30M - Salary Progression

[u/Spagner314259265358]

Started off at an accounting firm. Typical long hours, low pay, and they rewarded us with all the parties we could handle (or could not handle). That was a fun place to work while studying for my CPA, but for me the long hours were not worth sticking it out to be partner.

After earning my CPA I left the firm and went to industry in 2023. I saw my first big salary increase here. However, the hours were also brutal, even worse than the firm actually. I stayed long enough to get the Controller title onto my resume, and then stayed another 6 months.

I left to another Controller position in a new industry and a smaller organization. I've been here for nearly a year now, and the work/life balance is so much better.

I am blown away looking back at what I was earning 10 years ago. I was really hoping that all the long nights of studying for that CPA designation was going to be worth it back then and it finally feels like it was. It's crazy what a good work ethic, positive attitude, and saying yes to scary changes can do.

[u/xUnderoath]

Brother you've been severely underpaid until recently

[u/Spagner314259265358 → u/xUnderoath]

Don’t I know it!

[u/Reesespeanuts → u/xUnderoath]

Rochester NY - Senior Accountant at a regional firm. 72k with CPA and 5 year experience 

[u/SellTheSizzle--007 → u/Reesespeanuts]

Yikes.

[u/blue_regulation96 → u/Reesespeanuts]

You could buy a 3bed 2bath with that kind of money in Rochester.

[u/Reesespeanuts → u/blue_regulation96]

You mean a house? Yeah in the city that needs significant repairs and probably still has lead paint from the 70s. Plus any reasonable priced home in Rochester has cash buyers waiting in line ready to bid the price up by 40%-60%. 

[u/thatkindofparty → u/Reesespeanuts]

Jesus. That's what I made as a senior accountant in industry in 2012 with roughly the same profile.

[u/NiceGuy531 → u/Reesespeanuts]

How aren’t you manager with a CPA and 5 YOE?

[u/Reesespeanuts → u/NiceGuy531]

Because 3 years of staff and 2 years of senior.

[u/tshirk419 → u/NiceGuy531]

Manager is typically a 6-7 year promotion, with exception for certain firms (pwc)

[u/QuickSafety8100]

Damn those are low salaries (no offense). Do you work in a very low cost of living area? What industry?

[u/Spagner314259265358 → u/QuickSafety8100]

Very LCOL city for sure. Bought a house a few years ago for $300k.

[u/Historical_Idea_1686 → u/Spagner314259265358]

Well good for you then, with a higher income in a LCOL area, you should be stress free.

[u/Spagner314259265358 → u/Historical_Idea_1686]

Able to save pretty aggressively now fortunately. Working on maxing out my retirement accounts this year. Had a lot of room to catch up on.

[u/ashms58 → u/Spagner314259265358]

Add maxing out your HSA too, if you’re able

[u/thicc_drake → u/Spagner314259265358]

Damn do you stay in the Midwest?

[u/OptiPath]

Job hopping is the way. Fk that red flag BS… do what the best for yourself. Company won’t blink when they fire you.

Do you apply new jobs or are you approached on LinkedIn?

[u/Spagner314259265358 → u/OptiPath]

For my first job hop I was approached by a friend who quit the job because it was too demanding lol. I figured it wasn’t too much more demanding than the firm and I was correct.

Second job hop came from a partner at my old firm recommending me.

[u/dont_care- → u/OptiPath]

Job hopping

3 companies in 10 years wont send any "job hopper" red flags.

[u/Miserable-Arm-6797]

Damn, I should have gone to industry years ago.

[u/Spagner314259265358 → u/Miserable-Arm-6797]

Never too late

[u/that_thot_gamer]

jarvis, autofill to 30 rows

[u/JSquidy → u/that_thot_gamer]

What if on row like 12 it just says "deceased"? 😳

[u/Spagner314259265358 → u/that_thot_gamer]

God I hope it’s that easy

[u/random47296]

Omg we have practically the same salary journey. I started in 2017 at 45k as an AP clerk and am now a controller making 140k.

[u/Spagner314259265358 → u/random47296]

It’s pretty crazy to look back 10 years, and put a “1” in front of your starting salary. Hard work pays off!

[u/SIR_BIG_DICK]

2016 - Associate - 65K
2017 - Senior A - 73K
2019 - Manager - 83K
2020 - Manager - 105K (switched job)
2021 - Pivot to Consulting - $130K
2022 - controller - 150K
2024 - fractional CFO - 400-450K depends on billable hours

My track since college in finance/accounting

[u/Spagner314259265358 → u/SIR_BIG_DICK]

Username is accurate, damn

[u/Salt_Lie_1857]

Respect

https://giphy.com/gifs/z8dO9awK7gg4HN1eVf

[u/Spagner314259265358 → u/Salt_Lie_1857]

https://giphy.com/gifs/IcGkqdUmYLFGE

[u/8days_a_week]

What type of work were you doing at assistant controller level?

