Accounting salaries rise as talent pipeline shrinks

With the number of freshly minted accounting graduates dwindling and the consumer price index still rising, the law of supply and demand is driving up the salaries of accountants and finance professionals, according to recently released salary guides from staffing and recruiting agencies.

The Robert Half 2024 Salary Guide, released last week, shows the highest demand for professionals with financial planning and analysis skills. "Hiring remains robust in finance and accounting," said the guide. "Unemployment in these fields sits well below the national average, especially for accountants. Financial planning and analysis (FP&A) professionals are in very high demand, as are experts in financial reporting and general accounting. Salaries for these and other hard-to-hire positions continue to climb."

Various skills are bringing in more money, with skills managers saying they're increasing salaries for financial reporting (48%), financial modeling (42%), management experience (38%), and data analytics (36%).

"Fewer college students are graduating with accounting degrees, making it especially hard for public accounting firms to find entry-level candidates," said Robert Half. "Competition for experienced talent is also an issue, as many public accounting employees leave for corporate jobs with more manageable workloads. Audit and bookkeeping professionals at all levels are also in high demand."

Randstad USA has also issued its 2024 salary guide for accounting and finance. Another staffing and recruiting agency, LHH, which includes the former Accounting Principals, issued its salary guide in late September, showing salary levels ranging from $61,164 for a staff accountant to $90,708. One with Big Four experience, however, can see a salary ranging from $73,496 to $99,915. For a CFO, salaries can range from $201,824 to $478,153. At large corporations, of course, a CFO can command a far higher salary.

"As the battle for professionals with these modern skill sets heats up, CFOs are increasingly willing to spend on talent engagement, attraction, development and retention," said the LHH guide. "In fact, according to KPMG, 66% of financial organizations are focused on more robust talent strategies and 50% offer digital fluency programs to elevate financial roles."