Salaries for CFOs, Treasurers, Staff Significantly Outpace National Average

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Association for Financial Professionals

Aug 03, 2010, 09:58 ET

Budget function is highly valued; Bonuses are strong; Certification drives advancement.

WASHINGTON, Aug. 3 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- CFOs, treasurers and their staff continued to earn larger raises than other white-collar workers did in 2009, according to a new survey by the Association for Financial Professionals (AFP). Nevertheless, the recession took its toll on finance workers just as it did on others: The average salary increase for financial professionals in 2009 was a full percentage point below the average increase reported for 2008.

The 2010 AFP Compensation Survey (www.afponline.org/compsurvey) asked senior level financial professionals to provide compensation information for their entire staff and asked core level financial professionals to provide their own compensation information for calendar year 2009 as well as data on base salaries effective on January 1, 2010. AFP has published its compensation report annually for 22 years.

Average annual salaries for financial professionals increased by 2.5 percent in 2009, bringing them more than 13 percent above the national average but less than the 3.4 percent increase reported for 2008 and 4.5 percent reported for the 2007 calendar years. Bonuses averaged 14.0 percent of financial professionals' base salaries, just slightly below the average bonuses cited in 2008 and 2007 (15.0 percent each year).

Staff-level financial professionals experienced the highest salary growth – an increase of 2.7 percent, on average. In previous AFP surveys, executive or management-level financial professionals earned the largest salary increases. This year, the average increase for executive and management positions garnered the second largest salary increase at 2.5 percent. Support-level financial professionals earned an average salary increase of just below two percent.

In calendar year 2009, budget analysts averaged the highest base salary increase within the staff level, an increase of 3.4 percent. Treasurers earned the highest average increase within the executive tier (3.2%); assistant cash managers received the highest average salary increase within the management tier (3.8%). Across all positions, the assistant cash manager role showed the highest increase.

Financial professionals with advanced degrees received higher compensation than those without. Those with an MBA showed strong salary potential: In 2009, financial professionals with an MBA earned an average salary 24 percent higher than their counterparts with bachelor's degrees earned.

In a year of great technological innovation, financial professionals in the West earned the most, with those in the technology industry at the high end of the spectrum. In prior years, financial professionals in the Eastern U.S. earned the most.

BONUSES

The economy had only a minimal effect on the size of bonuses, but slightly fewer organizations doled them out. In 2009, 71 percent of organizations awarded incentive-based compensation bonuses to financial professionals, down four percentage points from 2008. Financial professionals continued to earn incentive pay at an average of 14 percent of base salary, down one percentage point from the prior year. Executives received about 30 percent of base salary in bonus pay, management about 13 percent, staff about nine percent and support staff roughly six percent.

Despite continuing increases in U.S. health insurance premiums, every organization that participated in the 2010 AFP Compensation Survey offered access to health insurance in 2009 to employees and 96 percent provided dental coverage.

CAREER ADVANCEMENT

Increased job responsibility was the number one factor in career advancement, cited by 66 percent of organizations. Other factors influencing upward mobility include contribution to profitability (55 percent), holding a professional designation such as AFP's Certified Treasury Professional (55 percent) and earning an MBA (31 percent).

ABOUT THE SURVEY

The Association for Financial Professionals (AFP) conducted its 22nd annual compensation survey in February 2010. Compensation information for finance, treasury, and accounting positions was measured by job title, education, geographic region, industry, company size, gross revenue and years of experience. The report also presents analysis on pay structures, documents general compensation trends for the finance profession, and includes job descriptions. AFP collected data from over 3,000 incumbents in over 2,000 companies, reflecting a diverse respondent base with evenly distributed demographics, primarily in North America.

Further information: www.afponline.org/compsurvey
Video interview on survey results: www.afponline.org/compvideo

ABOUT AFP®

The Association for Financial Professionals (AFP), headquartered outside Washington, D.C., serves a network of more than 16,000 members with news, economic research and data, treasury certification programs, networking events, financial analytical tools, training, and public policy representation to legislators and regulators. AFP is the daily resource for the finance profession (www.afponline.org).

AFP's global reach extends to over 150,000 treasury and financial professionals worldwide, including AFP of Canada; London-based gtnews, an on-line resource for the treasury and finance community; and bobsguide, a financial IT solutions network.

SOURCE Association for Financial Professionals