“It’s a more exciting profession to be in today than it was when I was in public accounting”
Nonowner Compensation ($000s) 2014 Measure
Count Mean
Median
Percentile 25 Percentile 75
Base Total nonbase
compensation compensation 24,861 $114 $97 $75
24,990 $27 $5 $0
$129 $18 Total Base
19,058 $110 $95 $75
2012 Total nonbase
19,058 $22 $5 $0
$17 Total
compensation compensation compensation compensation 24,863 $141 $105 $80
19,058 $132 $102 $78
$150 $125 $144
Peter Jeewan paid his dues in public practice, then moved to
TD’s new business development arm in 1998. Always of an entrepreneurial bent, in 2000 he recognized an exponential growth potential and became a headhunter specializing in placing accountants within industry. Now president and CEO of Lannick Group, a professional recruitment firm in Toronto, his staff greets more than 800 candidates per week. Reading the survey, he thinks back to 2010 and the CICA’s recession- ravaged compensation study: “Those were pretty shocking times. I was just reflecting on what’s been happening over the last five or six years, and in 2009 our business fell off 97% in that January, if you can believe it.” Turning to the study’s indus- try section, he sees that his prediction, dating back to the mid- 1990s, was spot-on: nonowner employees would seek greater specialization and spread the brand throughout industry. “I mean, they’re everywhere,” he says, looking at the study’s Industry of Employment chart. “It’s a more exciting profession to be in today than it was
when I was in public accounting,” Jeewan says. “It’s opened up, and you can find [CPAs] in many management functional areas.” And with specialization, both in Canada and abroad, compensation rises with marketable expertise. “I think that’s really helped individuals who want to specialize in areas that may pay more,” he says. For Jeewan, comparing the profession to designations only
(such as the MBA) is not particularly useful. As past compensa- tion surveys have shown, looking at years of study and com- pensation throughout a career is more revealing than a com- parison with the salaries of new MBA graduates. Still, it is
48 | CPA MAGAZINE | MARCH 2016
somewhat illustrative to look at MBA graduates and the sala- ries they can earn. Western’s Ivey Business School revealed that 2014 graduates commanded salaries (with bonuses) of $98,205. McGill’s Desautels Faculty of Management saw grad- uates earning a median of $81,694, with an average $10,000 signing bonus for 22% of survey respondents. The University of British Columbia’s Sauder School of Business reported graduates’ starting salaries (with bonus) at $90,502. In 2014, nonowner CPAs reported an average of $141,000 in
total compensation, including bonuses and benefits. The survey has three main purposes, says Paul Long, man-
ager of marketing and market research at CPA Canada. “One is members wanting to benchmark where they are — how their peer group is being compensated and to have a sense of where they fare in that,” he says. As well, the survey serves employers, giving them a sense of the market. “And it’s also for students who are working toward their CPA or are considering being CPAs. It just gives them a glimpse down the road of what the earning potential is for the CPA profession.” Looking into the future, the majority of respondents were
bullish when it came to increasing compensation. Under- standably, only 45% of those in the oil and gas sector expected to see compensation rise in 2015 — with 21% braced for a de- crease. For Li, a long-term mind-set is what’s needed. The accounting profession, although not immune to economic vagaries, can weather both calm or storm: “It gives you a ticket to the world.”
ROBERT COLAPINTO is a freelance writer based in Toronto
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