Hi all, i was wondering if anyone could tell me about the forecasted earnings difference between a consultancy and an accountancy? As a graduate at a big 4 accountancy, you get trained as an accountant and you qualify after 3 years. At a consultancy there is no such formal qualification that you 'have' to study for. so my question is, if there are 2 identical people, one at a consultancy, one at an accountancy, after the accountant qualifies, who would you expect to be on the most money, and how much would that be? Is it right to beleiving that the accountant would have a higher wage considering they now have the ACA under their belt? Any help would be greatly appreciated, especially from Tony. Thanks, RD.

No, that is definetely not the case. In Consulting, a lot of your salary (especially at more senior levels, ie. senior manager and above) depends on your clients, and your sales. A consultant with about 3 years experience will be anywhere from 40(IBM BCS) to 80 (McKinsey). An accoutant will be around the mean. However, partners in major consulting firms can get bonuses of sales of up to 1million a year. Look at vault.com salary surveys its very useful, they have both industries, by geography and company!