Last week we posted that the average annual compensation of equity partners who work in the top 100 public accounting firms in the U.S. (excluding the Big 4), as ranked by INSIDE Public Accounting, was $682,000, according to IPA’s latest practice management survey.
For context, those firms range from RSM US ($2.7 billion of revenue) at No. 5 to Wiss & Co. ($43.7 million of revenue) at No. 100.
But we have some new equity partner compensation numbers to share with you guys today, as IPA just released its 30th annual National Practice Management Benchmarking Report.
The report will set you back $889 for a PDF version and $1,099 for a print version, which is too rich for TPTB’s blood around GC headquarters. But thankfully, IPA provided some highlights of the report free of charge.
This time, IPA provided the average annual compensation of equity partners from more than 500 public accounting firms (other than the Big 4) in the U.S. And that amount, as the title of this post indicates, is $502,417, up $6,500 from last year. But that varies significantly based on firm size, obviously.
Here are some other highlights from IPA’s latest benchmarking report:
- The average billing rate for equity partners is $376 for all participating firms, up slightly from the average last year. Partner rates now exceed $500 for the largest ($150+ million) firms. Rates are highest in the Northeast ($396) and in the West ($395).
- At 28.4%, net income as a percentage of net revenue continues to drop, and organic growth averaged 6.1% for all non-Big 4 firms.
- Overall, average equity partner compensation for all non-Big 4 firms is up $6,500 from last year, now at $502,417, but that varies significantly based on firm size. Professional staff compensation remains steady at an average of $83,014.
- Staff turnover inched up again this reporting year – to an average of 13.7% across all firms – with increases seen in every region of the country. While the largest firms saw turnover remain steady, the largest increase in turnover percentage comes from firms in the $10 million to $30 million range.
- Revenue per full-time equivalent (FTE) (including partners, professional staff and administrative staff) now exceeds $225,000 in 18% of reporting firms. As has been the case for many years, this year revenue per FTE is higher in the Northeast than the Great Lakes region by $18,500.
Does this make those of you who constantly say to yourself, “I don’t get paid enough for this shit” feel any better?
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