Sikich Reviews

3.2

37% would recommend to a friend

(390 total reviews)
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Christopher Geier

50% approve of CEO

37% positive business outlook

Sikich has an employee rating of 3.2 out of 5 stars, based on 390 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The Sikich employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Management and consulting industry (3.7 stars).

Reviews by job title

390 reviews
1.0
30 Oct 2014
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Good location, nice building and you will form relationships with a lot of great people.

Cons

I worked on the Marketing team at Sikich for a few years and I have to say it is one of the most unprofessional working environments I have experienced yet or ever hope to. When I accepted the opportunity, I was so excited to work for a company that was growing rapidly and “specialized” in so many areas and industries. The job description and overall reputation of the company seemed like exactly what I was looking for and what would propel my career forward. I quickly found out that they had major change management issues, had WAY too many decision-makers (100+ partners alone) and had no understanding of what Marketing truly was. We were administrative assistants and nothing more. Not strategists, not creatives, administrative assistants that took random orders that partners threw at us last minute, quickly forgot about and then dismissed when they were presented a final product. They shuffled through numerous CMO’s in the past few years – none of which could solve the many issues the Marketing faced -- showing the real value of Marketing and what it truly was and giving people a true career path to follow. The pay was EXTREMELY subpar, the raises were your usual cost of living increase, nothing more – regardless of how much you went above and beyond. If you wanted to find out what your next career step was, forget it. Your manager doesn't know, HR doesn't know, just be happy you have a job and continue coasting along. No ambition required. To put it into perspective, out of the dozen people that I worked with, three are left. Most got out of Sikich as soon as they realized what a mess this department was and the rest were let go because they didn’t fit into their “sorority culture.” I wish everyone on the team the best of luck. If you want a future in Marketing and to grow your career, this is not the place for you. If you’d like to be paid in the bottom 10% of the market, be unappreciated no matter how much work you put in and experience the worst treatment from the top down, you’ll thrive here. From a financial perspective, they look like a great company to work for. Due to their EXTREMELY high employee turnover, they're going to tank quickly, and it's a real shame because they have great potential. So long, Sikich and good riddance.

4.0
13 July 2017

Senior Accountant

Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Overall, Sikich is a mid-size accounting firm that is rapidly growing - mostly through mergers. Management's goal is to lead Sikich to being a multi-service firm that provides everything from tech services, auditing, taxes, consultation, etc. I have done mostly auditing during my time; so my comments are based on my experience with the CPA practice. Perhaps the best benefit to working at Sikich is that you get exposure to a lot of high-level accounting projects early in your career. With auditing, you get to work on a lot of areas for several types of clients. In my opinion, this is some of the best accounting experience you can get, especially if you're right out of college. I am very satisfied with the leaders of Sikich. They have clear goals over the direction and growth of the firm. Overall, I believe they value their employees and if you work hard, I believe management will work with you to give you the career you want. One of my favorite things about working at Sikich is that you're allowed to work fairly independently. You don't have someone constantly looking over your shoulder. This allows you a certain amount of comfort and independence in trying to figure out new things. The firm will invest in you and help you to grow. They offer a reimbursement program for taking the CPA exam. All new hires are assigned a mentor. If you ask for certain opportunities (such as wanting to work within a certain industry), I believe management will work with you to the best of their ability. Raises are pretty good, especially after you have a couple of years under your belt. The workspaces are very nice in all the offices I have been to. The best benefit is time off. Starting in 2018, every employee gets approx. 4 weeks. There isn't an official limit on vacation days; but 4 weeks is the guideline. Parental leave is also pretty generous. Fathers get 3 weeks of paid paternity leave. Mothers get 12 weeks. Overall, I feel that the worklife balance is pretty good for a public accounting firm. My guess is that most staff work about 50 hours/week during busy season and 40-45 hours/week during the rest of the year. Turnover isn't quite as bad as it is at other CPA firms.

Cons

By far, the biggest disadvantage to Sikich is their healthcare plan. Sikich offers only one plan - the high deductible plan. The premiums are about $100/mo if you're single (which isn't so bad); but those costs jump to $600/mo for family coverage. There are no co-pays, so you pay 100% of costs until the deductibles are met. Individual deductibles are about $3,000; and family are just over $5,000. So it's possible that between the premiums ($600 * 12 = $7,200) and deductibles ($5,000), health insurance can cost you over $12,000 per year if you're on Sikich's family plan. The 401k match is fairly basic at just 2% of your salary. Vesting is 20% each year; fully vesting after 5 years. At times, it can feel that the Naperville office gets too much attention. It's a little frustrating when many of the trainings and meetings are conducted live in Naperville, while the other offices have to watch them on a computer screen. Work gets a little more political once you get into the manager-level positions. Whenever the firm brings in outside talent at that level, it seems to ruffle some feathers with current managers. It can also be disheartening to watch certain opportunities go to the same few guys over and over again. One of my biggest peeves about Sikich is that they put a clause in their engagement letters that if a client hires a Sikich employee, that client has to pay Sikich a fee equal to 30% of that employee's new salary. This can limit an employee's options if they decide to leave Sikich.

2.0
7 Nov 2017

Glad to be out!

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

- Caring and helping people - Great skill on the team - Always learning something new from team - Work from home

Cons

- Management only focused on billable hours which esp doesnot make sense in tech dept - People are nothing but a number based on hours they put in and the money they generated for company - You never get honest review, so if you are out one day, keep wondering why... - Accountants heavy industry and they dont understand the rules and direction set for accounting doesnot apply to other departments - Everyone has to work overtime, no exceptions! BUT YOU DONT GET PAID EXTRA for that!

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