[G0rilla]

CPA,CA chiming in here, been in the field for about 7 years or so now. Worked public (never again) and jumped to industry.

Salary level wise from what I've seen and heard from other friends and colleagues is quite depressing.

Fresh out of school (BBA), no experience "Junior accountant, staff associate, AP/AR,etc" - $35-45k
BBA No designation (2 to 3 years exp) "staff accountant, intermediate accountant, financial analyst,etc" - $40-50k
BBA (CPA, 2 to 3 years) "same titles as above"- $50-60K
BBA (CPA, 5 years and up) "Senior accountant, Senior Financial Analyst" - $55-65K
BBA (CPA, 5 year<) "Accounting manager, etc" - $65-75k
BBA (CPA, 5 year<) "Controller,etc" - $80k and up

Again, these are pretty ballpark figures, depends heavily on the industry, organization, work dynamics etc. But all in all, it seems that in the general public eye is that accountants make a lot of money, which horribly inaccurate. I think accounting is stable and grants you opportunities, but getting rich is hard. It would take quite a bit of work experience, building relationships in company, networking, etc to help break that $100k mark.

Public practice pay is low, hours are long, working relationships and corporate structure are taxing and demanding. You definitely don't make money working public practice (Big 4, or even a midsize firm) unless you are a partner; which by then probably wont even happen for 90% of people. Basically the only way to make partner is if somebody dies or retires which isn't likely and could take forever. You would have to fight against all the other people trying to climb up behind you, while defending from people above you trying to keep you down lol.

Edit: For those looking to Robert Half or wahtever recruiter has up on their site as a summary for "Financial Sector Salaries for 2017", please don't believe that shit. Those salaries are inflated by at least 20-30%, and don't use it as reference to try to argue for a raise with your boss (ask me how I know lol).