Big Four Salary Progression 2026: Associate to Manager in the UK, Ireland and US
Grade-by-grade Big Four pay for 2026 in audit and tax, from trainee to director, in London, the UK regions, Dublin and the US, and where the biggest jumps in a Big Four career come.
Big Four salary progression follows the grade ladder, and the biggest single jump comes when you qualify. In London audit, Morgan McKinley's 2026 UK guide puts a part-qualified Big Four auditor at £32,000–£42,000. A newly qualified one earns £52,000–£54,000, a manager £65,000–£72,000 and a senior manager £75,000–£90,000. In Dublin, a Big Four audit senior starts at €50,000–€56,000 and a manager at €65,000–€75,000. US public accounting runs from $58,750 for an associate to $133,750 at the top of the manager range, according to Robert Half's 2027 guide.
Below are the grade-by-grade figures for audit and tax in each country, and where the pay steps are biggest. The Big Four don't publish their pay scales, so every figure comes from a recruiter guide or press report, with its year and region.
Key takeaways
- In London audit, Morgan McKinley's 2026 Big Four bands run from £32,000–£42,000 part-qualified to £52,000–£54,000 newly qualified and £65,000–£72,000 at manager.
- Qualifying is the biggest single jump: in London the newly qualified band starts £10,000 above the top of the part-qualified band.
- In Dublin, a Big Four audit senior starts at €50,000–€56,000, above the most experienced semi-senior band (€40,000–€45,000).
- US public accounting pay rises from a $70,750 associate mid-point to $115,750 for an audit manager (Robert Half 2027, national).
- Staying longer in grade can match a promotion: an experienced Dublin audit manager earns about the same as a new senior manager.
Big Four grades in plain terms
Firms use different titles for the same level. Graduates may be called associates, trainees or assistants. Seniors may be senior associates or in-charges. Below are the levels the salary guides use, in order:
- Trainee / associate. You're studying for your professional qualification.
- Semi-senior. A part-qualified trainee with some exams passed, running smaller areas of an audit.
- Senior / newly qualified. You run the fieldwork on a job, and many people qualify around this grade.
- Assistant manager. You manage several engagements under a manager's review.
- Manager. You own client relationships, budgets and the team.
- Senior manager / assistant director, then director / partner.
Guides in different countries label these differently. The UK guides use part-qualified and newly qualified, Ireland's uses trainee and senior, and the US guide uses associate and senior associate. The tables below keep each guide's own labels.
UK: London audit pay by grade
Two 2026 guides cover London audit grades. Morgan McKinley reports the Big Four on their own. The Hays UK Salary & Recruiting Trends 2026 guide groups them with the Top 20 firms.
| London audit grade | Morgan McKinley UK 2026, Big 4 | Hays UK 2026, Big 4/Top 20 (typical) |
|---|---|---|
| Graduate entry | See below | — |
| Part-qualified | £32,000–£42,000 | — |
| Newly qualified / qualified senior | £52,000–£54,000 | £52,000–£62,000 (£56,000) |
| Assistant manager | — | £58,000–£65,000 (£65,000) |
| Manager | £65,000–£72,000 | £64,000–£85,000 (£75,000) |
| Senior manager / assistant director | £75,000–£90,000 | £85,000–£95,000 (£95,000) |
| Director / partner | £110,000–£150,000 | £100,000–£150,000 (£135,000) |
Hays notes that its figures are cash salary and exclude benefits and bonus.
For graduate entry, City AM reported in September 2026 that KPMG typically starts London graduates at around £34,500. EY starts graduates at £30,000–£36,000, and PwC and Deloitte at £30,000–£35,000. The same report says Grant Thornton will pay £40,000 from its September 2027 intake. Our guide to Big Four graduate offers in London, Dublin and New York compares starting pay in more detail.
Across the whole ladder, Hays's typical London director (£135,000) earns almost two and a half times a qualified senior (£56,000). Read down the Morgan McKinley column for the shape of London progression. The top of the part-qualified band (£42,000) is £10,000 below the bottom of the newly qualified band (£52,000). From newly qualified to senior manager, each step up adds roughly £10,000–£18,000 to the band. The step to director is larger.
