Salaries for finance professionals have risen faster than inflation over the past year, according to research from recruiter Robert Half.
The 2015 Robert Half Salary Guide found that, as the UK employment market has improved, demand for specialist occupations far outweighs supply, resulting in talent shortages in niche areas. Hence salaries for professional roles in finance and accounting, financial services, IT and administration rose on average by 2.6% over the past 12 months, compared to the current rate of inflation of 1.2% (September 2014).
Business partnering is now the most sought-after role in the accountancy and finance sector, reflecting companies’ desire to focus on commercial growth rather than just ‘bean counting’ or regulatory risk management. Business partnering has also prompted a need to derive better insights from financial data in order to improve business process efficiency.
But finance professionals need to ‘have it all’ to secure the best roles, Robert Half found. Employers expect them to have strong communication and analytical skills alongside sound technical competence. Software knowledge is also important, as confidence in the economy is rekindling stalled IT projects, including investments in Oracle or SAP upgrades.
Nearly half (51%) of UK CFOs plan to increase finance team salaries for existing staff by an average of 7%, while 35% will increase bonuses.