• “Public accounting anywhere requires an hour spike in and around busy seasons, but FR+Co encourages all PTO to be used and take vacations whenever possible. Even if something falls within busy season or a particularly crunched time, quality of life is still a top priority.”
• “I think the firm culture is very strong and people genuinely enjoy being around their coworkers. There is pressure from the top down to really put in some long hours during busy season (which is common at all firms in my experience).”
• “The FR+Co family is a real thing. The culture at the firm has remained the same as when I started six years ago and the firm was much smaller. Frequent events, gatherings, social groups, coed sports leagues, etc., give us all the opportunity to build friendships and excellent working relationships.”
• “Tremendous focus on quality of life. Flexible work schedules. Plenty of opportunity for PTO outside of peak seasons and flexibility even within peak seasons for time off for significant life events. Focus on mental and emotional wellbeing with workshops and yoga offered through the firm. Additional subsidy for gym memberships. Great relationships. Busy season is demanding, but every effort is made to reduce the number of hours worked, and there are bonus opportunities for going above and beyond.”

• “Salary is competitive within public accounting but not necessarily in comparison with tech jobs in Silicon Valley. Firm is aware of this and tries to address it. This past year’s raises were lower due to Covid. With no lull in business and given the success of the firm—we have weathered the storm without issue—it would be nice to see a bonus or some out-of-cycle raise.”
• “Salary is comparable with peers. Benefits probably are as well, but I think our health, dental, and other medical benefits fall behind where I would anticipate a Silicon Valley company to be.”
• “The firm's benefits are as good as what other CPA firms provide. However, the profession cannot offer all the types of benefits provided by industry, especially technology.”
• “The firm is reviewing compensation yearly and offering raises or promotions where they are warranted. I have also received a salary adjustment due to the high living costs that are experienced in the Bay Area. That would be one drawback about the overall salary and benefits: the extremely high cost of living. Thankfully, our profession can work anywhere due to the internet, and I have been able to save some costs during the pandemic by not always having to be in the Bay Area. This is something I would like to look into more in the future, which the firm is fairly flexible about as well.”

• “The firm really cares about finding what you’re good at, technically speaking, as well as what you enjoy the most. The firm is very active in staying up to date in regards to how your professional acumen and skills are developing through the years.”
• “Endless in-house trainings by firm leaders and local experts make sure to cater to our progressive Silicon Valley client base, rather than sending us off to a different marketplace to be trained. Formal trainings offer nearly as many non-technical/soft skills topics as technical ones, helping build well-rounded professionals. The firm facilitates a rich culture of mentorship and regular exposure to leadership.”
• “The internal mobility is the best aspect of Frank, Rimerman's career development. For the first few years I was given the opportunity to be a generalist and work on all types of returns (individuals, trusts, corps, partnerships). I realized at my fourth year that I was very heavy on individuals, and I saw my career in the corporate tax field. The partners were extremely supportive and allowed me to switch over incredibly easily. The worst aspect is really not that bad, but I do think the internal trainings for experienced individuals could be a little more rigorous. I definitely felt that I was thrown into the deep end when I transitioned from associate to senior associate (preparer to first reviewer) with little guidance.”
• “The career development opportunities start from day one when you walk in the door as a rotational associate. Like the internship, you can rotate through any of the firm's departments (there were more than the internship offered) to get more of a feel of day-to-day life in that department. You were handed the steering wheel and were allowed to drive in whichever direction interested you for about nine months before declaring the department of your choice. I believe this sets people up for finding the department that best fits them, and it is greatly appreciated how much the firm invests in our development.”

• “Our firm’s community engagement and corporate responsibility is the best that I have seen from any firm in the Bay Area.”
• “For as long as I can remember, we've had LGBTQ+ members in leadership positions internally—no one gives it a second thought. Philanthropy and green efforts are encouraged, but the focus is typically making space for people to focus on what they personally care about. In the past year, the firm funded individuals for the purpose of charitable giving and helped vet organizations we might give to. Many serve on nonprofit boards.”
• “I have never felt excluded or treated different because of my race as a person of color. There are a number of female partners, though diversity in upper management could be improved (at least within my department). Overall, though, I've always felt as though they give adequate consideration to all employees based on their work product and not any biological/societal factor.”
• “The firm can do a lot more to increase diversity. A majority of our employees are white. We could also use more diversity in our executive/leadership. We could have more women of color in our partnership. I don't know where we stand in terms of LGBTQ+ individuals. I'm aware that some employees identify as LGBTQ+, but I'm sure we could use more representation of LGBTQ+ throughout all levels.”

• “I cannot commend our firm’s leadership enough for what they have been able to do over the past year of being in the pandemic together. We have weekly fireside chats from our managing partner where he addresses any recent news, and we can submit any questions we may have for him to answer. These meetings have been pertinent for staying sane during these rough times. We also didn't lay off a single person due to the economic hardships of the pandemic, which was shared to us in one of those meetings, since transparency is prevalent as well. Knowing that we are able to survive something like this and give generous raises truly shocked me and made me prouder to work for this firm.”
• “I feel like the firm leadership has gone to great lengths to keep everyone regular informed as to the state of our firm in both the present and future sense. I have faith in what they've done to this point to secure our future, and it sounds as though things are looking as good or even better than anticipated. So, I feel strongly confident in how things look for our firm to date. I do feel we have a fairly aggressive growth model. My biggest concern is our ability to deal with that growth, as there are some items, infrastructure-wise, that are still somewhat under that smaller firm mindset. So, as we address those items, I think our growth strategy will be less inhibited.”
• “The firm is just beginning a push towards taking on public company audit clients, and we have brought in a number of resources familiar with that work. The leadership teams are devoting efforts towards increasing our number of partners (bringing on four new audit partners in two years), which is helping build out specific industry services of our practice.”
• “We have been increasing over revenue, staff size, and client base consistently each year, with a noticeably larger increase in 2020 despite the pandemic.”

