accounting intern

senior auditor

senior accountant

staff accountant

senior tax accountant

Wipfli

Wipfli is an average small/medium size CPA firm. They are very similar to any other public accounting firm, but most of the people do feel genuine and competent. You still work long hours during busy season and even outside of season at times, but teams are flexible. There are also a plethora industries for someone to delve into. Sadly, Wipfli is not a well known CPA firm like any of the big four or even firms just outside of the big four so you lose out on recognition.

The culture is not set in stone as Wipfli has been expanding a lot before the Coronavirus hit. With many mergers going on, multiple accounting firm cultures are being integrated into Wipfli,which is causing can make it difficult to work with one manager from one legacy firm and another manager that may have been with Wipfli for years. Anyone can encounter this situation at other accounting firms, but the mixing of multiple different cultures of so many different mergering firms has caused Wipfli not have a true identity.

Management is comparable to any other CPA firm. Partners mostly feel distant, but they are friendly enough. My own career advisor, who is a manager, is very engaged with me and other managers are good at mentoring when they are available, but their time is limited and do not have a lot of availability. People are willing to be mentors, but the lack of time they may have can make the mentor ship aspect not great.

Overall, Wipfli is an average CPA firm that has been expanding, but through expansion has lost its identity. Expect typical CPA firm hours (long hours during busy season and about a 45 - 50 hour average work week outside of season). People are friendly and there is an opportunity to move up in the firm. If someone is looking to get exposure in public accounting, I would recommend this firm, but do not expect anything out of the ordinary.

A disclaimer, I am an internal employee and not an accountant. Accountant experience could be completely different. I have never worked for a company that actually cares about their employees as much as Wipfli. They offered me a much larger salary than what I asked for, which was my first "green flag." They also have amazing benefits, FTO, and extreme flexibility. They even added a few more paid holidays per year, since they wanted to encourage people to take time off work. 

My entire team was so welcoming, they each had meetings with me and asked in what ways they could support me and vice-versa. I cannot tell you the difference in moral this had compared to past jobs. 

The FTO is amazing, if you don't know what that is it is basically "Unlimited time off." You shouldn't abuse it, but it helps with stress when planning vacations. you no longer have to think "Oh but I only have 3 vacations days left for the year if I do this!!!" 

My only qualm is that onboarding could have been better. I wish there was more training for internal employees, I felt badly about twiddling my thumbs for the first bit. However, I shared this issue in a meeting and they are working towards improving it. I feel heard by the executives, and thankful for this job.

Despite the challenges, the positive side of working at the company includes a kind and helpful community of employees. The camaraderie among colleagues creates a supportive atmosphere, and the flexibility offered in the work environment is appreciated by many.

A significant area of improvement lies in the forward-thinking approach of senior management. The lack of a visionary strategy can hinder the company's long-term success. A more proactive and forward-looking approach would not only benefit the organization but also enhance the professional growth of its employees.

Communication within the company is a pervasive issue. There seems to be a gap between what management communicates and the actions they take. This inconsistency erodes trust among employees, and fostering clear and transparent communication would contribute to a healthier work environment.

Resource constraints add another layer of difficulty for employees. Inadequate tools and technology hinder productivity and efficiency. Investing in the necessary resources would empower employees to perform at their best and contribute more effectively to the company's goals.

A challenge faced by employees is poor compensation. Despite hard work and dedication, the compensation does not seem to align with the efforts put into the job. Addressing this issue would undoubtedly boost morale and retain valuable talent.




Wipfli will state they are a growing firm that believes it will become a top firm in the country. Sadly, Wipfli is heading in the opposite direction. Trying to move way too fast in growing, too many employees are burning out and quitting due to the added amount of hours and pressure required to make Wipfli's growth goal a reality. Instead of trying to add numbers to the team, the firm expects nearly double effort and time by each employee to make up the shortage of people. Definitely, Wipfli is heading toward a very steep downhill path that could be too hard to rebound from.

