This year was better than last year, which was better than the one before. We slapped everyone with a 2% raise but I got about 6% due to my typical awesomeness. The real kicker is I got a 40% increase to my profit share. I expect a typical 1k will be handed to everyone with the last 2024 payroll.
3% raise after several years of 10% raises so a disappointment, but clients were extremely gun shy this year. Upper management didn't get any raises at all. 7% bonus.
With 5 weeks standard paid holidays and a reasonable raise every couple of years . I’m content with a career without a bonus . :) ( would be good to have esp for a tough yr)
When I read everyone's comments here, I feel like we could have dialed back the raises and bonuses this year. My goodness!
Most received 4% increases, a handful received 10%. Bonuses were in the same range.
This was a brutal year, business-wise. Us partners had to write cheques to the company to keep it afloat. An outside business advisor told us that we pay too much. Not patting myself on the back, like I said it was a tough year overall. But our retention is basically 100% over the past decade.
Come on bowling, hire Ric, please! I just want to know what he's like on the dance floor.
Dec 19, 24 6:57 pm ·
·
BulgarBlogger
Ask why you attract shit clients
Dec 19, 24 7:25 pm ·
·
bowling_ball
Well we don't, generally. Things started out great, but one of the
Dec 20, 24 11:04 am ·
·
bowling_ball
Oops. Things started out great but one of the clients in question has turned out to be less experienced and turns everything into a fight. It's not necessary or useful, but he's a lawyer so that's the way he rolls I guess.
Dec 20, 24 11:05 am ·
·
bowling_ball
Despite your shitty, naive comment, I hope you're never in the same situation.
BB, we have our healthy (or unhealthy?) share of similar clients. One of them left us, and several other parties high and dry on 3 separate projects. Liens are in the works. I remember distinctively telling ownership to run when the 3rd project hit the books but no one listens to me. The good thing is these are minor projects with only low 5 figure fees. The big projects with the good clients outnumber the cheap wankers.
Eventually, when you have 300+ active projects, you're going to run into a shitty client. It happens. And we're far from perfect, I don't think that's a revelation.
We'll find out late January and it will go into effect late February. High probability I will get a sort-of-promotion this year, which is a bit hard to explain. Normally I'd expect this to result in a 10-15% raise, and the normal 3-5% bonus. This year has been bad for the office though, so I'm expecting half that and to hopefully keep my job. Might update when I find out.
Last year we got a 4% holiday bonus, this year it was a flat 2k check. They don’t do profit sharing (to my knowledge) and raises historically have been 10% (Im early in my career, gaining more responsibility each project, etc)
Switched jobs this year. Overall increase salary wise from last year is about 12k. A "gimme" bonus of 2k for joining near end of the year from said new firm.
Easiest way to make more money is to keep switching jobs, sadly. I was a "top performer" at my previous firm (very well known office, but this is not a flex by any means) and always got great bonuses for my years of experience at least (~15k) and profit sharing to boot. Was met with crazy resistance for raises, year after year and finally hit a breaking point.
I'm the sole employee of my S-corp. It looks like I'll have about $26K in net profit this year, which is kind of like a bonus, except I keep my salary relatively low and take owner's draws (from the net profit) throughout the year so it's not like I have a big pile of money left over at the end of the year. But enough that it feels like a modest bonus.
We had a pretty good year, with gross revenue 25% above forecast. I pay myself solely from owner draws/profit (41% profit margin for the year, but again, I pay myself out of that). While a 30% pay cut (in what I pay myself) from my last firm position still applies, I'm doing okay.
While not a cash bonus, I gave my employee additional paid days off to have the next two weeks off. Overall, I am pretty happy with this year.
$25k bonus, base salary is 72k. Typical 3% raise every year, 6 years experience. Small 4 person firm. Seems this is the standard in our office, bigger bonuses and not very big raises - not sure if I like it this way or not considering tax implications... but I am appreciative for anything nonetheless.
Depending on where you live that is a nice salary and bonus! Nice work! For federal I thought all bonuses were taxed at either a flat 22% or your marginal tax rate.
