Finance Salaries: Will You Be Paid Enough in 2012?

by Cesar Bacani, 02 March 2012

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topics:
Human Capital Management Metrics

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compensation packages Professional Development salary increases

Did you get a salary increase in your last review? If you were awarded a pay rise of more than 10%, congratulations.

According to the 2012 Hays Salary Guide, only 9% of employers across Asia raised salaries by more than 10% in 2011. The majority of organisations – 54% – increased wages by 3% to 10%. A tenth did not raise salaries at all.

In 2012, says the report, higher salaries are in the cards as well. Only 6% of companies will keep wages where they are. Compared with last year, a bigger majority – 57% – are budgeting increments of 3% to 10% this year, with another tenth of companies planning to award raises of more than 10%.

What About Finance?

CFOs and others in finance will share in the bounty, of course. Indeed, Hays, the global recruitment company that conducted the salary survey, forecasts accountancy and finance salaries in China to rise 10% to 15% “for the right candidate.”

In Hong Kong, says Hays, “we have seen higher increases for senior and specialist roles and for roles where there is an acute candidate shortage.” In 2011, salary increases in accountancy and finance averaged 10%. “We expect this to continue in the year ahead,” Hays forecasts.

The picture is a bit more restrained in Singapore. “Negotiating a significant salary increment in the second half of 2011 was a more challenging process than earlier in the year,” Hays reports.

But finance professionals with expertise in cost management, regulatory issues, product control and corporate governance and with realistic salary expectations “can be confident that 2012 will provide them with a good opportunity to secure a challenging career move and increase in package.”

The likely moderate salary increments in Singapore may not – or should not – be a disadvantage, comparatively speaking. From the Hays survey, it appears that Singapore accounting and finance salaries are generally higher than elsewhere in Asia, in both nominal US dollars and Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) terms.

CFO Salary Trends

To allow comparability across countries, CFO Innovation converted the Hays salary findings in China, Hong Kong, Japan and Singapore from the local currency into US dollars, using the exchange rate as of 21 February.

In general, commerce and industry CFOs and finance directors can expect to be paid between US$127,000 to US$399,000 in annual salary, not including bonuses, in 2012 (see table below).

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