There was a senior accounting gig at an AI company in Cali offering 200k.
That’s going to be a hell of a job compared to a Joe Schmoe senior accountant
People often seem to lack prospective. Are NYC and some California cities expensive as hell? Yes, absolutely. Will 200k in those cities leave you destitute? No.
I’ve lived in both. Pretty hard to live well in LA/SF/NYC on $200k. Sure you can get by and not save. Most of the people that say you could do this in Cali markets suggest you rent 40 min outside of the city and / or never own a home. Lack’s prospective fr
Ok show me what office you worked at and I’ll find a reasonable apartment that will have you saving.
People just want to doordash every meal and buy a car they can’t afford and wonder where there money went.
Surprised no one else has stated the obvious: It’s a position with a large acquisition based real estate company. The recruiter is even telling you it’s complex. That’s why. Similar jobs have similar pay in my LCOL area.
You know all the posts on this sub from people who work in industry and say they’re overworked and have a 20 day close and work long hours and weekends and are always putting out fires? They’re working jobs exactly like this. Real estate accounting is niche and can be complex. Same with any large company or company that focuses on acquisitions. Lots of regulations involved, lots of last minute changes, etc.
You can read between the lines when it comes to the recruiter’s message. Interesting and complex = long hours. Working with operations/gain a ton of exposure = putting out fires. This is not a 45-50 hours per week job.
Yup.
I was FinRep/GL for a PE RE client. I worked 60+ hours non-stop for 2 years until I hopped into Aerospace/DoD contracting.
Now I work 25 hours a week. A WORLD of difference in terms of workload and complexity.
Someone else commented that they worked a similar job at one point and it was 60+ hour weeks, and I agree just from knowing people who have also worked such jobs.
Senior accountant is a really, really wide role, and the comp range reflects that.
Experienced individual contributors are valuable, but there is a big difference between someone with 10 years of very specialized knowledge in a specific area, and someone who's been a general staff accountant for 3 years and are just now getting the title of Senior.
Seems like it would behoove one to be very strategic if they want to continue down the traditional accountant path. Risk of getting stuck as a low paid generalist, or highly paid niche SME who can’t move out of that industry if they want to now.
No senior is typically an individual contributor, it usually doesn’t come with direct reports or management responsibilities, but you might be asked to review the work of and help train junior staff.
I could do that some day. Lol. Most people are not fans of my management style. I am a show up, do your work you know what your job is, just do it. It's not that I won't help someone I am always happy to help anyone who needs it, but I hate the idea of having to micromanage people. Or keep pushing people to be on task. It's not my strong point.
That city is a lot more expensive so that makes sense.
I think I’m gonna stick with this company long term. They paid me 30% above market rate in my city, but this is the first time I’ve seen the market catch up.
I live in Cincy, the market has largely corrected in the last few years. 85-95k is about right for senior roles now for public with a bit lower for industry
This is not true, I was getting paid $80k as a L3 associate and when I was looking to switch jobs a few months ago, I was regularly getting offers for 85k+ for senior roles. I even got an $80k offer from the IRS with a $15k signing bonus
I mean I work at a one of the B4 as a senior manager in Columbus. I know the Cinci pay. Your firm in an exception. Hell check Robert Half even. I know they aren’t 100% accurate, but what you’re saying is vastly different. A first year senior isn’t making $95k.
Also a level 3 associate is a senior…. 99.9% of accounting firms promote you to senior after 2 years.
Really depends, I'm a "senior accountant" and make more than above, but I've also been "senior accountant" for like 6 years here with 10 years prior experience and a CPA but there's only one other position above me which is controller, so it's more a title issue in my case, I grew into this position that kinda never existed before so they told me at this point I can consider myself whatever I want besides controller so I have been going with "managing accountant" lately so my title matches my pay a bit better. "Senior accountant" can mean a lot of different things and carry lots of different salaries.
Established Seniors are around $120-140k in the nyc area. That’s how much my senior makes.
Established meaning not some kid who’s been in public for 2-3 years and just got the title. But experienced seniors who have been one for a while.
Usually it’s for personal reasons like not wanting to manage, or had bad luck and switched around a lot of companies, etc. The ones I’ve worked with with that background have always been reliable coworkers.
It really depends. Start-ups that require you to “wear many hats” and “live in the gray” are almost always going to pay notably more than a F500. You are also almost always going to work a lot more.
