Vault’s Verdict

Aprio is ideally looking for positive, motivated, hardworking candidates eager to learn and grow. Aprio offers valuable internships for students, providing interns with hands-on experience, training, mentoring, and constant support from full-time staff. The firm’s career development and growth opportunities for its full-time staff are extensive, and include a culture of promoting from within, a good mentoring program, and the ability to forge your own career path.

During busy season, the hours can be long and it can be hard to take time off, but the rest of the year Aprio provides a lot of schedule flexibility and makes it easy for staff to have a healthy work/life balance. The firm’s discretionary time off policy and remote work options get especially rave reviews from insiders. Meanwhile, compensation is competitive. Staff say salaries and bonuses are fair, and perks and benefits are said to be adequate. Some insiders say the parental leave and 401(k) offerings could be better, but most insiders agree that wellness offerings are generous. Benefits like free counseling, online yoga classes, nutrition services, and healthy lunches are very much appreciated.

Aprio is continually improving diversity within the firm and has done a good job educating employees about DEI. Insiders say there’s been a notable increase in gender diversity, but note that the firm lacks ethnic diversity among its employees, especially at the partner level. With respect to the firm’s business outlook, Aprio has been growing rapidly. It recently made several acquisitions, increasing advancement opportunities for many staff and making it an exciting time to work for the firm. As a result, employee morale is strong.

Hiring Process

“We are very competitive and have several schools around each of our offices where we focus our efforts. We have an amazing internship programs, which we get most of our full-time entry-level hires through. In general, we gravitate to people who aren't interested in maintaining the status quo. We look for people who are good at what they do, are hungry for opportunities, are curious by nature, and have a positive attitude. Come with a growth mentality.”

“Many candidates are campus hires. Our recruiters often select campus candidates during career fairs and set up interviews at that time. These individuals will interview with three different members of the professional staff teams. Each team member who interviews that candidate will ask various questions and offer their input if the candidate should be hired. The ideal candidate is passionate about the industry, is receptive to learning and working in a team, has a positive attitude, will work towards getting their CPA, and has core accounting knowledge.”

“The firm is seeking individuals with a passion for the profession and a good education. They hire without regard to race, religion, sex, etc., and stress the importance of working with a diverse group of people across the country as well as internationally.”

“The firm is looking for someone who is willing to learn and grow, and understands the importance of high-quality work. In addition, the firm tends to look for employees that improve the already excellent and welcoming culture.”

Interview Questions

“Describe a time when you had to manage conflicting priorities. Describe a time when you had a leadership position. Describe a time when your co-worker/classmate was not following through on work and how you managed the situation.”

“Are you passionate about accounting? In what ways have you demonstrated team/leadership skills? Why did you choose this career path? What do you like about accounting? How familiar are you with the audit practice?”

“Why do you believe Aprio is a good firm? Provide an example a group project you participated in where someone was not pulling their weight and how you addressed it.”

“I always ask two questions: 1. Share the greatest impact that you have had on a client. What did you help them achieve and what did you learn from the experience? 2. Share the greatest impact that you have had on a team member. What did you help them achieve and what did you learn from the experience?”

Internship Experience

“I was mentored and taught the fundamental concepts of my job in auditing that let me lay the foundation for the work I still do today moving towards management. I got real experience every day and lots of responsibility doing work that I felt mattered. I felt like I was part of the team and that I made meaningful contributions.”

“Great hands-on work and training, real client experience, great mentorship and support. Everyone was consistently friendly and willing to help me. However, due to my internship taking place over the summer, there was little work for me to do some weeks, do I didn't get to learn as much as I would’ve liked.”

“Very friendly team members who were always willing to help, fun events for interns to enjoy and get to know each other, flexible work-from-home/hybrid options, rotation through both assurance and tax groups.”

“My Aprio ‘buddy’ and manager were always available for questions and showed me how to do things that were new to me. I had the ability to work with both the audit and tax teams, reinforcing my decision to start my career with the tax team. While there were some light workdays and moments of downtime in the internship, it was well worth it overall.”

Career Development

“I love that Aprio has a Buddy Program. Being paired with a seasoned employee helps new hires learn about their job and gives them the opportunity to have 1:1 assistance until they get comfortable handling tasks independently.”

“Aprio has always been extremely focused on development opportunities for our employees. We have a lot of promotions that happen, and whenever new positions are available, they always look to promote internal members before searching externally. The firm also provides studying resources for the CPA and provides trainings on any area of the job that the employee is interested in.”

“Aprio's remarkable growth has created opportunities for me that I would likely not have had at another company. For this I am extremely thankful. However, sometimes the pace of change can feel daunting, and I do need to be proactive about identifying opportunities and building my own career path. But everyone is supportive and helpful, and luckily at Aprio, if you name it and put together a plan, you are encouraged to pursue that path. And that has been a great thing for me.”

“Aprio is very open and obliging to help people get where they want to be within the accounting field. With Aprio's large scope of fields that they cover in accounting, it's easy to find a department to work with if you want to switch. However, Aprio's rapid growth has caused there to be different cultures in almost every office. There are different methods of how things are done and different unspoken expectations of the workers. Many of the offices intermingle, but the methods used for tasks are not uniform across the company, even within the same field.”

Quality of Life

“Aprio provides the flexibility needed to attain a good work/life balance for most of the year. I know that as a public accounting firm, we are required to work extension hours during some of the year, but the positive aspect of the flexibility throughout the remainder of the year is certainly a benefit.”

