salary guides for accountants vary widely: whom do you believe?

three people in office disagreeing

recruiters atrium, lhh and randstad don’t agree.

by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research

so, how much does, say, a tax manager pull down these days?

well, it depends whom you ask.

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the recruiting firm atrium says the average tax manager takes home between $100,000 and $142,000.

but another recruiter, lhh, says the same person typically earns $158,750 to $172,850, depending on the size of the company.

another firm, randstad, gives tax managers an average of $104,424 to $170,767, depending on experience.

all three have recently issued generous banks of data in their annual salary guides. none say much about their methodology, so it’s hard to explain their discrepancies.

here are some other salaries, rounded off.

director of internal audit

  • atrium: $161,000 to $199,000
  • randstad: $99,000 to $197,000
  • lhh: $180,000 to $199,000

staff accountant

  • atrium: $72,000 to $94,000
  • randstad: $58,000 to $105,000
  • lhh: $70,000 to $74,000

accounts payable manager

  • atrium: $93,000 to $122,000
  • randstad: $78,000 to $152,000
  • lhh: $102,000 to $108,000

bookkeeper

  • atrium: $50,000 to $75,000
  • randstad: $35,000 to $52,000
  • lhh: $42,000 to $45,000

chief financial officer

  • atrium: $335,000 to 573,000
  • randstad: $106,000 to 4298,000
  • lhh: $268,000 to $477,000

these national averages vary by region, of course, and each of the salary guides offers its own regional variation as a percentage of the national average. the atrium and lhh numbers tend to be pretty close while the randstad numbers are radically different, possibly because of different regional definitions. here are a few examples.

memphis:

  • atrium:  -6.0%
  • randstad:  -7.6%
  • lhh:  -6.3%

tampa

  • atrium:  -5%
  • randstad: 3.3%
  • lhh:  -5.2%

seattle

  • atrium: 10.6%
  • randstad: 23%
  • lhh: 10.3%

new york

  • atrium: 16.8%
  • randstad: 37.5%
  • lhh: 16.8%

san francisco

  • atrium: 25.3%
  • randstad: 65.1%
  • lhh: $25%

weathering change

lhh sees big changes coming to the accounting and finance industry. a lot of professionals seem to think they can weather the changes, but almost as many don’t seem to be so sure.

  • 62 percent of accountants and 65 percent of financial services professionals agree that “my skills are transferable to other roles within my industry.” but what are the other 35 to 38 percent thinking?
  • 57 percent of accountants and 62 percent of those in finance agree that “my current skills are transferable to other industries.” but how many of the other 38 to 43 percent might need to learn a whole new skillset?

employment of accountants is projected to grow at only 4 percent per year between 2022 and 2032, about the same as the average for all professions. but employment for financial analysts might grow at twice that rate.

still, each year in that decade should see some 126,000 openings for accountants and auditors, though only 27,400 for financial analysts.

a pool of mothers

the lhh survey calls on employers in all industries to help employees feel more positive during the “vibecession” in which many people perceive economic distress despite very positive indicators.

citing various polls, lhh reports that

  • 72 percent of american are “doing ok” financially, down from 75 percent in 2019.
  • 22 percent rate the national economy as “good” or “excellent,” down from 50 percent in 2019.
  • 49 percent believe that unemployment is at a 50-year high even though it is near a 50-year low.

it may be because of a nervous reaction to the perceived economic problems that 73 percent of workers in 23 countries plan to stay in their jobs over the next year.

lhh says this is good news for employers focusing on retention. still,

  • 47 percent of workers are passively looking at available jobs;
  • 33 percent think about their career plans daily or weekly;
  • 72 percent contemplate their future plans – next job, upskilling – no less than quarterly.

the survey notes a pool of available labor in mothers with children under 18. while 74 percent of them were in the labor force in 2023, 46 percent of mothers say flexible work arrangements – basically, the options of remote work and flexible schedules – are the most important benefit an employer can offer.

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