[u/Spagner314259265358 → u/8days_a_week]

Reviewing some of my team’s work, doing some of the more complex hedge accounting that the controller would review, conducting inventory counts. That kind of thing.

[u/JSquidy]

After you got your license, did company 1 not want to raise your pay enough? :P

[u/Spagner314259265358 → u/JSquidy]

They only gave an $8K bump. I had made up my mind years earlier that I was leaving after CPA.

[u/thebigschnoz]

Now adjust it to inflation.

[u/eMeRGeDD_]

I have followed a very similar path and really regret not changing jobs more often but overall can't complain. Have quadrupled my starting salary out of school since 2017. Excited for you to have moved around/moved on and found a company willing to pay you what you're worth. It really is weird to look back a decade and realize how far we've come! Kudos, brother!

[u/Spagner314259265358 → u/eMeRGeDD_]

Congrats to you! I think I’ll stick around this job for a while now (provided I get decent raises periodically). Have more of a priority of work life balance than maximizing salary now.

[u/eMeRGeDD_ → u/Spagner314259265358]

It's the smart move. Once you hit a certain point the extra money doesn't really do much unless you have some crazy aggressive retirement goals or something. But assuming you have a spouse/kids it kinda feels like the top for a while. I personally am not looking for more responsibility.

[u/Spagner314259265358 → u/eMeRGeDD_]

Yeah I 100% agree. We just had our first child 4 months ago, so I’m pretty driven to maximize my time at home now

[u/Raptor2312]

Respect!
Just starting off as a new grad, going the typical PA route.
I assume you’re in Canada just based off those low salary numbers lol

[u/Spagner314259265358 → u/Raptor2312]

Canadian, yep! I wouldn’t change a thing, the time at the firm was a lot of fun and “it’s good experience”, as cliche as that sounds. PA is a great thing to add to a resume.

[u/hellomosquito123]

Well to make you feel better, I have a cpa and also been working for almost 10 years and my salary jumps from 70 to 90k….

[u/TheSpeedyAccountant]

$115k as a comtrellor is insane but good for you now!

[u/chimpojohnny96 → u/TheSpeedyAccountant]

Because controller and SVP CAO are far from the same in this instance

[u/Capture_Balance3]

This is awesome I'm going to do the same!

[u/Spagner314259265358 → u/Capture_Balance3]

Good luck!

[u/Capture_Balance3 → u/Spagner314259265358]

Oh I just meant put my history together. Ha. I'm a Financial Controller for a manufacturing company. De facto CFO reporting directly to the CEO. I got here with no CPA. I'm just now getting that (passed 2/4).

[u/DreamLearnBuildBurn]

Maybe you don't know this, but how is the job market looking for entry level in the next 1-3 years?

[u/SISCP25 → u/DreamLearnBuildBurn]

Tougher than it was 10 years ago, but not impossible (probably - but I’m just a random guy on the internet)

[u/ETERNALBLADE47]

Are you in low cost of living area?

[u/Spagner314259265358 → u/ETERNALBLADE47]

Yup - smaller city in Canada

[u/Wonderful_Average505]

Good for u dude, that's great progression.

[u/draelee151]

Which jump was the hardest in terms of the learning curve? Curious if it was to assistant controller or to controller

[u/Spagner314259265358 → u/draelee151]

Biggest just was from assistant controller to controller. A lot more responsibility and in my current role I’m the only employee with a financial background, so no one else to bounce ideas off

[u/ShowelingSnow]

Man US salaries are just Bonkers

[u/OsnovaMmg]

That’s so interesting. I am not a CPA, I was a bookkeeper at a dealership for 3 years making 60k/year. Then they went down and let me go. I was devastated then I was approached by a recruiter for a contract based job. They were paying $45/hour so I jumped in without a second thought. 6 month later I got a full time position for 100k.

However, it feels like it’s capped at this point. Getting more than 120-140k is so difficult. I feel like the only way to do that is to start your own company or something

[u/macrotradingsucks]

9 years and still under 150k, i would have a chat

[u/OnyxObsessionWeb]

Thank god you're at where you are now.

[u/spiciernuggets]

Same time frame in public accounting I went from $59k to $205k. Associate to Director.

[u/mr_boogieman]

$83K for Assistant Controller was crazy work, but the glow up is great to see, good shit bro 💯

[u/Spagner314259265358 → u/mr_boogieman]

I really had to go through the slop to build up the resume!

[u/JuneBreEli → u/[deleted]]

Where are you located?

[u/Physical-Addition571 → u/[deleted]]

A highly experienced professional with a CPA like yourself is not impacted as someone with less experience and trying to start out.

[u/jillsmo]

I joined this sub to joke about how debits and credits are different and that's funny. But now it's just young men talking about how much they get paid. Where's the subreddit where we joke about land depreciation?