Working at Grant Thornton — Reviews by Employees

Flex days in the summer, great coaching system which helps employees advance!

I'm not sure that I agree with the other comments on this site, and will explain my reasoning. People don't enter the public accounting profession with the expectation of a great work/life balance. In making this assessment, one should consider work/life balance with respect to other industry peers. In that respect, I know that I definately work less (and I never work weekends) than my friends working for the Big 4. Having recieved offers from all of the Big 4, Grant Thornton, and some local firms, I can say that the starting pay was among if not the highest at GT. As with any large Company, respect in the workplace can sometimes be hard to find and working long hours with other people working long hours can sometimes lead to short tempers and comments being made that I'm sure most people might find disrespectful. To those people I say get over it. The benefits are comparable to other Big 4 firms, but GT also has other extras that people often forget including a defined benefit plan, which is fully vested after 3 years of service. Also, I've noticed that top performers at GT are able to excel and be promoted quickly, as working in the middle market allows more flexibility in client loads (meaning working on shorter engagements, and thus more of them), which leads to more experience in a variety of areas, which is useful should one decide to pursue interests in the private sector. I don't give any good or bad marks for location or co-worker competence, as I believe that we all select candidates from the same pool of people (generally USF and UF) and we certain get our share of top candidates from on-campus. All this being said, I do believe that the firm often overlooks one of its supposed core values, meaning respect and genuinely valuing the contributions of its people. I've also during my time here that there is very little incentive to be a top-performer as the merit increases and share of bonus pool calculations (if you are lucky enough to be in one), are often not more than a couple thousand dollars between an average performer (rated a 3) vs. a top performer (rated a 5). Also, the performance ratings and how they play into your overall assessment are awful to the point of being laughable. You could perform at a "5" level through 99% of an engagement, but one slip up, and you are rated a "4", or if you really slip up a "3". This kind of grading system is inconsistent and often times is weighted in favor of more well liked individuals who challenge partner thoughts and ideas less and just do what they are told more. This kind of atmosphere, coupled with the departure of several employees over the last year (that left on their own accord, not based on the "economy") supports my -2 rating for work environment. For those individuals pursuing a career in public accounting, they shouldn't be swayed by all the negative comments and scores posted on this site, as most aren't realistic or are exaggerated, and are probably being posted by individuals who were subpar performers and were let go from the firm. Public accounting in general is a great place to start a career (its no coincidence that top financial executives of most of the large Company's in the country got their start in the industry), and for those trying to narrow down a choice, there are a lot worst options than Grant Thornton.

The pay is decent, but with a graduate degree, it is very limiting. The career path is "locked". We have to account for every 15 minutes of time. During busy season, on multiple occasions, I've sat in my cube and waited until 3 or 4 in the afternoon with absolutely nothing to do and been given work, and I'm then expected to stay until 8 or 9 to finish it.

The "bonus" pay supposedly is calculated on how well you do and how well the firm does. But, somehow, everyone gets pretty much the same thing. It's good pay, but the principle remains - no incentives to work harder. Most of the policies are result in producing the exact same type of worker - the slackers don't get to cut corners and the hard-workers are held back to produce boring, run-of-the-mill accountants who just keep their jobs. The job security is fine...but it's like many high school coaches - they won't cut you, but they'll make the work such that you'll want to quit.

Bottom line: It's not a bad job in comparison to other entry-level jobs, but the entry level must be kept in mind. New hires must enter with graduate degrees. That means we got into college, didn't slack off, and got into graduate school...and graduated with a Master's degree...only to make less per hour than a waiter at a decent restaurant.