Tuesday, February 25, 2003
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Survey: Salaries of financial professionals in Southern Nevada flat

Many top salaries for Southern Nevada accounting professionals are little changed from a year ago, and experts expect the flatness to continue, a new survey suggests.

Accountants Inc., a Burlingame, Calif., accounting and finance staffing company, released its annual Compensation, benefits and Workplace Trends Guide, last week based on data from interviews with 2,000 professionals at its 29 offices. Two of the offices are in Nevada, one each in Las Vegas and Reno. The data looked at salaries in 24 job categories, from chief financial officer to accounting clerk.

Melita Balestieri, an Accountants Inc. marketing manager who conducted the survey research, said national demand is growing for some accounting jobs, such as senior cost accountant, tax manager and audit manager. She said last year's off-the-books chicanery by Enron Corp. and Worldcom, among others, brought new focus and emphasis on audits and perhaps helped stoke demand for auditors.

Nevertheless, she said, demand for other positions shows little change. And, in a statement prefacing the survey, Accountants Inc. President and Chief Executive Office Scott Unroe said recovery may come slowly.

Many companies have frozen hiring, Balestieri said and are now reassessing how to spend their money. Even cost-of-living increases are under scrutiny, she said. This is in sharp contrast, she added, from the late-'90s boom, when salaries spiraled.

"Pay has normalized since then," she said.

In Southern Nevada, Accountants Inc. reported, the top pay for the top three tiers of executives all improved from a year ago. Top chief financial officer pay rose 11.4 percent to $195,000 from $175,000. Top finance director pay rose 4.2 percent to $125,000 from $120,000. Top treasurer pay rose 26.4 percent to $110,000 from $87,000.

Also, following the national trend, the survey shows increases in top salaries for Southern Nevada accounting managers (up 25 percent to $75,000 from $60,000), audit managers (up 13.3 percent to $85,000 from $75,000) and tax managers (up 11.8 percent $95,000 from $85,000).

However, top pay in six categories didn't change: cost accounting manager pay stayed at $68,000. Top credit analyst pay stayed at $45,000. Top financial analyst pay stayed at $46,000.

Mike Micone, franchise principal for Accountants Inc.'s Las Vegas office, said financial professionals with jobs are keeping them now and staying put with the job market stagnant and the economy slow.

Job seekers may drop ranks to take work, he said; CFOs, for example, may take finance director jobs. Those who manage to maintain rank may take less money, he added.

"If I have a controller who's making $100,000 and leaves, I'm going to turn around and pay his replacement $90,000 because I can," Micone said.