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Salary Information

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  • Jul 20th, 2017 5:24 am
Banned
Jul 1, 2017
239 posts
138 upvotes

Salary Information

What resources exist to determine salary information for your level?

I cannot seem to find something that's reliable. I've been looking at:
  1. https://www.glassdoor.ca/Salaries/index.htm
  2. http://www.payscale.com/research/CA/Cou ... ada/Salary
  3. http://www.cpasource.com/employer-resou ... ary-Survey
  4. https://www.roberthalf.ca/en/salary-gui ... nd-finance

While these are a lot of Canadian-type resources, the numbers seem completely out to lunch. As an example, they are suggesting Analysts are making between $85,000 - $105,000 "outside" of the financial services industry (i.e. excluding I-bankers and their +50% bonuses).
13 replies
Member
Jan 10, 2017
235 posts
112 upvotes
So, I would say this falls in line with the conspiracy to flood the market with CPAs.

Like hell the average auditor across Canada is making 80K. I wouldn't trust those numbers - how did this information even get released without some kind of vetting. This is laughable. You're looking for resources? When you find some, post them because these are bullshit.
Sr. Member
May 24, 2007
553 posts
213 upvotes
Only looked at Roberthalf's guide. Agreed that auditors making >50k first year is bullshit..... So bullshit. jrs start at 39k....
Deal Addict
Feb 19, 2017
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Jokkon wrote: Only looked at Roberthalf's guide. Agreed that auditors making >50k first year is bullshit..... So bullshit. jrs start at 39k....
They start at around 50-55 in Toronto with summer internship experience. Numbers make sense.
Crypo/NFT-enthusiast
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Feb 19, 2017
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HelloWorld3 wrote: What resources exist to determine salary information for your level?

I cannot seem to find something that's reliable. I've been looking at:
  1. https://www.glassdoor.ca/Salaries/index.htm
  2. http://www.payscale.com/research/CA/Cou ... ada/Salary
  3. http://www.cpasource.com/employer-resou ... ary-Survey
  4. https://www.roberthalf.ca/en/salary-gui ... nd-finance

While these are a lot of Canadian-type resources, the numbers seem completely out to lunch. As an example, they are suggesting Analysts are making between $85,000 - $105,000 "outside" of the financial services industry (i.e. excluding I-bankers and their +50% bonuses).
Senior Financial Analysts make 80-120k all in (including bonus) in Toronto, 80-120k in Calgary and 60-100k in Vancouver.

Numbers seem right. Maybe slightly inflated.
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Deal Guru
User avatar
Nov 6, 2010
10018 posts
1967 upvotes
Montreal, QC
Some websites are based on user contribution so there may be a few people that are exceptionally high or low that's pulling the average if there aren't enough entries.
Sr. Member
Sep 14, 2012
555 posts
282 upvotes
HelloWorld3 wrote: What resources exist to determine salary information for your level?

I cannot seem to find something that's reliable. I've been looking at:
  1. https://www.glassdoor.ca/Salaries/index.htm
  2. http://www.payscale.com/research/CA/Cou ... ada/Salary
  3. http://www.cpasource.com/employer-resou ... ary-Survey
  4. https://www.roberthalf.ca/en/salary-gui ... nd-finance

While these are a lot of Canadian-type resources, the numbers seem completely out to lunch. As an example, they are suggesting Analysts are making between $85,000 - $105,000 "outside" of the financial services industry (i.e. excluding I-bankers and their +50% bonuses).
Is there a specific title salary you're looking for? RFD users might be able to chime in.
Currently with ➡ Rogers ⬅ 😎
Banned
Jul 1, 2017
239 posts
138 upvotes
Walch1102 wrote: Senior Financial Analysts make 80-120k all in (including bonus) in Toronto, 80-120k in Calgary and 60-100k in Vancouver.

Numbers seem right. Maybe slightly inflated.
80-120k for a Senior Financial Analyst role? How many years experience are these guys holding and what are they doing to pull in over 100k? Does a designated experience matter in this regard?

I'm in Alberta; I'm seeing nothing near 80-120k; I have 6-9 years experience and ~1 year designation with comprehensive exposure. I've talked to a few recruiters and they've given me a range of 80-95 all-in. Where is this 25k difference coming from - I cannot see people with +10 years experience remaining in an analyst role.
Deal Fanatic
User avatar
Sep 23, 2009
7086 posts
5216 upvotes
Easy.

Go to Willis Towers Watson and pay them for their compensation survey data.

