Vault’s Verdict

CBIZ is ideally looking for positive, entrepreneurial team players who fit into the firm’s culture. For students, the firm runs a very valuable internship program, offering interns real-world experience, exposure to a variety of projects, great technical and soft skill training, and access to networking opportunities. For its full-time staff, CBIZ offers numerous career development opportunities, including a lot of on-the-job training, formal technical and soft skill training, a mentorship program, and merit-based promotions. One downside is it can be hard to join some trainings due to chargeable hour requirements.

Although the busy seasons can mean very long hours and tight deadlines, CBIZ focuses on trying to ensure its staff have a healthy work-life balance. Managers look out for burnout in employees and make sure rest is taken, especially during busy seasons. In addition, work schedules can be flexible and remote work options are available. With respect to compensation, CBIZ insiders say salaries are on par with competitor firms but believe benefits and perks could be better. 

As for CBIZ’s business outlook, the firm has been rapidly growing through mergers and acquisitions. As a result, most insiders believe the firm is experiencing growing pains, noting that policies and leadership have been changing quite a bit, the firm’s culture is in flux, and employee morale is not at its highest. Even so, insiders rave about their colleagues and clients and are hopeful the changes will start to slow.

EMPLOYEE REVIEWS

Quality of Life

• “During busy season, I work between 55 and 65 hours a week. The rest is around 40 hours a week. The company works hard to provide work-life balance as much as they can.”
• “Long hours for a few months and then back to normal, but it evens out with proper vacation time. Also, the work-from-home option during busy season a few days of the week is appreciated.”
• “Taking time off for any reason is not discouraged and management is often understanding. Management looks out for burnout in employees and makes sure rest is taken, especially during busy seasons. Work schedule can be flexible, as well as remote work being available. Required chargeable hours are hard to obtain as there is pressure on budgets per return.”
• “Outside of busy season, I have no complaints. During busy season, it’s expected that work will become life for a bit.”

Compensation

• “Competitive pay and good benefits, but our 401(k) match is low, and paternity leave could be improved even though it went up a little in the last year.”
• “Salary is on par with industry standards in my market. Extra compensation could be better but is dependent on office/region/firm performance and is expected to vary from year to year. Benefits are average.”
• “I am fine with my salary, but the benefits such as insurance and 401(k) matching and vesting could be way better.”
• “Salary is decent, slightly below market rate I believe. The benefits and perks are very normal and consistent with what other public accounting firms offers.”

Career Development

• “There’s a lot of opportunity for those interested in development and willing to put in the effort it takes to be successful by listening to the guidance they’re provided and implementing it to grow. Advancement is only based on skills and performance and is not impacted by ‘no opening above’ or ‘years served,’ which is appreciated by those who want to move at a different pace.”
• “CBIZ has a lot of opportunities for career development in different styles and approaches, which I appreciate. I like that they have a mentorship program in addition to trainings available to teach soft skills. They have a guide to the skills and experience they’re looking for when promoting, so it is clear what is expected.”
• “Great teams, lots of on-the-job training, and a whole virtual library of self-guided trainings. Downside is sometimes there’s not enough time to do the trainings due to chargeable hours goals.”
• “The firm provides lots of opportunity to learn and grow, and promotions are given as they are deserved. Sometimes on-the-job training suffers due to client deadlines or budget expectations.

Business Outlook

• “CBIZ just acquired a firm that is the same size, moving us up in size. We have a private and public sector presence across all industries. We’re a national firm with international resources.”
• “There is consolidation of various previously disparate companies, so there are some growing pains, but I think this management group has a vision and knows where it’s trying to go.”
• “Business outlook appears to be strong. However, the integration of offices and movement to a more national model and control is depressing staff morale and contributing to increased turnover.”
• “CBIZ has acquired several other accounting firms within the past few years, which is always a tumultuous time for any firm. I believe the outlook is positive, but mergers could cause issues for the next few years. Due to the RTO and limited WFH, as well as some other factors specific to my city, employee morale is not at its highest.”

Intern Experience

• “Good networking—I met all of the directors in the office. Hands-on experience, I had the opportunity to prepare client returns. And access to technical and soft skill trainings, the fun company culture, and many events that gave me opportunities to meet people and ask questions.”
• “Great real-world experience that helped me make an informed decision on what I wanted to do with my career by having seen what the work looks like in practice. I was also able to grow my network and meet many new people in the industry both in and outside the firm.”
• “The best aspect of my internship was getting hands-on experience with the software, tools, and practices used in public accounting. I was included in real client work and exposed to job types that I had never encountered before, such as 401(k) audits and other employee benefit plan engagements. This not only strengthened my technical skills but also helped me understand how the concepts I learned in class are actually applied in the field. Being trusted with meaningful tasks made the experience feel valuable, and it gave me confidence that I could contribute to a professional team while continuing to learn and grow. The most challenging aspect of my internship was that there was not always enough work to go around. Since it took place over the summer, which is a slower period for public accounting firms, there were days when the workflow was light and assignments were limited. However, the downtime gave me the opportunity to observe and ask questions.”
• “Great mentorship and many peers willing to help. Exposure to different types of work and returns. Sometimes there was downtime with no work.”

Hiring Process

• “I found the interview process to be smooth and convenient. CBIZ was able to interview me virtually, which I appreciated. Communication was good.”
• “We’re seeking people who culturally fit into our firm (positive attitude, excited to learn). Our interview and callback process is rapid, same-day or next-day, usually.”
• “I had three interviews and they were all fantastic. I was super nervous, but they all helped me feel so much more comfortable and let me have normal conversations while still getting all the information they needed. When I asked any questions, they answered with the correct information and called me back within a week with an offer.”
• “Our process is to move fast on candidates that we want to join our team. Our candidate is someone that will invest in themselves and be a team player and entrepreneurial.”

Interview Questions

• “What accounting experience do you have outside of school? What type of teams did you work in before? Have you worked during busy seasons before? What type of work have you prepared or reviewed before? What do you want to learn more about?”
• “They asked about my work/school balance as I worked two part-time jobs while in school taking six classes. They asked about my accounting experience, as I did not have any internship but did take a volunteer program and did individual taxes for free for people, students, etc. They also asked other questions just to learn more about me and not just my work; for example, hobbies of mine, what I like to do in my free time, etc. It was three amazing conversations, and I fell in love with the company right there.”
• “Tell me about a time when you had to work in a team. What role did you take? How did you navigate issues?”
• “Provide scenarios that caused conflict and how you handled them. Provide scenarios when you had to receive feedback and how you handled them.”

UPPERS

• “Talented colleagues, positive culture, great clients.”
• “Work-life balance and being able to work remotely.”
• “Plenty of opportunities for advancements and choosing a specific industry or niche.”

DOWNERS

• “Busy season hours.”
• “Too focused on billable hours.”
• “The change in policies.”