How salaries are changing for Sydney Accounting professionals

Our recently published Sydney Accounting Salary and Market Report 2020 (now in its third year) identified that Accounting professionals working in Support and Mid-level/Junior Management roles saw varying levels of pay increases, with two-thirds of respondents receiving an individual pay increase of around 5% in 2019.

The reasons most firms gave for pay increases were fairly standard – annual reviews, promotions or being given more responsibility in a current role. However, this salary trend is not consistent across the industry, with various differences across gender and generation. Interestingly, we also found that these pay increases had a minimal effect on job satisfaction.  

Here, we elaborate on some of the key pay trends from this year’s report:

SALARIES AND GENDER

Although the Accounting sector is made up of 70.2% women at the Support level, this reduces as we move up the hierarchy where, unfortunately, a strong male majority (66.3%) at the Senior level still exists.

Our report demonstrates that salaries for Accounting jobs rose by $10,000 for most Support professionals. Salary increases varied between genders, but men continue to out-earn women in all role levels except for Accounting Support, where women earn slightly more on average ($3,000 per annum). The wage disparagement between genders is improving every year, representing some degree of progress throughout the industry. However, there is definitely still work to be done to reach pay equality!

For more insights into the Sydney Accounting market, download our report here.

ACROSS GENERATIONS

Aside from the ongoing gap in salaries between genders, there is also a notable difference across the various generations. Compared to our 2018 Report, the average salaries went up for professionals of every generation at the Support level, but Mid-level/Junior Management roles clearly show a difference, with Millennials earning $100,000, Gen-X-ers earning $115,000 and Baby Boomers earning $120,000.

At the Senior level, however, the trend softens – whilst Millennials at this level saw their average salary increase from $140,000 to $169,000, the salaries for Generation X and Baby Boomers each decreased by around $5,000. Interestingly, this shows that Baby Boomers are now the lowest-earning generation at the Senior level (sitting at $165,000) – a trend that we believe may be partly impacted by the higher proportion of Millennials responding to this year’s survey.

For more insights into the Sydney Accounting market, download our report here.

WORKPLACE SATISFACTION

Our data revealed that salary increases in Accounting had very little impact on job satisfaction – a trend that we see on a daily basis in our interactions with Accounting professionals of all levels. If we compare workers who did not see a wage increase to those who did, the percentage of each group that had applied for a job in the past six months varied by just 2.4%. As expected, those who received a significant pay increase felt more valued (9.8%) than those that didn’t, but other factors such as stress, discrimination and a desire for more flexibility were rated similarly across both groups. The key takeaway here is to remember that salary is only one piece of the puzzle!

For more insights into the Sydney Accounting market, download our report here.

ACCESS YOUR COPY

To learn more about recent trends in the Accounting industry, download the full salary guide. In the meantime, feel free to contact us for your next Accounting recruitment drive or job search in Sydney. As local experts, we’re here to make a difference for your business.