Salary Survey: Practitioners Vs Corporate Jobs

by Cesar Bacani, 16 March 2012

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topics:
Human Capital Management Management

tags:
accounting salaries Professional Development

It is not uncommon for practitioners in the Big Four and other accounting firms to cross over to finance jobs in corporates. The résumé of many a CFO in Asia typically includes early stints as a public accountant, accounting-firm manager or audit partner.

These days, more corporate jobs are opening up to accountants in practice, particularly those in the Big Four firms. “They would be qualified to become internal auditors,” says Pallavi Anand, Director at global executive recruitment company Robert Half in Hong Kong.

Across Asia, “the skills at the moment that are in demand are risk management, credit management, compliance and internal audit,” she notes. “These are the areas where you have absolute candidate shortages . . . ever since the global financial crisis of 2008 and 2009.”

Should you switch?

Looking purely at compensation, the latest salary survey by Hays, another international recruitment firm, suggests that it may be more financially rewarding for finance professionals to head internal control in corporates, particularly in multinational companies, rather than toil as senior managers in accounting firms.

According to the 2012 Hays Salary Guide, a senior audit manager can expect to earn the equivalent of US$97,000 to US$142,000 in annual salary and bonuses in Hong Kong, US$151,000 to US$226,000 in Japan and US$88,000 to US$112,000 in Singapore..

In contrast, the head of internal audit in a commerce & industry company can expect a salary package (excluding bonuses) of US$93,000 to US$193,000 in Hong Kong. That’s 36% more at the higher end of the range. In Singapore, the differential is even higher – up to 42% more for the internal control role.

However, this is not the case in Japan. A senior audit manager there is likely to earn similar if not higher salaries than the head of internal audit at a commerce & industry company (see Table 1 below).

Table 1

Click image to enlarge

Compensation packages are also higher for CFOs than for audit directors or partners – even in Japan.

In Hong Kong, an accounting partner’s compensation package, including bonuses, starts at the equivalent of US$155,000. That’s similar to the salary (excluding bonuses) of the CFO of a medium-sized company in the commerce & industry sector. However, the CFO of an MNC can command more than double that amount.

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