Vault’s Verdict

KSM is looking for intelligent, driven, caring team players who are eager to learn. For students, the firm runs a valuable internship program, offering interns hands-on experience, meaningful work, and many networking opportunities. Numerous former interns say they were treated like full-time staff during their internships. For its full-time professionals, KSM provides many growth opportunities, including valuable mentoring, ongoing training, and a culture that focuses on development.

While hours are long and stress can be high during the busy tax seasons, work/life balance can be achieved outside those times. Insiders very much appreciate the firm’s flexible schedule and remote-work options, and the firm’s PTO policy also gets rave reviews. Meanwhile, salaries, benefits, and perks are said to be competitive, although insiders say bonuses could be better. The firm’s wellness offerings are extensive and include free mental health counseling, fitness reimbursements, and many wellness-related programs and challenges.

KSM’s culture is inclusive, and diversity with respect to women gets especially strong reviews. There are many women in leadership roles. The firm also is focused on philanthropy—it has a firmwide volunteer day and a generous donation-matching program. As for KSM’s business outlook, the firm is growing rapidly, it is strategically well positioned, and employee morale is strong.

EMPLOYEE REVIEWS

Hiring Process

“We do a good job in recruiting. We prioritize our values in seeking candidates. We want people who are caring and agile, have accounting knowledge a desire to grow, and still want to balance work and life at home.”

“The interview process was very conversational and relaxed. I felt like I was simply talking through my career goals and seeing if they aligned with what the interviewer was saying. The ideal candidate would be someone who values a team approach and a commitment to getting a job done.”

“The interview process was prompt, and the recruiters and KSM employees were informative and easy to talk to. I think we are looking for intelligent individuals willing to learn.”

“We want people who show talent and potential and have a strong drive to work together, learn from each other, and drive results for our clients.”

Interview Questions

“I was asked questions about why I wanted to go into public accounting or how I had felt in previous job positions. I was also asked conversational questions about what I liked to do in the city and how I spend free time. It was very back and forth and not one sided.”

“What do you think are the most valuable traits in a good leader? Give an example of how you stay organized when juggling multiple tasks. Have you ever solved a problem that others around you could not solve? Tell me about it. Tell me about a time when you had a work problem and didn't know what to do. What's the most valuable thing you've learned in the past year? Why? What are the best and worst parts of working in a team environment? What do you like to do outside of work? Tell me about a time when you taught something to a peer. Tell me about a time you disagreed with a decision someone else made. What did you do? What do you consider to be your greatest professional/academic achievement? Describe a time you went above and beyond your responsibilities at work or in an organization. Why do you want to go into public accounting? What is your biggest hesitation about public accounting? What draws you to KSM?”

“What are your biggest strengths? How do you implement them? Discuss a time you were faced with a tough problem. How did you handle it? Why should we hire you? What makes you different? How do you handle stress?”

“What experience do you have with working with groups of people? How do you think you can contribute to KSM’s culture?”

Internship Experience

“The best part of my internship was making connections with people in my group. Everyone that I worked with made a real effort to treat me like a full-time associate and give me challenging work, and tried to make connections that would last. I interned multiple times and another positive is that I could tell with each internship they were making changes to the intern program trying to improve it, finding meaningful ways to fill some of the lighter times during a summer tax internship. The less enjoyable aspects had to do with the times when we weren’t busy, but again, those issues were only improved over time. “

“I was given responsibilities similar to what I would be given as a staff. I got to meet everyone on the team, and they were all great. I felt like part of the company very early on.”

“The best part about my internship was the people. It’s why I returned as a full-time employee. Everyone I met here was so welcoming from my first day to my last. I even got invited to the group outing after my internship ended. Out of all the jobs I have had, KSM has been the most positive, uplifting environment. The only negative thing that I experienced was the lack of work available at times. However, it was a summer internship, and if you know anything about tax, summer is not super busy.”

“The best parts of my internship were the connections I made with the other interns and my supervisor, the hands-on client experience, and working alongside tax professionals at the firm.”

Career Development

“Incredible growth opportunities for those who buy in. A significant portion of our leaders are willing to develop and grow our people. Our people are incredibly accommodating to those who want to work for certain people/clients, in certain industries, etc. We do everything we can to keep people happy within their roles.”

“Overall, it might be a little slower than industry average to get promoted, but I felt like I showed early development and my progression was accelerated. I think I would’ve been promoted around the same time in a bigger firm, but I felt better about the promotions knowing it wasn't standard procedure at my firm.”

“They offer a lot of different outlets for opportunities and encourage each employee to pursue the outlet they want. For example, some choose business development, whereas others may choose technological advancement. Client work will always take precedent, so the time to actually pursue those opportunities are slim.”

“We use talent advisors (upper-level employees who you don't directly report to) and meet with them on a quarterly basis. This has helped with goal setting and professional development. Having a mentor whom you do not directly report to is important—I feel like I can talk candidly about my problems and work through them with my mentor.”

Quality of Life

“Work/life balance is great. The industry has its challenges, but the firm does its best to even things out at the end of the day. I have a lot of time off right before I start averaging 65 hours a week. For the whole year, it ends up being close to 45 hours a week, but all the overtime is crunched into February, March, early April, September, and early October.”

“The best part is that our firm is very flexible and understanding when it comes to work/life balance, and there are many benefits to help us achieve the balance that works best for us, whether that is a modified schedule or just through our PTO plans. Dring busy season, as expected, there is a little less flexibility when things come up, but they do work with us as much as possible, within reason, to make sure we are in the best situation for ourselves.”

