Daughter got a new accountancy job -what would be a fair salary?

Hi All,

My daughter recently qualified as a Chartered Accountant (ACA) after 4 yr in practice. She has a business degree in UCD and very good leaving. She has left practice and was offered a job as management accountant in an SME. Just wondering what salary would be fair given the current depressed market?
First of all she is delighted she has a job and has not mentioned the salary to me yet ( I'm not sure if they have agreed on one). I
I'm also delighted she has a job given the current market but just wondering if anyone had experience of what fair rates would be for a similar position?

Just in case this post appears inappropriate/insensitive given the number of redundancies and people on job seekers benefit at the moment- I must point that her contract was not renewed and has been on job seekers benefit until this offer thankfully arrived.

First off all fair play to your daughter qualifing as a CA and as a CA then there are jobs in Accountancy Ireland which should give her a indication of what to expect in relation to a salary and also the main accountancy bodies has a survey out regarding accountancy salaries so i suggest that she reads up on this

These surveys are out-dated. I'm on the market and my r-agent tells me that the pendulum has swung back - companies are offering 10% less than a year ago.

Your daughter no doubt has experience of this from her practice job where very probably thre were paycuts.

Salaries are dropping as companies pare costs down.

An accountant friend out of work for 7 months accepted an FC role in an SME for 40k, down from 55k in his previous job last August.

Another accountant friend out of work for 4 months has accepted a permanent role for 50k, down from 60k in his last contract role. Both of these have 10 years experience between practice and SMEs. They are glad to have positions, as it was tough on the social, with mortgages to pay etc. There are lots of applicants for each accounting job, so its an employers' market here now. Unfortunately 40k-50k doesn't reflect the long hours spent trying to qualify, or the long working hours an FC needs to put in, but thats just the way it is now. Dublin Bus drivers get more! Anything over 40k is manageable given the dire recession, ie you can live on this, with mortgage interest and prices low.

I never believe the adverts for companies seeking people as they always put the higher figure down put seldomnly pay it out!

Unfortunately, there is no real answer to your question because from my experience there is quite a big range that newly qualified accountants earn. Last year I know of two people in particular who qualified one got really lucky and was on nearly 70k while the other was just above 50k!

I think what companies has seriously reduced but also what people are expecting has also reduced. I would imagine that anything from 45 to 55 to be about right. As a newly qualified accountant I would be less concerned about your daughters current salary but more concerned about the possibilities for promotion etc.

Thanks for the replies. Your right about it being an employers market and anything over 40 is good given the market. Alot of her former colleagues are on job seekers.
I think very few people are too proud to turn down a job if it is a 10k-15k less than previous.
FYI she was offered 40 (8k less than when in contract) so hopefully she can impress and move up.

Best of luck, its great that she has a job considering the problems her friends are having and all going well her salary will steadily increase.

yeah, best of luck, 40k is ok in this economic climate. Its better than 10k jobseekers. There are 400,000 unemployed and hundreds of accountants in that figure who would take that job if your daughter turned it down. She has a job and its also her profession as well. In a recession you have to ride out the storm.

Jaybird,

Speaking of train drivers, this reminds me
of the cork drivers last year on €52k. Articlebelow
by David McWilliams is quite laughable
http://www.independent.ie/opinion/a...drivers-need-a-short-sharp-shunt-1389524.html

40k is great. speaking from someone in the same situation I know people with double her experience on less. and people willing to work for even less than that again to keep there jobs. She is a lucky lady!

jaybird said:

" Dublin Bus drivers get more! Anything over 40k is manageable"

I can assure that the majority of DB drivers are on a lot less than 40k, let alone the 50-60k mentioned. You might be thinking of the train drivers.....

Click to expand...

Indeed, the train drivers are a privileged group and appear to be excessively paid. However, regarding the pay of Dublin Bus drivers, one of their union heads appeared on RTE news within the last few months, and stated that the average Dublin Bus driver earns in excess of €40k per annum. It is unlikely he would overstate the average earnings. So, it is reasonable for me to say that a Dublin Bus driver earns more than my friend, a qualified professional accountant.

I learnt today that apparently Robert Half recruiters has about 400 accountant cv's and only 20 vacancies from employers, so any accountant out of work is finding it difficult.