Link:

https://www.wtwdataservices.com/twds/pu ... WSECATALOG

This is what companies use to determine what others are doing in a particular industry.

Let us know when you pay for the data, I am sure others would like to know for free.

Take one for the team. You know you want to.
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Feb 19, 2017
1145 posts
879 upvotes
HelloWorld3 wrote: 80-120k for a Senior Financial Analyst role? How many years experience are these guys holding and what are they doing to pull in over 100k? Does a designated experience matter in this regard?

I'm in Alberta; I'm seeing nothing near 80-120k; I have 6-9 years experience and ~1 year designation with comprehensive exposure. I've talked to a few recruiters and they've given me a range of 80-95 all-in. Where is this 25k difference coming from - I cannot see people with +10 years experience remaining in an analyst role.
Fresh CPAs from big 4 firms join companies like Suncor and Enbridge at 85-95k base. They'll make 15-20% bonus on top of that even during bad years.

I should clarify I'm only familiar with Calgary.
Edmonton pay is obviously lower.

These are people with 4 years of experience.
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Member
Jan 10, 2017
235 posts
112 upvotes
Walch1102 wrote: Senior Financial Analysts make 80-120k all in (including bonus) in Toronto, 80-120k in Calgary and 60-100k in Vancouver.

Numbers seem right. Maybe slightly inflated.
Walch1102 wrote: Fresh CPAs from big 4 firms join companies like Suncor and Enbridge at 85-95k base. They'll make 15-20% bonus on top of that even during bad years.

I should clarify I'm only familiar with Calgary.
Edmonton pay is obviously lower.

These are people with 4 years of experience.
Bullshit, fresh CPAs are not worth +90K. Did some time in public practice - they know jack. Even some managers can't do much either.

There is an incredible amount of luck involved in landing a role that pays that much, even as an experienced professional. Hell, personal experience over several interviews with various finance positions (managerial) listed ranges at 90-100K. These statistics suggest managers (non-senior level) in accounting/finance are pulling in well over 125K.

So, these numbers are not "slightly" off; they are totally off. As the other poster said, auditors range from 39-60K; do you see anything "sub-50K" on these lists?

It is looking more like a conspiracy to boost CPA Memberships every time. That, or there is a substantial amount of bullshitting going on with these surveys. Maybe there is an informal pact to hyper-inflate wages so that employers feel obliged to pay their employees more? Unlikely, but the vast majority of sociopaths are accountants - so, maybe there is some validity behind this claim.
Deal Addict
Feb 19, 2017
1145 posts
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Sociology1 wrote: Bullshit, fresh CPAs are not worth +90K. Did some time in public practice - they know jack. Even some managers can't do much either.

There is an incredible amount of luck involved in landing a role that pays that much, even as an experienced professional. Hell, personal experience over several interviews with various finance positions (managerial) listed ranges at 90-100K. These statistics suggest managers (non-senior level) in accounting/finance are pulling in well over 125K.

So, these numbers are not "slightly" off; they are totally off. As the other poster said, auditors range from 39-60K; do you see anything "sub-50K" on these lists?

It is looking more like a conspiracy to boost CPA Memberships every time. That, or there is a substantial amount of bullshitting going on with these surveys. Maybe there is an informal pact to hyper-inflate wages so that employers feel obliged to pay their employees more? Unlikely, but the vast majority of sociopaths are accountants - so, maybe there is some validity behind this claim.
Advisors at Enbridge are fresh CAs:
https://www.glassdoor.com/Salary/Enbrid ... _IM970.htm

Senior Analysts at Suncor are fresh CAs:
https://www.glassdoor.com/Salary/Suncor ... _IM970.htm

More of the same:
https://www.glassdoor.com/Salary/Ontari ... _IM976.htm

More... (FYI TD accounting managers don't actually manage people and are fresh CAs):
https://www.glassdoor.com/Salary/TD-Acc ... _IM976.htm


Your personal experience doesn't say much. You were let go from a firm AND spent 6-7 years to get a designation. You are far below average compared to the average big 4 firm alumnus.
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I find glassdoor to be very reliable - especially for company + job title search. That should give you a good idea of how much a particular role makes for a particular company and then I would search similar companies. However, if you put in a generic job title then you're likely to get some wild numbers because it probably takes an aggregate of a number of jobs across various industries, etc. - garbage in, garbage out.

For example, if you just search Sr. Manager... well, a Sr. Manager of a Telemarketing / Call Centre vs. a Sr. Manager of IT at a Bank vs. a Sr. Manager of a Management Consulting Firm, all pull widely different salaries.

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