Ryan, LLC Reviews

Pros

If you are driven, want to work with others that are very bright and motivated and want a successful career, then this is the place for you. At Ryan, the focus is being the best we can at what we do and providing the best service for our clients. This requires hard work, but the hard work pays off. You are recognized for what you do at Ryan, and this includes compensation-wise and in terms of promotions. The icing on the cake is that I feel like I can have the best of both worlds – work towards a high-powered, successful career while also having the flexibility to work remotely when needed thanks to MyRyan.

Advice to Management

Please continue to ask us to provide you our feedback. You do a great job of listening to what your employees tell you and then acting on it!

Pros

Great flexibly for parents. CEO, Brint Ryan, is hands on instead of hiding at corporate office. Recent manager changes for me have meant working 80 hour weeks to less than 50!

Advice to Management

Keep working on fixing our internal barriers.

Pros

- The MyRyan Program
- Work Autonomy
- This is a great company for new accountants trying to get a great name on the resume. The company is highly respected in the accounting world and it will do wonders for your resume and future career progression.

Advice to Management

The Firm's infrastructure is completely broken and needs an overhaul. It's time to be out with the old and in with the new in regards to Leadership.

Learn to run the Firm like a 2,000+ person organization vs. a 25-person start up.

Promote those into leadership that possess those skills for leadership.

Pros

Overall a great company. Having worked in the corporate sector for several Fortune 500 companies Ryan is a breath of fresh air (I often say it's Disneyland). I've never worked so hard in my life an not been bitter because I truly enjoy my clients and my team. The CEO and executive team are committed to the employees, clients and level of service expected. Additionally, the executive team is happy to bring anyone along for the ride with plans of reward for contribution which is refreshing. All ideas at all levels are truly appreciated and heard which you rarely experience and I'm so appreciative to have a voice. The clients are amazing and have become an everyday part of my life that I truly enjoy working with them. Ryan makes it easy to manage with a supportive HR team and the ability to provide employees time and flexibility you can reward your employees by giving them a life when the work cycle permits. I really believe I'm about to be part of something great in the next few years if the cons below start to be addressed.

Advice to Management

The devil is in the detail you need to go granular examine of your service lines at a Director/Manager level. Understand who is really building and working the bulk of the business revenue and volume; you would be shocked and disgusted which is how I feel almost every day especially when I pull 90 hour work weeks and have to push my employees to their own limits because we are in an office of government work mentality peers. Change the bonus program talk to your principals about including the people who work their accounts in the commission break out it's like a battlefield begging for money you work hard to ensure gets billed it's demeaning.

Pros

I recently finished my first year at Ryan and I can't say enough great things about this company. I'm surrounded by highly intelligent and ambitious people that make me excited to come to work every day. My time in Severance Tax has been very rewarding so far and I can't wait to see what comes next. I would definitely recommend applying to work at Ryan if you're a college student about to graduate.

Advice to Management

It seems that Severance Tax has a winning formula when it comes to management. My only advice would be to keep up the great work. Additionally, I really think that the monthly all-hands calls from the CEO are a great way to distribute information and feel connected at a firm-wide level.

Pros

Ryan cares for its employees well-being, which is directly evidenced by it's work/life balance program called MyRyan. I previously worked at another accounting firm, and was drawn to a company like Ryan- a company that treated its employees like they were indispensable. Ryan wants its employees to stay at the firm and succeed, not just leave after two years. It's possible to have a successful career and a life while working at the firm. Programs like MyRyan attract top talent that make going to work each day great. Also, Ryan's client service is superior to other firms in its field. Ryan has time and again saved clients more money than other firms.

Advice to Management

The monthly status update meeting from the CEO were great. Its always nice to hear how well the company is doing!

Pros

Company had been newly acquired and had been plans for growth. Management pitched great opportunities for career growth in both interviews.

Advice to Management

When you limit your employees ability to promote based on having a'business' degree or not, you are setting yourself up for failure. Further, having people who do NOT have the degree and skill set that you desire, train those who do is creating a real opportunity for sabotage.

Pros

- With over 70 tax service lines an employee can find the area of tax they like to work and thrive in.
- The company has experienced long term year over year growth which creates opportunities for career development for its employees.
- Ryan has an impressive and growing client roster that affords it's employees the ability to provide tax services to some of the largest business organizations in the world.
- Ryan is the leader in the industry in many areas of taxation. Ryan is the largest provider of AUP, Property Tax and Transaction Tax Services in the United States. It is always an advantage to work for the leader in any industry!
- Ryan has extensive internal training opportunities available for its employees.
- Ryan has a flexible work environment that allows it's employees to create a customized approach to work life balance.

