To attract and retain skilled talent in your business, it’s essential to stay informed about salary trends and expectations. Offering competitive pay that aligns with industry standards ensures your compensation packages remain attractive and on par with what competitors are offering.

It’s equally important for candidates considering a new role, or for employees who want to check if what they are being paid is in line with their peers.

The Hutcheon Mearns Salary Guide 2024/2025 is a comprehensive guide to what finance and accountancy professionals in all disciplines and at various stages in their careers can expect to be paid. In addition, it looks at other factors such as employee benefits and the importance of these to both employees and employers.

DOWNLOAD THE SALARY GUIDE HERE 

The guide is an invaluable tool that aligns the expectations of both candidates and employers, ensuring that compensation is fair, competitive, and reflective of current market conditions. It benefits both parties by reducing misunderstandings, speeding up the hiring process, and contributing to long-term satisfaction and retention in the workplace.

It will help employers develop competitive salary packages and provide reassurance that offers are aligned with industry standards, reducing the risk of losing candidates to competitors. It will help them gauge where their company stands in comparison to competitors and whether they need to adjust salaries to remain attractive in a tight employment market.

It’s a valuable tool for employers, providing evidence-based data to justify salary offers during negotiations which should lead to smoother and more transparent discussions with candidates and set out clear and fair expectations from the outset.

Having an understanding of competitive salaries helps in the creation of retention strategies, reducing staff turnover rates, ensuring that existing employees feel valued and are being fairly compensated.

The guide also provides data that can be used for workforce planning and budgeting, confirming salary offerings are sustainable and in line with the company’s financial capabilities.

From a candidate’s point of view, a discussion about salary is often the most challenging aspect of an interview. The guide will help set realistic salary expectations based on industry standards, experience, and qualifications. It can also be a useful tool for negotiating salaries with confidence by having access to solid data on what is considered fair compensation for their role and expertise. In short, it will help candidates assess the competitiveness of their current or prospective employer’s offer.

The Hutcheon Mearns guide looks at over 50 roles across the accounting, finance, tax and treasury sectors.

Salary ranges are given for every role, with comparisons as to what an employee could expect to be paid if working for an SME, with a corporate group or in the not-for-profit or public sectors. It also gives a PAYE day rate for every role.

It is segmented into three geographies – Aberdeen, Dundee and the Central Belt, to show regional variations. The regions correspond to Hutcheon Mearns’ offices in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dundee and Aberdeen but the findings are relevant across Scotland.

However, employees are now looking for more than just a competitive salary, and the guide gives an overview of some of the benefits that can be the deciding factor in talent acquisition and retention. It highlights, for example, the appeal of flexible working arrangements. This includes remote working options, which have grown in importance since the pandemic, and options for flexible working hours that give employees the opportunity to adjust their hours to fit their personal lives, which can contribute to a better work-life balance.

Companies with good CSR credentials are also seen as preferred places to work if they demonstrate that they are committed to environmental, sustainable and ethical practices and are actively involved in community engagement.

Other benefits which are highlighted include career development opportunities, health and wellbeing support, generous pension contributions, employee recognition schemes, company culture and support for a work-life balance.

Looking ahead, the guide gives an insightful overview of some of the factors which will impact on future working such as increasing automation and AI integration and enhanced data analytics capabilities and draws attention to future expectations where there will be greater emphasis on strategic roles, on hybrid working models, and increased focus on ESG reporting.

Do you need a bespoke salary benchmark package for your business or a candidate looking for advice? Get in touch to speak to a member of our team.