A graduate at a Big 4 firm (Deloitte, EY, KPMG or PwC) earns a median base salary of $66K and a Big 4 director earns $209K, in The Aussie Corporate 2026 Salary Survey. Most Big 4 staff reach manager 5 to 7 years in, on a median of $120K, and director by 10 to 15 years.
What does each Big 4 level pay?
| Level | Median base pay | Rise at promotion |
|---|---|---|
| Graduate | $66K | First level |
| Consultant | $70K | +6% |
| Senior Consultant | $88K | +26% |
| Manager | $120K | +36% |
| Senior Manager | $155K | +29% |
| Director | $209K | +35% |
Median base pay at each Big 4 level, and the rise from the level below, from The Aussie Corporate 2026 Salary Survey. Base pay only, without any bonus.
The first promotion is the smallest. Graduate to Consultant adds 6%.
From Senior Consultant upward, each step adds between 26% and 36%. The two biggest jumps come at Manager (36%) and Director (35%).
How long does it take to get promoted at the Big 4?
Most Big 4 staff step up a level every 2 to 3 years. They reach manager 5 to 7 years in and director by 10 to 15 years.
Big 4 staff are paid about $25K less than their peers early in their careers, and they overtake those peers after 10 years.
For comparison, median base pay across the whole survey is $78K at 0 to 1 years of experience, $130K at 5 to 7 years and $165K at 10 to 15 years.
Why do so many Big 4 staff feel underpaid?
51% of Big 4 employees say their pay is unfair. Across employer types, the median is 32%.
The survey ties this to the early pay gap. Big 4 staff earn about $25K less than peers in their first years and only overtake them after 10 years, so the 51% who feel underpaid are mostly juniors.
Every other employer type in the comparison sits lower:
- Retail and FMCG: 36%
- Big 5 banks: 31%
- ASX 200: 29%
- Big Tech: 24%
Do Big 4 staff get a bonus?
Most do not. 63% of Big 4 staff have no bonus scheme at all.
Consulting firms charge clients a premium for top performers, and 55% of their employees have no bonus scheme. Across the whole survey, 1 in 3 people receive no bonus.
Where a bonus does exist, the typical target across the survey is 15% of base pay. Most people receive 79% of their target.
How many hours do Big 4 and consulting staff work?
Close to average. Across Professional Services, 21% work 45 hours or more a week. The survey average is 23%.
The pay per hour is lower. Professional Services pays about 10% less per hour than people with the same years of experience in other industries.
The median base salary across Professional Services is $121K, the lowest of the eight industries in the survey's industry comparison. Investment Banking tops that comparison at $175K.
Do Big 4 staff work from home?
More than most. Only 5% of Big 4 staff are in the office every day, against 13% of everyone else in the survey.
More than half of Big 4 staff rate their stress at 4 or more out of 5.
How do you check your own pay?
Compare your salary with people in the same job, industry and level in AusCorp Vault, our free salary benchmark.
The original Big 4 slide, and the results for every other industry, are on our 2026 Salary Survey page under by industry.
For how pay grows across a whole career, read how much your salary should increase each year and the first part of the survey, 10 things nobody tells you about your pay.
More from the 2026 Salary Survey
- How much do corporate lawyers earn in Australia?
- How much do investment bankers earn in Australia?
- What is a typical bonus in Australia?
- Which corporate jobs pay well with low stress?
Source: The Aussie Corporate 2026 Salary Survey, data as at September 2026. Spotted an error? Correct something.
