The document summarizes salary and hiring trends for accounting and finance professionals in London from a 2015 report by Robert Half. It finds that 93% of London CFOs are optimistic about business growth. There are skills shortages in accounting and finance, with the top reasons being general demand outpacing supply, lack of niche technical experts, and lack of commercial business skills. The report provides expected salary increases in 2015 for various accounting and finance roles such as commercial financial controller and financial business partner. It also notes that opinions are divided on remuneration strategies, with 6 out of 10 London CFOs offering sign-on bonuses to attract talent.
2. Hiring trends in accounting & finance
Salary & Hiring Trends: London2
Companies expanding existing teams
and investing in new initiatives
Wanted: finance professionals skilled in
budgeting, forecasting, margin analysis
and cost efficiency
93% of London CFOs are bullish about
the British economy and optimistic about
business growth
3. Shortages are a BIG issue
Salary & Hiring Trends: London3
Recruiting finance professionals is challenging
85% of London CFOs are experiencing skills
shortages in accounting & finance
4. Shortages are a BIG issue
Salary & Hiring Trends: London4
The top 3 reasons cited for the skills shortage
30%
General demand
outweighing supply
40%
Lack of niche,
technical experts
23%
Lack of commercial
business skills
5. Finance professionals need to be multi-talented
Salary & Hiring Trends: London5
QUA LIFICATIONS
PROBL
EM
SOLVING
COMM
ERCIAL AWARE
NESS
ANALYTICAL
SKILLS
COMMUNICATI
ON
SKILLS
7. Temporary and interim accounting & finance jobs in demand
Salary & Hiring Trends: London7
• Systems and transformation
finance experts
• Business/management
information specialists
• Financial planning and
analysis professionals
• Accounts assistants,
credit controllers and
purchase ledger clerks
8. UK accounting & finance salaries
Salary & Hiring Trends: London8
63% of London CFOs plan to increase salaries
in 2015 (average increase = 7%)
For a complete list of London salaries, visit www.roberthalf.co.uk/salary-calculator
Select salary increases in accounting & finance
Job title Company size 2014 London 2015 London % change
Commercial Financial Controller
SME £87,000 - £101,600 £90,300 - £106,100 4.1%
Large £90,900 - £108,700 £96,400 - £111,600 4.2%
Finance Director
SME £78,400 - £127,000 £80,300 - £131,900 3.3%
Large £90,300 - £159,300 £97,700 - £161,900 4.0%
Compliance Manager
SME £68,000 - £80,300 £70,600 - £82,200 3.0%
Large £75,500 - £83,900 £76,400 - £88,400 3.4%
9. UK accounting & finance salaries
Salary & Hiring Trends: London9
Select salary increases in accounting & finance (continued)
Job title Company size 2014 London 2015 London % change
Financial Planning
& Analysis Manager
SME £78,400 - £86,100 £79,700 - £88,000 2.0%
Large £80,300 - £89,700 £81,900 - £91,600 2.1%
Financial Business Partner
SME £54,800 - £67,700 £58,400 - £69,300 4.2%
Large £57,700 - £70,000 £61,000 - £71,900 4.0%
Assistant Accountant
SME £22,300 - £34,800 £22,900 - £35,500 2.3%
Large £28,700 - £40,300 £29,700 - £41,300 2.8%
Credit Controller
SME £22,300 - £31,600 £21,600 - £33,200 1.8%
Large £24,500 - £36,400 £25,500 - £36,800 2.1%
Purchase Ledger Clerk
SME £20,000 - £31,000 £21,300 - £31,600 3.8%
Large £26,400 - £34,200 £26,800 - £34,800 1.6%
For a complete list of London salaries, visit roberthalf.co.uk/salary-calculator
10. Bonuses & benefits
Salary & Hiring Trends: London10
Opinions are divided when it comes
to remuneration strategies
11. Bonuses & benefits
Salary & Hiring Trends: London11
6 out of 10 London CFOs are offering
sign-on bonuses to attract talent
12. Salary & Hiring Trends: London12
For more accounting and
finance salary and hiring trends,
download our full report at
roberthalf.co.uk/salary-centre
Notas del editor
Hello. I’m [NAME, TITLE. BRIEFLY EXPLAIN WHAT YOU DO]. I’m pleased to join you today from [DIVISION].
I’ll be talking to you about hiring and remuneration trends in accounting and finance. Our findings are based on research we conducted for the 2015 Robert Half Salary Guide, one of the many value-added resources we make available to businesses and our candidates across the [LOCAL] and UK marketplace.
Our new guide includes starting salary information for more than 100 finance and accounting positions.
Now let’s look at finance and accounting specifically.
