Yahoo Finance Best Accounting Firms To Work For In 2025
Balancing The Account, Photo by Ken Teegardin
Best Accounting Firms To Work For In 2025
PwC (PricewaterhouseCoopers) LLP is the best accounting firm to work for in the U.S., according to a new ranking.
Vault, the leader in data-driven employer rankings and verified employee reviews, recently released its 2025 rankings of the Best Accounting Firms to Work For, offering a comprehensive look at the U.S. public accounting landscape. In addition to its signature Vault Accounting 25, a list of the best overall firms, Vault also ranked the Most Prestigious Accounting Firms, Best Accounting Firms by Employment Factor, and Best Accounting Firms by Practice Area.
“The findings from our accounting survey are especially important for firms right now as the entire industry faces a talent shortage,” Eric Stutzke, SVP & General Manager of Vault, says. “Fewer students are graduating with accounting degrees and a smaller number are opting to sit for the CPA exam, while tenured accountants are voluntarily leaving the field or retiring. Our survey also revealed that the top consideration for accountants when choosing an employer is firm culture – as a result, firms should ensure their recruitment marketing efforts emphasize positive and unique aspects of their culture to differentiate themselves and showcase their core values.”
HOW THE RANKING WAS BUILT
While prestige is an important consideration for many accounting professionals, it’s not the only determining factor. Job seekers often consider other factors, such as firm culture, type of work, location, work/life balance, compensation, business outlook, and training opportunities when deciding on a firm.
To compile the survey, Vault surveyed over 13,000 accountants, who rated their firms in areas ranging from compensation to training to culture. They also evaluated their competitors in terms of prestige and the quality of their practice areas. Vault compiled a weighted formula taking into consideration the various factors that job seekers care most about. The Vault Accounting 25 is based on the following:
35% prestige
20% firm culture
10% satisfaction
10% compensation
10% work/life balance
5% business outlook
5% formal training
5% informal training
A LOOK INSIDE PWC
Widely considered to be the world’s most prestigious and progressive account firm, PwC ranked number one for the 12th year in a row as the best accounting firm to work for in the U.S.
That’s in large part due to the firm’s extensive career development opportunities, including formal coaching and mentoring, informal mentoring, excellent trainings, and clear promotion paths, according to one anonymous employee surveyed by Vault.
“For students, the firm runs a valuable internship program, exposing interns to challenging real-world assignments, many opportunities to network with other interns and full-time staff, formal training, the ability to work with emerging technology, and mentoring opportunities. In addition, interns have access to partners, directors, and senior managers, who are all available to answer any questions interns may have. For its full-time staff, PwC offers many growth and learning opportunities, including an excellent mentoring program, valuable trainings, structured promotion paths, and great exposure to emerging technology.”
PwC also invests heavily in Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) and Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) initiatives. The firm recently set a carbon neutrality goal for 2030 and has many offerings for its staff to get more informed about DE&I issues and take anti-bias training.
“I think that PwC is very diverse and tries to be inclusive, too,” another employee says. “As a first-year associate, I got to join a program designed for students of Latino and/or Black descent that is meant to retain those of us in the firm and to move up the corporate ladder. It has been an empowering experience through workshops, mentoring, and a convention held in another state where over 1,000 of us (from the offices across the U.S.) got together to understand more about our roles and how we can thrive in the corporate world.”
PWC: WORK HARD, PLAY HARD
Like many accounting firms, hours can be long and demanding during busy season. But PwC places a strong emphasis on work/life balance and the firm fosters a supportive and understanding culture,” adds a third survey-taker.
“They are SO supportive and encourage people to take care of themselves. But it takes a great deal of effort for staff to figure out how to balance it all, because we still have to pull our weight and work long hours. That said, I can’t imagine any other firm being so flexible and supportive. I truly mean it when I say I have the best public accounting job to exist.”
KPMG: THE ABILITY TO DRIVE YOUR OWN CAREER
With more than 36,000 professionals in more than 90 offices across the U.S., KPMG LLP is one of the world’s largest and top revenue-earning firms, experiencing a jump from third place last year to second this year.
The firm boasts strong career development opportunities. Staff are offered strong training, the ability to move locations and change roles, and the ability to switch practice areas.
“I like that we get an opportunity to regularly travel to KPMG’s Lakehouse facility in Florida for training and there are tons of opportunities to participate in trainings, certification programs, and technology pilot programs to upskill,” one employee says. “KPMG also offers a lot of mentoring programs, particularly through BRGs.”
EY: AN ASTONISHING ASCENT TO THIRD PLACE
Ernst & Young LLP (EY) experienced a notable ascent from 25th place last year to third place this year. The firm, which has ranked on Great Place to Work and Fortune’s 100 Best Companies to Work For list for over 25 years, is well-recognized for its career development opportunities and strong DE&I and ESG initiatives.
