Accountants' Total Pay up 7%

• Average accountants’ salary up 5% from £60,788 to £64,022
• Average bonus of £11,012 exceeds the £9,603 expected by accountants
• Total bonus pot now £3.4bn compared with £3.1bn in 2011.
• Accountancy pay has risen by 7% over the past year according to the 2013 Market Report from specialist accountancy and finance recruiter, Marks Sattin.
• Salary growth was 5%, from £60,788 in 2011/12 to £64,022 in 2012/13.

In addition to this, the average accountants’ bonus was £11,012, exceeding their own pre-bonus season expectations by £1,409. Accountants on average expected a bonus of £9,603.

When questioned in November 2012, accountants expected 15% of salary as a bonus. However the actual average is substantially higher at 17.2% of salary. This also represents a marginal rise on the 16.9% seen the previous year.

Satisfaction with bonus levels rose from 65% in 2011/12 to 70% in 2012/13.

Dave Way, Managing Director of Marks Sattin said,

“These figures are a huge boost for accountants and offer proof of the resilience of accountancy as a profession. In tough financial circumstances, companies have a stronger focus on their purse strings. Obviously accountants aren’t immune from the gloomy economic news, hence their understated bonus expectations, but the news is actually very good for them – these figures represent the third year in a row of solid, above inflation, pay growth.”

Along with higher average bonuses (£11,012 compared with £10,400 in 2011), a higher proportion of accountants received a bonus in 2012/13 – up to 47% from 45%. This means the total accountancy bonus pot has swelled from £3.1bn in 2011/12 to £3.4bn in 2012/13.

The percentage of accountants saying they are confident about their company’s economic prospects has risen one point over the past year from 19% to 20%, while the proportion saying they are not confident has fallen from 27% to 23%,

Dave Way continued,

“Salary growth makes for increased security and positivity while strong bonuses increase people’s confidence in their companies economic performance – a tonic the market is thirsty for currently.”