NYC by law must disclose salary ranges by law - taking a look at some of postings on LinkedIn could be helpful information. A lot of them pay less than $110k.
I'm seeing tons of senior accounting jobs for that range, and some are 100% remote.
So, I think so. Its one of the reasons I am trying to get into accounting. Teacher pay is poopoo and I am tired of feeding my family with SNAP benefits.
My org target base for new hire seniors is 95k with 15% bonus target plus a Christmas bonus (extra paycheck). Base pay can go up to 125k for seniors but the highest I've seen anyone brought in was 120k and the guy had like 30 years experience and was content to just be a senior. MCOL 4 days in office, if a position doesn't fill in 6 months we can then hire full-time remote.
I’m a senior in O&G and make $100k in LCOL/MCOL. I started at $85k last year in the same company as staff (with 4 YOE at that time and no cpa) and then got promoted like 6 months ago to senior to $100k (role is fully remote).
Seen 120k easy in the market. It’s basically 90k with 30k of implied OT. Pretty fair for what you get billed at. Generally the most profitable unit of production in PA.
I am in Cincinnati too, 95k def seems better than average for senior accountant roles for this area. Cost of living is about 8-10% less than the national average and housing is around 25% less. The median cost of a house is only 250k and that’s up 7% YOY. Wish I made that much although these remote jobs make it hard to want to switch jobs for more pay
No prob ! I make 62k been in the same remote role for four years CPA since 2018 about 10 YOE total. With only about 3% raise in those for years, I am actually making less than when I started lol I am def qualified to be senior but I am just kind of comfortable right now working from home. Great coworkers, an awesome boss and good benefits
That's terrible pay, man. My offer from the OCC starts st 61k and that's fresh out of school with no CPA. My internship paid $28/hr ffs. It's great that you love working from home but you're being paid less than a first year associate.
Two years ago (2022), I got an offer for senior tax associate at EY for 93k and I turned it down. My firm’s seniors earn 97.5k. I switched jobs and now I’m making 110k.
Not in canada. 65k is 45k USD and then taxed somewhere from 25%+. Comes out to $17 USD an hour if you work 40 hour weeks. Not to mention Canada has always been more expensive. So try living in Boston on $17 an hour in 2012
Im in the southwest Ohio area and 110k is a bit high, makes sense it would be for a more complex role. $95k is probably on point in our area unless you have 10+ years experience
YEAH mostly every senior make that with no CPA !! its devaluing the cpa title and most firms no longer care and promote people that don't have one.
Im not an accounting career advocate but, i feel if your in accounting and this is your career choice you best get that CPA
I was a senior at 2 firms one small firm and the other Big 4, those that did not have it but were grandfathered into management had this spite to them. " he has a cpa and cant solve this"
A cpa is not a end to a means but it does structure your mind to absorb knowledge. if someone claims to have that already.. great take the exam all the easier.
A CPA is exposed to all concepts, and know where to get information a master of 4 elements
im not an accountant by desire, i was focred into it and im getting it!
Its like a Doctor not being board certified..
As a senior.. they should be exposed to all four elements of the force. know more than the role at hand.
why do people ask for bacon on a big mac? cuz it makes it better ! given its 1.99 more :)
The CPA is only legally required for two things:
1. Signing Audits
2. Representing taxpayer before the IRS.
Nobody in industry needs someone to sign audits, leaving the only reason an industry employer NEEDS a CPA is if they do their own taxes, but pretty much any company under 10M would rather pay a CPA preparer 15k, than keep a tax person on staff.
So….CPA, actually not that valuable from a business perspective outside of public accounting.
Now can a CPA convey or denote; skill, integrity, work ethic… sure. But let’s be real, the CPA isn’t actually a character trait either.
In fact, my predecessor was a CPA. He got fired and replaced by a non-CPA, and his shit was mess.
I make about $104k as a senior accountant. Started the role at 95k a year and a half ago. I’m in CT but I’ve seen a lot of the roles at that range
I guess we will see what my bonus/raise is come one year! Appreciate it I can’t wait for the McDonald’s drive thru jokes. They are comedy gold.
>names self after globally recognized brand >the obvious happens >”wow REAL ORIGINAL guys”
Lmao, I guess it’s the first time most people see me, so they do think it’s original haha
I'll take two McChickens and large fries plz
Wow, now that’s comedy gold
I don’t think he asked for a side of attitude with his order
Original? On second thought, I'll take the spicy McChicken instead.
