CFO and Controller Pay Boosts Down from Last Year

Pay increases for CFOs and controllers increased an average of 4 percent this year, but that was slightly less than a year ago, according to a new salary survey.

The Financial Executive Compensation Survey 2016, from Grant Thornton LLP and the Financial Executives Research Foundation, found the average salary increase for financial executives at both public and private companies dipped slightly compared to last year. Public companies reported an increase of 3.7 percent, a decrease from 3.9 percent last year, while private companies saw a 4.1 percent increase in 2016, down from 4.4 percent last year.

Both CFOs and corporate controllers earned six-figure base salaries on average. CFOs at public companies reported an average base salary of $303,975, while corporate controllers at public companies reported an average of $229,895. Their counterparts in private companies reported lower average base salaries of $217,509 for the CFO and $161,374 for the corporate controller.

That’s only the base salary. Ninety percent of executives at public companies are eligible to receive some form of long-term incentives, while only 36 percent of their counterparts at private companies are eligible, according to the survey.

“The demand for experienced financial and accounting executives is stronger than it has been in several years,” said Ken Troy, a director in Grant Thornton’s Compensation and Benefits Consulting practice, in a statement. “Companies need to pay attention to changes in the competitive market for talent. They also need to have a clear strategy that defines how they will best attract and retain the executives in these key roles.”