You can earn a lot more as an accountant in a bank instead of as an accountant in a Big 4 firm in Ireland
First Robert Walters said banking salaries had increased 8-10%. Now Hays thinks they've increased 12%, particularly in accountancy and finance and funds and credit managment.
Irish accountants can walk into jobs
Hays says Ireland's accountants are now able to find work much more quickly than at any time over the past three years. Salaries for newly qualified accountants leaving the Big Four have increased as much as 12%. As we suspected, Hays says accountants with Solvency II knowledge are especially hot.
Hays' salary tables for Irish accountants indicate there's a lot more money to be made working in a financial services firm than in the Big 4. While a trainee working in the Big 4 in Dublin can expect to earn no more than €20k, a graduate trainee in accountant in a bank can earn up to €24k.Senior accountants in banks can earn €50-70k+.
Salaries for Big 4 accountants in Ireland:
Source: Hays
Salaries for accountants working in financial services in Ireland:
Source: Hays
Beyond accounting, Hays cites various other 'hot' areas of recruitment in Ireland's financial services market. These are: pension consultancy, actuarial, product development, marketing, risk & compliance, multi-lingual life administration and cross-border life experience. In Irish fund administration and fund management, the most vacancies are to be found in: business analysis and project management with a focus on systems processing, implementation, migrating and off-shoring.
