The staffing company Robert Half has released its annual salary guide for accounting and finance employees.
The 2019 Robert Half Salary Guide for Accounting and Finance Professionals includes starting salary ranges for more than 190 positions and insight into emerging trends.
In addition to accounting and finance employees, Robert Half also released separate salary guides for the legal, technology, administrative and creative fields. The company found that while 49 percent of professionals surveyed feel they’re paid fairly, 46 percent believe they’re underpaid, while the remaining 5 percent think they’re overpaid.
“Some firms have not kept up with shifts in market demand and continue to use old job classifications and salary bands,” said Robert Half senior executive director Paul McDonald in a statement. “If your organization has not reviewed its compensation plan within the last six months, it could be outdated.”
The hot positions in the accounting and finance field were accounting manager, controller, financial analyst, internal auditor, payroll manager, senior accountant and staff accountant. In-demand technology skills include artificial intelligence, cloud-based systems such as NetSuite and Workday, data analytics and database management software, enterprise resource planning systems such as Microsoft Dynamics GP, Oracle and SAP, as well as Microsoft Excel, Intuit QuickBooks, real estate software like MRI and Yardi, and robotic process automation.
Robert Half found businesses are hiring professionals to help them comply with the Financial Accounting Standards Board’s new revenue recognition and lease accounting standards. “As firms update technology and accounting procedures to align with these guidelines, they need employees with experience in revenue accounting, revenue reporting, and U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission reporting,” said the guide.
Companies are also adopting more flexible staffing strategies, drawing on full-time employees, external consultants, interim professionals and technology. “As part of this, they increasingly outsource sophisticated, knowledge-based work and turn over entire business functions to managed services providers,” said the guide. “Having a strategic advisor along with targeted staffing resources is particularly popular with firms managing major one-time events, such as a merger or acquisition, an enterprise resource planning (ERP) upgrade, or the building of a new shared services center.”
