Making Manager/Sr Manager at Big 4 Firm vs CFA®

Hey I have a question thats very important in helping me determine my career options..how long does it take to make Manager at a Big 4 accounting firm and how long does it take to make senior manager. How much does an accounting manager and senior manager hope to earn. Also what are the opportunities one has after working for a big 4 firm for 5-7 years in terms of finding a job that pays about 150K and shorter working hours.

Thank you for your time!!

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Best Response

At a big 4 it should take you about 5 years to become a Manager. You start off as an associate and after 2 years you should become a senior associate (1.5 years if you are a top performer). Then you can expect to become manager after another 3 years (maybe 4, again depends on your performance and sometimes just luck).

Managers will on average make around 125K (advisory group, subtract about 10-15K for tax and audit) and they can definitely make up to 150K. Bonuses can run around 10-20K depending on performance.

Senior manager might take you a while longer, I would say another 2-3 years. They make closer to 150K bonuses closer to 15-25K. I would say upper salary range of around 200K.

I have friends that made director after 9 years. So it is possible to move up quickly, but again a lot of it can depend on luck.

Hope this helps.

 

I dunno. My Dad made partner in eight years at one of the (then) Big 8 firms, though this was back in the early '80s.

He eventually became one of the managing partners and today is nationally recognized as an expert on derivatives taxation. That said, it's a comfortable upper-middle class life, but you'll never make as much money in accounting as you will in banking. You'll also age a lot slower and have more free time, so there's a trade-off.

At most Big Four firms, you can graduate from some school like UW Milwaukee, DePaul, or UIUC and eventually make managing partner. It would be harder to pull off the equivalent in banking (though it wouldn't be harder on the trading side.)

 

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