“They promote work/life balance, recognize employees’ achievements, and prioritize health and well-being. On the down side, busy season requires employees to work over 45 hours per week. And even though we have a great Discretionary Time Off policy, it is sometimes hard to request extended periods of time off.”

“The firm tries to have fun activities during non-busy time, and we have summer Fridays, but we need to hire more staff so it would be easier to get some time off during non-busy season.”

“The firm is very flexible in terms of when I get my work done. I do work a lot of hours, well above average, but do so because I am motivated to continue to grow. And I can take off in middle of day if I have an appointment and then make up that work at other times.”

Salary and Benefits

“Salary is fair, and annual hour expectations are reasonable. There are fun health and wellness perks such as Desk Yogi and Cooleaf, where anyone can provide feedback and give points for help given/celebrating accomplishments, which can be accumulated to trade in for gift cards. However, there is no 401(k) match, and the vesting schedule for the profit sharing takes six years to vest 100 percent. If you start in the fourth quarter, you do not receive a pro-rated bonus. Health coverage premiums are okay, but the coverage is a HDHP, and the ER contribution to the HSA could be higher. No regular stipend for monthly gym membership; discounts aren't huge.”

“The time off policy is the best benefit of the firm. You are allowed to work fully remotely and take as much time off during the year as you need to, so there is a lot of freedom to be able to balance work/life during the offseason. But during tax season, you do not see that benefit as much since it is discouraged to take any time off. Also, they recently got rid of a meal reimbursement policy that was extremely helpful to people who incur additional food expenses since they do not have time to prepare their own meals during busy season. That was a very popular and effective policy. The bonuses are certainly appreciated, but the rates are much lower than my past firm and from other firms that I have heard about through colleagues.”

“The vacation policies are great and the encouragement from leadership for flexible hours has been a good experience at Aprio! But the health insurance costs and profit-sharing plans are not good as I have had in previous roles at other firms in the industry.”

“Salary is competitive. Merit is rewarded. Benefits are good overall, with a great DTO policy. Opportunities abound to increase compensation. I feel enabled to choose what I want from my work. However, I wish parental leave was longer.”

Wellness Efforts

“The exercise programs are great. I participate in Desk Yogi regularly and have a ClassPass account that allows me to attend gym classes in my area. The firm-provided lunches are always fresh and healthy, and I really appreciate having access to a health and life coach whenever I feel like I need their support.”

“The firm overall does a phenomenal job regarding wellness, but the office I work at does not. The office in Atlanta has various desk options including treadmills and standing desks. Our office has nothing but your average desk that you cannot stand up at, and there is nowhere to move around.”

“We have free counseling services available to everyone. Discounted class passes for gyms. Access to free online yoga classes. Free nutrition services. Aprio gives ample opportunity to be healthy. We also have a yearly 16-week challenge where you can win some great prizes for exercising, eating healthy, losing weight, etc.”

“Aprio offers various programs with free counseling, mental health and wellness programs, along with frequent reminders of how to access those programs. They have health and fitness challenges that encourage getting more physical along with our team members for some healthy competition. Daily live streamed yoga classes are available. There are additional benefits available through the health insurance apps.

Diversity, Philanthropy, and Green Initiatives

“Aprio is continually working to improve diversity within the firm and has done a good job educating employees and providing opportunities for all. Aprio is committed to providing employees with opportunities for charitable contributions through the Firm Foundation and promoting charitable events and opportunities in all of the communities. More focus could be made by Aprio regarding environmental issues.”

“There has been a notable increase in gender diversity. Our firm values and commits to philanthropic practices. The firm has some diversity initiatives but still lacks ethnic diversity among its employees. There could be more green practices, too.”

“There is a big effort to recruit and promote diversity, but the firm lacks a mix in gender, race, and ethnicity at the partner level. We have a yearly week of giving where all employees are encouraged to participate in firm-wide activities in addition to the ongoing community service projects in each local office. Our green efforts are in recycling, getting rid of plastic cups, planting trees for Arbor Day, etc.”

“The firm has its own charitable foundation. The foundation is very generous in matching local contributions by Aprio employees to local charities. Aprio is a leading volunteer in Project Hope for Black-owned businesses. We have mandatory courses for inclusion, diversity, and equity. The firm makes sure we all are educated in this. I would like to see the firm recognize our military veterans that work for us in a more celebrated way.”

Business Outlook

“The firm has experienced significant growth and had a significant number of M&A transactions, which has provided advancement opportunities for many individuals. It is a high-performing firm that moves at a fast pace, which can be more challenging for people who tend to work at a slow pace.”

“The firm is acquiring and merging with a lot of smaller organizations. That in itself is very exciting and strong. However, integration of the acquirees puts stress on the existing staff as they absorb additional work coming from the smaller organizations and are required to help integrate new employees and engagements.”

“I fully trust our CEO, COO, CFO, and board with the direction of the firm. I feel we are a fast-growing leading firm in the public accounting industry. We are forward-looking and incorporate that into our business and culture. The firm puts our 31 fundamentals into daily practice. We truly live out our fundamentals that govern the firm and set our culture.”

“Very involved leadership that keeps employees informed and excited about firm initiatives. Employee morale and community is great. The only challenge is for those smaller firms being acquired by Aprio to transition into the culture and mend practices, software, etc.”