What’s in it for me?

Last week, I regaled you about the curious attitudes toward succession and transition of attendees at the Midwest Finance and Accounting Showcase, particularly those whose situation cried for an upstream merger or, at the very least, a severe slowdown in their work loads.

But that’s only 50% of the typical trade show equation.

The other half is the vendor side, each hawking their accounting-centric wares to everyone and anyone who will listen. As expected, there were the usual suspects in terms of financial software applications, tax and legal experts, web site builders, data security concerns, and various related trade publications — something for everyone, at least in theory.

Though in an amusing aside, one woman did approach our booth and told us she represented manufacturing clients, of which I had to painfully point out there were probably very few since it was a show staged for CPAs in public and private practice and has been for many years. It would have probably been beneficial for her to do a modicum of research before forking over the admission fee.

But I digress.

In any event, located in the booth across the floor from Transition Advisors was accounting and finance staffing concern Robert Half International, whose reps were  handing out copies of its annual salary guide, a benchmark study it has published for 62 years and now encompasses more than 300 positions.

Since hiring and retention is pretty much one of the core concerns for the accounting profession — both in the public and private arenas — I decided to see what the national averages were for both senior- and junior-level professionals.

According to the study, the CPA remains the most in-demand credential, followed by the MBA and the CIA (certified internal auditor).

First-year grads opting to go into public accounting — either in tax, audit, or management services — stand to reap between $42,000 for small firms and $63,500 for large firms, which Robert Half defines as more than $250 million in revenue.  Considering that my first job out of college paid me the eye-opening sum of $11,150 dollars, next time around I may have second thoughts about my major.

Managers in those areas command roughly between $72,500 and $122,000 — again contingent on the size of the firm — and those who hold senior manager/director posts can earn between $87,000 and $175,000.

Attractive salary levels — obviously along with perks and benefits — can often mean the difference between someone signing on the dotted line or saying “thanks anyway” before going off to work for a competitor.

Sadly, my previous employer never learned this basic tenet of attraction and retention and instead of recognizing and rewarding those who work to keep the lights on, they have now become experts in conducting exit interviews.

It’s a continual dogfight for talent and to remain competitive you have to offer competitive. Or else you’re going to get very good at handling rejection.