“So far, the balance between work and personal life has been amazing. KSM is very flexible in that if you have something come up, you can make up your hours another time during the week if you work a little bit that day. Also, KSM provides ample PTO if something arises and you can’t work at all that day.”

“The company has invested resources to enhance the employee experience and is focused on the well-being of its employees (mental, physical, financial, and spiritual). The worst aspect is just a result of industry workload compression and the expansion of tax season to fall deadline in addition to the traditional spring tax season. KSM sees these issues and is looking for ways to improve the experience.”

Salary and Benefits

“The perks received are truly next level. Salary is fair and rewards those who contribute. Benefits are good over the long term since we are an ESOP.”

“Salaries are very competitive, and I have never felt underpaid. They have many benefits that personally help me. Being remote, we are given a quarterly office expense reimbursement. This is used to buy my office supplies that I use at home (pens/paper/ink/etc.). They also offer quarterly student loan reimbursement payments, which is an awesome benefit for many employees. I am not the biggest fan of the health insurance plans offered. The high-deductible plans are quite high for the out-of-pocket limits.”

“I am very satisfied with my overall compensation package. And our benefits package, including health insurance, is both comprehensive and affordable. KSM also offers a Roth option for my 401(k) contribution, which is extremely valuable since my compensation level has precluded me from contributing to an individual Roth for many years. As noted previously, KSM's additional benefits and perks are centered on useful life-enhancing areas, from mental health and family support services to personal financial consulting services.”

“The salary and raises I have received have been very generous and well aligned with the work. The benefits are overall pretty good, but the health insurance isn't great for what we pay. That might be normal, though. The free meals have been so appreciated throughout the year.”

“Bonuses could use improvement. Everything else about KSM I am very satisfied with. Great workplace culture and a great amount of PTO.”

Wellness Efforts

“Our firm offers free mental health counseling. They push for quarterly checkups at doctors or with therapists. They offer quarterly incentives for completing a certain number of health and wellness activities. They offer free gym memberships for building fitness centers, as well as offering courses covering topics like mental health, eating healthy, and staying positive through busy season.”

“They are partnered with several organizations, including those that provide free virtual help regarding mental health and physical health and even cover a few free therapy sessions. They support our well-being by having several challenges throughout the year where the winners receive a gift of some sort. They provide small quarterly bonuses for participating in different wellness/health programs and advertise different live discussions centered around wellness.”

KSM has a comprehensive set of benefits and tools related to wellness (physical, mental, financial, and family support). Examples include free or discounted memberships to certain local gyms, online wellness webinars, interactive live sessions with mental health professionals, a quarterly $100 CORE incentive program that encourages employees to complete three of any five to six activities related to individual tasks such as daily physical activity, mental health activities, etc. KSM also sponsors an annual ‘Step Challenge,’ which allows employees to sign up and be randomly assigned to eight-person teams that accumulate individual and total team steps taken over a 14-day period.”

“KSM has many initiatives to promote wellness. All employees have access to financial literacy support, mental health support, and childcare support. They offer all employees access to Care.com premium, which helps with much more than just childcare (but that’s what I’ve used it for). Care.com has saved me a few times when our normal daycare has fallen through, and the company pays for two weeks’ worth of care in those events. It has been a life saver for me!”

Community Engagement

“KSM promotes a diverse workforce, but it is a struggle to increase diversity in our profession and community. I really like that we work with local high schools to promote the profession."

“I understand that it’s difficult to be as diverse as the firm may want to be, but as someone who is in all three minority groups, I definitely notice the somewhat lack of a diverse presence here and there. There is a great deal of effort regarding diversity with respect to women, as there appears to be a relatively even split between men and woman at KSM, and there's a women’s ERG that I recently joined that further supports our female staff. When it comes to diversity with respect race or LGBTQ+, it's harder to tell for obvious reasons. I have seen other people of color in the office or on calls, but it is still a very predominantly white firm from what I’ve seen. KSM is great at philanthropic practices. We have firmwide community days each year where they close the office to volunteer and various places. There’s also a community for interns, and they also offer a lot of support if you want to be more involved with volunteering or a charitable organization (such as being on a board). Each employee is offered a (limited) donation match each year.”

“One thing I looked for when analyzing firms was diversity in leadership when it comes to gender. There are plenty of men and women in leadership roles here at KSM, which makes me feel like I have equal opportunity. I do not see too much diversity in leadership roles with race, and I am not too sure about anyone's sexual orientation.”

“They have been amazing when it comes to philanthropic practices and being inclusive. They not only have a huge fundraiser at year-end but also match up to $1,000 of donations per employee to a charity of their choosing. They also have a firmwide volunteer day and encourage employees to volunteer—on the clock!”

Business Outlook

“We have a vision to grow and the talent necessary to meet the goals we set for ourselves. Other firms seem to be struggling from lack of new talent in the industry, transitioning practices to new leaders, or managing mergers and acquisitions. We feel better positioned to deal with all these challenges than our peers.”

“KSM seems to have very strong leadership in Tim Cook. I say that because in the short time that I have been here, he has hosted a few virtual meetings firmwide and is very transparent, welcoming, and positive. He is quick to praise staff for accomplishments and encouraging as well. I came from an employer where employee morale was pretty low, so it’s nice to be part of one where morale is very high.”

“KSM has an exciting future. In the past year, we have purchased or merged into several smaller consulting and professional services companies. In the past three years, KSM has grown from 450 employees to more than 700 and is now one of the top 50 CPA firms in the country.”

“Recent organizational changes from group are being handled in a very positive manner and are being well received by clients and staff. I anticipate a very busy and productive year ahead.”