AAT Says
CLAIRE BENNISON
AAT Salary Survey reveals a confident profession
AAT’s latest Salary Survey shows a membership that’s made healthy strides, explains AAT executive director of customer, partnerships and innovation
As a snapshot of the profession in 2023, the AAT Salary Survey reflects the fact that we’re in a really confident position as we go into 2024. So if there’s one message our members and our students should take is that they have every right to feel confident about their chosen career.
There are a few reasons: firstly, salaries and bonuses are going up. Alongside that, we’re still enabling people to transition into self-employment and do that in a way that’s more of a transition into self-employment with the option to do so as more of a gliding flight path than a hard choice, and that’s a real testament to AAT.
They should also draw confidence from the fact that a majority of those surveyed are looking to stay in the profession. If you read the headlines, one might conclude it remains difficult to attract people into the profession, but for those already in accounting, the focus for employers – and AAT – is increasingly on keeping them engaged and fulfilled.
So that’s where employers large and small need to keep up the good work they’ve started, and ask, ‘Are we offering the right benefits package? Are we developing our people in the right way?’, because this is a profession that should be able to offer flexibility quite easily given the technology available.
This is a profession that should be able to offer flexibility quite easily
Keep the profession attractive
We must be mindful of the challenges we face to keep the profession attractive. Certainly progression seems to remain a challenge. While the survey shows some narrowing of the gender pay gap, that progress seems to dissipate as people go more senior into their membership — a trend that is also reflected in the part-time/full-time split.
We must also remember that there is talent in our profession, but in some cases we are simply not putting the right infrastructure around them to ensure they can develop and stay.
Things are changing, albeit slowly, something that is borne out in the survey when you look at the benefits people prefer.
While we’ve got a small cohort of employers doing clever things to attract, retain and develop good people, the middle portion seems stuck in some out-of-date thinking that fails to recognise that people want greater flexibility. The survey is a stark reminder that if they don’t update their approach, they’re going to miss out on talent.
The final challenge is to change our thinking on mental health. The survey findings around overwork and stress show we are still recovering from the pandemic.
During that time, so many stepped into the breach to act as genuine business advisers. But that carried a price. The cost of living crisis has also taken a toll. As a result, people are looking for more than a good salary from their work; they are also seeking the flexibility to support a better home life.
For the next cohort of accountants, the culture and future of the profession has to be right. We know accountants increasingly need to feel what they are doing has purpose. Now the challenge is to articulate it. We need all involved from technology providers, employers and practices to membership bodies like AAT to show this is a dynamic, tech-enabled and people-focused profession where they can thrive.
CLAIRE BENNISON