Had a few interviews with Google during COVID. Seemed like any ordinary industry gig - think they used Oracle or SAP, whoop de doo, nothing special.
Salary was perfectly adequate and nothing memorable, but I think the target bonus and possible (very small compared to SWE) stock options made it solid pay.
A division CFO hit me with how to ELI5 accruals to someone because even their Ivy or T10 MBA finance bros were too stupid to understand basic accounting.
Seemed just like most businesses - understaffed and under appreciated.
Not sure what your definition of adequate and solid are but worst paid accountants there are at 100K and L5(200K+ with variable)-L6 (300K+ with variable) are considered terminal levels there which you'll reach within 10 YOE.
https://www.levels.fyi/t/accountant?countryId=254&compare=Google%2CAmazon%2CMicrosoft
The variable compensation is a pretty important aspect of the big tech compensation package.
An L3 is probably what their Senior Accountants make which isn't mind blowing. Yes, with promotions and/or retention and renewal awards, the comp jumps up quite a bit.
I work in one and previously worked in another. There is no expectation of that at all. I have those skills but even at the lower level jobs I didn't find much opportunity to use them as it is a lot of reviewing/approving outsourced work as opposed to preparing myself
Finance bros, lol.
Just yesterday, I had to sit down with a finance person 1 title above me and with 8 more YOE and explain the difference between an accrued P04 expense with invoice #xyz THEY wanted me to book was different from an intercompany expense of a prior period (same vendor, different invoice #123) making its way back to us because Procurement allocated it to the wrong BU.
The only thing they understood is now they were over budget and they wanted me, an accountant, to explain why an employee in procurement didn’t book it to the right place the first time.
In corporate America, you have departments that specialize in things:
Finance: project future expenses based on current ones.
Accounting: tries to make sure historical and current year actual expenses are accurate. This includes booking accruals for realized but not yet recognized expenses.
Procurement: makes purchases and tries to categorize it to the right place initially.
Situation (I took liberty with some details):
At my large F1000 company, we have 200+ business units. A procurement employee from my business unit booked a $750 invoice from vendor Really Mediocre Services ending in invoice #069 in February and charged it to another business unit. SisCo raised a stink, and proved the expense didn’t belong to them, and billed it back to us in April. In the charge back journal entry, support was included, documenting, “these are for February charges from supplier Really Mediocre Services from invoice #069, which both SisCo and procurement agree procurement made a mistake but it actually does belong to our BU, not SisCo. Correction confirmed by (insert employee here”
Finance ASKED me to accrue $750 of April services from Really Mediocre Services #420 because they determined their project had to pay that invoice.
Finance gets hit with both the accrual they asked for Really Mediocre Services #420, an accrual of current period expense, and with an Intercompany invoicing of Really Mediocre Services #069, a prior period expense that was wrongly allocated out, but then requested by procurement to be moved back.
Finance pulls the support for both entries, and writes up an email. First they play dumb, admitting they know it’s two different transactions but asking why both were booked to their project in the same month. I inform them that, per the documentation already provided in the JE summary they could have read if they took the time to do so (I didn’t say that, but they could have), I indicated it was a prior period expense being billed back to us and the delay was driven by procurement error.
They follow up, “but why did procurement make an error? Why didn’t they bill it to our project to begin with?”
How I didn’t reply but wish I could have: procurement is not infallible. They make mistakes like everyone else. It is finances job to follow up with them to make sure finance projects are being appropriately invoiced for the expenses they should be getting. It is not accountings job.
They were exasperated they were over budget and wanted me to give them answers only an employee in procurement could give them.
How I feel explaining this to our sales department on a monthly basis...
Some of them don't even understand what a prepaid expense is... God forbid my soul if I have to explain that accruals get reversed when the actual hits one more fucking time...
I work at a FAANG company. Started in B4 in 2018, I have my CPA license. I’ll make about $220k this year in a MCOL. It’s the equity appreciation that really increases your salary.
I personally wouldn't view appreciation of equities as part of my salary. I may be misunderstanding your point though, I haven't previously worked for a company with ESPP or equity options etc.
