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How Are Public Accounting Salaries Stacking Up For 2023? (Part 3, Accounting Principals/LHH Recruitment Solutions)

Over the past couple of weeks, we found out from Robert Half that public accounting starting salaries will likely increase in the range of 2.3% to 5.8% in 2023, and that Randstad predicts salaries for traditional public accounting roles will increase for nearly all positions next year. Today we’re reviewing the 2023 Accounting & Finance Salary Guide from the last of the “big 3” recruiting and staffing firms, Accounting Principals, which is now called LHH Recruitment Solutions.

In its 2022 salary guide, Accounting Principals/LHH Recruitment Solutions predicted a 6.4% base salary increase across the board for 11 roles in public accounting. That is not the case for 2023—its salary predictions for next year are all over the place. They range from an average of 7.9% less than 2022 for tax services manager to 17.7% more than 2022 for audit and assurance services manager.

After comparing the recruiting and staffing firm’s 2022 and 2023 salary projections, here are next year’s average base pay increases and decreases for the 11 public accounting positions in the salary guide:

Accounting services

  • Associate: 15.5%
  • Senior associate: 5.1%

Audit and assurance services

  • Associate: 2.8%
  • Senior associate: 15.2%
  • Manager: 17.7%
  • Senior manager: 17.4%

Tax services

  • Associate: -2.1%
  • Senior associate: -1.2%
  • Manager: -7.9%
  • Senior manager: 4.3%

Partner

  • -4%

Accounting Principals/LHH Recruiting Solutions doesn’t explain why 2023 salaries for tax services are a lot worse than the 2023 salary projections for audit and assurance services. The only thing the company noted in its salary guide is accounting employees with skills that complement firms’ increased use of blockchain, artificial intelligence, and other technological tools “will be more productive and demand higher raises.” It also said demand for accounting positions has been driven by turnover as workers require greater compensation for increasingly large workloads, but you knew that—and are experiencing that—already.

In 2023’s salary guide, Accounting Principals/LHH Recruiting Solutions provided salary data for employees in three tiers based on experience:

  • Low: Zero to two years of experience in that position or one similar.
  • Medium: Three to 10 years of experience in that position or one similar.
  • High: Ten or more years of experience in that position or one similar.

Here are its salary expectations in public accounting for next year:

Below are the average base salaries from the table above for each of the 11 public accounting jobs in the 2023 salary guide, listed by experience, with a comparison of 2022’s projected salaries (2022 -> 2023) to see which roles’ pay is expected to increase or decrease next year:

Accounting services associate

  • Low experience: $57,312 -> $63,443 (10.7%)
  • Medium experience: $67,124 -> $77,489 (15.4%)
  • High experience: $75,784 -> $91,235 (20.4%)

Accounting services senior associate

  • Low experience: $62,794 -> $65,051 (3.6%)
  • Medium experience: $75,784 -> $78,508 (3.6%)
  • High experience: $106,146 -> $114,675 (8%)

Audit/assurance services associate

  • Low experience: $57,935 -> $57,087 (-1.5%)
  • Medium experience: $70,293 -> $72,233 (2.7%)
  • High experience: $80,131 -> $85,871 (7.2%)

Audit/assurance services senior associate

  • Low experience: $63,235 -> $71,853 (13.6%)
  • Medium experience: $73,662 -> $83,701 (13.6%)
  • High experience: $85,102 -> $100,844 (18.5%)

Audit/assurance services manager

  • Low experience: $73,662 -> $85,499 (16.1%)
  • Medium experience: $97,460 -> $113,121 (16.1%)
  • High experience: $110,415 -> $133,650 (21%)

Audit/assurance services senior manager

  • Low experience: $90,982 -> $98,771 (8.6%)
  • Medium experience: $99,884 -> $125,492 (25.6%)
  • High experience: $118,018 -> $139,339 (18.1%)

Tax services associate

  • Low experience: $53,631 -> $52,930 (-1.3%)
  • Medium experience: $59,763 -> $58,982 (-1.3%)
  • High experience: $71,125 -> $68,390 (-3.8%)

Tax services senior associate

  • Low experience: $75,784 -> $76,862 (1.4%)
  • Medium experience: $87,691 -> $86,650 (-1.2%)
  • High experience: $93,095 -> $89,624 (-3.7%)

Tax services manager

  • Low experience: $94,203 -> $89,405 (-5.1%)
  • Medium experience: $110,432 -> $104,808 (-5.1%)
  • High experience: $151,567 -> $131,059 (-13.5%)

Tax services senior manager

  • Low experience: $98,525 -> $105,428 (7%)
  • Medium experience: $120,183 -> $125,296 (4.2%)
  • High experience: $151,567 -> $153,950 (1.6%)

Partner

  • Low experience: $153,732 -> $155,063 (0.9%)
  • Medium experience: $230,362 -> $220,793 (-4.1%)
  • High experience: $345,378 -> $314,557 (-8.9%)

You can find all of our content previewing public accounting salaries for 2023 here.