Survey: 3.5% Raise in 2016 for Finance Pros, Education and Certification Boost Salaries

BETHESDA, Md., May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Finance professionals received a 3.5 percent pay raise in 2016, down just a tick from the year before, according to new research by the Association for Financial Professionals.

The 2017 AFP Compensation Survey found that finance professionals earned raises in 2016 just 0.1 percent less than their raises in 2015. Management enjoyed the largest percent salary increase at 4 percent, followed by the staff tier (3.4) and executive tier (2.7).

The results were drawn from more than 3,100 finance professionals. Full results are available at http://www.afponline.org/CompReport/. For any press queries, please contact Melissa Rawak at [email protected].

Advanced accreditation matters; assistant treasurers and managers of treasury and finance who hold a Certified Treasury Professional (CTP) designation earn on average $20,692, and $19,693 more than their respective colleagues.

Managers of treasury/finance and CFOs benefited the most from holding the Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A) certification. Those who did earned on average $24,816, and $20,075 more than their respective colleagues. Financial professionals with FP&A certification earn on average 18 percent more than those not FP&A certified. Additionally, those with a MBA earned nearly $14,000 higher on average than their peers with a bachelor's degree or high school/associate degree.

The most-often cited criterion for upward mobility is increased job responsibility, cited by 81 percent of respondents. Additionally, nearly three-fourths of organizations awarded bonuses to their employees.

Over half of survey respondents (54 percent) believe strong analytical skills is a critical competency for finance professionals. However, despite the fact that finance professionals consider leadership and people skills to be important competencies, 40 percent of survey respondents believe that finance professionals at their own organizations lack these specific skills.    

"Finance professionals continue to be rewarded for their hard work and strategic advice to management, but a skills gap remains," said Jim Kaitz, president and chief executive of AFP. "Organizations must continue to offer education and training opportunities to finance professionals to help them grow as leaders and communicators."

About AFP®

Headquartered outside Washington, D.C., the Association for Financial Professionals (AFP) is the professional society committed to advancing the success of its members and their organizations. AFP established and administers the Certified Treasury Professional and Certified Corporate FP&A Professional credentials, which set standards of excellence in finance. Each year, AFP hosts the largest networking conference worldwide for over 6,500 corporate finance professionals.

SOURCE Association for Financial Professionals

Related Links

http://www.AFPonline.org