Finance and accounting wages to keep rising this year
A new Robert Half survey reveals the most in-demand finance and accounting roles, salary expectations, and market attractors for the year to come.
Last year, finance and accounting salaries outpaced national wage growth by 2.3 per cent, growing by 6.5 per cent across the year. According to Robert Half, the growth is expected to continue this year as the majority of finance leaders are planning further pay increases.
“Continued skills shortages in the finance sector have seen salaries [increase] for those with sought-after skills,” said Nicole Gorton, director at Robert Half. While skills shortages are no longer as dire as in recent years, Gorton said the struggle continues for certain high-demand roles – often associated with new technologies.
Gorton added that “optimism is set to continue in 2024,” driven by continued high inflation and a renewed focus on attracting and retaining talent.
Of those CFOs looking to increase pay, nearly half (46 per cent) will offer raises following a pre-determined flat rate, while 17 per cent will tie the increase to individual employee performance.
Payroll salaries grew by 6.7 per cent over the year, while accounting and finance/business analysis grew by 5.5 per cent. In third place, external audit/business advisory service salaries grew by 4 per cent, while financial management and credit management salaries both increased by 3.6 per cent.
According to the survey, the following permanent finance and accounting roles are among the most in-demand: financial accountant, finance manager, assistant accountant, and management accountant.
The survey also considered the starting salaries of certain finance roles. The median starting salary for financial controllers is $173,000 per year, followed by $143,000 for finance managers, $111,000 for management accountants, $103,000 for financial accountants, and $78,500 for assistant accountants.
While inflation is driving employers to increase salaries, 24 per cent of CFOs said the costs of higher salaries will be passed on to consumers via price increases – possibly perpetuating further cost-of-living challenges.
That said, 20 per cent of CFOs said they will sacrifice profitability to support staff over the coming year and 17 per cent will cut overheads to offer higher pay.
“Pay-related decisions have become a balancing act,” said Gorton. “Businesses still need to ensure they are keeping pace with market rates for both new recruits and existing staff while considering the potential impact of pay increases on their operations or company financials.”
“Re-evaluating and regularly benchmarking…remuneration policy against market changes without cutting too deep into the bottom line is essential.”
Despite the high premium put on pay in retaining and attracting competitive candidates by employers, there is some evidence that employees – while still primarily motivated by salary – are increasingly drawn by non-pay factors.
Fifty-four per cent of finance workers would say no to a job offer with a disappointing salary, but career development opportunities are not far behind at 40 per cent.
A job with an undesirable corporate culture would be rejected by 35 per cent of finance candidates, while 29 per cent said the same if they had a bad experience with a prospective direct manager during the hiring process. Twenty-six per cent of finance candidates would reject an offer from a company with a bad reputation on social media or news media.
“Even though salary continues to be kind, the days when pay was the sole motivator are over,” said Gorton.
“Businesses that cannot match the salary offered by competitors can therefore still get creative with non-monetary methods to gain an advantage with candidates and employees.”
