# Big 4 audit staff/ advanced staff salary in Dubai



## Victorr

Hi,

What's the typical salary for audit staff/advanced staff in a Big4 company in Dubai? Glassdoor says from 12k-15k but it's not specified whether it's overall or the base salary. 

What range one should expect for overall salary?

Thanks


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## Fat Bhoy Tim

Victorr said:


> Hi,
> 
> What's the typical salary for audit staff/advanced staff in a Big4 company in Dubai? Glassdoor says from 12k-15k but it's not specified whether it's overall or the base salary.
> 
> What range one should expect for overall salary?
> 
> Thanks


I would expect that's an inclusive package, including housing and transport. It will depend heavily on what part of the business you're in, and whether it's staff or advanced staff or not, as even that may be overstating what you might actually get offered.

I've been with one of the Big 4 in the UAE for nearly 7 years, so I'm familiar with the pay and structure.


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## Victorr

Fat Bhoy Tim said:


> I would expect that's an inclusive package, including housing and transport. It will depend heavily on what part of the business you're in, and whether it's staff or advanced staff or not, as even that may be overstating what you might actually get offered.
> 
> I've been with one of the Big 4 in the UAE for nearly 7 years, so I'm familiar with the pay and structure.


Thanks Tim! 

Accordind to my prelim. research that would be pretty low given that Im considering to move with my family (wife and 2y.o child), right? From your answer I guess the salary rises significantly when one moves up, could you pls suggest how much senior 1s approx. get?

btw, I did MSc at Glasgow Uni and I loved Scotland, big hurray for Scotland )


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## Fat Bhoy Tim

Victorr said:


> Thanks Tim!
> 
> Accordind to my prelim. research that would be pretty low given that Im considering to move with my family (wife and 2y.o child), right? From your answer I guess the salary rises significantly when one moves up, could you pls suggest how much senior 1s approx. get?
> 
> btw, I did MSc at Glasgow Uni and I loved Scotland, big hurray for Scotland )


Will depend on which of the Big 4 the role is with and which service line, in addition to where you're being recruited from and how much experience you have.

Generally, the pay I've seen is as follows:

PwC
EY / DTT
KPMG

Is this in assurance/external audit, or in another side of the business?


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## Zexotic

Here's a rough estimate of what the pay scales would look like (all inclusive):

1) Associate - 7-11k
2) senior/supervisor - 10k-15k
3) Assistant manager - 14k to 19k
4) Manager - 18k-24k
5) Senior manager - 25k and above

The above mentioned salaries are for audit staff. The salaries are about 20-30% higher in advisory related services. The range depends on the firm you join (Fat Bhoy Tim's firm wise pay scale ranking is correct as per my knowledge) and the experience/qualifications you have.


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## Victorr

thanks for your replies, i think i got all the info I neeed.

yes, it's an assurance job.

cheers!


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## Fat Bhoy Tim

Zexotic said:


> Here's a rough estimate of what the pay scales would look like (all inclusive):
> 
> 1) Associate - 7-11k
> 2) senior/supervisor - 10k-15k
> 3) Assistant manager - 14k to 19k
> 4) Manager - 18k-24k
> 5) Senior manager - 25k and above
> 
> The above mentioned salaries are for audit staff. The salaries are about 20-30% higher in advisory related services. The range depends on the firm you join (Fat Bhoy Tim's firm wise pay scale ranking is correct as per my knowledge) and the experience/qualifications you have.


For Advisory, I'd say more like 15-20% at the lower grades and 25-30% in the higher ones - but essentially bang on.


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## Desert_Fever

Are there a lot of advisory groups and opportunities in that space in Dubai? I know some Big 4's which have gone strictly assurance, audit in some market places.


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## Fat Bhoy Tim

Desert_Fever said:


> Are there a lot of advisory groups and opportunities in that space in Dubai? I know some Big 4's which have gone strictly assurance, audit in some market places.


Certainly all 4 out here offer Advisory, any lack of service offerings is usually lack of capability/capacity and/or market for it.


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## A4*auditor

Moving to the UAE for big 4 audit manager position...what can I expect in terms of annual bonus? And raise pending good performance?


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## Zexotic

Your bonus will most like be half your monthly gross salary or maybe even less. Increment depends on your performance and position. Generally for middle tier positions, increments only range from 5-10%.. 5% being standard.


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## A4*auditor

Zexotic said:


> Your bonus will most like be half your monthly gross salary or maybe even less. Increment depends on your performance and position. Generally for middle tier positions, increments only range from 5-10%.. 5% being standard.


thanks for your reply Zexotic. Based on your salary bands plus the information you provided on raise/bonus....salaries for audit managers are less than they are in the states plus no perks - my current firm reimburses me for cell phone, retirement plans, etc... Albeit the package comes with housing and a car allowance but I was under the impression you leave your home country to work as an expat for a larger amount of money...not really seeing the benefit here. Thoughts?


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## Zexotic

A4*auditor said:


> thanks for your reply Zexotic. Based on your salary bands plus the information you provided on raise/bonus....salaries for audit managers are less than they are in the states plus no perks - my current firm reimburses me for cell phone, retirement plans, etc... Albeit the package comes with housing and a car allowance but I was under the impression you leave your home country to work as an expat for a larger amount of money...not really seeing the benefit here. Thoughts?


My ranges are wide considering the difference between firms. Also, are you looking at salaries in the US pre tax or post tax? That makes a difference as well. Audit related expenses like fuel, call charges, per diems, dewa housing fees etc are all reimbursed here as well and you're paid gratuity. 