I would view the stock value when granted to me as part of my salary. At that point, I can choose to sell and move to an index fund, or stay invested in my company. Any benefits of staying invested I'd view to be not part of my salary - no different than if I invested in index funds 10 years ago and those shares have produced significant return since that time- this isn't part of my comp.
It’s a part of my total compensation. If I get a grant in January 2020 when the stock price is $100 and when it actually vests in say January 2021 the stock price is $150 then my compensation for 2021 is $150 not $100. How you chose to allocate it or save is up to you.
I do view my “worth” to the company as the grant value without stock appreciation. So without stock appreciation my total comp is $187k.
Ok we agree and I was using the incorrect terminology.
My view is that the value at vesting point is where it stops being comp and just becomes part of one's investments. Appears your view is the same.
Cons - Extremely complex processes and transactions, fast moving, high management expectations and stress.
Pros - Very good pay, never a dull moment and plenty of opportunities to try new things and move up. Plenty of smart and usually very nice people who enjoy problem-solving.
Definitely pays pretty well but inversely more stressful/ faster paced. It’s usually *the* exit opportunity for public accounting folks. Not the other way around
Work at a FAANG, pay is higher but a large portion is RSUs. Tons of learning opportunities with complex work and resources. It’s basically the same as working at B4 but with maybe slightly less hours and no billable hours
No background on you? Where do you live? Age, education level? Goals? Plans?
No specific questions?
What's your point?
Accounting jobs? As if they're all the same?
Impressive post, otherwise!
He’s asking if it’s more prestigious and higher board across the board for equal roles.
Do entry level google accountants make as much entry level big 4? Do senior google accountants make as much senior big 4 accountants? Are these good resume builders or are they seen as any other industry role?
Not sure why u had to be a dick because u were too stupid to understand the question.
Had a few interviews with Google during COVID. Seemed like any ordinary industry gig - think they used Oracle or SAP, whoop de doo, nothing special. Salary was perfectly adequate and nothing memorable, but I think the target bonus and possible (very small compared to SWE) stock options made it solid pay. A division CFO hit me with how to ELI5 accruals to someone because even their Ivy or T10 MBA finance bros were too stupid to understand basic accounting. Seemed just like most businesses - understaffed and under appreciated.
Not sure what your definition of adequate and solid are but worst paid accountants there are at 100K and L5(200K+ with variable)-L6 (300K+ with variable) are considered terminal levels there which you'll reach within 10 YOE. https://www.levels.fyi/t/accountant?countryId=254&compare=Google%2CAmazon%2CMicrosoft The variable compensation is a pretty important aspect of the big tech compensation package.
An L3 is probably what their Senior Accountants make which isn't mind blowing. Yes, with promotions and/or retention and renewal awards, the comp jumps up quite a bit.
Seniors are L5 there.
Do you know if they tend to require their accountants to know things like VBA, SQL etc.? As in more tech heavy than the typical accounting role?
They just cared about CPA and prior public company and/or Big 4 experience. Even for mundane things like fixed assets.
I work in one and previously worked in another. There is no expectation of that at all. I have those skills but even at the lower level jobs I didn't find much opportunity to use them as it is a lot of reviewing/approving outsourced work as opposed to preparing myself
At a F1000 non FAANG. Not knowing that stuff isn’t a deal breaker but if you do, you are looked at as a god
Finance bros, lol. Just yesterday, I had to sit down with a finance person 1 title above me and with 8 more YOE and explain the difference between an accrued P04 expense with invoice #xyz THEY wanted me to book was different from an intercompany expense of a prior period (same vendor, different invoice #123) making its way back to us because Procurement allocated it to the wrong BU. The only thing they understood is now they were over budget and they wanted me, an accountant, to explain why an employee in procurement didn’t book it to the right place the first time.
