Whitley Penn

Vault’s Verdict

Whitley Penn is ideally looking for smart, personable, adaptable, outside-the-box thinkers who are unafraid to ask questions. The firm’s valuable internship program provides students with solid training, hands-on experience, guidance from management, and the ability to network with other interns. For its full-time staff, Whitley Penn offers many growth opportunities, including lunch-and-learns, clear promotion paths, a culture that focuses on developing the next generation of partners, and the ability to take on more responsibility.

Whitley Penn does an amazing job when it comes to work/life balance. Although hours during our busy seasons can be long, the firm provides work/life initiatives such as recharge weeks, free lunches and dinners, options to working remotely, generous PTO, and fun impromptu social events. Meanwhile, salaries, perks, and benefits are competitive, and wellness offerings include free counseling, free meditation apps, discounts for gyms and workout programs, and internal competitions for health and wellness.

The firm’s culture is inclusive, and its staff is diverse, especially when it comes to women—insiders say that the firm has a higher-than-average number of women in management positions. Whitley Penn is also strong when it comes to philanthropy, offering employees numerous opportunities throughout the year to volunteer. As for the firm’s business outlook, it is bright. Whitley Penn is growing and winning business, staff has a lot of confidence in the firm’s leadership team, and employee morale is strong.

EMPLOYEE REVIEWS

Hiring Process

“Interview and call back process is as good as I think it can be. The ideal candidate is someone with an aptitude and an appetite for the work.”

“The interview process at Whitley Penn gives candidates the opportunity to meet with individuals of all levels. They will meet with partners, managers, and seniors who they could potentially be working with in the future. Whitley Penn also typically sets up a coffee or a lunch that is more of an informal part of the interview process. That allows the interviewee to correspond with an individual of an equivalent level.”

“We have a strong campus recruiting team and invest in our student interns and their campuses. We want a smart, outside-the-box thinker who is personable and ready to move at a fast pace.”

“Interviews and callbacks were very personal. They’re usually one-on-ones with the partner or manager. The firm is looking for individuals who are not afraid to ask questions and be in uncomfortable positions. The flexibility of the candidate is a crucial trait that the firm actively seeks.”

Interview Questions

“Our firm has an interview guide and toolkit to help us obtain an understanding of the candidates. We ask about:  1. Collaboration skills; 2. Leadership skills; 3. Communication skills; 4. Project management skills; and 5. Innovation. In addition to the theme of questions, the toolkit includes beneficial info to provide for Whitley Penn about our benefits and certain statistics.”

“How did you hear about Whitley Penn? What made you decide that you would like to apply to Whitley Penn? What do you expect from your position at Whitley Penn?”

“How/why did you get into accounting? What do you want to get out of your employment? We want to determine the type of personality and how they fit in our culture.”

“The firm often asks behavioral and situational questions during the interview. Behavioral questions include how an individual has acted in the past regarding communication, problem solving, and solutions to those situations. Situational questions include how an individual would act in hypothetical situations.”

Internship Experience

“The best aspects of my internship experience were the camaraderie and the people I got to meet and work with. I made lifelong friends at a place where I could see myself working my entire career. Also, the partners were as approachable and willing to help as anyone else in the organization. I credit my faster advancement in this firm to the excellent leadership who cares about the career progression of their employees.”

“Great work culture—very inviting and friendly. When work was assigned, Whitley Penn team members did a great job of showing you the expectations and teaching you how to do the workpaper at a high level. The expectations were very cleary laid out, and staff did their best to set you up for success. There were a lot of moments where you didn't actually have any work to do, though. I’d say 33 percent of my internship was searching for work.”

“I learned so much. Lots of hands-on experience and management guidance. I felt like a beneficial member of the team and was proud of the work I accomplished at such an entry level.”

“Best aspect was hands-on experience. After training, I immediately was given associate duties, which helped me learn a significant amount before the internship ended. Worst aspect was only being able to intern for one type of audit field (governmental) instead of being able to experience other areas like corporate, oil and agas, healthcare, etc.”

Career Development

“Our firm really works to empower its employees by encouraging us to stay active and network. Additionally, every year we have a Career Development Plan meeting to cover what we want out of our career and time at Whitley Penn. Part of this meeting includes brainstorming ways to meet those goals. Finally, Whitley Penn encourages internal networking by hosting happy hours, internal lunch-and-learns, and a Buddy Lunch Program (where are you are matched with someone from a different service line). All of this helps to advance my career and keeps me educated on all Whitley Penn has to offer.”

“We have one of the youngest partner groups of any top 50 firm in the U.S. In addition, we have a significant percentage of partners who started as interns. I think the best aspect of career development is the entrepreneurial mindset of the partner group. We are in business to grow and make more partners and develop more young leaders.”

“The guidelines for career development are extensively documented. The expectations of promotion are very clear cut, and there isn't any room for things like favoritism or personal relationships with those in charge of promoting you. I would say the worst aspects are the responsibilities outside of your role. As a staff, if you are highly competent at your job, you are going to be given more responsibilities. And since the criteria for getting promoted is universal across the firm, taking on more responsibilities doesn’t get you promoted any faster. For a position like senior associate, anyone can get it, so you essentially do more work as a staff for the same result. The only time this comes into play is for roles like manager and up since those often have multiple people competing for them.”

