Salaries increase as recruitment and retention become more difficult for accountancy firms in East Anglia

Accountancy training firm First Intuition has released the findings from its most recent salary survey of employers of accountants. The Accountancy Salary Guide collected data from First Intuition’s clients in May 2022 and monitors average salaries paid to trainee and qualified accountants in East Anglia. It also looks at non-salary rewards and benefits, and recent experiences of recruitment and retention.

Some key findings from the data include:

• 92% of employers plan to increase their salaries over the next 12 months
• 64% of employers are finding it difficult to recruit new staff
• 29% of employers are finding it difficult to retain new staff
• East Anglia has seen an average salary increase of 4.6% across all levels of accounting since 2021
• 49% of employers say it has been more challenging to retain staff since COVID restrictions have eased
• 60% of employers are finding it difficult to retain newly qualified accountants
• Recruitment is the biggest resourcing issue facing employers in both practice and industry
• Accountants working in industry are paid 13.8% more than those in practice
• 45% of employers expect to increase recruitment levels between May 2022 and May 2023

The report reveals that average salaries have increased at all levels of accounting across East Anglia since 2021. Of all the locations surveyed, Peterborough has experienced the highest percentage change in average salary with an 11.3% increase from 2021, whilst the category that has seen the greatest increase is Newly Qualified ACCA, CIMA or ICAEW staff with their pay jumping by 6.8% from 2021. Employers expect salaries to rise further by 2023 with 92% of employers saying they plan to increase their salaries further over the next 12 months.

The report suggests that these salary increases are likely to have been driven by a competitive labour market and employers needing to be more attractive to potential candidates. The data found that recruitment is the biggest resourcing issue facing employers in practice and industry. 64% of employers surveyed said they were finding it difficult to recruit new staff.

Furthermore, 49% of employers say it has been more challenging to retain staff since COVID restrictions have eased, with 60% of respondents saying they are finding it most difficult to retain newly qualified staff. Those working in practice are finding staff retention more of an issue than those in industry.

First Intuition Chief Executive Gareth John commented:

“The 2022 Accountancy Salary Guide for East Anglia gives some hard data on the challenges many employers will be currently suffering. I am sure many of our clients will find the results report really useful in ensuring that their employer value proposition stays relevant and competitive.”   

First Intuition hope to continue to monitor average salaries year on year, not only to offer guidance and information but to track change. You can download the full East Anglia Accountancy Salary Guide 2022 here: https://www.firstintuition.co.uk/fihub/accountancy-salary-guide/.