Dive Brief:
- The typical CFO based in New York City earns between $192,000 and $568,000 in salary, depending on the size of the company, a survey by staffing firm Atrium finds.
- The range for CFOs in other metro areas is typically lower, given the lower cost of living outside New York City. CFO salaries are about 5% lower in Los Angeles, 20% lower in Atlanta and 33% lower in Pittsburgh.
- The one metro area CFOs can expect to out-earn their New York counterparts is San Francisco, where salaries are estimated to be about 4% higher.
Dive Insight:
Consistent with their executive function, CFOs are the highest-earning corporate professionals among those doing finance-related work. Vice presidents of finance are the next highest, earning between $128,000 and $309,000, depending on the size of the company and subject to the same discount or premium differential for those in metro areas outside New York City.
CFO salary range:
- Small company (1-500 employees): $192,143 - $258,157
- Medium company (501-2,500 employees): $255,172 - $325,737
- Large company (2,501+ employees): $325,737 - $567,637
The figures are just for salaries; equity- or other performance-based compensation isn't included, the survey report suggests.
Other high-earning finance professionals are vice presidents of audit, tax and treasury. At the high-end, these professionals’ typical salary in New York City is, respectively, $236,000, $231,000 and $194,000.
The findings appear in line with a survey conducted last year by Spendesk, which found the typical CFO in the United States earning $185,000, about what the median might be if the Atrium data were to be discounted on a nationwide basis.
Among others included in the survey, for those working in a large New York company, the typical high-end salary is $195,000 for controllers, $161,000 for accounting managers and $66,000 for accounts payable clerks.
A typical large company, high-end New York salary is $104,000 for accounts receivable managers, $123,000 for payroll managers and $112,000 for internal auditors, among other finance jobs included in the survey.
Sampling of findings
Finance
Director of finance
- Small company: $117,975 - $156,520
- Medium company: $152,596 - $194,244
- Large company: $182,798 - $253,001
Financial analyst
- Small company: $65,609 - $75,120
- Medium company: $67,652 - $82,116
- Large company: $74,107 - $91,958
Accounting
Controller
- Small company: $107,782 - $119,229
- Medium company: $118,101 - $150,766
- Large company: $156,827 - $194,717
Senior accountant
- Small company: $71,771 - $80,123
- Medium company: 79,691 - $88,567
- Large company: $89,301 - $116,817
