“We are in a market like no other, rich with opportunity”

As demand for professionals in accountancy and finance continues to heat up, salaries are on the rise and flexibility is top of the agenda for candidates, writes Arlene Harris.

Despite rising inflation and predictions of impending recession, “good accountants will always be in demand” and, as companies shrug off pandemic restraints and begin to plan ahead once again, the need for professionals in all areas of finance is on the rise.
So says Trayc Keevans, Global FDI Director at Morgan McKinley Ireland. “We are in a market like no other, rich with opportunity. It is one of the best times I can remember for accountancy professionals living and working in Ireland,” said Keevans. 

Businesses emerging from under the cloud of COVID-19 are being “more intentional” in their hiring for accountancy and finance positions, according to Keevans.

“I think this is why we are seeing so much demand in the market. In some instances, companies have been focusing their efforts mainly on surviving the pandemic by ensuring that the accounts were prepared and controls in place. They were really paying attention to very little beyond that,” she said.

“Now, they are hiring again—some with a preference for finance professionals with data skills, because financial planning and analysis (FP&A) is seen as providing business intelligence that can help shape the way forward for companies.”

The pandemic has also brought about a shift in the perspectives and preferences of candidates in the profession.

“The pandemic really made for a much more competitive market, because employees had more time to evaluate their current positions, to think carefully about the level of flexibility they wanted in their working lives, and the direction they wanted their careers to take,” said Keevans.

As recruitment moved online, the virtual hiring process also became faster and more agile. “All of these factors have combined to contribute to the record movement of professionals—particularly in the past 18 months,” Keevans said. 

In response, she said companies had been adopting “all manner” of retention stratagems to keep talent on board.

“Some of this focus has been on compensation and benefits. The culture of counter-offers is at an all-time high, and this has brought about the need for companies to be more agile in all things pay- and perk-related.”

As a result, demand for payroll professionals is particularly high at the moment. “We have seen a number of companies that had previously outsourced to payroll bureaus opting to bring this function back in-house,” said Keevans.

“This has created significant demand for payroll specialists, not just with EMEA and MNC experience, but also with experience in indigenous organisations.”

In addition to compensation and benefits, employers are also responding to changing attitudes to work-life balance and remote working among candidates post-pandemic.
“As long as the demand for accountancy talent outweighs supply, we will see professionals continuing to vote with their feet,” said Keevans.

“Any company that isn’t offering any form of hybrid working can expect to see their talent pipeline reduced by up to 80 percent based on current market demands.

“The preference in the market is for two to three days in the office and the remainder remote.”

Some professionals are taking the demand for greater flexibility even further, challenging employers to adopt a more innovative approach to remote working policies.

“We’re starting to see talent challenging the flexibility offered by their employer to include working from locations overseas for a number of weeks of the year,” said Keevans.

“This trend is still in its infancy and employers are being understandably cautious in assessing the risks and fairness of such an approach before agreeing to any request. 

“They are aware that doing so would need to be referenced within the company’s policy documents on the scope of the hybrid/remote working offering.”

Employers are showing greater flexibility in other ways too – recruiting more candidates with experience in sectors other than those they operate in.

“Until there is a levelling in demand and supply, we expect to see continued flexibility on the part of employers regarding the sectoral experience they are likely to be flexible on when hiring new recruits,” said Keevans.

“As it stands, we have seen employers in all sectors showing flexibility in this regard, with the exception of manufacturing, construction and to some extent, pharmaceutical.”

Starting salaries

Starting salaries for newly qualified accountants are currently averaging €60,000, up from €55,000 this time last year, while part-qualified accountants can expect to earn about €45,000 annually.

“The single biggest area of demand we’re seeing right now is for Big Four newly qualified accountants, as well as those with two to three years’ post-qualified experience in multinationals,” said Keevans.

Demand for newly qualified accountants is high in both industry and financial services, as is demand for internal auditors and risk professionals, financial analysts, and accounts payable and receivable.

Among tax professionals, the highest demand among employers is for candidates at managerial and senior managerial level.

“Here, professionals with five years’ qualified experience are securing salaries of between €80,000 and €90,000 plus benefits. That’s up from a range of €70,000 to €75,000 up to 12 months ago,” said Keevans.

“The growth in the number of FDI multinationals setting up here, and wishing to have an in-house tax function, is a driving factor—as are the retention incentives the bigger firms are putting in place to retain their tax talent.”  

Keevans said there had been a significant shift from contract to permanent recruitment in the market, a trend she expects will continue in the 12 months ahead.  

“As the market starts to open back up, we hope to see more mobility in terms of talent coming into the country,” she said.

“This would be welcome as a means to alleviate some of the pressure on the supply of accountancy professionals, particularly in the transactional space.

“It is important here for companies to consider the potential to sponsor talent to get employment permits and visas, where required, before going to market to hire. This will help to ensure as broad a talent pool as possible, accessible in the most efficient timelines.”