CFOs and Finance professionals raked in average 5% raises in 2022

2022 turned out to be a better year compensation-wise for your peers in the finance realm than 2021. The Association for Finance Professionals (AFP) annual compensation report shows how companies weathering interest rate hikes, nagging inflation and supply chain woes are doing what they can to keep talented money managers from jumping ship.

Data comes from more than 1,400 senior- to mid-level financial professionals and 19 different job titles representing companies of all U.S. regions. On the whole, companies opened their wallets to reward employees. A healthy 70% of organizations awarded bonuses to employees, with executives receiving the highest percentage awards.

Finance professionals did better than most with an average 5% pay increase, exceeding 2021’s more modest 4.4% raise rate. Overall finance workers came out the worse for the wear due to the 6.4% inflation rate in 2022. (Of course that 1.4% lag beats getting no raise or laid off!)

Staff-tier finance pros earned an average salary bump of 4.8%, the lowest among the three tiers (execs and middle management did better). But that 4.8% is the highest it’s been in recent years. Companies are wisely paying more to hang on to tomorrow’s leaders as many younger professionals are always keeping their options open.

Managers, including highly-trained financial planning and analysis managers and accounting managers, did better than the C-suite in 2022, averaging a 5.3% raise compared to execs’ flat 5% pay increase. (All salary increases and bonuses noted above were paid out through January 2023).

What else are companies and employees prioritizing?

In addition to salary, bonus, additional compensation and benefits packages doled out by companies, the AFP also asks finance pros about the state of business and competitive challenges. According to survey repsondents:

• 81% cited increased job responsibility as the primary criterion for job mobility
• Nearly 60% of treasury and finance practitioners reported a shortage of talent in their specific functions, and
• 59% have instituted a diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policy. Nine percent are actively working to create a DEI policy at their companies.

Over the last nine months, the two top targets for layoffs, interestingly enough, are in the DEI and Human Resources fields.