Pros
The people I worked with are nice
Cons
A couple of key points first. 1) Aprio is constantly acquiring local CPA firms across the country as a growth strategy. I think the amount of merging they do is reckless because it creates an environment of constant change, chaos and confusion. 2) Aprio has a set of fundamentals. One of them is “Think One Aprio” and another is “Speak Straight.” Keep these points in mind as you read on. I was with Rina Accountancy Corp. Rina was taken over by Aprio. After the takeover, Aprio was in complete control and Rina had to switch everything (software, policies & procedures, etc) on January 1, 2023. Rina employees underwent a significant amount of training to deal with all the change. Unfortunately, the training provided by Aprio was substandard and it begged more questions than it answered and left us to figure out a lot of things for ourselves. The end result was a couple months of chaos and confusion that necessitated us working a ton of non-chargeable hours just to catch up. There were also many computer problems. Consequently, the charge hours suffered tremendously. Partners helped out by finishing projects (thus taking charge hours away from me and others) as we all headed towards the ultimate goal of serving our clients and meeting the deadlines. I.e. we were “Think One Aprio.” In early 2023, we learned that our 2023 bonus was going to be based strictly on charge hours. The Rina employees were all very much dismayed as we had spent about 2 months of non-charge time dealing with all the training and merger-related issues, etc. Whenever the topic of the 2023 bonus came up for discussion, many people would gripe and many people (specifically Rina and Aprio partners) would say that they were sure that senior leadership would soften its stance for 2023 and make an exception to the charge-hour requirement due to all the problems that we have had to deal with. But in late February of 2024, we all found out that Aprio senior leadership took a hardline stance and based the 2023 bonuses strictly on charge hours. Consequently, a lot of us didn’t get a bonus because (even though we had a ton of total hours) we didn’t have enough charge hours. I and many others viewed this as a total betrayal. But we were stuck - Since it was late February, we felt we needed to be loyal (again, “Think One Aprio) and deal with the busy season as opposed to quitting and leaving our teammates holding the bag. And so, we tabled the matter until after the busy season. Aprio says that they encouraged feedback. They say that feedback is how operations can learn and improve. With that in mind, on April 16th, 2024, I sent an email to the CEO Richard Kopelman and I politely and professionally explained the injustice. I “Spoke Straight.” Two days later, I was let go. It is worth noting that I showed the email to my direct supervisor (a partner) and my supervisor said the email was professional. It is also worth noting that my personnel file is clean. All praise. Never been formally written up for anything. Lastly, when I was let go, I told them they owed me a prorated bonus for all the work I put in during the busy season. Their response was that they don’t owe me one since I won’t be employed when the bonuses are paid out. Unbelievable. Never in my 29 years have I witnessed such rude, unprofessional, inconsiderate, disrespectful, bush-league conduct from senior leadership. P.S. – For 2024, out of the blue, they mandated that at least 75% of all returns be outsourced. It seems that they are looking to outsource as much as possible to the cheap labor of the Philippines and cut as much of its U.S. payroll as possible.
