Management accountants expect pay bump
Financial reward is a top motivator in a job for CIMA members and students around the world, a new CIMA survey shows.
It appears that their motivation is about to increase.
Ninety per cent of CIMA members and students around the world expect a pay rise in the coming year, according to the 2015 CIMA salary survey. The average increase anticipated is 5%.
In the UK
CIMA members in the UK earn an average annual salary of £62,791 ($97,214 US) before bonus, up from £61,687 ($95,491) in 2014. Seventy per cent of UK members received a bonus, equating on average to 8% of salary.
UK members are confident of further salary development in the next year, with 88% expecting a pay rise. On average, UK members expect a rise of 3.3%.
Average CIMA member salaries around the world
| Australia | AUD 155,368 | $113,250 |
| Ireland | €90,610 | $102,542 |
| Malaysia | RM208,003 | $49,141 |
| Sri Lanka | Rs2,982,756 | $22,728 |
| South Africa | R910,919 | $69,558 |
| UK | £67,690 | $104,766 |
| USA | $224,541 | $224,541 |
Fifty-six per cent of those polled said they were satisfied or very satisfied with their current salary. Using the data from the survey, CIMA has updated its online salary calculator, which enables members and students to compare their earnings to those of counterparts in their country, industry, or level of experience, for example. The calculator can be found at salary.cimaglobal.com.
Skills
The survey also asked members about other elements of their working conditions, including their key motivations and targets for Continuing Professional Development.
In the next 12 months, 63% of those polled plan to learn new skills. Strategic and leadership and communication skills are among the priorities for management accountants.
Priorities for Continuing Professional Development
| Strategy | 31% |
| Influence | 25% |
| Motivating and inspiring | 23% |
| Negotiation and decision-making | 23% |
| Coaching and mentoring | 23% |
| Driving performance | 21% |
| Business planning | 20% |
| Project management | 20% |
| Change management | 19% |
| Communication | 16% |
Motivations
More than half of CIMA members and students are planning to find a new job in the next two years. The most common motivators to look for a new role were financial reward (cited by 32% of respondents), improving prospects and the scope of the role (23%), and more flexible working and better work/life balance (17%).
Financial reward and work/life balance were also the main motivating factors in respondents’ current role, with each cited by 54% of those polled. This was followed by a good working environment (42%), a challenging workload (41%), and the scope of the role (37%).
—Samantha White (swhite@aicpa.org) is a CGMA Magazine senior editor.