Accountingfly’s Post

Equity partners in public accounting firms now earn an average of $839,000 a year, a massive jump from $621,000 in 2019. Meanwhile, staff salaries have 𝙙𝙚𝙘𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙙 when adjusted for inflation. 🤨 On a recent episode of The Accounting Podcast, I took a deep dive into the latest salary data, and the disparity between partner and staff pay increases is staggering. Since 2020, staff pay has gone up by 15.7%, but partners have enjoyed a whopping 29.2% boost. When you factor in the 18.86% cumulative inflation rate over the same period, staff salaries have effectively decreased. It's no wonder retention is such a challenge in our industry. Non-equity partners, despite sharing the same title, are making far less at an average of $307,000. And managing partners? They're pulling in $1.7 million, up from $1.2 million just four years ago. As my co-host David Leary pointed out, the promise of partnership is often used as a carrot to attract talent, but the reality is that fewer than 1% of those who enter public accounting will reach that level. Sure, the money at the top sounds great, but at what personal cost? Partners are working longer hours than anyone else in the firm. Call me crazy, but I value my time more than a fat paycheck. 💸 If we want to keep talented professionals in accounting, we need to take a hard look at how we compensate our staff and ensure that their salaries are not only competitive but also keep up with the rising cost of living. #CPA #accounting