Big4 Accounting

I may be the wrong person to ask... since I haven't gone back and visit the "current" salary level.... but in the past, assuming you are on the non-NYC, "fast track"...
1yr: 50k associate
2yr: 62k senior 1
3yr: 75K senior 2
4yr: 85K-95K Manager 1 w/ CPA

As for opportunities after 4 yrs of auditing... you will usually get a lot of headhunters offering you high-paying, non-public accounting roles. For financial reasons, most of my friends take up these offers. These jobs are steady and the pay package is above average. The ceiling for these positions is usually the controller position, making 150k a year.

Very few people are able to leave accounting roles after auditing. Virtually, no I-bank will take a Big4 auditor as a corporate finance analyst. The few people, who have made the switch, do so by having great networking skills and by going to a much smaller (less brand name) investment bank.

The other more common and attractive career switches for auditors are fraud consulting, accounting system consulting, and equity research. For equity research, you need to have CFA (at least level 3 candidate) to go along with your CPA. These two combinations will make you very attractive to the recruiters of equity research position. I must say that it’s not easy to get CFA and CPA… after all, asides from the bar exam, these tests have the lowest pass rate of all professional certifications.

Of course, another way out of auditing is via MBA track, which is why you are here. Four years of auditing experience, with great stats (which you have, assuming your GMAT score is up there), multiple international experiences, some excellent extracurricular accomplishments (i.e. create a program that allows kids to read better, or raise 1mm for dana-faber), you will be able to land a seat at one of the top 5 MBA schools and have the most prestigious job opportunities waiting for you to earn… (you still have to earn them).

Whichever path you end up choosing, big4 auditor’s route should be financially rewarding… maybe not in the millions, but definitely better than 85% of the American households out there.

Good luck!

Thanks for all of the help!