Pay margin from associate to senior level flatlines
The pay margin between associates and seniors in accounting firms in North America is flatlining, according to new data from Distinct.
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In New York, one of the highest-paying markets for public accounting, salaries barely increased 3% when making the jump from associate ($105,106) to senior ($108,084). In Ontario, salaries similarly only increased 4% from associate ($59,311) to senior ($61,839).
Meanwhile, earnings begin to accelerate significantly at the manager level with a $20,000 to $40,000 increase, with Connecticut ($146,933), Virginia ($140,322) and New York ($138,679) leading the dataset. This likely reflects managers’ increased value at firms as offshoring and technology like artificial intelligence take over more compliance work, making skills like reviewing, managing client relationships and bringing in business a premium.
Across all firm sizes, associate salaries averaged between $81,000 and $85,000, suggesting that firm size has a smaller impact on starting pay than some accountants may expect. However, this gap widens as careers progress, particularly at partner level where they average over $207,000 while boutique and mid-size firms average nearly $190,000, according to the data.
“The assumption is often that joining a larger firm automatically means a significantly higher salary,” Arran Jaiswal, director at Distinct, said in a statement. “Our data suggests that’s becoming less true. Early-career salaries are increasingly standardized across the market.”
Distinct is a recruiting agency focused on public accounting and legal sectors. It analyzed over 400 placements across North America across boutique, midsize and Top 200 CPA firms.
