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How Are Public Accounting Salaries Stacking Up For 2023? (Part 2, Randstad)

Next up in our preview of accounting salaries for 2023 is the latest Finance & Accounting Salary Guide from staffing agency Randstad. Randstad, Robert Half, and Accounting Principals are probably the “big 3” when it comes to publishing accounting and finance salary prognostications for the coming year. We wrapped up analyzing Robert Half’s 2023 Accounting & Finance Salary Guide last week, and we’ll take a look at the new one from Accounting Principals later this week.

Randstad has 2023 salary projections for 23 roles under the Accounting category, 13 under Banking, eight under Executive, eight under Finance, four under Internal Audit, two under Procurement/Purchasing, three under Tax, and three under Treasury. For this post, we’re highlighting projected 2023 salaries for four accounting jobs and three tax jobs, and comparing them to what Randstad thought the salaries for those seven roles would be in 2022 to see if pay is expected to go up or down next year.

Pay data is presented under three ranges—low, mid, and high (last year it was entry-level, mid-level, and senior-level)—to accommodate employees’ varying experience, expertise, time in a specific role, and market demand, according to Randstad.

Randstad’s PR machine put out a press release promoting the salary guide with the headline of Salaries in Finance & Accounting on the Rise.” Are they tho? For almost all of the seven jobs we highlighted below, yes, salaries are expected to increase next year. The only holdouts are for junior accountant (all three pay ranges are projected to be lower in 2023 than 2022) and staff accountant (2023 projections are lower in the “mid” and “high” pay ranges than in 2022).

Note: Robert Half’s salary guide predicts starting salaries in accounting and finance for 2023; Randstad projects non-starting pay ranges for employees in those roles. Another difference between the two guides: Bob includes pay data for eight roles specifically for public accounting (four in audit and four in tax). Randstad doesn’t have a Public Accounting category, so we had to pick and choose the seven roles we wanted to spotlight in this post. The 2023 salary data for these seven jobs might be helpful to those of you working in PA now who are planning to make the jump to industry next year or for accounting students who are curious about the salary expectations for these roles.

Enough blabbing, here they are:

Accounting manager

Low level

2023: $108,388 – $119,797
2022: $72,480 – $92,512

Mid level

2023: $121,859 – $134,686
2022: $92,512 – $120,032

High level

2023: $134,124 – $148,243
2022: $120,032 – $160,096

Junior accountant

Low level

2023: $55,825 – $61,701
2022: $61,240 – $73,437

Mid level

2023: $61,477 – $67,948
2022: $73,437 – $81,224

High level

2023: $66,606 – $73,617
2022: $81,224 – $90,555

Senior accountant

Low level

2023: $82,759 – $91,470
2022: $66,846 – $79,199

Mid level

2023: $99,398 – $109,860
2022: $79,199 – $90,161

High level

2023: $119,274 – $131,829
2022: $90,161 – $103,199

Staff accountant

Low level

2023: $64,885 – $71,715
2022: $61,240 – $73,437

Mid level

2023: $71,725 – $79,275
2022: $73,437 – $81,224

High level

2023: $77,952 – $86,157
2022: $81,224 – $97,531

Tax director

Low level

2023: $150,738 – $166,604
2022: $139,694 – $184,422

Mid level

2023: $190,641 – $210,709
2022: $147,698 – $194,989

High level

2023: $238,464 – $263,566
2022: $155,729 – $205,593

Tax accountant

Low level

2023: $66,871 – $73,910
2022: $63,448 – $77,006

Mid level

2023: $80,896 – $89,412
2022: $77,006 – $87,118

High level

2023: $94,560 – $104,514
2022: $87,118 – $100,000

Tax manager

Low level

2023: 123,884 – $136,924
2022: $94,306 – $115,842

Mid level

2023: $144,120 – $159,290
2022: $115,842 – $132,708

High level

2023: $170,616 – $188,575
2022: $132,708 – $152,341

Several big metropolises are projected to have salaries for these accounting and tax positions three to six times higher than the national averages. Here are the cities with double-digit salary variances on the plus side:

  • San Francisco: 64.8%
  • Los Angeles: 57.6%
  • Stamford, CT: 45%
  • San Diego: 42.2%
  • New York City: 37.2%
  • Boston: 34.5%
  • Washington, DC: 31.3%
  • Providence, RI: 27.7%
  • Seattle: 22.6%
  • Portland, OR: 21.1%
  • Baltimore: 17.4%
  • Philadelphia: 17%
  • Wilmington, DE: 17%
  • Denver: 15.3%
  • Miami/Fort Lauderdale: 10.8%

Cities projected to have single-digit salary increases over the national averages next year include:

  • Las Vegas: 9.5%
  • Milwaukee: 7.4%
  • Phoenix: 7%
  • Minneapolis: 4.5%
  • Salt Lake City: 4.4%
  • Richmond, VA: 3.9%
  • Pittsburgh: 3%
  • Tampa: 3%
  • Chicago: 2.5%

And then there are cities like Kansas City, MO, and Atlanta that have salaries projected to be below the national rates:

  • Little Rock, AR: -8%
  • Kansas City, MO: -6.1%
  • Toledo, OH: -5.8%
  • Columbus, OH: -5.1%
  • Atlanta: -4.1%
  • Nashville: -4.1%
  • Austin, TX: -3.4%
  • Cincinnati: -3.2%
  • Cleveland: -3.1%
  • Houston: -3.1%
  • Louisville: -2.9%
  • Raleigh, NC: -2.9%
  • San Antonio: -2.2%
  • St. Louis: -2.1%
  • Charlotte: -1.7%
  • Indianapolis: -1.9
  • Dallas: -1.2%

Randstad found that the most in-demand jobs in accounting and finance are: accounting manager, controller, financial analyst, payroll coordinator/clerk, and staff accountant.