It’s almost bonus time, baby!


The sun is shining, the birds are chirping, our ears are all still ringing from the fireworks. Does it get any better than this? Well it does, and bonuses are a key contributor for many, so that’s the topic of this newsletter update.



Let’s jump right in, shall we?


The first chart on bonuses is organized by experience level and by size of firm. At the lower levels, firms outside of the top 20 paid the highest bonus percentages, but at the manager/senior manager levels, the Big 4 firms had the highest bonus percentages.

At the partner level, the sample size was low with only 13 responses, so I’m sharing them below with the caveat that they could be slightly skewed.




And now, a word from our Sponsor, Float!


A special shoutout to this newsletter's sponsor Float who is not only sponsoring this newsletter but also helping out the accounting team at the company I work for. Dealing with expense reports used to be a huge hassle for the team, but we switched to Float recently and it's making all the difference.

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The war of the service lines

So, which service lines pay the best bonuses? Well, the winners were pretty clear cut across all levels, and the ranking is as follows:

  1. Consulting
  2. Financial Advisory
  3. Risk and Tax pretty well tied for third
  4. Audit


At the analyst level, average consulting bonuses came in at $5k compared to audit at $2.5k. The gap remained quite large all the way up to manager level, with consulting bringing in $14k compared to $7.5k in audit.


Accounting can be a tough career to navigate. Community makes it easier.


Before we jump into the job board postings, I’m sharing early access to my Slack community launching next week to help navigate careers in accounting



I’ve teamed up with a few great people in the accounting space and we’re launching a Slack community next week. Early members will help shape this community and the topics we cover, with the overall plan being to discuss career opportunities, entrepreneurship as a CPA, getting through the certification exams and more.


Newsletter subscribers get 50% off using code First50. Check it out here.



And finally, if you’re looking to spice up your career, look no further!


Here are new opportunities on the Big 4 Transparency Job Board:


  • First of all, if you want to be my coworker and are interested in becoming a staff accountant in tech at Rewind (I love it here honestly, would highly recommend) just send me an email at dominic.piscopo@rewind.io and I’ll be happy to chat and refer you for the role. The job posting is not yet live, but check us out here.


  • Turing is hiring a Senior Accounting Manager.
  • Remote, USA
  • $120k-$200k


  • Zeus Living is hiring a Senior Technical Accountant
  • Remote, USA
  • $100k - $115k


  • Deloitte Bermuda is hiring an Audit Senior
  • Relocation to Bermuda funded by the firm
  • $80k + Bonus



  • Dark horse is looking to support CPAs to launch their own practice
  • Remote, USA
  • Earnings uncapped, based on your entrepreneurial success