Revealed: Average partner pay at major consulting firms
Extra scrutiny on the consulting industry after the PwC tax leaks scandal has obliged firms to release unprecedented detail about partner pay, highlighting a disparity between the average pay of the five largest firms by revenue.
Accenture has provided new detail about how much its leaders, known as managing directors, were paid in 2022-23. The information, in response to questions on notice from Greens senator Barbara Pocock, was published last week.
Accenture’s response shows 34 of its 273 MDs, or about 12.5 per cent, earned more than $1 million. Its highest-paid MD made roughly $2.73 million in FY23.
Average pay for partners (at the big four firms) and managing directors (at Accenture).
At PwC, the only other firm to provide a similar level of detail, more than 300 of 850 partners, or more than 35 per cent, earned more than $1 million in FY22, the latest available figures.
The low pay for many MDs at Accenture and partners at PwC generally reflects leaders who did not work the entire financial year, or do not work full-time.
The pay for MDs at Accenture, a US-listed company, is made up of a combination of base pay, bonus payment and equity vested within that financial year. It does not include the equity granted within a financial year – an amount that can be significant – which will then vest in later years.
Accenture MDs are salaried employees. This contrasts with partners at the big-four firms who, as part-owners, are paid a share of that year’s profits.
The average pay of Accenture MDs, based on calculating out frequency of leaders at the mid-point of each $50,000 pay range, works out to roughly $630,000 per annum in FY23.
It is not directly comparable with big-four partners because it does not include the
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