Vault’s Verdict
Moss Adams is ideally looking for hardworking, motivated, respectful, positive, authentic, eager-to-learn team players with strong academic records, a knowledge of basic accounting, and solid leadership skills. Moss Adams runs an excellent internship program for students, providing valuable training, many opportunities to network with colleagues across various locations, and “buddies” and “career advisors” who offer helpful guidance and career advice. For its full-time staff, Moss Adams also offers an extremely valuable “buddy” and “career advisor” mentoring program. Staff frequently meet with their “buddies” and “career advisors” to get help with goal-setting and support for getting to work in the service line/industry of their choice. In addition, staff can get promoted quickly if they excel at what they do.
During the busy season, hours can be quite long and it can be hard to take PTO. However, outside the busy season, hours are more relaxed—PTO is easy to take and encouraged to use and senior staff are understanding of personal and family commitments. Salaries and benefits are competitive, with insiders especially appreciating the number of PTO days they receive, the hybrid work schedule, and the parental leave. Wellness offerings are also generous and include employer-provided therapy, monthly wellness stipends, access to meditation apps, and healthy snacks in the office.
DEI is a strong suit of Moss Adams. The firm is very committed to creating an inclusive and diverse environment. It has many business resource groups in place for a variety of professionals (women, Black, LatinX, Asian, LGBTQ+, people with disabilities, veterans), and the groups are extremely active, inclusive, and effective. The firm also publicly releases an I&D report every year to hold it accountable to its diversity goals. Additionally, Moss Adams offers fundraising opportunities throughout the year, encouraging staff to donate time or money to certain charities. As for the firm’s business outlook, Moss Adams has been growing quickly in the past year and is expected to continue this trend. Some insiders worry that the firm is growing too quickly, but most appreciate that leadership is transparent about its plans for growth.
EMPLOYEE REVIEWS
Hiring Process
“Moss Adams was the most actively communicative company in regard to recruitment when I was searching for an internship. I wasn’t stuck waiting in limbo like I was with some other firms. I submitted my application and within days got a response back from recruiting and set up my first interview easily. I actually forgot to schedule a second-round interview with a senior manager and partner due to mid-terms, but they were totally understanding and flexible with me after I reached out. Within days of that second-round interview I received a call from the partner I spoke to, extending me an offer. This all took place within the span of two weeks. As for the ideal candidate, if you've got an accounting degree, you’re already up to snuff. Culture really is a priority at Moss Adams, and that means being motivated, respectful, and positive. If you have an accounting degree, and you are authentic then you’re an ideal candidate!”
“The interview process is fairly straightforward. You apply, and if meet their basic qualifications, they’ll reach out with a list of interview times for you to choose which one you can attend. All my interviewers were very nice. There is definitely a certain kind of candidate that Moss likes. They usually like really intelligent students with good work experience or strong leadership. I would say having a strong GPA and some kind of experience helps a lot in the recruitment process.”
“Interviews and callbacks are transparent. I’m a former member of the recruiting team, and we were kept on tight deadlines in submitting feedback so that the recruiters could send out offers on the day promised. An ideal candidate is someone who is not afraid to take ownership of their career. They strive to do better and do more than the minimum but know their limits.”
“The interview process is great. I wasn’t intimidated by who interviewed me. If anything, it felt like we became friends by the end of the interview. I was also called back 30 minutes after the interview with a job offer—it was really nice I didn’t have to wait. I also thought the call before sending over the offer letter was a nicely added personal touch. I believe the ideal candidate Moss Adams is seeking is someone who not only has the knowledge of basic accounting but also can also be a part of the team and get along with everyone. Someone who wants to learn and isn’t afraid of asking for help when needed.”
Interview Questions
“I can only speak to internship interview questions, which are very informal and conversational. During the initial interview with recruiting, they asked me questions about how I (if at all) stay informed and abreast of the accounting industry, as well as the standard questions such as how I’ve been a team player, what kind of leadership experience I have, and a challenge that I encountered and how I responded to it. For my second-round interviews with the senior manager and partner, I don't recall if there even were any technical questions posed to me. I was a nerd and asked some mundane questions about industries and culture at the beginning. However, my interviewers definitely seemed more interested in who I was, my motivations, and what interested me about the firm. They wanted me to ask them questions as well, and once I realized the interview was going to be a casual one, I just treated it as a polite conversation I’d have with someone on public transport or something. I was told by the partner when he called me a few days later that they liked my attitude, so they really must value that in candidates.”
“Why are you interested in our firm? Plus questions that showcase your ability to collaborate, be innovative, be self-motivated, and what kind of environment you like to work in.”
