Robert Half finally released its 2022 Accounting & Finance Salary Guide late last week, and the good news is starting salaries in public accounting are expected to increase by more than 1% next year, unlike in Bob’s salary projections for 2021.
Of the five positions each under “tax services” and “audit/assurance services” in the 2021 salary guide, not a single one had a starting salary that was projected to increase by 1%. The largest increase was only 0.66% for staff with under one year of experience in both tax and A&A.
But starting pay in each of the 10 public accounting roles in the 2022 salary guide is expected to rise by an average of between 1.4% and 2.6%:
Tax services
- Senior manager/director: 2%
- Manager: 2%
- Senior tax accountant: 1.4%
- Tax accountant, 1-3 years’ experience: 1.6%
- Entry-level tax accountant: 2.6%
Audit and assurance services
- Senior manager/director: 1.6%
- Manager: 1.4%
- Senior auditor: 1.6%
- Auditor, 1-3 years’ experience: 2.2%
- Entry-level auditor: 1.6%
For its annual salary guides, Robert Half breaks down starting pay ranges by percentile, based on a candidate’s experience. For 2022, there are three salary percentiles:
- 25th percentile: New to the type of role, still acquiring relevant skills.
- 50th percentile: Average experience, has most of the necessary skills.
- 75th percentile: Above-average experience, has all needed skills.
Below are the starting salaries for each of the 10 public accounting jobs in the 2022 salary guide, listed by percentile with a comparison of 2021’s starting salary projection and 2022’s starting salary projection (2021 -> 2022) and how big the pay increase is expected to be (in parenthesis):
Senior manager/director tax services
- 25th percentile: $114,250 -> $114,500 (0.2%)
- 50th percentile: $137,500 -> $141,500 (2.9%)
- 75th percentile: $165,000 -> $170,000 (3%)
Manager of tax services
- 25th percentile: $88,500 -> $90,750 (2.5%)
- 50th percentile: $107,000 -> $110,000 (2.8%)
- 75th percentile: $127,000 -> $128,000 (0.8%)
Senior tax accountant
- 25th percentile: $62,000 -> $62,500 (0.8%)
- 50th percentile: $73,250 -> $75,500 (3.1%)
- 75th percentile: $87,250 -> $87,500 (0.3%)
Tax accountant, 1-3 years’ experience
- 25th percentile: $49,000 -> $49,750 (1.5%)
- 50th percentile: $59,750 -> $61,500 (2.9%)
- 75th percentile: $70,500 -> $70,750 (0.4%)
Entry-level tax accountant
- 25th percentile: $40,500 -> $41,000 (1.2%)
- 50th percentile: $49,000 -> $50,250 (2.6%)
- 75th percentile: $57,250 -> $59,500 (3.9%)
Senior manager/director audit and assurance services
- 25th percentile: $112,500 -> $113,000 (0.4%)
- 50th percentile: $134,750 -> $139,750 (3.7%)
- 75th percentile: $161,000 -> $162,000 (0.6%)
Manager audit and assurance services
- 25th percentile: $76,250 -> $77,000 (1%)
- 50th percentile: $93,500 -> $96,250 (2.9%)
- 75th percentile: $110,000 -> $110,250 (0.2%)
Senior audit and assurance services
- 25th percentile: $54,250 -> $55,000 (1.4%)
- 50th percentile: $66,750 -> $68,750 (3%)
- 75th percentile: $78,500 -> $78,750 (0.3%)
Audit and assurance services, 1-3 years’ experience
- 25th percentile: $45,000 -> $46,000 (2.2%)
- 50th percentile: $54,500 -> $56,750 (4.1%)
- 75th percentile: $64,250 -> $64,500 (0.4%)
Entry-level audit and assurance services
- 25th percentile: $40,500 -> $41,000 (1.2%)
- 50th percentile: $49,000 -> $50,500 (3.1%)
- 75th percentile: $57,750 -> $58,000 (0.4%)
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Absolute garbage. With all the additional work dumped on the accounting industry the past 2 years and being deemed essential by many state governors just before lockdown these projected raises are disgraceful. Especially considering all the ppp proceeds firms received (which they didn’t need btw). No wonder the industry is having trouble recruiting new accountants.