• “I interned twice at Frank, Rimerman. Once as a summer intern and once as a spring busy season intern. I think Frank, Rimerman does a great job of connecting interns with experienced employees, who give great insight on any questions from CPA to future employment. I don't remember any negative aspects of the internship.”
• “I loved the rotational program the firm offered, allowing you to try out various departments before settling on one you enjoyed. The internship was full of engaging activities, and I got to work with and talk with everyone from an associate to a partner.”
• “Hands down the best aspect of my internship experience was the rotational aspect. I don't know what I would have done without this. I more than likely would've been in a department that wasn't fit for me, and I might have been one of the statistics who are in and out of public accounting within the first year. I can't thank the firm enough for this opportunity to rotate and get a better feeling of what the accounting world actually is, rather than only knowing accounting from a textbook and inside a classroom. I wouldn't have changed anything about the internship experience. I loved it.”
• “Amazing learning experience and supportive, inclusive group of people to train under. The best aspect was how much networking interns were able to do. I met so many great people, and it really made my internship experience great. I can't think of anything bad about it.”

Wellness Efforts

• “Mindfulness workshops, busy season yoga, busy season meals, ergonomic workshops and tools (ergo mouse, keyboard, standing desks, etc.). Great PTO and ability to use it. Mental health is emphasized.”
• “Plenty of offerings—meditations, yoga, fitness challenges, etc.—are broadcast by all levels of management. Frequent check-ins from direct managers to ensure workflow is not overwhelming and that people are maintaining morale through busier periods.’
• “The firm offers structured counseling, coaching, mindfulness programs, and a health and wellness program, including mental awareness, meditation, yoga, and well-being. The firm's managing partner holds a 30-minute weekly firm update Zoom meeting where he answers questions and addresses concerns from firm personnel.”
• “We had a speaker come in and talk to us about mental health for about a month and a half. We have a biweekly meditation group and a weekly yoga group as well.”

Response to Anti-Racist Protests and BLM Movement

• “There are internal trainings and education options, and weekly meetings discussing societal issues—the managing partner has spoken openly about his experience and thoughts. The firm has done a wonderful job working to educate its employees on these topics and the history of systemic racism and continues to do so. The firm has developed a team dedicated to these topics in a way that relates to our firm values.”
• “Our firm began a program of diversity, equity, and inclusion, including education series, discussions, and doubling down on recruiting for diversity efforts. At the time of the peak BLM activity, we had some informal discussions with participation by partners, but our goal is a more sustainable effort rather than public statements of outrage followed by same as-usual behavior.”
• “The firm has done an incredible job in response to recent events. Our firm is primarily made up of white individuals, but the managing partner has really gone out of his way to bring in various black guest speakers to discuss everything from the history/sociology of race to how to be an ally to black individuals in America. It has really made me proud to be a part of this firm and, more importantly, has made me think more about race than ever before.”
• “The firm’s response, from my perspective (not a POC), has been great. I have always felt there has been a culture of inclusiveness and openness to the topic. The past few years, Brian, the managing partner, has had regular community meetings firmwide to address questions from the firm and has increased these meetings’ occurrence since Covid started. During the recent protests and BLM movement, he has spent much of these meetings addressing the issues. He has given his perspective and highlights, and makes available the resources that the firm is putting forward to help encourage progress on the issue. Since then, a diversity committee has been started to help promote open discussion, encourage inclusion, and bring awareness to the firm. That committee has brought in a number of different speakers relating to race and diversity in public accounting. Finally, when many people were asking about the firm making charitable contributions to the cause, the firm gave everyone an additional $100 to donate to the organization of their choice, and gave us a platform to share where we chose to give our money and promote change. I think the firm's response was great and didn't focus just on one area by focusing on openness, discussion, financial support, and education for the cause. Best of all it wasn’t forced upon anyone but definitely encouraged.”

Response to Covid-19

• “The firm did an amazing job getting everyone the equipment they needed to be up and running at home in such a short amount of time. The firm also had a great response in terms of flexibility for employees that needed to adjust work hours for various reasons. There were weekly meetings regarding the pandemic and talking about the anxieties and stressors that came with it. Also, the firm was open/transparent in terms of where it stood.”
• “Our response has been considered and effective. With social activities and community meetings, I now see many people more than I did prior to the pandemic, and our mutual efforts to be more understanding and kind and aware has reinforced bonds among coworkers and departments.”
• “Communications among all levels in the firm have improved as Zoom and other on-line meetings occur daily. During the pandemic, we did not layoff, furlough, or cut salaries; instead, raises and promotions continued as they historically have. In fact, revenues are up throughout the firm, while individual hours are down thanks to strong recruiting efforts.”
• “Each week our manager gets on camera to host a firmwide update call. We are able to send in questions and concerns beforehand. This is really nice, since working from home you often only talk to your managers about projects and not what’s going on in the firm and plans for coming back into the office.”