[Anonymous]

Hello Everyone,

I recently received an offer from PwC with what I consider somewhat a low salary as a tax associate campus hire. I was being offered approximately 10k more for a position that was offered to me with the IRS. I did not accept the position hoping I would receive an offer from PwC. To my knowledge the IRS does not offer a bonus and I have heard PwC does.

I received my offer letter and to my surprise it was a lot lower than I expected. I have a masters in accounting and 2 Bachelor degrees with near perfect GPAs. I have passed 3 out of 4 parts of the CPA exam and plan on sitting for my last part next month.

Do I have a chance to negotiate? I received a call from the partner I interviewed the same day as my interview and said I would definitely want to work for him.

Please advise

thanks in advane

[Anonymous]

Most likely non-negotiable. If you try to negotiate, they will likely tell you “Oh all our new hires start at the same rate. It's not about the salary, it's about the experience.”

This is basically what I was told when interviewing with BDO for a senior position and had 5+ years of public accounting experience.

[Anonymous]

@brickell cpa…than for your reply…do you think I should send the recruiter an email and see what she says? or will that jeopardize the offer I have?

[Anonymous]

In my opinion, asking the recruiter about a higher starting salary would not jeopardize the offer. But you have to remember, this is PWC. They have a large number of employees at every location and there are definitely people who have more experience than you that would be willing to accept an even lower rate to get the experience at PWC on their resume.

To my understanding, negotiating salary isn't really a thing until you reach Senior level and up, particularly when you are pursuing a position in a private company or a smaller firm.

Best of luck to you.

[Anonymous]

@brickell thanks

[Valar Dohaeris]

Everybody at PwC starts with near perfect GPAs and at least a bachelors (PwC only cares that you're eligible to sit for your CPA). Plus, many start Big 4 with work experience, internships, etc. Starting salaries at Big 4 are somewhat better than other firms, but your salary is subsidized by the experience you're getting.

A Second Year probably only makes 10% more, if that, than a First Year. At my office, we received a 6% salary increase from First Year to Second Year which translated to about a $3K bump in salary.

I don't know about earning bonuses as tax associates, but I'm only familiar with audit. We do not receive bonuses as audit associates. But there is a $5K bonus if you pass the CPA exam before the end of your first year.

AUD - 81
BEC - 83
FAR - 83
REG - 84

CPA

Finance Manager

Experienced in Big 4 audit, regional audit, and technical accounting consulting

BEC - 85
AUD - 81
REG - 84
FAR - 7/24/16

[Anonymous]

Thanks for your response @valar… does anyone have any suggestions on how I should craft my email to try and see if they can bump my salary a bit?

[Meg267]

I haven’t been in public accounting, I started in private accounting. After 2-3 years of experience, I decided to make a move to a different private accounting industry. When I received the offer, I asked for more. The most they can do is say no. They counteroffered back a higher salary, which I then accepted. Then I spent the last 9 months or so proving that I’m worth it. Just had our annual reviews and I received a higher salary increase then the average for the company. Don’t be afraid to ask. Don’t ask for anything ridiculous either, make sure you do your research for the area you are located in.

BEC - 57, 68, 78
REG - 62, 82
AUD - 61, 76
FAR - 79

Licensed.
No one ever fails the CPA exam, there are only those who give up.

[Anonymous]

I actually do know someone who had an offer rescinded because he asked for too much money (like a ridiculous amount) over what they were offering. I'm sure you'd be fine asking for a slight increase, but losing the offer does happen so be careful.

[jm962011]

The title to your post says 2 years of tax experience but you're a campus hire. Those two things don't really go to together. Two years of experience isn't enough for senior but it is enough for experienced hire. If you truly have 2 years of tax experience that’ll translate directly into what you’ll be doing at PWC, you’re going to be underemployed.

[Who is]

I bet you better move toward IRS, as long as you are not dully shortsighted of your entire career because of money. At most, you may promote your position to manager at PWC. Thereafter, you may resign involuntarily.

Think of who leads and governs Tax industry. You never buy IRS experience from any big4. In other words, most of accounting firms pick up experienced IRS officers as VIP employees. Nobody knows better about Tax codes than IRS officers. Invest several years in IRS; increase your value, and you will expose yourself to a job market

[Anonymous]

Thanks guys for your comments.

[Lou]

Just to add my two cents, be very careful asking for a salary increase just because it generally tends to be a blanket salary offered to a certain level of associates.

That being said, PWC did bump up audit salaries by 2k in my area because EY was offering more money.

AUD - 91
BEC - 91
FAR - 94
REG - 87

Done!

FAR- taken 8/11/16....now the wait begins
AUD- scheduled 9/8/16
BEC- scheduled 10/9/16
REG-scheduled 12/10/16

Live a few years like most people won't, to live the rest of your life like most people can't.

[Vanessachy]

I don't see the possibility to negotiate the salary with big four. Most of the time people will take a pay cut join big four if they come from smaller firms. Plus, public accounting industry is very structured.
I have over two year public accounting experience, a Master's degree with a pretty good business school and upcoming CPA license (sent my application) and just went for interviews with regional accounting firms, the recruiter told me that with my experience and qualification, 65,000 is pretty much the max that I will get. Big four I don't think you can even ask more than starting salary. If you are a senior, it will change the story because most of the accounting firms have a problem finding seniors.

Far, 64 82
Reg, 60 86
Aud, 74 82
Bec, 70 81
Done done done! I did it!!!
Licensed CPA in MA, issued October 2016

Far 10/26/2015, 64, 1/4/2016, 82
Reg 7/10/2015, 60, 2/27/2016, 86
Aud, 5/9/2016, 74 (ouch), 7/26/2016, I cannot wait to take this test again
Bec, 6/10/2016, 70,9/8 retake

[ruggercpa2b]

It would not hurt to email the recruiter back and ask if the salary is negotiable. All they can say is no or she/he can come back with a yes. Just don't ask for a crazy amount. I worked at a Big 4 firm and there were some people amongst my peers that made a little more than others because they were not afraid to ask. Everyone is willing to take a pay cut to move into Big 4 but that doesn't mean you just willingly take the first offer they give you. Most firms will have a salary range and you will find that they will pay you the lowest of the range. I don't think they would rescind your offer for asking. Most people whose offers may get rescinded are probably people that will not budge on salary.

AUD - NINJA in Training
BEC - NINJA in Training
FAR - NINJA in Training
REG - NINJA in Training

AUD - 1/6/18
FAR - TBD
REG - TBD
BEC - TBD

AUD - 73, 72 retake 7/2/2016
BEC - 8/20/2016
REG - TBD
FAR - TBD

I am so ready for this nightmare to be over. Been at this way too long.

[Author]

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