staff accountant

GLENN GRAYDON WRIGHT LLP

Typically, your day at this firm will consist of being overloaded with work from Partners who have completely unrealistic billable hour expectations and requirements. One of the absolute most frustrating part of working at this firm is the lack of support by Partners for Junior to Senior level staff and those currently enrolled in the CPA program that are trying to meet the hour requirements and graduate. Simply put – they do not care and in no way do they support the time that is required to study, or the billable experience hours needed in order to qualify to graduate. To say Partners do not change billable hours, is a complete and outright lie, they 100% do. It was extremely common for billable hours posted by staff to be reallocated elsewhere or somehow were ‘changed’ to unbillable. Anyone working here knows this is true and it was utterly infuriating and in all honestly, completely unethical. It also makes the already tiring and grueling process of graduating that much longer, harder and frustrating. Plain and simple, Partners do not care.

To expand further on this, I was at this Firm for 5 years and not once was I, or any other staff offered study material, a study Mentor or any other resources to help get me through the CPA process – you get support at many other smaller, medium and large Firms. Partners will also try and convince staff that 3-4 weeks off for the final CFE examination is enough time to study – this could not be farther from the truth. Its actually hilarious and also mind-blowing how they act almost as if they want staff to not pass, so they can keep you at a lower pay bracket. Honestly, for this reason alone I would suggest going to another Firm.

Going even farther however, at this Firm, there is absolutely no upward movement for growth or promotion past Manager. The Partners have all been chosen, they are all relatively ‘young’ and there is no way your making it up to Partner in this Firm so buckle up and plan to be stuck at a Manager level for 20+ years because there are no openings anytime in the next 2-decades until one of them retires. The majority of long-term staff this Firm once had all left in the past 2-3 years for Firm that offer more support, better and faster upward movement and better pay. 

Save yourself from being a disgruntled employee at a Manager level position with no hopes in advancing and please go to another Firm. The way staff is treated here is terrible, the work life balance is horrendous. Partners try and sell you on “Fridays or Monday’s off in off-season” which is laughable. You need to be unscheduled in order to even take this offer (anytime your scheduled on a client, you can’t access this perk), and its VERY rare to be unscheduled on a client even in the off-season. So really, all the overtime worked throughout busy season goes unpaid, and you really can’t use the “Friday or Monday off” perk. Honestly, I could list 10 more reasons why to save yourself the headache of experiencing the utter dissatisfaction of working for this Firm – just go work somewhere else and save yourself years off your life. 


Firstly, this could not have been a worse place to work. The other reviews for this firm are actually pretty accurate - the partners do not care about staff below management level. There is no support given or time-off for staff studying to complete their CPA designations and study-time is denied, even for the CFE. Partners will change staff billed time spent working on clients to unbilled time, which actually pretty drastically affects both your performance at the end of the year AND unbilled time does not count towards any of your CPA hours, which makes graduating the CPA program extremely gruesome at this firm. 

The partners have their favorites who are willing to work 14 hours a day and bill clients only 7 hours. This firm tries to be a Big4 firm, when they don't offer the support, there is no room for promotions or upward growth.

Working at this firm, you realize exactly what your worth, and its not worth working for a firm that doesn't appreciate its staff. Choose another firm.

Was at this firm for going on 3-years when I finally decided to leave. Staff that you work with are generally nice - Management and Partners do not care whatsoever and offer zero support in regards to work, or completing the CPA requirements to pass and graduate.

Time off for studying for the CPA CFE final is 4-weeks. Make no mistake, this is 100% not enough time, and most firms allocate 2-3 months off for students to prepare. Partners try and convince you otherwise, don't listen to them. They do not care if you pass.

Client billable hours are often changes by the Partners - which means it takes you that much longer to graduate and accumulate your time and hours for CPA. Not only is this insanely frustrating, but also completely unethical behavior. 

Honestly, go work for another firm or Big4. You will learn way more and have the support needed to pass, gradate and actually succeed as an accountant. There is also ZERO upward movement after Manager as all the Partners roles are fully filled and will be for the next 15 years. This is the firm you go to when you want to park yourself at Manager for the rest of your career with no aspirations to do more.

Go work somewhere else.

I agree with the other reviews. This was by far the worst place I have worked and I have been to several other firms throughout my co-op term (including Big 4) and then at this firm once I graduate.

The partners are super nice when your interviewed, but when your hired they really don't care about staff at all and expect staff to come in on both days most weekends and stay super late throughout the week. Some of the staff also are clients of the firm (through their families companies) and they are treated noticeably better.

You can tell the managers are just exhausted at this firm and extremely overworked as well so sometimes its difficult to get direction or help if needed. Some have even left to go work for Big 4.

I was not satisfied or happy with my experience here, I would recommend finding somewhere else to work. The turnover here is also extremely high which is also a huge indicator of how staff does feels. I left and am far happier at my new place of work.

I had a postive experience working there. They helped with development of pursuit of my CPA designation, exposed me to a lot of different industries and allowed me to work freely without micro managing.

The staff in the bullpen are friendly and helpful and the partners and managers have an open door policy. They also offer hybrid work from home options.

You are expected to work more during tax season but the place I worked before GGW had 60 hour minimum and they are well below that. For working in busy season they offer 4 day work weeks during the summer. Benefits are great and they offer a health manager account for costs the benefits provider do not cover.

The reason I left was to help work for a family business or I definitely would have stayed.

I've had an exceptional experience working at Glenn Graydon Wright. I have been working there for over 6 years. The staff is friendly, supportive, and knowledgeable, making it easy to come to work every day. They also offer work from home options which is a bonus.

The  work-life balance is great as they offer floater days in the summer, essentially giving employees 3 day weekends all of July and August. Tax season is obviously busy so the floater days are welcome once taxes are done. They offer study time for CPA exams as well and flex time during the week.
There are other perks and benefits as well, including a great benefits package.

I worked here for four years and had a great experience. You get a lot of exposure to different types of clients in different industries (both for-profit and not-for-profit) and I was able to develop both my technical and soft skills here as you get the opportunity to deal directly with clients. There are busy times of the year where extra hours are required (e.g. personal tax season) but nothing out of the ordinary in my experience (I was at different firms previously).

The people are amazing to work with, from partners to junior staff and I enjoyed my time here.

As for the other comments about time being changed from billable to non-billable, I did not see this and I was involved in doing client billings.

The fast paced atmosphere is overtly stressful and doesn’t allow for an effective work environment. Obviously high turnover from improper communication between management and staff; the average tenure of staff is 2 years. 
Feedback typically contains excessive criticism and snide remarks. This is to establish management’s command, not to better staff in their work or understanding of processes.  Unprofessional behaviour of management who don’t listen but make incorrect conclusions about conflicts or misunderstandings they know little about.
Sure their firm name is established but current management styles prevent this business from being successful in the long term.

I have been with GGW for almost 5 years. It has been a great journey with friendly and helpful staff and partners. Even during busy times the managers and partners will work around to accommodate your vacation. There is room to grow and learn and the management is open to your feedback. I have learned a lot at this firm. Also you have the opportunity to work with a good mix clients in assurance or non assurance engagements. The best thing is you can always speak to the managers or partners of the firm. Everyone works collaboratively. 

It was a very memorable experience for me in GGW. I enjoyed and learned a lot during the time with GGW.  Partners and managers are very helpful and they are very willing to to teach and help. They have an excellent mentor to help me with my CPA experience report. We are able to take the study leave before CFE. In addition, they have good insurance benefits plan for employees. 

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