LHH Predicts Public Accounting Salaries for 2023

LHH Recruitment Solutions (formerly Accounting Principals) recently released its 2023 salary guide for accounting and finance professionals, and it features base pay prognostications for a variety of jobs in three categories: accounting and finance, banking and financial services, and public accounting.

In its 2023 salary guide, LHH provided pay data for accountants and finance professionals in three tiers based on experience:

• Low: Zero to two years of experience in that position or one similar.
• Medium: Three to 10 years of experience in that position or one similar.
• High: Ten or more years of experience in that position or one similar.

In the public accounting category, LHH includes 2023 salary projections for 11 positions, including partner.

Here are the recruiting and staffing firm’s salary expectations in public accounting for next year:

According to LHH, there are three economic trends impacting accounting and finance:

• Demand for accounting positions has been driven by turnover, as workers require greater compensation for increasingly large workloads. Accounting/consulting firms have offered mid-year pay increases to improve employee retention.
• Looking ahead, the rise of blockchains, artificial intelligence, and an increased reliance on technology has led to automation of many tasks traditionally undertaken by accountants. Workers with skills that complement these tasks will be more productive and demand higher wages.
• In the broader financial sector, corporate profits are a strong indicator of future wage movement. Increased spending and investment from pent-up demand due to the COVID-19 pandemic likely contributed to higher wages in the financial sector; however, a possible recession in 2023 would dampen corporate profits and slow financial sector wage growth.

Employment of accountants and auditors is projected to grow 7% from 2020 to 2030, according to LHH.