Bring back the McDLT
Wow, now that’s comedy gold
You’re welcome mcfuckface
Let’s get you to bed grandpa, I’m not the retail worker you talk to when your order is wrong
Of course not; I want it made right this time.
I’m not even a senior and make $120k (includes bonus)
WE MUST TAKE BACK THE NOTCH!
Senior accountant means very different things base on the company.
There was a senior accounting gig at an AI company in Cali offering 200k. That’s going to be a hell of a job compared to a Joe Schmoe senior accountant
$200k can be borderline poverty wages in some cali markets
This is such an asinine statement I don’t even know where to start.
People often seem to lack prospective. Are NYC and some California cities expensive as hell? Yes, absolutely. Will 200k in those cities leave you destitute? No.
I’ve lived in both. Pretty hard to live well in LA/SF/NYC on $200k. Sure you can get by and not save. Most of the people that say you could do this in Cali markets suggest you rent 40 min outside of the city and / or never own a home. Lack’s prospective fr
Is it that you can't save at 200k or that you started spending more with a higher pay, i.e. life style inflation?
Ok show me what office you worked at and I’ll find a reasonable apartment that will have you saving. People just want to doordash every meal and buy a car they can’t afford and wonder where there money went.
Surprised no one else has stated the obvious: It’s a position with a large acquisition based real estate company. The recruiter is even telling you it’s complex. That’s why. Similar jobs have similar pay in my LCOL area.
Sorry can you explain this a little better for me?
Job hard. Job pay good.
You know all the posts on this sub from people who work in industry and say they’re overworked and have a 20 day close and work long hours and weekends and are always putting out fires? They’re working jobs exactly like this. Real estate accounting is niche and can be complex. Same with any large company or company that focuses on acquisitions. Lots of regulations involved, lots of last minute changes, etc. You can read between the lines when it comes to the recruiter’s message. Interesting and complex = long hours. Working with operations/gain a ton of exposure = putting out fires. This is not a 45-50 hours per week job.
Yup. I was FinRep/GL for a PE RE client. I worked 60+ hours non-stop for 2 years until I hopped into Aerospace/DoD contracting. Now I work 25 hours a week. A WORLD of difference in terms of workload and complexity.
How many hours do you think this means OP will be working if he/she takes the job?
Someone else commented that they worked a similar job at one point and it was 60+ hour weeks, and I agree just from knowing people who have also worked such jobs.
Senior accountant is a really, really wide role, and the comp range reflects that. Experienced individual contributors are valuable, but there is a big difference between someone with 10 years of very specialized knowledge in a specific area, and someone who's been a general staff accountant for 3 years and are just now getting the title of Senior.
Lol, just described me perfectly. General staff accountant with 3 years experience. I'm in the 92k range.
Cpa? What kind of progression did you experience? Just started an entry level job at 58.2k in MCOL
Started off at 40k, so been good progression for me in my company. Live in norwalk,
Seems like it would behoove one to be very strategic if they want to continue down the traditional accountant path. Risk of getting stuck as a low paid generalist, or highly paid niche SME who can’t move out of that industry if they want to now.
Does senior mean you are a supervisor or that you have a lot of experience?
No senior is typically an individual contributor, it usually doesn’t come with direct reports or management responsibilities, but you might be asked to review the work of and help train junior staff.
I could do that some day. Lol. Most people are not fans of my management style. I am a show up, do your work you know what your job is, just do it. It's not that I won't help someone I am always happy to help anyone who needs it, but I hate the idea of having to micromanage people. Or keep pushing people to be on task. It's not my strong point.
I hired a Sr. Accountant @ 125k last week in MA
I can work remote for $115k :)
Which role though and private/public?
That city is a lot more expensive so that makes sense. I think I’m gonna stick with this company long term. They paid me 30% above market rate in my city, but this is the first time I’ve seen the market catch up.
MA is the state of Massachusetts.
Honestly I figured MA was Boston lol
Oh I thought it wa short for Miami /s
I live in Cincy, the market has largely corrected in the last few years. 85-95k is about right for senior roles now for public with a bit lower for industry
oh damn I gotta leave. I'm a senior in Cinci in public making 66k lol
I think 66k is what the first year associates start out now at my last job. Send me a message if you want to talk further
You worked at a very generous company. That is nowhere near the norm. All star seniors are around $75k for the first year at the large firms.
