From accounting to corp finance

If youíre a chartered accountant with two to six yearsí experience in transaction services or audit, the world ñ at least, the Australian corporate finance market ñ is your oyster.

There is a huge shortage of corporate financiers in Australia, from junior to associate and through to associate director. Many of the analytical skills sought are found in the chartered accountancy firms ñ which canít compete with the cashed-up investment banks.

ìAccountancy gets raided all the time,î says Chris Mamas, senior consultant at Select Personnel in Sydney. ìItís not just investment banking doing the raiding, itís hedge funds and private equity, too. Partnership is not as appealing as it used to be in chartered accountancy because of the conflicts of interest - and increasingly, the young accountants know that the remuneration doesnít competeî he tells eFinancialCareers.

Mamas recently placed a chartered accountant with six yearsí experience, who was earning a base of AU$170k plus a bonus of $50k, into associate director-level role in an investment bank, where he will earn AU$225k with a bonus of two times base salary.

ìEven with three to five yearsí experience, chartered accountants coming into corporate finance at senior associate level can expect to earn AU$150k to AU$170k, with a bonus of between half to one times salary. The chartered firms canít match that,î says Mamas.

But Suzanne Davies, senior consultant at Olivier Recruitment in Sydney, cautions that even in a very tight market, employers can still afford to be choosy.

ìItís actually that three to five yearsí experience level where clients can afford to be most choosy. They usually want very specific skill sets to add to their team, and they will wait for the right person,î she says.