The Australian Financial Review’s consulting salary guide gives an overview of the starting pay rates, by rank and division, for professionals at major consulting firms Accenture, Deloitte, KPMG and PwC.
The salary guide covers ranks up to, but not including, partner (or managing director) level at the firms based on information provided by the four firms. The information was last updated on August 5, 2022, with data from the four major firms.
The staff pay rates between the four firms are difficult to compare directly and vary by typical experience.
In consulting, the minimum pay for a Deloitte senior consultant of $100,000 is on par with an Accenture team lead or consultant. The minimum pay for a Deloitte director of $190,000 is above that at PwC (from $184,800) and below KPMG (from $200,000).
There continues to be a shortage of experienced professionals as of August 2022, because of the sharp rebound in client demand and the slow return of overseas professionals. This has led to firms increasing pay and improving working conditions and other benefits to retain and recruit staff.
Accenture, Deloitte, KPMG and PwC had more than 3200 job ads each on business networking site LinkedIn at the start of August 2022. Accenture had more than 1000 ads, while KPMG had about 550. The actual number of open roles across the firms is much higher, as many advertisements refer to multiple open roles across a range of ranks.
The voluntary salary disclosures are the result of a campaign by The Australian Financial Review to create a single comparable data set of pay levels across the major accounting firms. The aim was to assist employees benchmark their pay, with experts also noting that pay disclosure is an effective tool in reducing the gender pay gap.
The first version of this data set, focused on consultant pay rates, was published last May and was based on data from workplace rating website Glassdoor and additional Financial Review research. Accenture, Deloitte and PwC helped validate this initial set of data, while KPMG agreed to assist with a second version of the data set which was published in July 2021.
These four firms – Accenture, Deloitte, KPMG and PwC – have now voluntarily provided 2022 financial year salary rates for their staff to the Financial Review.
The information is presented below in comparison tables for auditing and consultant, with a separate table for each firm.
EY has been excluded from the guide because the firm has, from the start, declined to either validate this masthead’s research or provide any pay data.
The two comparison tables below are designed to give professionals who work in the audit and consulting division of the applicable firms a benchmark of the minimum salary they should expect at each level.
It also provides guidance as to the typical experience required for each level by firm. Accenture is excluded from the auditing comparison table because the firm does not provide external auditing services.
The highest rank in the tables is the rank before becoming a partner or, in Accenture’s case, a managing director, at each respective firm.
Promotions/ranks
Parental and other leave
Working from home/flexible hours
Training/further education/career break
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