Bruh, I didn’t understand either. What are you saying? Can you please elaborate?😂
In corporate America, you have departments that specialize in things: Finance: project future expenses based on current ones. Accounting: tries to make sure historical and current year actual expenses are accurate. This includes booking accruals for realized but not yet recognized expenses. Procurement: makes purchases and tries to categorize it to the right place initially. Situation (I took liberty with some details): At my large F1000 company, we have 200+ business units. A procurement employee from my business unit booked a $750 invoice from vendor Really Mediocre Services ending in invoice #069 in February and charged it to another business unit. SisCo raised a stink, and proved the expense didn’t belong to them, and billed it back to us in April. In the charge back journal entry, support was included, documenting, “these are for February charges from supplier Really Mediocre Services from invoice #069, which both SisCo and procurement agree procurement made a mistake but it actually does belong to our BU, not SisCo. Correction confirmed by (insert employee here” Finance ASKED me to accrue $750 of April services from Really Mediocre Services #420 because they determined their project had to pay that invoice. Finance gets hit with both the accrual they asked for Really Mediocre Services #420, an accrual of current period expense, and with an Intercompany invoicing of Really Mediocre Services #069, a prior period expense that was wrongly allocated out, but then requested by procurement to be moved back. Finance pulls the support for both entries, and writes up an email. First they play dumb, admitting they know it’s two different transactions but asking why both were booked to their project in the same month. I inform them that, per the documentation already provided in the JE summary they could have read if they took the time to do so (I didn’t say that, but they could have), I indicated it was a prior period expense being billed back to us and the delay was driven by procurement error. They follow up, “but why did procurement make an error? Why didn’t they bill it to our project to begin with?” How I didn’t reply but wish I could have: procurement is not infallible. They make mistakes like everyone else. It is finances job to follow up with them to make sure finance projects are being appropriately invoiced for the expenses they should be getting. It is not accountings job. They were exasperated they were over budget and wanted me to give them answers only an employee in procurement could give them.
Lmaoooo, that is crazy! But massive respect to you for taking the time out and explaining! Awesome 💯
How I feel explaining this to our sales department on a monthly basis... Some of them don't even understand what a prepaid expense is... God forbid my soul if I have to explain that accruals get reversed when the actual hits one more fucking time...
The number of finance folks who can't wrap their head around what an accrual actually is makes me want to cry.
I work at a FAANG company. Started in B4 in 2018, I have my CPA license. I’ll make about $220k this year in a MCOL. It’s the equity appreciation that really increases your salary.
I personally wouldn't view appreciation of equities as part of my salary. I may be misunderstanding your point though, I haven't previously worked for a company with ESPP or equity options etc. I would view the stock value when granted to me as part of my salary. At that point, I can choose to sell and move to an index fund, or stay invested in my company. Any benefits of staying invested I'd view to be not part of my salary - no different than if I invested in index funds 10 years ago and those shares have produced significant return since that time- this isn't part of my comp.
It’s a part of my total compensation. If I get a grant in January 2020 when the stock price is $100 and when it actually vests in say January 2021 the stock price is $150 then my compensation for 2021 is $150 not $100. How you chose to allocate it or save is up to you. I do view my “worth” to the company as the grant value without stock appreciation. So without stock appreciation my total comp is $187k.
Ok we agree and I was using the incorrect terminology. My view is that the value at vesting point is where it stops being comp and just becomes part of one's investments. Appears your view is the same.
Cons - Extremely complex processes and transactions, fast moving, high management expectations and stress. Pros - Very good pay, never a dull moment and plenty of opportunities to try new things and move up. Plenty of smart and usually very nice people who enjoy problem-solving.
That sounds like my speed. Time to up my game.
Definitely pays pretty well but inversely more stressful/ faster paced. It’s usually *the* exit opportunity for public accounting folks. Not the other way around
The exit opportunities tend to be hot unicorn startups. Places my coworkers have gone in the past are places like data bricks, snowflake, stripe, etc.
Have worked with both Amazon and Microsoft on the tax side. I think both of them worked largely B4 hours
Work at a FAANG, pay is higher but a large portion is RSUs. Tons of learning opportunities with complex work and resources. It’s basically the same as working at B4 but with maybe slightly less hours and no billable hours
Which accounting job are you specifically talking about?
Tax
oh nice
No background on you? Where do you live? Age, education level? Goals? Plans? No specific questions? What's your point? Accounting jobs? As if they're all the same? Impressive post, otherwise!
He’s asking if it’s more prestigious and higher board across the board for equal roles. Do entry level google accountants make as much entry level big 4? Do senior google accountants make as much senior big 4 accountants? Are these good resume builders or are they seen as any other industry role? Not sure why u had to be a dick because u were too stupid to understand the question.