Accountants Pay.....

santino

I want to gauge your opinions on IBEC's call yesterday for a pay freeze until 2013. (I'm in accounting myself so obviously I'm looking for opinions from people in this sector).

I personally haven't gotten a pay rise since January 2008. I have passed all but one of my ACCA exam since then (repeating P6 in December).

My Annual Gross is just shy of 24,000 euro. Is this average for the sector nowadays or is it more or less? I've looked up ACCA's salary survey but they only go up to the 2008/2009 year.

As a footnote: our practice has lost 2/3 clients due to the downturn but at a guess I think we have taken on at least 15/20 over the last two years.

censuspro

Are you based in Dublin? Practices' outside Dublin pay less. Prima facie €24K is low for a qualified ACCA however you have to take into account what you are worth to the practice. When exactly did you qualify, there are plenty of qualified accountant who aren't familiar with basic accounting, do you keep a record of how much you invoice

santino

I'm not actually qualified yet as I have to take my last exam in December.

We're based in Limerick, not Dublin unfortunately. It's a very small practice (4 people) but relatively big in terms of clients.

In terms of value to the company, I've been here from the start (2006) and my boss has told me more than once that he sees me managing the office in his absence whenever he is away on business.

seven-iron

To be honest, your doing quite well.

MagicMarker

santino wrote: »

I'm not actually qualified yet as I have to take my last exam in December.

We're based in Limerick, not Dublin unfortunately. It's a very small practice (4 people) but relatively big in terms of clients.

In terms of value to the company, I've been here from the start (2006) and my boss has told me more than once that he sees me managing the office in his absence whenever he is away on business.

Do you know if your salary will be increased once you're qualified?

tenchi-fan

<no need for this>

As for a pay freeze until 2013.. how many accountants are even in a union? Pay scales and agreements do not matter to skilled professionals. If you can get a better deal than what you're being offered, go for it. If not, stay put. It's economics.

ps i got 5 payrises since 2008 (my initial salary was crap beyond words) and I'm still not happy as i don't feel like i'm on a qualified rate.

santino

MagicMarker wrote: »

Do you know if your salary will be increased once you're qualified?

God, I presume it will.

To be honest, I haven't raised the issue and my boss certianly hasn't and I don't know:

1) whether i should or
2) if I do, how do I approach it

I think what has really gotten to me is I passed two exams since the 2008 payrise and this hasn't been rewarded (for reasons that I can't fathom)

By the way, I have friends in accounting and some are in my position, i.e. they haven't gotten payrises, and others (these would be in the bigger practices) have gotten raises.

Is it a thing that where there isn't a big management structure in place, you have to go and ask for a wage review yourself?

I suppose I'll have to wait until I pass my last exam and see what happens then.

I would like to hear other people's experiences though?

Stabshauptmann

I would suggest that in any job anyone ever holds to discuss your pay annually.
That means that if you firm doesnt have a formal annual review, you bring it up. Either at year end, or on the anniversary of when you joined.

This doesnt mean you should be putting your foot down demanding x%. Every year just ask for a session to discuss feedback of your performance, and what this will mean for you (financially) going forward.