Vault’s Verdict

Grassi is ideally looking for candidates who are hardworking, self-starters, and eager to learn. For students, the firm runs an excellent internship program, during which interns gain hands-on experience and a solid understanding of what full-time positions are like. For its full-time staff, Grassi offers numerous career development opportunities, including strong formal and informal training, incentives to progress in school or via licensures, and exposure to a variety of work. Some insiders note that there could be more transparency around promotions and more guidance on how to make career development work in a busy schedule.

Although the busy season can mean long hours and tight deadlines, the firm makes a point of accommodating work-life balance, which includes flexibility on where you work and a generous PTO policy. Meanwhile, compensation and benefits are competitive, with nearly all insiders raving about the ESOP plan, which has the potential for significant upside the longer an employee stays with the firm.

Inclusion efforts also get excellent reviews, with insiders noting that Grassi didn’t abandon inclusion initiatives when other businesses did at the beginning of 2025, indicating the high level of integrity of the firm’s leadership. With respect to Grassi’s business outlook, insiders say they firm is growing and has a strong leadership team in place. They also say the firm’s ability to remain independent while competitors have been bought by private equity has allowed Grassi to maintain its quality of work, which in turn has positively affected employee morale.

EMPLOYEE REVIEWS

Quality of Life

• “The firm advocates to ensure you have a good quality of life. Sometimes this can be tough given the amount of time needed for the job, but the PTO policy is great and they are willing to cover for you when you are out of office.”
• “The firm is generally flexible on people working from home or in the office depending on the needs of the client/team. People are able to take PTO without judgement and teams are able to cover. The firm has summer Fridays which people take half days. Busy season is expected to be a peak time. Minimum 55 hour weeks, but I think that’s normal across the industry.”
• “One of the reasons I choose to work here was the flexibility offered by remote work. Since Covid changed the accounting landscape, work from home has been a win-win-win for the firm, the staff, and our clients.”
• “The firm makes a point of accommodating work-life balance, but, similar to all firms, sometimes a project or deadline comes up to requires an individual to work extended hours.”

Compensation

• “The firm offers an ESOP plan, one of the few firms in the industry to do so, which can be a significant portion of an individual’s retirement portfolio if they stay with the firm without them having to contribute any money. I have no complaints about the salary, benefits, and perks—I’m very happy with what I’m offered.”
• “I think the firm has strong salaries, benefits, and perks, but bonuses could be an area of improvement.”
• "Best part: ESOP plan, which has the potential for significant value the longer an employee stays with the company. Worst: The firm provides standard healthcare, FSA & HSA plan benefits.”
• “Flexibility of work from home is by far the greatest aspect. The flexibility and integration allow me to better respond to our client’s needs and keep in touch with our team, making me more effective in my role. Healthcare is a step up from my prior provider.” 

Career Development

• “They allow individuals to explore different options of work under their related fields, expose individuals to new opportunities with different locations/outreach, and provide incentives to progress in school or licensures. They could provide more guidance on how to make career development work in a busy schedule.”
• “Best aspect of career development is the motivation and constant push to grow your skills via specializing in a niche or providing additional work in other areas once established. I’ve been motivated to study and receive a new certification due to my firm.”
• “Individuals have the opportunity to develop their technical skills as far as they would like between in-person and online trainings, and there is a strong culture of helping others learn. Exposure to technical areas are common based on serving middle market clients, which help to solidify experience. Subject matter expert teams are relatively small compared to other larger firms. However, as the firm continues to grow, I would expect these SME teams to grow as well.”
• “The best aspect is that the firm offers numerous opportunities for growth, both formally through training and informally through expose to new areas in client engagements. However, I feel the firm can do a better job of communicating to an individual why they might or might not have gotten a promotion or what their salary/bonus increase was based on.”

Inclusion Efforts

• “From my perspective, everyone is treated with respect and dignity. I have never seen or heard of anything otherwise. Additionally, there are internal groups people can join that support specific DEI groups to form a community.”
• “They didn’t abandon DEI when other businesses did at the beginning of 2025. Indicative of high integrity level of leadership.”
• “I feel that the firm is inclusive of all individuals and offers equal access to interesting/high-quality work and promotion opportunities regardless of background or how an individual identifies.”
• “Color, sex, or orientation are just not issues at all. There is never any negative talk or even noticing of those details in the office or out of the office.”

Business Outlook

• “The firm has remained independent while many other firms have been bought by private equity. This allows Grassi to maintain quality of work and offer programs, such as the ESOP, which improve employee morale. This, in turn, is leading to growth in the form of acquiring clients who want a higher level of service.”
• “The firm acquired two CPA businesses in the past year, which indicates strong growth. Customers are growing in size and volume as well with minimal turnover. Employees are growing as well due to the acquisitions and hiring needs. The firm has a strong reputation in the NYC area and other cities where located.”
• “The firm has very strong accountants as leaders. They demonstrate opportunities to grow and never mind sitting down with you to go over any questions or processes you wouldn’t understand.”
• “All remains opportunistic. Growth focused and highly motivated culture for all. We’re an independent firm, free of conflicts of interest of PE-backed firms—an excellent choice by leadership.”

Intern Experience

• “The best aspect was having everyone be so welcoming as well as helpful when I was first learning the material. The worst aspect was there not being enough work for me and the other interns to work on.”
• “Diversity of work was good. Lots of on-the-job training.”
• “My internship gave me the knowledge to learn how the company worked as well as prepared me for a full-time employment. It was my first job out of college, so I was able to gain hands-on experience immediately. I got to understand how scheduling and billing worked as well as learned my way through the systems.”
• “My internship prepared me well for the work I would be given starting full time as an associate. I had a head start on all others.”

Hiring Process

• “The interview was conducted by three separate individuals, a partner, a manager, and an HR representative. The interview was professional and friendly. It included talking about my background, why I’m interested in Grassi, and what technical areas I have experience with. The callback was quick with a job offer later the same day. I believe the ideal candidate at the level below manager is someone who demonstrates a willingness to work hard and continue to learn.”
• “Interviews were casual and allowed for organic communication to showcase the genuine personalities of the various interviewers. Interviews were very comfortable and conversational. I received a call right away.”
• Relatively quick process and decision regarding employment. Ideal candidate would be someone who is hardworking and willing to learn.”
• “We are looking for self-starters that have an owner mindset that take ownership of their career and feel and act like an owner of the firm. Our ESOP and compensation is aligned to that mindset. We have a strong recruiting process that keeps in touch with the candidate from initial phone interview to offer letter.”

Interview Questions

• “Why are you interested in this role and our company specifically? How has your past experience prepared you for this position? What type of work energizes you the most day to day? Where would you like your career to be in three to five years?”
• “Tell me about yourself and start from the beginning. We’re looking for soft skills, leadership qualities, and an entrepreneurial mindset.”
• “How you handle client interaction, time management, confrontation. Explain what your ideal career looks like to you.”
• “Walk me through your resume, tell me about your experience in this niche industry, and so on. A lot of the interview is very conversational about accounting topics at the manager level, which is what I was hired in at. This demonstrates that the interviewee fully understands the concepts and responsibilities coming in.”

UPPERS

• “Great staff, great clients, great culture.”
• “Growth mindset—opportunity to grow professionally and personally.”
• “Work-life balance, ability to work remotely.”

DOWNERS

• “Busy season—but that is expected in our industry..”
• “Adjusting to new processes, policies, and technology.”
• “Several groups are understaffed.”