PROS:
- Variety of work to tackle
- Growing in certain regions/offices
- Office culture (varies, but my main office is enjoyable to work at)

CONS:
- Work/Life balance is non-existent (typical false hope)
- Pay, benefits, and bonuses are laughable compared to other firms
- Technology!! (software and programs do not work or are outdated)

In all, Wipfli is just another mid-size firm that believes they can be the best while not realizing how difficult it is to grow. There's no planning a goal. All there is to planning is stating a revenue goal and then expecting all employees to work in a sweat shop setting to meet those goals without being recognized and awarded. Honestly, the entry level accountants and lower-level employees will be the ones screwed over the most.

A day in never typical. It is always changing, which I love.

We have gone through a merger and it was kinda a rocky experience. Most of the staff felt that some issues should have been addressed and looked at before proceeding with the merger.

The management is for the most part is good. However there is very little room for advancement and some people hold positions that they are not qualified for. Their lack of schooling is very unprofessional and shows.

The hardest part of this job is tax season. Where we work almost 4 months non-stop 12-14, hours or more a day. You have no home life during this time. The pay checks are great (we are allowed to work as much overtime as we can handle) I work in the office that handles 3-4 thousand tax returns a year. We handle the most tax work than any other office (22 offices plus 2 in India).

We have a fun group to work with and we help each other as much as possible. I enjoy the customer contact the most. We have a vast range of cliental from very elderly to high school adults. This place is always moving at a fast pace.

I was part of the WIPFLI team in Spokane for a little over 2 years and began as an intern while in grad school and after graduating was moved to a staff Accountant position. From my experience with the Spokane office there was little one on one training for new people, a lack of communication when it came to my performance and their expectations, resulting in surprise when the information was shared. If you are already a manager you will do great but if you are just starting out be prepared for a ton of self training outside of work hours and long hours in the office. The people I worked with made the job great but there are some changes leadership needs to make in their communication and evaluation. 

There is a national culture that doesn't not translate to the regional offices.  Wipfli is a mishmash of acquired small generalist firms which is does not translate to a functioning national firm.  It is more about the local "personalities" than professionalism or creating a professional environment one can succeed in.  They cater to the younger generation promoting them before they are skilled and/or experienced enough to handle the work then put the responsibility for picking up the slack on the experienced management. This is not a place for an experienced manager with aspirations of moving upward in the firm and achieving success or a work life balance.

I started my career with Wipfli right out of college. It was a great place to learn as much as I could and get a well-rounded experience. When I started, we got to dabble in different groups before deciding where we wanted to go permanently. The culture seemed to deteriorate a little as the company grew by acquiring smaller firms throughout the country. It really started to feel less like a family and more like a true corporation. The most frustrating thing was never knowing what it took to become a partner or if being a partner was worth it.

Firm is still growing, culture need a lots of work. I was by far the top performing intern (of 7) and didn't receive a job offer. I believe because I asked why they used a certain process. I didn't object to the practice, I was just curious why they used the particular method. This turned into me not being a "team player" as well as "not good at receiving feedback". For a firm that indicates they value everyone's opinion and want to continually improve, their internal culture suggests otherwise.

Go to work, sit at desk.  Try to fix accounting mistakes of clients.  Fill out tax forms.  Repeat.  This is repeated year after year.  Everyone is so busy to get things done that accuracy can suffer.  There are no fun get together's with co-workers.  Management does not care about satellite offices.  They seem to be focusing on large markets with modern work structures.  On the other hand, the pay wasn't bad, and in the summer/fall, I could take off when I wanted.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Accounting intern 2 salaries reported	$30.00 per hour
Senior auditor 20 salaries reported	$90,990 per year
Senior accountant 31 salaries reported	$91,710 per year
Staff accountant 3 salaries reported	$75,000 per year
Senior tax accountant 19 salaries reported	$98,816 per year

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