“Prior experience? How would you handle a difficult client? How would you handle conflict with a coworker? What are your long-term career goals? Which industry do you have interest in working? Tell me about yourself (elevator speech).”
“Why Moss Adams? How do you balance school and work? Describe your process when coming across a difficult situation.”
Internship Experience
“Our intern training together in Southern California was a fantastic experience and great way to network with colleagues across offices. Additionally, we were assigned both buddies and career advisors during our internship that provided integral day-to-day guidance as well as career advice about how best to succeed and own your career at Moss Adams.”
“Best parts were the willingness of people to connect with interns and the charity challenge that allows interns to compete to raise money for local charities of their choice.”
“Best aspects were the fun activities to meet professionals at the firm. I learned a lot during the internship. One negative was there was not a lot of actual client work that was assigned to interns during the summer internship.”
“I had a fantastic experience. Coming from school, I was skeptical about the vague concept of ‘culture’ that's always thrown around during recruiting, but I grew to understand what that meant. Quite literally every single experienced staff, senior, manager, senior manager, and partner I worked with were knowledgeable, patient, and friendly. I transitioned into an associate role after my internship ended and got to know everyone outside of busy season, so it became obvious that the people at my office were genuinely like that all the time—and not just putting their best face forward for the newbies.”
Career Development
“Career advisors are involved in helping employees reach their goals, helping them to determine what kind of goals they should set for themselves, and advocating for them and the kind of work they would like to be on. “
“Career advisor and buddy systems are super helpful. Everyone is very friendly and approachable, so it's easy to find people to ask them for career advice. You’re supposed to have buddy/career advisor lunches fairly often, so it holds them accountable for taking time to speak with you and check in on how you're doing.”
“The people at this firm are highly interested in helping others find their sweet spots where they can thrive in their careers. There are endless opportunities for advancement and new challenges. The only challenges from this perspective are that in our mentoring model, it is more difficult for those working remotely to stay plugged into all these opportunities, though it is still possible.”
“We are given a lot of resources to figure out how and when we want to move up in the company. There is a general template of how many years plus your experience it will take you to move up, so you have an idea about timing. But if you excel in what you do, it may happen even faster than you thought. We could use a little more direction from our career advisors about checking in to see what we really want to get out of our time working here and how far we want to take our careers in the firm.”
Quality of Life
“Best aspect is how understanding everyone is. Most of our managers and senior leadership have families of their own and are very accommodating to each employee’s season of life. Worst aspect would be a theme throughout the entire profession of public accounting—busy season hours.”
“We have busy seasons like any other public accounting firm. We work hard during those seasons but are pretty much left alone during our off-seasons, so it’s easy to take time off, get CPE, just rest up a bit. We are pressured to bill heavier during the busy season but certainly within reason. If you have a low week, you’re not harassed into working more the next. It’s usually just a check-in like: ‘Okay, how is everything going?’ The culture is great. We have a lot of women on our teams and more diversity in certain teams than most firms. It leads to a more open and welcoming culture in general.”
“Using PTO outside of busy season is easy. It’s during busy season that it gets a little harder. But if it’s for a family emergency or wedding, there is an understanding that family comes before any job. The expectation is that you’re not taking your full-on vacations during busy season, as that period is ‘all hands on deck’ to get work done by deadlines.”
“In a public accounting career, we all have to work longer hours at some point due to client’s deadlines, etc. But overall, I think the hours at Moss Adams are less than at some of the bigger firms, and the firm’s culture is very respectful of personal time off. We still have five weeks of PTO for each staff regardless of their level; senior managers who’ve been with the firm for more than 10 years get six weeks of PTO. The career advisors check their advisees PTO accruals balances to ensure their advisees are taking time off.”
Salary and Benefits
“I feel like my salary is competitive for a medium cost of living city like the one I live in. The benefits are good and definitely what you’d want and expect of any company.”
“There are lots of perks that the firm offers. Jeans can be worn to the office. We receive lots of holidays off in addition to 25 days of PTO a year. And there is a parking allowance to motivate in office work, though most employees have a hybrid work schedule and can work from home one to two days per week.”
“It is close to the Big 4 as far as I can tell. The paternity/maternity leave is good as well: 10 weeks. I would argue, though, that the salary doesn't satisfy my cost of living where I live as much as I would like.”
“I think starting at an entry level position, my salary is high. The benefits are great from health, to dental, and vision. We also get help with our 401(k) if we want to talk to someone about how to invest. We could, though, have a few more perks for getting to know our fellow staff workers better, like paid outings and meals.”