Companies have loosened the purse strings and are again turning to finance to help provide strategic direction as part of their growth plans. They are expanding existing teams as well as investing in new initiatives, including systems implementations and commercial/business partnering, while staying focused on their risk and compliance activities.
Finance continues its journey as a strategic partner to the business, shedding its reputation as a cost centre to one where it partners with multiple stakeholders and departments to deliver efficiency and commercial value.
Previously stalled investment into systems upgrades has been given the go-ahead, with many businesses moving to SAP or Oracle and looking for finance staff to manage conversion projects.
According to finance directors, specific areas where demand outweighs supply include business/financial analysis, general accounting and financial management/control.
Companies of all sizes are increasing their permanent finance headcount. Nearly half (45%) plan to create new accounting jobs and another 53% are replacing departing team members. Notably, 42% of SMEs are adding to their finance and accounting departments.
Retention is a major worry for FDs/CFOs: 90% are concerned about losing top financial performers. Career advancement opportunities are being stepped up and remuneration reviewed as part of efforts to hold on to talented staff.
Echoing the findings of our Finance with Foresight report, where we looked at how the finance team is using data analytics to support strategic decision making, finance leaders want their teams to extract more insights from financial data to improve business process and efficiency as well as to drive corporate strategy.
The expectation for finance professionals to exhibit strong communication and analytical skills, problem solving and business savvy has not, however, come at the expense of sound technical competency.
Education is key, with most businesses prioritising the recruitment of qualified accountants (ACA, ACCA, CIMA). It has become harder for non-qualified professionals to be shortlisted for roles.
Corporate governance remains a priority for businesses, and finance leaders are given the arduous task of balancing business growth opportunities with mitigating risk. Many medium-sized and large firms are bringing in integrated governance, risk and compliance (GRC) teams, centralising what were once often stand-alone functions into one cohesive unit.
To manage governance initiatives, many businesses are turning to senior-level interim professionals to bridge the skills and workload gaps, often setting up programmes and transferring knowledge and projects to permanent teams. Skills shortages are acute, with many businesses hiring interim specialists in treasury and IT audit, compliance and regulatory development as well as for the ongoing maintenance of risk and control frameworks.
Looking at positions in demand, [read permanent list from the screen]. Commercial and finance business partners were the number one role we placed in 2014 and we’ve seen the role expand, from what was a job that typically commanded a salary between £25-45K, to one that extends to more senior professionals, with commercial finance controllers and managers
Looking at interim positions, this echoes what we’ve been discussing about companies investing in new initiatives, including business transformation and systems upgrades. On the temporary front, companies are dealing with high volumes of work and are looking for resource to help manage daily accounting tasks. In many cases they are bringing in temporary professionals to manage some of the junior work, allowing permanent teams to focus on more strategic and career-building tasks. This has also proven a great retention tool for permanent staff.
Let’s take a look at some specific salaries in our guide. These are based on the average starting salaries of the roles we’ve placed in 2014, plus an extrapolation of trends in 2015. Bonuses and other forms of remuneration are not taken into account. To view more than a 100 finance and accounting roles (as well as positions in financial services, technology and office support), please download or request a copy of our salary guide.
[NOTE TO SPEAKER: CALCULATE THE SALARIES WITH YOUR REGIONAL VARIANCE BEFORE THE EVENT TO PROVIDE LOCAL NUMBERS]
Regional variance:
Scotland: 98.4%
North East England: 90.0%
North West England: 92.9%
Yorkshire: 91.9%
East Midlands: 91.8%
West Midlands: 92.8%
East of England: 97.9%
London: 129.0%
South East England: 106%
South West England: 92.3%
Wales: 89.5%
Businesses are divided on their remuneration strategies, with many recognising that increased levels are required to attract and retain the requisite talent and others slower to react to changing market conditions and the resulting talent shortage.
Large firms often rely on their brands, leaving small and medium-sized companies to procure top talent by providing attractive benefits and working environments as well as exposure to a wide array of tasks. This is definitely an attractant, particularly for partly and recently qualified accountants who are looking to build on their skills and experiences by getting involved in a variety of projects.
Bonus schemes are becoming more widely available with more non-managerial employees having access to company and personal performance compensation. The most commonly offered reward and benefits to attract and retain staff include pension contribution, flexible working hours or telecommunication and subsidised training/education.
Many businesses are offering retention bonuses to try to secure temporary and interim professionals through the course of a project.
It’s been a pleasure talking to you today. Thank you very much for listening.
[OPPORTUNITY TO POINT PEOPLE IN THE DIRECTION OF THE FULL REPORT, IF THEY DON’T ALREADY HAVE A COPY, AND ANY OTHER RELEVANT FURTHER INFORMATION.]
Finally, I’m happy to take any questions.