Dec 23, 24 2:52 pm ·
·
Loopyschool
Thanks, I agree. I'm in the SW United States, low cost of living area in a medium sized city. I've been treated well here, first and only firm I've ever worked at and haven't had much incentive to leave. Big breadth of experience being that the firm is so small. We do everything - residential, commercial, hospitality... Yeah, you're right about the tax rate - my only gripe is that I think I would prefer a larger salary increase to not feel the ding in taxes as much. It's a small gripe but a gripe nonetheless.
That's a nice bonus and raise. Overall, the taxes shouldnt get affected much I guess - but yeah the one-shot reduction in bonus seems a lot. Put the bonus money into a high-yield savings account!
Dec 23, 24 6:08 pm ·
·
OddArchitect
Better yet, max out your IRA for this year. Then I. January max out your IRA for 2025.
Max your 401k and the HSA also. If you don't have them, get them. Spending a few bucks on a CPA to do your income taxes can also reveal a lot of ways to keep more of your bonus.
sameolddoctor indicated as much but just to spell it out clearly, bonuses are not taxed any differently than your other income. However, your employer has options in how they withhold taxes when they pay you your bonus. This leads some to believe that bonuses are taxed at a flat 22%. That's what might be withheld from that check, but when you do your taxes each year, the bonus is included as income just like your other income and taxed at the appropriate percentages based on your tax brackets.
Editing to add this is wrt federal income tax. Your state or local jurisdiction may differ.
Bonuses/Raises/Promotions ('Tis the season)
Same topic again ... Any bonuses, raises or promotions - good news in terms of career this year?
We got nothing, with a promise that they would "consider" raises in first quarter. Sucks.
at this point, just not getting any more shitty clients is a bonus. (on the bright side, I just bought tickets to italy in the spring)
This year was better than last year, which was better than the one before. We slapped everyone with a 2% raise but I got about 6% due to my typical awesomeness. The real kicker is I got a 40% increase to my profit share. I expect a typical 1k will be handed to everyone with the last 2024 payroll.
3% raise, 30% bonus.
What title are you? That's an insane bonus
Or they're paid very low
3% raise after several years of 10% raises so a disappointment, but clients were extremely gun shy this year. Upper management didn't get any raises at all. 7% bonus.
Oh, very exciting growth though. Have lots of new responsibilities on a fast and fun project for the next year, so I'm happy.
11.5% bonus. Largest bonus I've ever received. Any raise would be communicated in January 2025.
Overall I'm very happy even if I don't receive a raise.
nice!
I guess I should have checked before I bumped the old thread. https://archinect.com/forum/th...
About $800 for holiday bonus. Year-end bonus and raises will be in a couple months.
6.7% raise, 3.5% bonus
With 5 weeks standard paid holidays and a reasonable raise every couple of years . I’m content with a career without a bonus . :) ( would be good to have esp for a tough yr)
When I read everyone's comments here, I feel like we could have dialed back the raises and bonuses this year. My goodness!
Most received 4% increases, a handful received 10%. Bonuses were in the same range.
This was a brutal year, business-wise. Us partners had to write cheques to the company to keep it afloat. An outside business advisor told us that we pay too much. Not patting myself on the back, like I said it was a tough year overall. But our retention is basically 100% over the past decade.
Hiring, btw.
Any idea why the bad year? 2025 is already filling up on our end already...
Shit clients who don't pay on time. Full stop.
Come on bowling, hire Ric, please! I just want to know what he's like on the dance floor.
Ask why you attract shit clients
Well we don't, generally. Things started out great, but one of the
Oops. Things started out great but one of the clients in question has turned out to be less experienced and turns everything into a fight. It's not necessary or useful, but he's a lawyer so that's the way he rolls I guess.
Despite your shitty, naive comment, I hope you're never in the same situation.
BB, we have our healthy (or unhealthy?) share of similar clients. One of them left us, and several other parties high and dry on 3 separate projects. Liens are in the works. I remember distinctively telling ownership to run when the 3rd project hit the books but no one listens to me. The good thing is these are minor projects with only low 5 figure fees. The big projects with the good clients outnumber the cheap wankers.
Eventually, when you have 300+ active projects, you're going to run into a shitty client. It happens. And we're far from perfect, I don't think that's a revelation.
