Starting salaries for banking and finance jobs in South Africa in 2023 – including graduates

Professional recruitment firm Robert Walters has published the salary data from its 2023 South African Salary Survey, showing what entry-level or starting salaries graduates can expect in the finance, legal and technology sectors.
According to Robert Walters, the landscape for professionals in South Africa shifted in 2022, with both employers and employees looking for different qualities from each other in a post-Covid world.
As has been widely reported, South African businesses are in dire need of skills across almost every sector – but as the Robert Walters survey shows, this does not mean that qualified professionals are guaranteed a job.
In fact, the survey indicated that there is a general oversupply of skills in the finance, HR and technology sector as a whole, with the group noting only low to medium demand for candidates.
Accounting, finance, banking and financial services professionals showed medium levels of demand, with the firm noting that it is “fairly easy” to hire in those sectors. The Human Resources, legal and technology sectors, meanwhile, are seeing low demand, with it being very easy to hire, Robert Walters said.
Despite this, there are key positions, role and skills in every sector that are sought-after by companies. These are:
- Accounting and finance: Accountant, financial manager, audit manager
- Banking and financial services: Financial advisor, business analyst, strategy consultant
- Human resources: HR business partner, HR manager; HR generalist
- Legal: Attorney, legal associate, senior associate
- Technology: IT manager, IT consultant, technical support engineer
Starting salaries
The 2023 survey presented the salary ranges for over 150 jobs in South Africa, covering the accounting and finance, banking, human resources, financial services and technology sectors.
Where applicable, the salary ranges were also split across years of experience, with 33 jobs listed for those with zero to two/three years experiences, indicating their entry-level or starting salaries.
Included in this are the expected salary ranges for BCom or chartered accounting (CA) graduates.
According to Robert Walters, associates at large law firms start out on the best footing, with the expected salary in 2023 starting at R900,000 per annum.
General graduates, with or without honours, looking to work in banking or financial services start off from the lowest base at R200,000 per annum.
Notably, however, professionals in the banking and financial sector have huge earning potential, with many jobs stretching to salaries of over R1 million per year with experience.
The table below outlines the starting (0-2 year experience) salary ranges for professionals in the respective sectors.
Job | Sector | From | To |
---|---|---|---|
Associate | Private Practice (Large Firm) | R900 000 | R900 000 |
Private Equity/Corporate Finance | Banking | R650 000 | R750 000 |
Treasury Accountant | Taxation/Treasury | R650 000 | R750 000 |
Finance Manager | Qualified CA (SA) or CIMA or BCom | R650 000 | R750 000 |
Investment Analyst (CA plus CFA) | Investment Management/Asset Management | R600 000 | R750 000 |
Qualified CA(SA) Johannesburg | Accounting, Audit, Tax & Treasury | R600 000 | R750 000 |
Credit Analyst/Credit Manager (Qualified CA) | Credit | R600 000 | R700 000 |
Associate | Private Practice (Boutique Firm) | R600 000 | R600 000 |
CA (SA) | Qualified CA (SA) or CIMA or BCom | R550 000 | R750 000 |
Qualified CA(SA) Cape Town | Accounting, Audit, Tax & Treasury | R550 000 | R650 000 |
CIMA Qualified Management Accountant | Accounting, Audit, Tax & Treasury | R450 000 | R550 000 |
Internal Auditor (Non-Qualified) | Internal Audit or IT audit | R400 000 | R550 000 |
Part-Qualified CA(SA) (Degree/Honours + Articles) | Accounting, Audit, Tax & Treasury | R400 000 | R550 000 |
Quant Risk Analyst | Risk, Data Science & Analytics | R400 000 | R500 000 |
Strategy Consultant | Management Consultancy | R400 000 | R500 000 |
Tax Accountant | Taxation/Treasury | R400 000 | R450 000 |
Actuary | Risk, Data Science & Analytics | R350 000 | R500 000 |
Relationship Manager/Corporate Banker | Banking | R350 000 | R500 000 |
CIMA/ CGMA | Qualified CA (SA) or CIMA or BCom | R350 000 | R500 000 |
Data Scientist (B.I. Business Intelligence) | Risk, Data Science & Analytics | R350 000 | R450 000 |
Credit Analyst/Credit Manager (Non-Qualified) | Credit | R350 000 | R450 000 |
Part Qualified CA (SA) | Part Qualified | R350 000 | R450 000 |
Internal Auditor | Qualified CA (SA) or CIMA or BCom | R350 000 | R400 000 |
Business Analyst | Management Consultancy | R340 000 | R450 000 |
Equity Research Analyst (Non-Qualified) | Global Markets | R300 000 | R400 000 |
AML Officer | AML & Financial Crime | R300 000 | R400 000 |
BCom | Qualified CA (SA) or CIMA or BCom | R300 000 | R400 000 |
Ops Risk Manager | Risk, Data Science & Analytics | R300 000 | R350 000 |
Management Consultant (Non-CA) | Management Consultancy | R250 000 | R350 000 |
Non-Qualified Accountant (BCom) | Accounting, Audit, Tax & Treasury | R250 000 | R350 000 |
Fund Accountant (Non-Qualified) | Accounting, Audit, Tax & Treasury | R250 000 | R350 000 |
Part Qualified CIMA | Part Qualified | R250 000 | R300 000 |
Graduates (+/- Honours) | Accounting, Audit, Tax & Treasury | R200 000 | R300 000 |
Read: 29 jobs in South Africa that pay R2 million or more a year