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Tax Vs. Audit Salary at Top 10 Accountancy Firms.

Hi everyone,

I will be applying to accountancy firms soon :colondollar:. However, I cannot decide between doing corporate tax (doing ATT then CTA qualification) or audit (ACA qualification).

Does anyone know which salary is higher upon qualification, corporate tax CTA or audit ACA??

Big thanks to everyone that replies! :smile:
Original post by KF_Student
Hi everyone,

I will be applying to accountancy firms soon :colondollar:. However, I cannot decide between doing corporate tax (doing ATT then CTA qualification) or audit (ACA qualification).

Does anyone know which salary is higher upon qualification, corporate tax CTA or audit ACA??

Big thanks to everyone that replies! :smile:

At these levels the differences are small. I heard of audit paying a few K more than tax at the newly qualified stage (at a Big Four) but that really shouldn't be your main deciding factor.

Tax is a narrow field while as the ACA is much broader and opens doors to many different places. In fact I know people who've done the ACA first and have then gone into tax.

I would not go for a tax grad role unless that is something you really want to do.
Reply 2
I wouldn't choose based on salary, tempting as it may seem! :cute:

Audit and Tax are different jobs, and you should choose based on the one that suits you best.

Within audit you'll work with clients to provide assurance over their accounting systems and controls. This is largely based at the client's site, and you can expect to spend the vast majority of your time travelling to different businesses and interacting with a vast array of different clients. Auditors tend to work in small teams - you get to know your colleagues very well and it helps to be a team player. Audit tends to give you a broad overview of business, and in general is less specialised than tax.

On the other hand, tax is very office based. You spend more time researching business issues that will affect clients tax affairs and planning and tailoring ideas to clients' needs. You help clients resolve issues and tax disputes, and advise them on the implications of changes in tax rules.

Tax grads are paid more during their training contract, while auditors tend to earn more upon qualification. However, auditors can generally claim expenses on all their travel, as they're always at client sites. Those in tax have to pay for commuting costs into the office out their own salary. In real terms, there isn't really much difference in what you take home.
Reply 3
Thanks for the replies!!!

To be honest, I would be happy working in either Tax or Audit!

What i'm confused about is if there's a large difference in pay as your career advances?
If EVERYTHING is kept the SAME, e.g. same accountancy firm, same office, same university and degree classification, same no. of years experience post qualification, etc., would an Audit manager(e.g. someone starting a managerial position) earn a lot more, say £7k +, than a Corporate Tax manager(e.g. someone starting a managerial position)?

Thanks for the help!! Thanks for your replies!! :smile:
The pay is very very similar, lifestyle and the work should sway your decision more than money. In terms of £/hr tax is much more lucrative though!
Reply 5
I would also have a look at how useful each will be from an international perspective. I suspect the ACA travels better if in future you want to work abroad.

If it were me I would keep my options open longer and do ACA, CTA is always possible post ACA if you want to specialise in tax. (From a personal perspective audit always bored me and I found tax interesting, but you need to be looking to your whole career not just the first ten years.)

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