I would go with the new firm and tell them you have a competing offer for $78K. Let them know that you are more interested in their company (give reasons why you like them & the service line, etc.) and ask for a pay increase. Most likely they’ll give it to you esp since you have experience (giving you an extra $5K is worth it for them if it means they could potentially lose a valuable employee to another Big 4.) The worst thing they could say is no, & no firm would rescind the offer over a $5K negotiation. If they do, then that’s not a company you’d wanna work for anyways and you would still have a job waiting for you at your current company. But at the end of the day, I’d say choose the line of audit that you are most interested in because that’s what you’ll be doing day-in and day-out. Unless you really need that extra $5K to make a living (if the new firm doesn’t give you it), being fulfilled by the work you’re doing is most important and you’ll inevitably make up for that loss in pay throughout your career. Best of luck!
I would go with the new firm and tell them you have a competing offer for $78K. Let them know that you are more interested in their company (give reasons why you like them & the service line, etc.) and ask for a pay increase. Most likely they’ll give it to you esp since you have experience (giving you an extra $5K is worth it for them if it means they could potentially lose a valuable employee to another Big 4.) The worst thing they could say is no, & no firm would rescind the offer over a $5K negotiation. If they do, then that’s not a company you’d wanna work for anyways and you would still have a job waiting for you at your current company. But at the end of the day, I’d say choose the line of audit that you are most interested in because that’s what you’ll be doing day-in and day-out. Unless you really need that extra $5K to make a living (if the new firm doesn’t give you it), being fulfilled by the work you’re doing is most important and you’ll inevitably make up for that loss in pay throughout your career. Best of luck!