Pay rises to be lesser but more widespread, survey finds

The Hays 2018-19 Salary Guide found that two-thirds of employers will give their accounting staff a pay rise of less than 3 per cent in their next review, while 11 per cent will not increase salaries at all.

A further 18 per cent will give staff an increase of between 3 and 6 per cent. Six per cent will increase salaries by 6 per cent or more.

This is in comparison to last year’s survey, when 14 per cent of employers gave no increases to accountants while 8 per cent had an increase of 6 per cent or above.

Commenting on the guide’s findings, Hays accountancy and finance regional director, David Cawley, told Public Accountant that with highly-sought-after skills becoming harder to find, this creates an opportunity for accountants to push up the price that their labour is able to demand.

“They're the ones that are going to probably position themselves in the front of the queue to be able to command a salary increase and better work/life balance and flexibility,” Mr Cawley said.

“They're also the people who are going to make their roles as interesting as possible because they are at the forefront of change and technological advancement.”

Further, Mr Cawley said accounting and finance professionals will see increased demand for their skills in 2018-19 in response to the continued strength of the labour market, as well as “the ever-increasing volume of data that organisations now employ”.

“At the accounting support level, payrollers at all levels remain in high demand, with acute candidate shortages creating high competition and generous salary offers for those with specific system or sector experience,” Mr Cawley said.

The salary guide is based on a survey of more than 3,000 organisations representing more than 2.3 million employees.