PAY & COMPENSATION

Use Smart Compensation to Drive Partner Performance

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$100 bill being built of blocks

Five management objectives to address.

By Domenick J. Esposito
8 Steps to Great

“Show me your compensation plan and I’ll show you your strategy.” – Dom Esposito

As you strive to become a mid-market sustainable brand, your firm needs to become a performance-driven organization if you want to take advantage of future opportunities and drive growth and profitability. An effective performance management and compensation plan (PMCP) is critical to making your firm’s strategic plan a reality.

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The basic premise is that compensation rewards first look to:

  1. how successful the entire firm is,

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Big 4 Layoffs Reveal New Jobs Reality | Accounting Influencers

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Industry turbulence opens doors for smaller firms, but only those that clearly define and communicate value.

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Sponsored by Poe Group Advisors: Helping accountants buy, build, and sell exceptional firms. See Today’s Special Offer

Accounting Influencers
With Rob Brown

Between June 2023 and September 2024, several of the largest accounting firms announced significant workforce reductions and structural changes. KPMG disclosed a deeper round of auditor layoffs in mid-2023. Grant Thornton cut approximately 3% of its U.S. staff (about 350 employees) in May 2024. In September 2024, PwC announced one of its most significant reorganizations in years, resulting in the elimination of approximately 1,800 positions in its U.S. operations.

Since then, further reductions have continued. In May 2025, PwC laid off approximately 1,500 more U.S. employees (around 2% of its U.S. workforce), primarily in its audit and tax lines. Meanwhile, KPMG pursued additional cuts, including a round impacting roughly 4% of its U.S. audit workforce later in 2024. Grant Thornton also followed the earlier reductions with more targeted layoffs after its private-equity deal, trimming about 150 U.S. roles (1.5% of its domestic workforce) in late 2024.

These moves are not isolated. They signal a broader industry recalibration, leaving thousands of accountants uncertain about their future.

At the same time, some major firms are doubling down on mandatory office attendance. Industry observers say the combination of job insecurity and rigid workplace policies could push professionals to seek more flexible and stable opportunities.

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Create an Accountability Chart for Your Firm

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It beats an org chart and here’s why.

By Jody Grunden
Building the Virtual CFO Firm in the Cloud

“Getting the right people on the bus, the wrong people off the bus, and the right people in the right seats – these are all crucial steps in the early stages of buildup…” – Jim Collins, “Good to Great”

When Adam and I first started the company, we didn’t have much organizational structure. We didn’t need it. But as the company grew, it became necessary to develop an organizational structure. There’s a great quote by Michael E. Gerber in his book “The E-Myth Revisited” that says, “Without the Organization Chart, confusion, discord and conflict become the order of the day.”

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We got to a point where we realized that Adam and I didn’t have clarity around our individual roles, and we were overlapping one another. We needed to have clearly defined roles for one another as well as the people who were working for us. Lack of clarity can cause a loss in production.
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DEI Pullback Risks Pipeline | Accounting Influencers

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Firms scale back initiatives even as governing bodies warn diversity is key to the profession’s future.

This is a preview. The complete video episode, with commentary and transcript, is first available exclusively to PRO Members | Go PRO here
Sponsored by “It’s NOT Just the Numbers: How to Move Beyond the Numbers and Deliver REAL Value for Your Clients.”
by Penny Breslin and Damien Greathead. See Today’s Special Offer

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Accounting Influencers
With Rob Brown

The accounting profession is facing a turning point as major firms scale back diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, raising concerns about how the shift could affect talent recruitment, retention, and competitiveness.

KPMG recently discontinued its “Accelerate 2025” program, which aimed to expand leadership diversity. Deloitte pulled back last year, joining other global corporations—including Goldman Sachs, Meta, and Google—that have pared down similar efforts.

The shifts come as political and legal pressures mount. States such as Florida and Texas have rolled back DEI policies in higher education, and a Supreme Court ruling on affirmative action has sent ripples across corporate America. Firms that once championed DEI are now weighing compliance risks and financial implications against potential reputational and workforce consequences.

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The $100,000 H-1B Shock: What It Means for Accounting Talent

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What changes, what doesn’t, for thousands of jobs in accounting.

In tax and audit in 2024, increases in salary bands were far from evenly distributed.

By Dominic Piscopo

I just consumed hours of H-1B visa content, so you don’t have to. Here are my findings.

Accounting isn’t the heaviest H-1B user (That’s IT & Tech.), but the profession still relies on international grads in audit, tax, advisory, and increasingly data and automation roles. In 2024, USCIS approved around 400k H-1Bs overall, with 2% to 3% of those in categories that could include accounting. So, while other industries are far more reliant on this program, there may still be thousands of roles in accounting. READ MORE →