Salary Survey
We now look towards the 2024 Salary Survey and what new trends it will uncover in the accountancy and finance job market. Help us define industry standards by taking part in the latest Salary Survey today.
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Help Us Define Industry Standards and Find Out if You Are Being Paid Fairly
Take Part in Our 2024 GAAPweb Salary Survey
GAAPweb; one of the UK’s leading specialist site for Accountancy & Finance jobs, is turning to you, our valued audience, to contribute to our 2024 Salary Survey.
Following a year of uncertainty and continued resilience to innumerable economic challenges, GAAPweb strives to investigate and understand the 2024 financial employment market.
Building on findings from previous GAAPweb audience insight surveys, we will determine the current trends, challenges and changes facing the financial recruitment landscape.
GAAPweb asks for your confidential feedback from across the accountancy and finance profession including Accountants, Finance Managers, CFOs, and other finance professionals, at all levels of experience, across all sectors.
Our 2024 Salary Survey will provide you with the unique opportunity to find out if you're being paid fairly in your current role and help us define industry standards by showing employers and recruiters what sort of environment you want to work in. Click the button below to participate in the GAAPweb 2024 Salary Survey today.
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GAAPweb 2023 Salary Survey Insights
Our 2023 Salary Survey of over 1,300 finance and accounting professionals revealed trends in salaries, bonuses, and newfound employee expectations. With 60% of our audience receiving a pay rise, 51% a bonus, and hybrid working becoming a new norm, 2023 presented a year of healthy wages, bonus opportunities and increased flexibility in the workplace.
If you interested in finding out more about the past average salaries of accountancy or finance professionals, read all of our insights in the GAAPweb 2023 Salary Survey report.
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Salary Changes by Job Title
Previously, increases to average salaries were reported across a broad range of finance and accountancy job titles, including many entry level jobs and junior finance roles. Professionals in Purchase Ledger jobs reported a 43% uplift in average salaries and those in Finance Analyst jobs noticed a 17% increase in annual earnings compared to last year.
Salaries for CFOs and Finance Director jobs, as the two most senior finance roles, remained in the six-figure category, despite CFO jobs seeing an 11% drop from £123,008 in 2022 to £111,076 last year.
Similarly, the average Accountant salary decreased from £45,714 to £44,745.
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Job Satisfaction
The GAAPweb community covers a wide range of job titles, from Accounts Assistants and Payroll to CFOs and Finance Directors. Amongst our audience, 71% of respondents were either extremely satisfied or satisfied with their job.
FP&A Analysts and community members in Tax jobs exhibited the highest levels of job satisfaction, with 83% either satisfied or extremely satisfied in their current position. Financial Controller jobs followed suit, with 74% reporting a positive satisfaction rate.
Finance Assistants sat at the lowest level of fulfillment, reporting a 42% satisfaction rate.
Overall, when it came to tenure, those in those in the first year of their job role are the most satisfied, with 76% satisfaction rate. However, as the years go on in the same position, it seemed these numbers decline with 68% respondents who are 10 years into their current role reporting dissatisfaction.
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Peak Payments
The number of respondents reporting a salary increase grew from 58% to 60% in 12 months, a 66% uplift on 2021. Another year-on-year increase demonstrated the demands of the candidate-driven market and economic pressures on employers, with many companies offering cost-of-living payments and salary increases to those impacted by the crisis.
Professionals in Finance Director roles (67%) and Head of Finance (65%) roles were among those the most likely to have seen a boost to their salary. There was good chance of a salary boost further down the hierarchical ladder too, with 65% of those in Finance Analyst jobs and 58% of Accountant jobs reporting a salary increase.
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Bonuses
In 2023, 51% of our respondents received a bonus, with 41% of those being a 3-5% supplement to their salary. Professionals in Audit jobs took the pinnacle bonus spot, with 68% boosting their overall income by an average of 12% – a 58% uplift on 2022 figures.
It was refreshing to see more junior roles taking home bonus pay, despite CFOs receiving the highest bonus on average and Head of Finance roles (63%) and Finance Directors (62%) standing in good stead for the perk.
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Hybrid Working
When posed the question ‘what’s most important to you in your job’ our audience responded with an almost even split between salary and flexible/hybrid working. The mere 1% difference demonstrated the positive impact hybrid/remote working jobs had on the lives of finance professionals, suggesting salaries and their supplements may not be at the forefront of employees’ priorities.
2023 saw a surge in hybrid working, with 68% of respondents adopting a hybrid structure, compared to 21% the year before.
The breakdown of office-to-home days across the GAAPweb audience demonstrates:
• 50% of respondents spending 1-2 days in the office.
• 30% conducting 3-4 working days in the office.
• 11% going on site once or twice a month.
• 9% working in a fully remote model.
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Incomes by Industry
A new leader, the Pharmaceutical industry surpassed Fintech for first position, with candidates earning an average salary of £92,206 per annum (up 19%). Retaining its authority as a prominent sector, Fintech closely followed with an average salary of £91,905.
The greatest pay increase was seen in the IT and Telecoms industry, with an impressive 27% uplift on 2022 figures. Average pay stood at £80,737.
However, there was also considerable salary decline in some areas, particularly the Consumer Products industry. With a 24% drop from 2022, resulting in a pay change of £91,463 to £69,333 per annum.
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Salaries by Location
The largest salary increase in 2023 was experienced by professionals working in Scotland who reported a 31% leap to £68,571.
Aside from the North-East revealing an 11% boost, other regions across the UK saw a slight dip in average wage. Despite the widespread implementation of hybrid working, Wales had a 9% decrease, and the South-East, (outside of London), noted a 5% drop.
London retained its reputation as the highest-earning location. In first place, the average salary sat at £78,338 – a 3% uplift from 2022.
Salaries across the capital were led by Canary Wharf, the top earning spot of 2023 where the average wage stood at £100,000 per annum.
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Progress Towards Parity
The number of female respondents increased to 44% in 2023, a 2% rise from 2022. Female representation was higher than or equal to male in almost half of surveyed job titles, women continued to dominate lower-paying positions such as, NQ Accountant (75%), Payroll (100%) and Credit Controller (75%).
Whilst the challenge to achieve gender parity in senior roles continues, 2023 brought us some subtle breakthroughs, with 42% of Finance Business Partner jobs and 52% of Finance Manager jobs now held by women.
Salary equality across senior positions showed signs of promise, with CFO roles achieving parity in 2023.
Overall, the gender pay gap widened by 3%, with women earning an average salary of £58,234 per annum - 22% less than their male counterparts.
Since our survey analysis began in 2018, the pay gap has narrowed by 4%. If this rate of change continues, salary parity between genders won’t be achieved until 2051.