We'll find out late January and it will go into effect late February. High probability I will get a sort-of-promotion this year, which is a bit hard to explain. Normally I'd expect this to result in a 10-15% raise, and the normal 3-5% bonus. This year has been bad for the office though, so I'm expecting half that and to hopefully keep my job. Might update when I find out.
Last year we got a 4% holiday bonus, this year it was a flat 2k check. They don’t do profit sharing (to my knowledge) and raises historically have been 10% (Im early in my career, gaining more responsibility each project, etc)
4% raise, 25% performance bonus, 5% profit sharing bonus.
2024 was okay, more bullish on 2025.
A 25% performance bonus?! That's either very high or your base base is very low. Either way, impressive!
Thank you! Director level, very fortunate.
Do you prefer:
High Salary, negligible to zero bonus
OR
Lower Salary, BIG (guaranteed) BONUS?
High salary and a bonus based on your performance.
Why the forced dichotomy?
Forced dichotomy is all BulgarBlogger knows and has experienced.
How would you know Odd?
Based on your posts here BulgarBlogger. That's how.
Ehh- can’t have fans everywhere. What matters is winning, not being popular. Look at Trump!
Switched jobs this year. Overall increase salary wise from last year is about 12k. A "gimme" bonus of 2k for joining near end of the year from said new firm.
Easiest way to make more money is to keep switching jobs, sadly. I was a "top performer" at my previous firm (very well known office, but this is not a flex by any means) and always got great bonuses for my years of experience at least (~15k) and profit sharing to boot. Was met with crazy resistance for raises, year after year and finally hit a breaking point.
I'm the sole employee of my S-corp. It looks like I'll have about $26K in net profit this year, which is kind of like a bonus, except I keep my salary relatively low and take owner's draws (from the net profit) throughout the year so it's not like I have a big pile of money left over at the end of the year. But enough that it feels like a modest bonus.
We had a pretty good year, with gross revenue 25% above forecast. I pay myself solely from owner draws/profit (41% profit margin for the year, but again, I pay myself out of that). While a 30% pay cut (in what I pay myself) from my last firm position still applies, I'm doing okay.
While not a cash bonus, I gave my employee additional paid days off to have the next two weeks off. Overall, I am pretty happy with this year.
we actually gave bonuses this year -- a good change from last year when we just couldn't
here's to keeping the intensity of working coming in next year!
happy holidays, all!
$25k bonus, base salary is 72k. Typical 3% raise every year, 6 years experience. Small 4 person firm. Seems this is the standard in our office, bigger bonuses and not very big raises - not sure if I like it this way or not considering tax implications... but I am appreciative for anything nonetheless.
Depending on where you live that is a nice salary and bonus! Nice work! For federal I thought all bonuses were taxed at either a flat 22% or your marginal tax rate.
Thanks, I agree. I'm in the SW United States, low cost of living area in a medium sized city. I've been treated well here, first and only firm I've ever worked at and haven't had much incentive to leave. Big breadth of experience being that the firm is so small. We do everything - residential, commercial, hospitality... Yeah, you're right about the tax rate - my only gripe is that I think I would prefer a larger salary increase to not feel the ding in taxes as much. It's a small gripe but a gripe nonetheless.
Sounds like a nice place to work!
That's a nice bonus and raise. Overall, the taxes shouldnt get affected much I guess - but yeah the one-shot reduction in bonus seems a lot. Put the bonus money into a high-yield savings account!
Better yet, max out your IRA for this year. Then I. January max out your IRA for 2025.
Max your 401k and the HSA also. If you don't have them, get them. Spending a few bucks on a CPA to do your income taxes can also reveal a lot of ways to keep more of your bonus.
sameolddoctor indicated as much but just to spell it out clearly, bonuses are not taxed any differently than your other income. However, your employer has options in how they withhold taxes when they pay you your bonus. This leads some to believe that bonuses are taxed at a flat 22%. That's what might be withheld from that check, but when you do your taxes each year, the bonus is included as income just like your other income and taxed at the appropriate percentages based on your tax brackets.
Editing to add this is wrt federal income tax. Your state or local jurisdiction may differ.
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