“You progress quickly and find yourself in a leadership role extremely early in your career at EY,” one employee says. “Two years out of college, you are the primary/lead senior on engagements acting as the go-to supervisor for day-to-day operations. We find that we hire the best from campuses, so most are ready to step into this leadership position. At the manager and senior manager levels, the exposure to C-suite executives and board members of clients provides for better career development opportunities than peers working at smaller firms or in corporate accounting.”
Named one of the best employers for diversity, EY is recognized widely for its transparency around the firm’s diversity goals and progress.
“I feel that our firm goes out of its way to make sure everyone feels included and promotes diversity in everything we do,” one employee says. “EY embraces diversity in hiring and promotions, and is also very ‘green-conscious,’ including efforts to be carbon-negative.”
Despite its welcoming culture, some employees note that the firm still has room to improve on DE&I initiatives.
“For systemic reasons, I think the population of people who qualify to work in public accounting are already not very racially diverse (prohibitive requirements such as level of college education needed for CPA eligibility can cause uneven pool of applicants),” another employee says. “Additionally, I think mentors tend to pick people who have similar racial and cultural backgrounds as them to mentor. The firm is very proactive in its philanthropic practices, and one of my favorite things about the company is how many of its employees are very passionate about giving back to the community and protecting the environment. We have very strong ties to many community organizations, and the firm really encourages philanthropy and volunteerism.”
Schellman ranked #1 in all 18 Quality of Work & Life Measures (and all four diversity measures). However, it finished 9th overall due to not ranking among the Top 50 in the Prestige survey.
One survey respondent described the firm’s advantages this way: ““Strong leadership backed by a fully supportive ownership group led by private equity. Well-established and deep offerings to compete with the largest and most successful firms. Active initiatives to systematize processes allowing for explosive growth.”
Training is one area where Schellman places particular emphasis adds another staffer. “We take career development very seriously at Schellman. Each employee is assigned a mentor that utilizes a defined playbook to help coach that individual with professional and personal growth. We provide several training opportunities for our teams, both required (like security awareness training) and optional (like CISA boot camps), all in the commitment to help develop our teams’ competencies and growth.”
Next Page: Vault Accounting 25 Overall Ranking and and Prestige Ranking
TOP 10 MOST PRESTIGIOUS ACCOUNTING FIRMS
PwC (PricewaterhouseCoopers) LLP
Deloitte
Ernst & Young LLP (EY)
KPMG LLP
Grant Thornton LLP
BDO USA, P.C.
RSM US LLP
Baker Tilly
Crowe LLP
CohnReznick LLP
Next Page: Best Accounting Firms for Work & Life (Pay, Leadership, Training, etc. + Diversity and Practice Area Rankings
Deloitte was ranked #2 for Audit & Assurance, Forensic Accounting and Tax Accounting. Deloitte photo
BEST ACCOUNTING FIRMS FOR WORK & LIFE
Benefits
Schellman
H&CO, LLP
Plante Moran
Business Outlook
Schellman
H&CO, LLP
Plante Moran
Client Interaction
Schellman
H&CO, LLP
PKF O'Connor Davies
Compensation
Schellman
H&CO, LLP
KSM (Katz, Sapper & Miller)
Culture
Schellman
H&CO, LLP
Plante Moran
ESG Initiatives
Schellman
PKF O'Connor Davies
Plante Moran
Firm Leadership
Schellman
H&CO, LLP
Frank, Rimerman + Co. LLP
Formal Training
Schellman
Akram | Assurance, Advisory & Tax Firm
HCVT
Hiring Process
Schellman
H&CO, LLP
PKF O'Connor Davies
Hours
Schellman
Akram | Assurance, Advisory & Tax Firm
H&CO, LLP
Informal Training
Schellman
Plante Moran
H&CO, LLP
Internal Mobility
Schellman
Plante Moran
PKF O'Connor Davies
Promotion Policies
Schellman
H&CO, LLP
PKF O'Connor Davies
Relationships with Supervisors
Schellman
H&CO, LLP
PKF O'Connor Davies
Satisfaction
Schellman
H&CO, LLP
Plante Moran
Vacation Policies
Schellman
H&CO, LLP
Plante Moran
Wellness
Schellman
Frank, Rimerman + Co. LLP
Plante Moran
Work/Life Balance
Schellman
H&CO, LLP
Plante Moran
DIVERSITY RANKING
Diversity for Women
Schellman
H&CO, LLP
PKF O'Connor Davies
LGBTQ+ Diversity
Schellman
H&CO, LLP
BPM LLC
Racial & Ethnic Diversity
Schellman
H&CO, LLP
BPM LLC
Overall Diversity
Schellman
H&CO, LLP
PKF O'Connor Davies
PRACTICE AREA RANKING
Audit & Assurance
PwC
Deloitte
Ernst & Young
Forensic Accounting
PwC
Deloitte
Ernst & Young
Tax Accounting
PwC
Deloitte
Ernst & Young
Sources: Vault, PR Newswire
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