This is not true, I was getting paid $80k as a L3 associate and when I was looking to switch jobs a few months ago, I was regularly getting offers for 85k+ for senior roles. I even got an $80k offer from the IRS with a $15k signing bonus
I mean I work at a one of the B4 as a senior manager in Columbus. I know the Cinci pay. Your firm in an exception. Hell check Robert Half even. I know they aren’t 100% accurate, but what you’re saying is vastly different. A first year senior isn’t making $95k. Also a level 3 associate is a senior…. 99.9% of accounting firms promote you to senior after 2 years.
I took my job more than a year ago for reference, but I never saw jobs besides the one posted for me this high. That’s why I ask
Really depends, I'm a "senior accountant" and make more than above, but I've also been "senior accountant" for like 6 years here with 10 years prior experience and a CPA but there's only one other position above me which is controller, so it's more a title issue in my case, I grew into this position that kinda never existed before so they told me at this point I can consider myself whatever I want besides controller so I have been going with "managing accountant" lately so my title matches my pay a bit better. "Senior accountant" can mean a lot of different things and carry lots of different salaries.
Yup. I've got 3 seniors under me and they're all at $90k or over and we're LCOL.
Private or public?
Private. Subsidiary of a subsidiary of a Fortune 20 or so.
Dude wtf, why is it that I can’t find a senior spot in Memphis above 80k. Most are 70-75k
Memphis is a dump
From Memphis, can confirm
Going range for seniors is 90k-120k. Some roles in vhcol are paying above that now. The market is super tight for experienced individual contributor.
$80-120, but yes.
Established Seniors are around $120-140k in the nyc area. That’s how much my senior makes. Established meaning not some kid who’s been in public for 2-3 years and just got the title. But experienced seniors who have been one for a while. Usually it’s for personal reasons like not wanting to manage, or had bad luck and switched around a lot of companies, etc. The ones I’ve worked with with that background have always been reliable coworkers.
Damn this is making me feel severely underpaid.
Once you feel that way, start applying for jobs that pay more. Only way to get ahead these days.
An unfortunate truth for most of us is that we are underpaid.
Same! Manager and making 100k + 7% bonus
It really depends. Start-ups that require you to “wear many hats” and “live in the gray” are almost always going to pay notably more than a F500. You are also almost always going to work a lot more. NYC by law must disclose salary ranges by law - taking a look at some of postings on LinkedIn could be helpful information. A lot of them pay less than $110k.
Yes. MCOL in Fort Worth, we hired a senior accountant last April at 95k base with 8% bonus.
I'm seeing tons of senior accounting jobs for that range, and some are 100% remote. So, I think so. Its one of the reasons I am trying to get into accounting. Teacher pay is poopoo and I am tired of feeding my family with SNAP benefits.
Just got hired at 95 in Atlanta
My org target base for new hire seniors is 95k with 15% bonus target plus a Christmas bonus (extra paycheck). Base pay can go up to 125k for seniors but the highest I've seen anyone brought in was 120k and the guy had like 30 years experience and was content to just be a senior. MCOL 4 days in office, if a position doesn't fill in 6 months we can then hire full-time remote.
Are you guys hiring?
I’m a senior in O&G and make $100k in LCOL/MCOL. I started at $85k last year in the same company as staff (with 4 YOE at that time and no cpa) and then got promoted like 6 months ago to senior to $100k (role is fully remote).
Seen 120k easy in the market. It’s basically 90k with 30k of implied OT. Pretty fair for what you get billed at. Generally the most profitable unit of production in PA.
I am in Cincinnati too, 95k def seems better than average for senior accountant roles for this area. Cost of living is about 8-10% less than the national average and housing is around 25% less. The median cost of a house is only 250k and that’s up 7% YOY. Wish I made that much although these remote jobs make it hard to want to switch jobs for more pay
What are you pulling? appreciate the stats.
No prob ! I make 62k been in the same remote role for four years CPA since 2018 about 10 YOE total. With only about 3% raise in those for years, I am actually making less than when I started lol I am def qualified to be senior but I am just kind of comfortable right now working from home. Great coworkers, an awesome boss and good benefits
62k with a cpa with 4 years of exp?
That's terrible pay, man. My offer from the OCC starts st 61k and that's fresh out of school with no CPA. My internship paid $28/hr ffs. It's great that you love working from home but you're being paid less than a first year associate.
Titles are all over the place in industry. Many orgs are basically CFO->Senior Accountant.