Wellness Efforts
“They replaced EAP with Spring Health a couple of years ago, which was a MAJOR improvement. Spring Health makes it super easy, and they do most of the work for you when looking for a medical provider to help with your mental health.”
“Moss Adams is committed to ensuring all employees are the best they can be by supporting their wellness through employer-provided therapy, monthly wellness stipends, and access to meditation apps. Additionally, they provide healthy snacks in the office, including an assortment of fresh fruit, yogurt, and other low and high protein snacks.”
“The Mindspace app is provided for free for all employees. We’re also able to use our building’s gym and get a select amount of our own gym membership reimbursed.”
“The firm gives us a wellness stipend every month that we can use for whatever wellness program we want to. I use it for my gym membership. The firm also works with a health/therapy app to give us a free membership and gives us 10 free therapy sessions we can use when we need/want to.”
Diversity, Philanthropy, and Green Initiatives
“We have great I&D incentives, and the firm releases a report every year to hold it accountable to their I&D goals. We also have several Business Resource Groups (BRGs) to support underrepresented communities and show them that they belong in leadership roles within our firm and industry. The firm's green initiatives could be a lot better. In some offices I see them doing a good job of recycling, but in my office and some others, the recycling or being aware of our carbon footprint is just not there.”
“Moss Adams commits itself to diversity through associated business resource group for minorities, women & LGBTQ+ individuals, and allies. The firm also encourages philanthropic programs and employer-sponsored donation matches to charities of our choices each year. Additionally, we are able to actively volunteer multiple times a year during our workdays to support employer-sponsored organizations local to the area. Finally, Moss encourages a daily green footprint by only having compostable utensils in the office and segregating compost, recycling, and garbage bins on all floors.”
“I’ve never felt uncomfortable or out of place here as an openly gay person of color. I genuinely really, really, really like working here at Moss Adams, and their commitment to diversity is a big reason why. Accounting is a traditionally white male-dominated profession, and Moss Adams is very cognizant of that. I was actually interested in the firm due to learning about their diversity initiatives. They offer many business resource groups for many professionals (women, Black, LatinX, Asian, LGBTQ+, people with disabilities, veterans). These are optional employee-led groups with local and regional chapters for every office. They organize fun cultural events and educational conferences but also exist as a social space for us members of underrepresented groups and our allies to hang out and get to know each other outside of a purely work focused environment. I wasn’t sure if these were just a recruitment talking point, but these are absolutely embedded in the company culture. I genuinely enjoy participating in them. This emphasis on diversity is definitely reflected in both hiring and promotions. There’s a lot of interesting data that Moss Adams shares in their Diversity and Inclusion Annual Report regarding this (which you can look up yourself on the website). I’m genuinely impressed with what Moss Adams is doing here regarding this. If you’re in any underrepresented minority, it actually is the real deal!”
“Moss has so many business resource groups that it’s hard to keep track—I mean this in a good way. The BRGs do work together so that it’s hard to tell who is hosting what sometimes, and you want that to provide a seamless culture. I also love the lunch-and-learns that they put together that allow me to learn about various groups. For example, the LGBTQ+ individuals hosted a seminar where we learned about pronouns and terms. The firm also has a charitable foundation, and employees are given $25 to $50 a year to donate to a charity of their choosing. Additionally, the foundation matches employees’ personal contributions to charities up to a set dollar amount. There are often fundraising opportunities throughout the year to encourage employees to donate time or money to spotlighted charities.”
Business Outlook
“Our firm is looking really strong for the next 12 months. In the last 12 months, we had record revenues but also record expenses. So, in the next 12 months the firm is looking to keep up with our revenues and get a better handle on some of our expenses, which may mean being stricter on budget limits that they have been flexible on for the last few years.”
“Firm is growing. We often see new clients and new services. It can impact employee morale in that we get new work faster than new people, so the question becomes, ‘Do I have to work more?’”
“Best part is we keep growing; the worst is that double-digit growth is communicated as falling below the target.”
“The firm has a strong foundation and is always growing its clientele and staff. Leadership is very open about the plans for the business and how to progress in the future.”
999 Third Avenue
Suite 2800
Seattle, WA 98104
Phone: (206) 302-6800
Employer Type: Private Partnership
Chairman & CEO: Eric Miles
COO & President: Dave Follett
Chief Practice Officer: Rebecca Pomering
2024 Employees (All Locations): 4,750
National
Bangalore, KA (India)
Accounting (Tax, Assurance), Consulting & Wealth Management