Gal Gadot
    Phase V : TBD

    BEC : 78
    REG : 87
    FAR : 84
    AUD : 90

    World Domination Plan

    Phase I : Pass CPA Exams - Complete
    Phase II : Megan Fox - Initiated
    Phase III : Bring back 8-Tracks
    Phase IV : Megan Fox & Scarlett Johansson Lingerie Pillow Fight
    Phase V : TBA

    #615614
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    Did you research the salary range on payscale.com or salary.com for what someone with your education, years of experience, CPA license and actual job responsibilities is? I'd start there. You can certainly look at job openings but rarely are salaries included. I'm not sure what region of the country you're in but in the NW (Portland) $5k – $7k raise is unheard of unless you are promoted to a new level. i.e, accountant II from accountant I. Solely getting your degree or becoming licensed would unlikely warrant an automatic raise without some additional value added to your position. I have a dual degree in finance and accounting but I'm paid within $1,500 of my peer who has a single degree in finance.

    It is feasible that you're doing a great job and they want to promote you to a staff II hence why they're asking you for status updates. Did you have a six month review? If not be forward thinking and schedule a meeting with your manager to have one. During that meeting you could layout your targeted licensure timetable and ask, without being presumptuous, of whether raises are given out of cycle upon passing the exam or taking on new responsibilities. Since you said they require all employees at a certain level to have their CPA they've likely dealt with this before and you aren't the first to have monetary expectations.

    After having been in private for 9 years it is more likely than not that you take on additional responsibilities before you are given a raise and often times raises aren't given solely for taking on more responsibilities. I've worked at fortune 500 companies and small 400 employee companies. They all operate very similar and other than the 1% – 3% cost-of-living raises the amount you're talking about isn't given without changing position levels. Even position level raises tend to only be in the 5% – 10% range.

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