Good place to start out - Anonymous employee RMA Associates Employee Review

2.0
26 Jun 2023
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

You will be engaged in every aspect of your engagement (aside from billing). Small business culture (everyone knows each other). Annual raises and promotions. Certification reimbursement.

Cons

Overworked through late nights (working till 1-3am is not unheard of), being assigned multiple full-time engagements, and/or working engagements without proper staffing. Company focus is on winning as many engagements as possible but does not hire enough employees to appropriately staff engagements, causing extra stress on employees. Because of the work load, burnout is a real possibility and has caused others to leave. Very little remote work allowed - you will be expected to be in the office most days if not on a client site. Senior management can micro-manage, be passive aggressive, and "my way or the highway." Salary range is lower than other competing firms in the area.

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RMA Associates Response
2y
Thank you for your helpful feedback. We do our best to provide the team with the best learning opportunities possible through formal and informal internal and external training sessions, on-the-job learning, and through mentors, coaches, and performance managers. We promote certifications and continuous learning. We do have a busy season, which varies based on your focus area (financial statement versus IT versus performance audit, or consulting), and we try to smooth the fluctuations to minimize the amount of nights worked. Much of it depends on the nature of the work and year-end reporting requirements that gives us a busy season that lasts less than one month per year. Since there has been a change in the labor market, we aren't as challenged when it comes to hiring so we are currently at capacity and not understaffed. However, we acknowledge some challenges related to staffing that the industry faces from time to time. We use a budget and chargeable hours system to track workload to minimize overtime hours. We work with our Employee Engagement Group (EEG) to obtain employee feedback and incorporate continuous improvements and enhancements to better fit the environment. Our salary ranges are higher than many in the industry but vary depending on level of performance using a pay-band system developed based on industry statistics. We are a results oriented firm and certainly strive to reward results through compensation and other benefits. We work as a team to learn from each other and have a hybrid schedule with flexibility. We are moving to the top floor of a brand-new building with amenities such as a gym, restaurants, conference space, and social space for group events. We find many of the folks that strive to grow with us are happy with the office structure we are implementing, however we are open to suggestions and welcome feedback through the EEG or directly to seniors, managers, and above. We think RMA is a great place to start, continue, and finish. We have a lot of talented people to learn from and a lot of opportunity for professional and financial growth. However, we are humble and always looking to improve and learn, as a team, focusing on our personnel who serve our clients.

Explore other reviews about RMA Associates

5.0
17 Sept 2024
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

I appreciate the positive and supportive work environment along with the friendly and talented team members around me.

Cons

It's a small company but extra ordinary work place.

5.0
29 Apr 2024
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

*Note to an audit associate or onboarding associate from a previous audit associate at RMA - career advice - Stay and be patient* Saw a previous review bashing RMA "cash-cow", come on, I was in your shoes once. considering to make the jump for a little more money. give the firm it's flowers in the DC area they are very well know and do great work. RMA works with great clients and most of the projects/work continues to grow. in terms of working with multiple clients it is a way to look at the firm's trajectory it is growing substantially. Personally, looking back on my experience at the firm they were willing to give me an opportunity as a new grad. I did pane out and no one else would call me except them. The job market is very competitive in this industry and right now as a whole, there isn't too many companies that I know willing to give someone with a bachelors in accounting right of school an opportunity always as an associate. I learned more at this place about IT controls and compliance, than I have at a big firm. to be honest should've stayed longer would've learned a lot more. Great people, great teachers, great president, great opportunities and great partners. The company is all about getting people in and turning them into real audit professionals. I still have stories I use all the time from this place in interviews. At the moment as they broke technical concepts in a manner that is very digestible. and the firm allows to touch a lot of different areas of work which is truly great coming in as a young professional to give you a true sense of career direction. If you are an associate try to talk to the partners as much as you can and build those relationships they are people at the end of the day and probably would be just as happy as appreciative as you to discuss your long term career and probably give you some of the better career direction you could find in this area. (They've been doing this for 30-40 plus years. Probably some of the best career advice you could get lol. They've seen it all). The firm allows you to work on a very diverse work experiences at large you wouldn't have that opportunity at bigger firms. Especially coming right into a large firm. Great place, couldn't say enough nice things about the firm. Enjoy your time if you're an associate here (even if you don't see yourself for the long term, which there is no reason you shouldn't want to stay!) Do your time put some work and get your promotions. Talk to Reza, Neda, George, and all of the additional partners as they were a blast to work with and I learned so much. I still have yet to find a more enjoyable management group at my current place of work as an FYI. The money will come at at the right time if you work hard, be patient it is well worth it - Get a CISA or CPA and work/learn and if you really want to jump then do it when the time is right or else your just wasting a career jump to do that prematurely, and your own alary potential with RMA, or elsewhere. It is a job and you have a long career ahead of you take it day by day and be patient, learn from the partners they are a wealth of knowledge.

Cons

The pay isn't the highest, but it's not the worst either, and you get a clearance our of it as well. As a small CPA firm (business is business they all worked for years to put the firm together from what I was told during my time there, I mean they have every right to do as they please). especially if you're right out of under grad as an associate to be honest your skillset at the moment probably isn't competitive enough to face the job market at the moment.)

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RMA Associates Response
2y
Thank you for your candid assessment of the firm’s culture and leadership. At RMA, we strive to encourage a team environment and opportunities to promote those individuals excelling with their client and internal responsibilities. As we continue with the firm’s growth, this feedback will be invaluable to both support our new hire orientation courses and our communication plan to continually improve our work environment and client delivery.
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