Accountants starting out on a career with the Big Four firms in the capital should head for EY if they want to net the most generous salaries at the start and end of their career, but for the biggest pay packets overall it is necessary to choose consultancy over audit
The finance sector bonus and salary-benchmarking website has analysed salary data from over 500 consultants and auditors working in London for Deloitte, EY, KPMG and PWC.
The research by Emolument shows average salaries at all four firms in the first five years are broadly the same, with EY slightly ahead with an average of £37,000.
For those with 15-plus years of experience, EY is again in the lead by some £25,000 compared to its rivals.
However, the survey notes that pay evolution at the firm is more volatile at points in between. At the 10-15 year experience range, for example, KPMG salaries average £92,000 compared to £80,000 at EY, £79,000 at Deloitte and £71,000 at PwC.
The analysis also shows that while at the beginning of a career the gap between audit and consultancy is minimal (less than 5%), it increases significantly with experience, up to 28% for 15 years of experience professionals. At that point the result show the average consultant’s salary to be £150,000 compared with £108,000 for auditors.
Thomas Drewry, CEO at Emolument said: 'To many graduates looking to enter a career, differentiating between audit, consultancy and other professional services can be challenging.
‘As starting salaries are usually aligned, few will realise that not only do these careers open very varied career paths and opportunities, with a large pay gap further down the line.'
