To ask for your salary (Tax at Big 4)

[Taxchick]

Hello everyone ,

I'm a regular that's name changed because I've started this topic with friends in the same position and don't want to be identified by my usual name.

I have reached the final stage of two Big 4 companies (for corporate tax) and I am really curious about salary I can expect. All the information I have access to is old or contradictory and thought I'd ask here. I realise most people here won't be at graduate level but I'm also interested in senior level salaries as that's obviously an important factor.

I'm reluctant to mention the two companies so am open to hearing about all Big 4 companies.

Everyone can share if they wish, but am particularly interested in that field.

Thanks !

Also - are you on mumsnet because you have children or are planning them soon?

Because CTA is not compatible with maternity, small children or really much of a personal life at all. You won't find many graduate scheme people here for that reason. Generally people put off having children until they make manager.

Agree, I made manager then had my first child :)

Oh thankyou for that information. Circumstabces have changed since I joined but was planning on waiting 7 years like originally planned anyway.

Thankyou so much for all this advice.

Be careful not to refer to your prospective employer as a "company" at interview. Big 4 accountants are partnerships so referred to as firms.

I've worked for 2 of the big 4 in tax (although not corporate) both regionally and in London. Cannot agree more with making manager pre kids or that culture is really really important. Again as others have said, salaries are benchmarked and bonuses in grad schemes seem to fixed so if you are choosing between the 2 please do consider the people fit and exam policy.

As a regional office, a really important thing for us is partner presence as it can be lacking unless you are a bigger regional team (Reading for example). Makes a difference to leadership and presence which in turn impacts ability to progress. Find out where your partners are!

I am regional SM, around 65k full time. Agree with some of the others on having a baby...in fact I didn't have a baby until I was SM as it does tend to stall your career slightly. Think our regional grads start on maybe 21 or 22k. I started on 19k 9 years ago.

I think, though don't know for sure, that our guys in St Albans are on slightly more money than the more northern regions.

Battery - I had a child, then did CTA. It's possible with a supportive spouse. Not through the grad route though, so can't comment on that.

Our bandings are worked out dependant on how close to London you are - so think Reading on 90% London, Birmingham on 80% kind of thing so a grad in Luton would be earning a few k more than a grad in Leeds but not as much as London. Again that was the same in both firms I worked in

I still bear the scars of trying to add CTA a few years ago alongside my FD job. In the end, I was happy to drop down slightly to ATT alongside my accountancy quals.

Pass rates on CTA are low - came as a shock, I can tell you, after never really struggling with exams before. Especially having family this time around.

Studying alongside work is best done early on, prior to children, in my view.

Thankyou everyone for all the information you provided. I've since had both final interviews and have been offered one (still waiting to hear back from the other).

As a lot of people emphasised the importance of culture and exams, I've decided to say the firms, so I can hopefully received tailored advice and make an informed choice(assuming I receive the other offer, though I am confident).

I received an offer from Deloitte and I am waiting to hear back from PWC. These are both regional offices (commuter town into London).

Deloitte offers ACA/CTA combined - initially I thought this was great, but a couple of PPs have mentioned that CTA is quite difficult to pass.
PWC offfers ACA only.

I am currently trying to research whether they allow exam re-sits or not (forgot to ask in the interviews!)

Thankyou all for your help!

I'd be surprised if you get £28k starting salary outside London TBH. 22k is more what I'd expect. In my first few years I got quite generous pay increases and good exam bonuses as I progressed. I'm not PWC or Deloitte though, so don't know how they structure it. I did a dual qualification and CTA was bloody hard work so be prepared if you choose that route!

I've sent you a PM.

5 years ago, Edinburgh, big 4 accountancy (PWC) was £21.5k graduate starting salary. Big4 actuarial consulting (Deloitte) was £28k. AFAIK they haven't moved much.

£28k is reasonable. 8 years ago I got £26k in London audit and I though tax normally pays (marginally) more at the start. There wasn't much of a bonus really.

Thankyou for your replies - I think it will be £24-26k without much variance between the two. It's mostly the culture I am now concerned with, if anyone has any advice.

Sticker I'all have a look, thankyou

8 or 9 years ago graduate starting salary at PWC was 19k I think. Although two friends, one got less, I think it was 16k, and one got 21k, IIRC. No idea what the criteria was for the wage difference, was shocked to hear friend 1 was so low at first. All the same degrees from the same place too.

This was Glasgow. I don't think they've gone up that much since then.

Exam-wise, people who failed one really did think they'd get fired. But not all did actually lose their job in the end.

Culture...hmm. I was in the consulting side so a little different but my experience was that the culture can be pretty brutal at times.

My personal experience, being a little older than the average grad, was that the initial grad induction stuff was bloody painful as it made an assumption that you'd never worked before (think lessons on shaking hands..) The culture once you are there can be difficult but it depends hugely on the partners you are working for and on what work is around, but there is pressure over billable hours which can be tricky when you are junior as it is, to a certain extent, outwith your control. Long hours are often expected especially at busy periods, and appraisal/promotion time borders on dog-eat-dog; how you do will depend a lot on who your appraiser is, how they are regarded and whether they will go to bat for you.

Are you doing ACA or the tax qualification? if you fail the first set of exams you will be fired in London, not sure what it's like in the regional offices.
Having an intake is great for support though, it's a bit like a uni extension when you are at college and are on internal training courses.

MrsGB I will be doing both - it's the ACA and CTA together.

Statistically I can imagine that being annoying for someone with previous experience !

Thankyou for your responses- they're all very helpful .

I worked for a mid tier firm - my starting salary in 2001 was c £19,000 I think in London.

I know a bit about PwC training through my job now - for ACA people can fail exams and still keep a job although I don't know how many failures you are allowed.

I was 5 months pregnant when I sat my final exam. Probably wrecked my career somewhat having children pre qualification. Also didn't help that I worked in a very male dominated office where being female was definitely a barrier to succeeding....

I'm a manager (consulting) in the big 4, started off on a big 4 grad scheme 5 years ago, consulting salaries (london) are:

Analyst / grad: £32,500
Senior analyst: £34,000
Senior consultant: £54,000 - £65,000 (inc benefits)
Manager: £72,000-£84,000 (inc benefits)
SM: £94,000-£120,000 (as above)

I've moved across big 4 two years into my career, did more good and no harm. They do largely benchmark against one another and so there's little difference. All of the service lines (tax, consulting etc) tend to be in the same brackets but as others have said, the brackets are v big and people vary amongst each other.