Vault’s Verdict

Schellman is looking for hardworking, motivated, loyal, personable professionals who can thrive in the firm’s diverse culture. Schellman takes career development very seriously and assigns each employee a mentor to help with professional and personal growth. There are also many requisite and optional training opportunities for employees.

Work/life balance is excellent at Schellman, as the firm has many workplace benefits that help improve quality of life, including “meeting-free” afternoons on Fridays, early shutdowns before three-day weekends, and half days on Fridays during the summer. In addition, unused PTO can be rolled over to the next year. In fact, the entire Schellman benefits package gets rave reviews, as insiders call the benefit offerings “best in market.” There are also many wellness offerings, and compensation is said to be very generous.

The firm is an industry leader when it comes to DEI, as its CEO is a woman of color, and the majority of its executive leadership are women. In addition, the firm has a large and active LGBTQ+ employee resource group that fosters awareness and inclusivity, and all employees are required to take diversity training. As for Schellman’s business outlook, the firm has a strong leadership team in place, business is growing, and employee morale is high.

EMPLOYEE REVIEWS

Hiring Process

“We’re looking for game changers. Experienced hires have two to three rounds of interviews, and a decision is made quickly. Entry-level associates come in as a cohort and have a similar interview experience, except that the first interview is often proxied through the university.”

“Our interview process can move quite quickly when we have a need—this is great for a job seeker, as there isn’t a lot of getting jerked around.”

“We are very communicative throughout the process.”

“The company is seeking competent, loyal, and personable professionals. It cares about innovative thought but really cares about recruits accepting and thriving in the company’s culture, which is diverse, hardworking, and self-motivating. The company tends to recruit candidates who are not happy with their big-firm experience or from the top echelon of second-tier schools.”

Career Development

“We take career development very seriously at Schellman. Each employee is assigned a mentor that utilizes a defined playbook to help coach that individual with professional and personal growth. We provide several training opportunities for our teams, both required (like security awareness training) and optional (like CISA boot camps), all in the commitment to help develop our teams’ competencies and growth.”

“We have a great associate training program and offer people the ability to move service lines if they want to. I think us being primarily remote can make development a little tougher for people not in Tampa or Columbus.”

“The Knowledge and Learning Management Team does a great job with career development.”

“There’s lots of opportunity for growth, as the firm is growing at a breakneck pace.”

Quality of Life

“We have 'quiet' times on Fridays, early shutdowns before three-day weekends, and half days every Friday during the summer. Also, unused PTO is rolled over to the next year.”

“Schellman’s benefits have increasingly improved over time. I love that we get two weeks off at year-end holiday, one week of for July 4 week, three to four weeks based on tenure PTO, plus many federal holidays. Schellman is a leader in time off quality of life.”

“Despite being ‘very on’ and sometimes working long weekday hours, even as a partner, I am almost never e-mailed or called during the weekend.”

“Work/life balance is excellent, especially as it compares to other firms in our industry. On the downside, sometimes expectations are unclear when events are considered optional.”

Salary and Benefits

“We provide outstanding benefits, including competitive compensation programs, and continually strive to be the best in market for our benefit packages.”

“Amazingly generous salary and benefits. Perks could be improved, but I’m completely satisfied with salary and benefits.”

“10 percent 401(k) match. Fully remote. Immediate generous PTO allotment. Full medical coverage for employees and coverage for all sorts of other things like Lasik surgery.”

“Salary is very competitive, and all of the benefits are top-notch.”

Wellness Efforts

“We have a very active wellness group, and it’s clearly been made a priority by leadership, as evidenced by the innumerable wellness-related benefits. There are monthly initiatives and fir-wide challenges that foster physical, financial, and mental wellness.”

“Schellman has SchellmanWell, an employee resource group started by a director and not the company itself. It hosts various events, but I would not say that Schellman puts a significant effort on wellness proactively. It does have counseling, mental health services, and other benefits should the employee elect.”

“We support and provide multiple programs to not only get our team members involved in these initiatives but also to promote a culture of understanding and progress.”

“The firm has special interest groups that promote wellness. The company has augmented its health insurance with a wellness app I have never used.”

Diversity, Philanthropy, and Green Initiatives

“As a woman of color-led firm, Schellman is one of the country’s leaders in promoting diversity in a traditionally white male-dominated industry. There are special interest groups that advocate for a variety of diversity interests and backgrounds fully supported by executive management. Diversity training is a mandated requirement to work here.”

“The majority of our executive leadership are women. We have a very active and prominent ESG service line that’s growing rapidly. We have annual shutdowns for company-wide ‘days of giving’ where we serve the community. There is also a very large and active LGBTQ+ group at Schellman called PRISM that fosters awareness and inclusivity.”

“Our leadership (CEO, COO, CFO, CPCO) at the top set the tone for women. We could definitely do more to recruit people of color. We have a great employee group called Schellman Pride for our many leaders that are LGBTQ+.”

“Some of our workforce programs include those promoting gender, race, ethnicity, and LGBTQ+. These programs/groups are fully supported by our leadership teams and host meetings and events to involve the entire firm in awareness and personal growth.”

Business Outlook

“We continue to grow at a material rate, and with the support of our leadership team, we expect that trajectory to continue.”

“Strong leadership backed by a fully supportive ownership group led by private equity. Well-established and deep offerings to compete with the largest and most successful firms. Active initiatives to systematize processes allowing for explosive growth. However, the company needs work to systematize processes. It also has a challenge to create enough branding and name recognition to supplant competitors.”

“There is competition coming in the form of technology companies partnering with small CPA firms that just sign off on the reports of these technologies.”

“There are also huge efforts in place to keep efficiency levels extremely high, so profit margins are expected to be further improving—keeping bonuses (and morale) high.”