UK: tax and advisory, and pay outside London
Non-audit service lines follow a similar ladder in London. Morgan McKinley's 2026 figures for the Big Four:
| London grade (Morgan McKinley UK 2026, Big 4) | Accounting / non-audit | Personal tax |
|---|---|---|
| Part-qualified / assistant | £30,000–£38,000 | £33,000–£45,000 |
| Newly qualified / senior associate | £50,000–£53,000 | £45,000–£65,000 |
| Manager | £60,000–£70,000 | £63,000–£80,000 |
| Senior manager | £70,000–£85,000 | £77,000–£110,000 |
| Director | £110,000–£140,000 | £110,000+ |
Outside London, the bands are lower, and how much lower depends on the grade. Hays's typical salaries for Big 4/Top 20 audit in 2026:
| Hays 2026, Big 4/Top 20 audit (typical) | London | North West England | Scotland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Qualified senior | £56,000 | £47,000 | £45,000 |
| Assistant manager | £65,000 | £52,000 | £50,000 |
| Manager | £75,000 | £65,000 | £58,500 |
| Assistant director / senior manager | £95,000 | £77,000 | £77,000 |
| Director | £135,000 | £115,000 | £100,000 |
In the North West, the typical manager earns £18,000 more than a qualified senior. In London the same step is worth £19,000. The step is similar in cash terms, even though the starting salary is lower.
Ireland: Dublin audit and tax by grade
Morgan McKinley's 2026 Ireland guide gives each Big Four grade three bands by years of experience in the grade. That makes it the most detailed public source on progression within a grade.
| Dublin, Big 4 audit (Morgan McKinley IE 2026) | 0–3 years | 3–5 years | 5+ years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Audit trainee | €27,000–€30,000 | — | — |
| Audit semi-senior | €30,000–€35,000 | €35,000–€40,000 | €40,000–€45,000 |
| Audit senior | €50,000–€56,000 | €56,000–€60,000 | €60,000–€65,000 |
| Audit assistant manager | €55,000–€60,000 | €60,000–€65,000 | €65,000–€75,000 |
| Audit manager | €65,000–€75,000 | €75,000–€80,000 | €80,000–€85,000 |
| Audit senior manager | €75,000–€82,000 | €82,000–€85,000 | €85,000–€92,000 |
| Audit director | €95,000–€105,000 | €105,000–€120,000 | €120,000–€130,000 |
| Dublin, Big 4 tax (Morgan McKinley IE 2026) | 0–3 years | 3–5 years | 5+ years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tax trainee | €28,000–€30,000 | €30,000–€32,000 | €32,000–€36,000 |
| Tax semi-senior | €30,000–€35,000 | €35,000–€40,000 | €40,000–€45,000 |
| Tax senior | €55,000–€60,000 | €60,000–€65,000 | €65,000–€70,000 |
| Tax manager | €70,000–€75,000 | €75,000–€80,000 | €80,000–€85,000 |
| Tax director | €100,000–€120,000 | €120,000–€140,000 | €140,000–€150,000 |
The jump from semi-senior to senior stands out. The top band for an experienced audit semi-senior (€40,000–€45,000) sits below the starting band for a new senior (€50,000–€56,000). In Ireland, the senior grade is usually where newly qualified pay arrives.
The Dublin table also shows that staying longer in a grade can match a promotion. An audit manager with five or more years in grade (€80,000–€85,000) earns about the same as a new senior manager (€75,000–€82,000). If your firm offers a promotion without much more pay, these bands help you test it.
For context outside the Big Four, the 2026 Chartered Accountants Leinster Society and Barden survey found newly qualified chartered accountants averaging a €65,538 package. That's across practice and industry, and includes more than base pay.
Outside Dublin: Cork, Limerick and Galway
Big Four offices outside Dublin pay less at most grades. Morgan McKinley's 2026 bands for the first three years in each grade:
| Big 4 audit, 0–3 years in grade (Morgan McKinley IE 2026) | Dublin | Cork | Limerick / Galway |
|---|---|---|---|
| Audit trainee | €27,000–€30,000 | €25,000–€27,000 | €25,000–€27,000 |
| Audit senior | €50,000–€56,000 | €45,000–€50,000 | €42,000–€48,000 |
| Audit assistant manager | €55,000–€60,000 | €55,000–€60,000 | €50,000–€55,000 |
| Audit manager | €65,000–€75,000 | €62,000–€70,000 | €58,000–€68,000 |
Cork's assistant manager band matches Dublin's, but its senior and manager bands sit a few thousand euro lower. Limerick and Galway share the same figures. If you're weighing a transfer between offices, compare these bands with your housing costs before you assume Dublin pays off.