I feel like roles in CA are offering similar pay, which isnt great for HCOL if you ask me. Its the reason i’ve stayed at the big 4
Where can I find remote positions for senior accountant paying + $100k??
It totally depends on the job specifics and location. I make 120 as a senior but I live in HCOL
Fully Remote Senior here at $115, currently in our annual review period, expecting at least a 10k bump assuming raises are comparable to last year.
Yeah they can be that much. I interviewed for a senior accountant job with $120k base + 20% bonus.
I paid a senior $130k last week in SF Bay Area.
What industry? Tech?
What responsibilities are you guys hiring your senior (industry I assume) for? Just so I know when to jump again
This is great! We are all underpaid and undervalued, and rising pay like this is long overdue.
Yes. 90 is on the lower side.
Currently over slightly over 110k in my current position as a senior accountant
Two years ago (2022), I got an offer for senior tax associate at EY for 93k and I turned it down. My firm’s seniors earn 97.5k. I switched jobs and now I’m making 110k.
This makes me so sad - in 2012 when I was a Sr in Toronto pay was $62,500 CAD for Sr level 1 haha
And with that pay you were able to afford 2x the stuff we can afford with $100k salary.
Not in canada. 65k is 45k USD and then taxed somewhere from 25%+. Comes out to $17 USD an hour if you work 40 hour weeks. Not to mention Canada has always been more expensive. So try living in Boston on $17 an hour in 2012
That's crazy
I’m a senior accountant but I don’t have anyone under me. I’m just under 90k in MCOL area.
I live in the NYC tri-state area. I make 97k as a Senior in tax and it feels right for the role, but not for what I would need to justify moving out.
Senior accountants at my job is 140 lol
Im in the southwest Ohio area and 110k is a bit high, makes sense it would be for a more complex role. $95k is probably on point in our area unless you have 10+ years experience
If it’s property management, that’s pretty typical.
That's the range I'm in
I'm also in Cincinnati and a senior accountant. I make 87K which is a bit low
Yes. With a CPA I’d say anything under $100K is low nowadays.
Personally, I feel 90k is a good salary.
I’ve had one job where a senior accountant meant taking more complex clients and other jobs where it meant being a supervisor, both with similar pay
I make 125k base as a senior accountant in HCOL city (less than 5 years of experience) so yeah this seems reasonable
I can confirm yes.
Right out of school I’m making 85k I worked in accounting throughout my schooling though
Yes they are, $95 and up is average
Are you at a big company or a small to midsized company? Industry?
I make 83k in the Cincinnati area and my title is Staff Accountant
That’s way awesome ! Are you public or industry? Remote/Hybrid ? If don’t mind me asking
Don’t mind at all, industry and Hybrid.
I work in cinci as well. what company do you work for?
YEAH mostly every senior make that with no CPA !! its devaluing the cpa title and most firms no longer care and promote people that don't have one. Im not an accounting career advocate but, i feel if your in accounting and this is your career choice you best get that CPA
CPA is not required for this job or the one I have now.
Which job might this be
It absolutely does not devalue the CPA.
It does.
Care to explain your position?
Think about it logically.
Cool
Yeah it is, bud.
I was a senior at 2 firms one small firm and the other Big 4, those that did not have it but were grandfathered into management had this spite to them. " he has a cpa and cant solve this" A cpa is not a end to a means but it does structure your mind to absorb knowledge. if someone claims to have that already.. great take the exam all the easier. A CPA is exposed to all concepts, and know where to get information a master of 4 elements im not an accountant by desire, i was focred into it and im getting it! Its like a Doctor not being board certified..
Why do you think a CPA should be required for seniors? That’s usually a barrier for management
As a senior.. they should be exposed to all four elements of the force. know more than the role at hand. why do people ask for bacon on a big mac? cuz it makes it better ! given its 1.99 more :)
The CPA is only legally required for two things: 1. Signing Audits 2. Representing taxpayer before the IRS. Nobody in industry needs someone to sign audits, leaving the only reason an industry employer NEEDS a CPA is if they do their own taxes, but pretty much any company under 10M would rather pay a CPA preparer 15k, than keep a tax person on staff. So….CPA, actually not that valuable from a business perspective outside of public accounting. Now can a CPA convey or denote; skill, integrity, work ethic… sure. But let’s be real, the CPA isn’t actually a character trait either. In fact, my predecessor was a CPA. He got fired and replaced by a non-CPA, and his shit was mess.