| June 2009 |
CA Survey in Context & Marketplace Trends
A message from Lance Osborne, Chairman, Lannick Group of Companies
 |
There is no question the current recession has had a significant impact on Chartered Accountants. Rounds of lay-offs in public accounting have reflected both general belt-tightening and the sudden contraction in certain client sectors. In industry, the recession has not resulted in significant lay-offs of CAs; here the trend has been hiring freezes – especially in the financial sector – and a general softening in other parts of the market. This has had some effect on salaries but like lakeside properties within two hours of the city, CAs have managed to retain their value as an asset class. |
Salaries Increased Year-Over-Year
In fact, according to Lannick Group of Companies’ 2009 CA Salary Survey, salaries increased over a one year period by five percent. In previous, more economically ebullient years, this average hovered around 12 percent. So, while base salaries did not exactly leap forward this past year, they did hold their ground. The big difference in remuneration appeared to be in variable pay. By year-end this year, if they are paid out at all, bonuses will be about half of what they were in previous years in many industry sectors.
The fact that CA salaries have not declined during the recession has led to some expectation gaps when it comes to compensation. For the most part, Chartered Accountants are still in demand and most don’t need to make a move. As witnessed in previous years, they only tend to move when they see the right opportunity, at the right remuneration. Attracting top talent is at least as difficult as during the good times and if anything, CAs tend to be more conservative and harder to move in a recession.
What’s on the Horizon with IFRS
The hot spots in the CA market continue to be financial reporting, management reporting,
audit and all things risk and governance. As expected, we are starting to see a demand for
International Financial Reporting Standards expertise and if our experience with Sarbanes
Oxley is any indication, we anticipate demand to build steadily as the 2010 deadline to begin
running parallel books approaches. When Sarbanes Oxley started to gain traction in Canada,
it seemed that everyone was looking for the same resource at the same time. The problem was
that Sarbanes Oxley implementation was a new standard that few had mastered. This resulted
in frustration, improvisation and inflation in this particular part of the market. As far as we can
see, the upcoming implementation of IFRS across hundreds of Canadian public companies
may well result in the same kind of scenario.
Having learned some valuable lessons from our Sarbanes Oxley experience, Lannick Group is embarking on a number of initiatives to help our clients prepare for the inevitable by ensuring we have adequate access to IFRS talent, both contract and permanent. To make the transition less painful, we will be staying in close touch with clients and candidates alike about available talent, relevant job opportunities, options for developing internal talent and how to recruit effectively for IFRS.
In the meantime, we hope our 2009 CA Salary Survey proves useful in benchmarking current staff, helping attract future talent and providing candidates with some perspective on market value. If you have any questions about how to apply this survey, how to recruit accounting and finance professionals effectively or how to prepare for IFRS, please feel free to or one of my
Lance Osborne is Chairman of Lannick Group of Companies,
specialists in recruiting and staffing.
Lance can be reached by
or 416-343-3400.