If you are looking for a career in the tax services field there is no reason to look any further than Ryan LLC.

Advice to Management

Stay innovative!

Pros

In short, Ryan is a great place for high-achievers. If you welcome challenges, are creative, curious, intelligent, and have a strong work ethic, you will be successful. In the early days Ryan had a reputation as a sweatshop for young tax consultants. This was evidenced by the Big 4's efforts to poach senior consultants and managers in the early and mid-2000's. Now, Ryan has matured into a firm with a healthy balance of career growth and personal attention that I find refreshing and rare in the consulting / accounting / finance industry. If you are a young college grad you will grow faster and gain more experience with Ryan than with most other firms. If you are experienced and coming from another firm there will be an adjustment period as you become accustomed to Ryan's method of doing business.

The long story (my personal story): I joined Ryan’s Dallas office fresh out of college in 2004 as a Finance grad from a Midwestern university. I wasn’t necessarily looking for a career in tax, but the business model and the amount of young talent was attractive. I just happened to join one of the fastest-growing and most successful sales and use tax teams in the firm (my original manager is now a practice leader). I left Ryan after two years primarily for personal and location reasons (my now-spouse lived in a city without a Ryan office), but back then a lot of people left Ryan when they were ready to settle down and start a family. The work environment was difficult to support a work-life balance. I worked in the energy industry for a few years and ended up starting a couple small businesses that provided a handsome living. Still, I had always enjoyed the people at Ryan and enjoyed the work, and after I grew my businesses about as big as they could be I still felt I had more opportunity at Ryan. I started unwinding my businesses in 2013 and re-joined Ryan, winding down my last business in late 2015. What a difference seven years made – Ryan had grown from 250 employees to 2,000 employees and had taken massive steps to improve employee retention through myRyan (go visit the website to read more - it really is unique and a lifesaver for those with kids). I now have my own team and am relocating from Dallas to the Northeast to help build out one of our practices in the region. It is an opportunity to grow both personally and financially that would be rare at a much larger firm such as the Big 4. I am well aware of the opportunities, or lack thereof, at the Big 4 based on numerous friends who work in all four firms - many of whom used to work at Ryan.

Being able to view Ryan from the inside as an employee, from afar as an ex-employee, and again as an employee gives me valuable perspective that most Ryan employees do not have, as most of those who joined since 2008 have remained at Ryan. Choose an industry job if you want to work barely 40 hours a week, grow excruciatingly slow in your career, handle compliance issues every month, and decent benefits but mediocre pay. Choose the Big 4 if you want high turnover, decent pay but no life-changing opportunities and the experience of always leaving money on the table for your clients. Choose Ryan if you wish to be financially rewarded for the amount of tax you save your clients, want to work with a young and talented workforce, wish to be promoted based on results rather than seniority, and want a company with much room to grow within the market. I love working at Ryan and would recommend it to anyone who believes their desires align with my experience.

Advice to Management

Keep the pipeline flowing for new clients. Also, don't skimp on HR initiatives.

Pros

Before joining Ryan, I'd heard about the exciting culture, committed employees and saw their ever expanding presence in the market. They were winning deals and taking names. I was evaluating a higher base salary at another firm or a good salary plus a potentially higher bonus plan with Ryan.
All other benefits being pretty square, the variable was me. I took a leap of faith - on myself. I went with my gut instincts and my only regret, 4.5 years later, was not doing it sooner.
1) A highly engaged executive team that is accessible, (truly) cares about employees, listens and takes brisk action when necessary. (This makes a real difference. Changes at big 4 are painfully slow.)
2) Ryan provides a perfect balance of market presence and resources coupled with unmatched high growth. The result is an environment which allows for talented individuals to thrive and grow.
3) Hands down - the best work environment. My experience at 2 big 4 firms and one small firm (200 people) provide good perspective. Please do not underestimate the importance of this factor. Work and life, for me, run hand in hand. It is critical to make the right decision. If you are considering a role at Ryan and you believe in yourself the choice is clear.

Advice to Management

Keep doing what you are doing, it's working. (and thank you!)