These jobs are in high demand in South Africa – here’s how much they pay

 ·7 Jan 2022

Specialist professional recruitment firm Robert Walters has published its annual salary survey for 2022, detailing how much money professionals in accounting fields can expect to earn in South Africa over the coming year.

Hiring in this sector picked up rapidly in 2021 and was only slowed down by the July riots seen in KZN and parts of Gauteng, said William Young, commerce and industry manager at Robert Walters.

He said that there is strong demand for mid-senior finance rolls across all industries including retail, pharmaceuticals, telecommunications and manufacturing.

“The transition from face-to-face meetings to online platforms has made interviews more accessible and less time-consuming allowing a smoother more streamlined hiring process. Whilst there has been an increase in roles – this has not necessarily been through natural job creation but rather high levels of turnover.”

“Clients across the hiring market are looking to bring in experienced professionals who can hit the ground running to negate the difficulties of training remotely.”

Young said prospective hires are also expected to be flexible in working from home and potentially working on a contract basis.

Finance jobs in South Africa 

The most in-demand jobs in South Africa’s accounting and finance sector include finance managers, tax accountants and treasury accountants.

The data shows that finance professionals are also proving to be highly mobile, with 17% surveyed being open to new job offers – mainly looking for a pay rise or career progression. The average tenure for legal professionals in South Africa sits at just over two years.

Job title 0-2 years 4-7 years 10+ years
Part Qualified CA (SA) R300,000 – R400,000 R550,000 – R800,000 R1 million – R1.5 million
Part Qualified CIMA R180,000 – R250,000 R350,000 – R450,000 R600,000 – R800,00
BCom R350,000 – R450,000 R550,000 – R750,000 R950,000 – R1.35 million
CA (SA) R550,000 – R750,000 R800,000 – R1.2 million R1.6 million – R2.2 million
Tax Accountant R350,000 – R450,000 R600,000 – R750,000 R800,000 – R1 million
Finance manager R600,000 – R750,000 R850,000 – R1,1 million R1.3 million – R1.6 million
Internal Auditor R300,000 – R380,000 R450,000 – R650,000 R1 million – R1.2 milion
CFO/FD (SME) R1.2 million – R1.5 million R1.8 million – R2.4 million
Finance Director (Large Firm) R1.4 million – R1.7 million R2 million – R2.8 million
Internal Audit Manager R850,000 – R1 million R1.3 million – R1.7 million
Group Tax Manager R1 million – R1.5 million R1.7 million – R2.2 million
Group Treasury Manager R1.25 million – R1.5 million R1.8 million – R2.5 million
Treasury Accountant R650,000 – R750,000 R900,000 – R1.2 million
CFO (JSE Top 200) R2.8 million – R4 million

Read: How much money you need to be in the richest 1% in South Africa – and how you compare to others

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