US: public accounting pay by level
There's no reliable published 2026 Big Four pay scale for the US, and we couldn't verify the 2026 New York starting salaries quoted online. The best national source we found is Robert Half's 2027 US Salary Guide. It reports public accounting pay as national averages across firms of all sizes, not the Big Four alone.
| Robert Half US 2027, public accounting (national) | Low | Mid | High |
|---|---|---|---|
| Audit/assurance associate | $58,750 | $70,750 | $82,500 |
| Senior audit/assurance associate | $74,250 | $88,000 | $97,500 |
| Audit/assurance manager | $98,750 | $115,750 | $133,750 |
| Senior audit/assurance manager | $142,750 | $182,750 | $222,750 |
| Tax services associate | $63,750 | $75,750 | $87,500 |
| Senior tax services associate | $78,500 | $96,500 | $111,500 |
| Tax services manager | $104,250 | $124,000 | $143,250 |
| Senior tax services manager | $126,500 | $143,500 | $160,250 |
At the entry end, the AICPA's 2025 MAP Survey, reported by the Journal of Accountancy, found median CPA-firm starting pay of $60,834 for bachelor's graduates and $67,750 for master's graduates. It also found that manager pay rose 15% over the two years since its 2023 survey. Most of the 1,073 responding firms were small, so treat these as a floor rather than a Big Four figure.
In the US, the biggest step is from senior associate to manager. At the mid-points, that's $88,000 to $115,750 in audit. Robert Half's tax ladder has the same shape: $75,750 for a tax associate, $96,500 for a senior and $124,000 for a manager. For New York, salaries run above national averages. The Bureau of Labor Statistics puts the May 2025 median for accountants and auditors at $105,650 in the New York metro, against $83,680 nationally.
Big Four salary progression: where the big jumps happen
All three countries show the same pattern. Pay rises slowly within a grade, and quickly when you move up a grade. The two moves worth the most are:
- Qualifying. In London, the bottom of the newly qualified band is £10,000 above the top of the part-qualified band (Morgan McKinley UK 2026). In Dublin, a new audit senior starts above the most experienced semi-senior (Morgan McKinley IE 2026).
- Making manager. The Hays typical London figure rises from £65,000 at assistant manager to £75,000 at manager. US mid-points rise by $27,750 from senior associate to audit manager (Robert Half US 2027).
Morgan McKinley's 2026 commentary adds a third route. In Ireland, it says the biggest pay increases go to newly qualified accountants and specialists who move jobs. For many, that move is into industry, where FP&A salaries from analyst to finance manager follow a different ladder. In the UK, it expects salary rises in 2026 to be conservative overall. So if you've qualified and the firm's offer for next year sits at the bottom of the bands above, the market data supports a conversation.
Using your grade data in a pay review or job search
Bring the table for your city and grade to your next review, and note which band you're in and why. Then back it with evidence: the size of the jobs you ran, the people you supervised and the issues you found. A pay review is a short pitch, and the same structure as a good interview answer works. Our STAR interview examples for finance show how to build one from real audit work.
If you're thinking about leaving at qualified senior or manager, your CV has to translate grades into results. These finance CV achievement examples show honest ways to quantify audit work. Our audit senior CV example shows a finished version. To check whether your qualification route fits where you want to go next, see our ACCA vs CIMA vs ACA guide. If you have one CV line you're unsure about, the free CV line checker will flag what's missing.
The biggest pay steps in a Big Four career come at the grade changes, not the annual reviews. Find your grade in the table for your city, see where the next step up sits, and work out what your CV or review needs to show to get there.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Big 4 salary progression in the UK?
In London audit, Morgan McKinley's 2026 guide puts the Big Four at £32,000–£42,000 part-qualified, £52,000–£54,000 newly qualified, £65,000–£72,000 at manager and £75,000–£90,000 at senior manager. Hays 2026 puts the typical Big 4/Top 20 director at £135,000 in London. Regional salaries are lower: a North West manager is typically on £65,000.
How much does a Big 4 audit manager earn in London?
Morgan McKinley's 2026 UK guide puts a London Big Four audit manager at £65,000–£72,000. Hays 2026, which groups the Big Four with Top 20 firms, gives £64,000–£85,000 with a typical £75,000. Both are base salary; Hays states that its figures exclude benefits and bonus.
What is the Big 4 salary progression in Ireland?
In Dublin audit, Morgan McKinley's 2026 bands for the first three years in grade are €27,000–€30,000 for a trainee, €50,000–€56,000 for a senior, €65,000–€75,000 for a manager and €95,000–€105,000 for a director. Cork, Limerick and Galway pay less at most grades.
How much does a Big 4 audit manager earn in NYC?
We couldn't find a reliable 2026 Big Four figure for New York. Robert Half's 2027 US guide puts an audit/assurance manager at $98,750–$133,750 nationally, across firms of all sizes. BLS data shows New York pays above the national level: the May 2025 median for accountants and auditors was $105,650 in the metro, against $83,680 nationally.