I'm looking at manager salaries in the UK:

Deloitte Salaries in United Kingdom | Glassdoor

The average salary for an audit manager is 51,186 GBP yearly. You'd be paid tax and national insurance of about 14K GBP Leaving you with a take home pay of about 37K GBP ~ AED 222K PA

Taking a salary of about AED 22k average for a manager here comes up to about AED 264K PA

Considering all of this you can say the salaries are about 15-20% higher here.

Is that bump worth moving here? Maybe for some and not for others. People consider other things like faster career progress, less competition, better weather etc. 

The industry here pays higher here and therefore a lot of the people move to the industry soon enough unless they see fast paced routes to partnership.

Another major factor is the number of people competing for these jobs, not allowing the salary brackets to go higher.


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## richardthefirst

Fat Bhoy Tim said:


> Will depend on which of the Big 4 the role is with and which service line, in addition to where you're being recruited from and how much experience you have.
> 
> Generally, the pay I've seen is as follows:
> 
> PwC
> EY / DTT
> KPMG
> 
> Is this in assurance/external audit, or in another side of the business?


How would you rank the big 4 in Dubai in terms of conditions and quality of staff? Ive recently been offered an advisory role in Deloitte and EY and cant decide between the two. 

Any help would be much appreciated.


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## Jowhara

richardthefirst said:


> How would you rank the big 4 in Dubai in terms of conditions and quality of staff? Ive recently been offered an advisory role in Deloitte and EY and cant decide between the two.
> 
> Any help would be much appreciated.


Haven't you researched these two companies? There should be something that should make you prefer to work in one of these companies over the other.


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## Fat Bhoy Tim

richardthefirst said:


> How would you rank the big 4 in Dubai in terms of conditions and quality of staff? Ive recently been offered an advisory role in Deloitte and EY and cant decide between the two.
> 
> Any help would be much appreciated.


For these firms the bands are usually very, very wide and will depend on a lot of things.

Any details you can provide around the following?

grade
industry sector (if any); and
competency (consulting, risk, etc).

EY operate on a regional model so your home base will be Dubai, but you'll be expected to work anywhere and everywhere in the region as required.


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## richardthefirst

Thanks for the reply.

I will be joining as a Manager in the forensic team.

From interviews etc, its hard to tear them apart and have made identical offers.


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## mmh771

I'm truly shocked with the salaries you guys are mentioning here working with the Big 4! now i know that Big 4 will give you a decent exposure to different clients, but still, you are expected to work like 10-12 hours a day!

i'm getting a monthly basis of 40K, plus 10K housing allowance, and a 2 month basic salary bonus, and an annual first class ticket (paid in cash) for me and the family to my home town. and im not even a manager (6 years of audit experience).

I guess here in Dubai working in the client side is way better than working as an external auditor...


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## richardthefirst

mmh771 said:


> I'm truly shocked with the salaries you guys are mentioning here working with the Big 4! now i know that Big 4 will give you a decent exposure to different clients, but still, you are expected to work like 10-12 hours a day!
> 
> i'm getting a monthly basis of 40K, plus 10K housing allowance, and a 2 month basic salary bonus, and an annual first class ticket (paid in cash) for me and the family to my home town. and im not even a manager (6 years of audit experience).
> 
> I guess here in Dubai working in the client side is way better than working as an external auditor...


If you dont mind me asking, where are u working? genuinely curious.


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## mmh771

richardthefirst said:


> If you dont mind me asking, where are u working? genuinely curious.


I work in the government...

few months ago i used to make less than this, but with the new Nature of Work Allowance in march 2014, we got 50% increase on the basic salary.


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## Fat Bhoy Tim

mmh771 said:


> I'm truly shocked with the salaries you guys are mentioning here working with the Big 4! now i know that Big 4 will give you a decent exposure to different clients, but still, you are expected to work like 10-12 hours a day!
> 
> i'm getting a monthly basis of 40K, plus 10K housing allowance, and a 2 month basic salary bonus, and an annual first class ticket (paid in cash) for me and the family to my home town. and im not even a manager (6 years of audit experience).
> 
> I guess here in Dubai working in the client side is way better than working as an external auditor...


I know friends who went to government and tripled their pay. 5 years later they're in the same job; doing the same thing; their career has died; and they're slowly going out of their minds. 

That said, after 7 odd years in professional services I'm reaching the point where I want to cash in, kick back and work less than 50 hours a week.


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## Fat Bhoy Tim

richardthefirst said:


> Thanks for the reply.
> 
> I will be joining as a Manager in the forensic team.
> 
> From interviews etc, its hard to tear them apart and have made identical offers.


Aha. I know a number of those sorts myself as our paths cross nown again.

EY's the biggest in MENA by far, but Deloitte is bigger globally. Six of one and half a dozen of the other really.


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## richardthefirst

I understand the Deloitte practice is a partnership with the UK firm, same as PwC. Is this the same with EY?


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## Fat Bhoy Tim

richardthefirst said:


> I understand the Deloitte practice is a partnership with the UK firm, same as PwC. Is this the same with EY?


To the best of my knowledge, the UK plus several others.


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## adexpat1

Zexotic said:


> Here's a rough estimate of what the pay scales would look like (all inclusive):
> 
> 1) Associate - 7-11k
> 2) senior/supervisor - 10k-15k
> 3) Assistant manager - 14k to 19k
> 4) Manager - 18k-24k
> 5) Senior manager - 25k and above
> 
> The above mentioned salaries are for audit staff. The salaries are about 20-30% higher in advisory related services. The range depends on the firm you join (Fat Bhoy Tim's firm wise pay scale ranking is correct as per my knowledge) and the experience/qualifications you have.


Hi,

new to this forum - can anyone let me know what the expected % jump in salary is for manager to senior manager in audit?

FBT's salary scale for manager is accurate as I am currently a manager in audit however if someone is on the top end of the scale what should they expect as a SM (30K+ ?)


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