Compensation Survey Results

I didn't get enough inputs to have meaningful data per level per city - that would require several times the response I got - which I supplemented with data received from candidates I'm working with. Ultimately I divided the country into 4 regions: North East, South, Midwest, and West. I also divided the whole list of inputs up by level (I had to make some generalizations) that broke down like big 4's heirerarchy: Staff, Senior, Manager, Sr. Manager, Director.



The North East was made up of states starting with Maryland and heading North. So New England with NY, PA, NJ, DE, and MD.



The South for my purposes here consists of states on the Eastern seaboard south of Maryland, the states on the Gulf of Mexico, and those south of MO. (VA, NC, SC, GA, FL, AL, LA, TX, OK, MI, AR, and TN)



The Midwest: MO and North, the Dakotas and East, Ohio and West plus WV for good measure.



The West: The square states and west. (Everything Else)



Here are the numbers:


Northeast Avg
$129,490.00




South Avg
$107,778.00




Midwest Avg

$152,115.63




West Avg
$94,000.00




Staff Avg
$62,698.57




Senior Avg
$80,333.33




Manager Avg
$124,937.50




Sr. Manager Avg
$178,680.00




Director Avg
$185,731.25

Now, I really should say that there's little statistical purity here. I have varying numbers of in each level, and varying levels in each geography. Ironically, the only number that I see as suspect is the average TP income in the Midwest, and that's the area with the most diverse set of inputs. Also, in the West I ommitted an input with 3 years exp who claims a base income of 185. This would have made the average "Staff" pay higher than the average "Senior" pay, though it may have made the numbers for the West more accurate on average; I think it's a little low, especially since it contains San Francisco, the most expencive area of the country.

So there it is! That's how much money you should make.

Also, thank you all for your participation in the secondary survey about whether or not you want to hear about new TP jobs. Seeing as nobody said they didn't want to hear about them, which honestly surprised me a little, I will be posting them here as well as emailing them out as they come up. I've started another blog which I may utilize as a job posting board, then again I may just do it here. We'll see.

Best,
Mike

The Survey

As I mentioned a few weeks ago lots of you ask me pretty regularly what you're paid relative to market. I've been able to present some rough estimates, but this informal survey will help fill in the blanks. Take a minute and copy/paste the info below into an email to me, plug in your data, and send it out to me. Your info will stay confidential, and after enough people complete the survey I will tabulate and share the results here.

As all of you know, the more inputs for this the more accurate it will be, so please pass this around to those around you.

All the Best,

-Mike

Info about You:
City (Work)
Industry
Years Experience (total)
Years Experience (TP)
Title
# Of Reports
Title you report to?

Info about your comp (2007):
Salary
Historical Annual % of Increase
Bonus
Over Time (Hours/Week)

CIP on Buy-In Royalties (revisited)

I regularly ask people what the "hottest topic" in transfer pricing is today and I hear again and again that it's the September 2007 CIP on Buy-Ins. I've had a variety of reasons cited ranging from, "it's illegal!" to this one I recieved on LinkedIn: "Because nothing is written is clearly and the anything to do with the IRS is bogus nonsense so you have hire a triple MBA to get through the crap." (Thanks Jan!) Some of your responses have been better thought out and logical than these, but most of the time the indignation is still there.

My understanding of the situtation is that, and I'm stealing these words from a manager at PwC, this CIP "neuters causuring" by having auditors apply the income method as the best method, because it essentially means that you need a subsidiary to buy-in to developing IP at market value eliminating any tax benefit.

So what?

Many companies don't use causuring anyway - it's seen as too risky - and that simply means that the rest will have to adjust accordingly or be penalized. This is a solid benefit for anyone in a consulting role because you will be seen as the experts on how to solve these problems that your clients now have.

Ultimately I think this is the decision of the regulatory body at hand and rightfully so. The concept of "Best Method," which they're applying here isn't intended to mean, "best for the company," but best and most fair and reasonable. It seems to me that they're saying that causuring is not. The same manager as above said that causuring is dead in the water.

I tend to agree.



-Skelly