“Whitley Penn provides numerous opportunities for young professionals to develop their internal and external contacts by encouraging them to participate in committees and social events that entail meeting other individuals in the accounting and finance community. Whitley Penn also gives employees the opportunity to excel in their career at a fast pace and the opportunity to develop skills beyond your current level.”

Quality of Life

“Our firm strives to provide a positive work/life environment by offering increased holiday hours given (in addition to PTO). This includes providing a ‘recharge’ week the last week of December and a full week the week of July 4th. Due to the nature of the job, hours during our busy seasons can be longer, but Whitley Penn encourages us by providing dinners, lunches, and allows for options of working remotely. While at work, Whitley Penn's culture makes work fun by impromptu events, such as annual Shake Chugging contest, Dog Parties, etc.”

“It can be challenging to plan leave, especially since the accounting department has monthly deadlines that require careful coordination. Balancing time off with these responsibilities can sometimes be difficult, but we strive to make it work as smoothly as possible.”

“I can’t think of anything negative about the overall quality of life. I think the leadership of the firm has created a positive overall environment. Everything is flexible within reason; it’s not difficult to get vacation time approved (there are certain rules that go with busy season, but I think that the rules are very reasonable); and the partners are very normal people who will make time for you when they’re not in a meeting or busy with other tasks. Overall, I’m very satisfied with the environment at the office.”

“Whitley Penn is a family-friendly firm. Many workers have children and get to go to sports events and have flexibility when needed for their kids or other life events. PTO is encouraged to take. There is a ‘work hard/play hard’ mentality. You put in time during busy season (usually 50 to 60 hours each week) and then the rest of the year is time to work 40 hours and go on vacations, attend work happy hours, and enjoy life and the holidays. The firm does an amazing job with work/life balance.”

Salary and Benefits

“Overall salary is decent, and partner track is doable, so it’s comforting to know that I’ll be able attain those rates soon. However, salaries are often close to market-rate. And since the workload is demanding, there are times when it feels like I’m underpaid so I have to negotiate my salary when there are raises.”

“While annual compensation is competitive, there is little transparency in the bonuses offered and how to increase your bonus.”

“The salary is great. We get raises every year and this is discussed at our performance meetings. If you work hard, you’re rewarded. The bonus policy was changed last year to an annual bonus paid at year-end instead of a semi-annual bonus. However, this doesn't bother me or change my views on the compensation. Benefits are also great. My health insurance premiums are fully covered; I don't pay a dollar for them. Additional insurance such as vision and dental are not fully covered, but the price that I pay is fair, in my opinion.”

“Strong incentive to obtain CPA licensure, generous year-end bonuses for satisfactory performance, competitive salary, great benefits. You usually start out with a relatively low salary but get a high ceiling as your career progresses (which is typical for public accounting).

Wellness Efforts

“They give free counseling, many benefits towards gym memberships, and meditation apps that can be seen as particularly helpful. Nothing towards supporting well-rounded nutrition education, though.”

“We are partnered with various organizations in the Dallas-Fort Worth area that offer a wide range of discounts for certain gyms/workout programs. Additionally, we host internal competitions for health and wellness including an annual steps competition.”

“Whitley Penn has organized an internal organization that encourages healthy lifestyle choices and has annual challenges to encourage employees to participate in getting active. Whitley Penn also offers a program through your insurance that allows you to purchase gym/studio memberships at discounted rates.”

“Our firm offers discounts for health club memberships, the Calm app is paid for if wanted, and there is an annual friendly competition for those that want to participate (typically over the summer months). Teams are formed, and using each person’s fitness tracker of choice, the info is pulled into an online login that ranks the teams weekly. It is very fun and encourages exercise.”

Community Engagement

“The firm naturally has a broad range of talent of all races, creeds, etc. The firm also has a higher-than-average number of women who make management and partner. The firm also has incentives for philanthropic events.”

“WP does a fantastic job of encouraging diversity within the workplace. Among the staff, there is a vast number of different people and personalities who all get along seamlessly.”

“We recently rolled out a firm philanthropic fund. We have annual ‘service’ days where the team can volunteer together to help in their communities and bond with their coworkers. I think we are very respectful of all diversities, but as with any company, there is always room for improvement. I'd love to have someone on our management committee that represents a diverse group. We have more women in management than many public accounting firms, so we are headed in the right direction.”

“There are just as many women as there are men at all levels. The firm is welcoming to everyone of all backgrounds and walks of life. And the firm is very plugged into the local community and generously gives to surrounding organizations. Additionally, there are numerous opportunities throughout the year to serve.”

Business Outlook

“The firm seeks to improve employee retention continually and has great organic growth within our department—of the six partners, three were interns at Whitley Penn. This organic growth is an indicator that we have room to expand and don't have to wait for upper management to retire to be promoted. Additionally, as a management group, we have implemented HubSpot to help track all networking and business development. The firm is continually bringing in additional work and getting its name out there.”

“Our firm outlook continues to be positive. We have maintained our revenue growth year over year for many years (which is expected to continue). We are in a leadership transition with our CEO retiring in the near future, and current and new leadership gives the firm great confidence.”

“I feel like my firm will do well in the next couple of years. I’ve been with the firm for four years and each year revenues have increased; number of employees and offices have increased as well.”

“The employee morale within the firm is very high. We enjoy the work we do and are excited to see the firm growing.”