Big four salary progression? Forum

[joshf126126]

Hi all,

I just received a job offer from a big four firm for a position within their international tax team in NYC. Starting salary 145k plus bonus. I was wondering what is the usual salary progression at big four? My tax LLM director told us that big four attorneys eventually catch up with big law associates, but he didn’t provide any figures.

Do you guys have any idea on what could be, say, the salary for a 5th year tax lawyer at big four in a major city?

Thanks

[CanadianWolf]

Focus your inquiry on New York City as NYC pays the highest.

FWIW By your fifth year, you should have had multiple opportunities to move over to biglaw if dissatisfied at your Big 4 accounting firm.

In the past, TLS posters have indicated that NYC Big 4 tax attorneys are earning a base salary of $200,000 or so in the fourth year. I cannot verify or dispute this assertion. Typical pay raises & typical bonuses are 6% and 6%. But, this does not include any pay raise due to promotion from Senior Associate to Manager.

Work in the Washington DC National Tax offices & in NYC and some other offices (depending on the client) can be cutting edge & very research & writing oriented--especially in the Wash DC National Tax offices. The work is much more intellectually stimulating than the work for a biglaw associate.

Job security is a primary benefit of Big 4 employment for one with your educational background.

With a signing bonus of $15,000 and base pay of $145,000 and a year end $9,000 bonus = $169,000 for your first year. Since there is no signing (sign on) bonus after one's first year, probably safe to assume that second year pay will be equal to total compensation received in the first year. Many receive a promotion to Manager after 3 years.

While $169,000 is not great compensation for one living in high cost NYC, the training & exposure is excellent.

Typically, the best departments in terms of compensation & attractiveness to biglaw are M&A Tax as well as International Tax.

Do you hold an NYU LLM or a Georgetown LLM degree in taxation ?

[joshf126126]

Focus your inquiry on New York City as NYC pays the highest.

FWIW By your fifth year, you should have had multiple opportunities to move over to biglaw if dissatisfied at your Big 4 accounting firm.

In the past, TLS posters have indicated that NYC Big 4 tax attorneys are earning a base salary of $200,000 or so in the fourth year. I cannot verify or dispute this assertion. Typical pay raises & typical bonuses are 6% and 6%. But, this does not include any pay raise due to promotion from Senior Associate to Manager.

Work in the Washington DC National Tax offices & in NYC and some other offices (depending on the client) can be cutting edge & very research & writing oriented--especially in the Wash DC National Tax offices. The work is much more intellectually stimulating than the work for a biglaw associate.

Job security is a primary benefit of Big 4 employment for one with your educational background.

With a signing bonus of $15,000 and base pay of $145,000 and a year end $9,000 bonus = $169,000 for your first year. Since there is no signing (sign on) bonus after one's first year, probably safe to assume that second year pay will be equal to total compensation received in the first year. Many receive a promotion to Manager after 3 years.

While $169,000 is not great compensation for one living in high cost NYC, the training & exposure is excellent.

Typically, the best departments in terms of compensation & attractiveness to biglaw are M&A Tax as well as International Tax.

Do you hold an NYU LLM or a Georgetown LLM degree in taxation ?

Hi CanadianWolf!!

Thanks a lot for your answer. Unfortunately as a new user I cant reply to your PM but I dont mind sharing that info here.

I expect to graduate from NYU top of my class but I am an international student not legally authorized to work in the US. I got a couple of offers from big law but Im going for this big four firm as it is the easiest way to get a work visa (I´ve worked for them in the past so the paperwork is easier and not subject to the H1B visa cap).

Also, I have 6 years of international experience in Europe, in both big four and big law, but getting a JD in Europe is significantly faster and cheaper than in the US. Expect to pass the NY bar exam in February.

[CanadianWolf]

Salary progression at Big 4 firms becomes less clear as one progresses due to the wide salary band encountered at the level of Senior Manager. Also, there do not appear to be set standards for promotion to Senior Manager from Manager.

Because of your prior work experience with biglaw & Big 4 firms, you may be promoted to Manager a year earlier than the typical 3 years. This, of course, will affect your compensation in a positive manner.

Big 4 employment should be attractive to you as it gives one the opportunity to work on several different continents if desired by the employee. Biglaw is more restricted in opportunities abroad to the best of my understanding.

As you should know, Biglaw pays significantly more than Big 4 during one's early years. Hard to give a set answer as to how many years before compensation is almost equal. I do know that a healthy number of biglaw partners leave biglaw to become a partner or principal at Big 4 firms in Washington DC. You should be able to research the backgrounds of the Big 4 partners in the New York City offices to determine whether or not this also occurs often in NYC Big 4 offices.

In short, there is no clear answer to your question as Big 4 compensation becomes more muddled as one progresses up the professional ladder.

Are you willing to share what type of work you did for biglaw & Big 4 prior to pursuing your LLM degree in taxation ?

Correct me if I am wrong, but my understanding is that accountants / CPAs may share office space & earnings with lawyers in Europe. In the US, only the Wash DC bar would permit such arrangements.

If I send you a PM, you can respond via return PM even though you have not yet met the required threshold for PM privileges (15 posts).

[CanadianWolf]

Posting to clarify the second to last paragraph above: The sharing of "law office" space & the sharing of profits & earnings from legal fees is only allowed in Wash DC in the US.

Attorneys & accountants / CPAs can & do share "accounting office space" & "accounting fees & profits" in all US jurisdictions, but may not bill for "legal fees".