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The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Newfoundland and Labrador

CA Compensation Survey 2011

The national and regional results of the 2011 Member Compensation Study are now available.

Here are some of the highlights of the results:

  • Results from the 2011 Compensation Study (which reviews the compensation of CAs during 2010) show that the CA profession remains financially rewarding. However, average compensation has gone down compared to the 2009 study – from $186, 543 to $181,203 (a 2.9% decrease).  Median compensation has also decreased (by 2.3%).
  • Non-base compensation has decreased, on average, by 4.7% for non-owners and base compensation has decreased 1.2%.  This has led to a total decline among non-owners of 2.1%. Owners have not fared much better: with the exception of sole practitioners (+8% from the 2009 study), CA firm partners (-1%) and other business owners (-11%) have, on average, lower compensation compared to the 2009 study.
  • Average compensation increased the most for crown corporations/ public service from 2008 to 2010 (up 2.4%),  and decreased the most for professional services (by 6.6%).
  • Regional changes from 2008 to 2010 are quite different from those observed from 2006 to 2008.  At that time, increases were observed in most provinces, and the biggest increases in compensation were in the Atlantic provinces (PEI, Newfoundland, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia).  More decreases than increases were observed in 2010, in particular for PEI and Newfoundland (-19% and -18%).
  • Some CAs are entrepreneurs: 13% of members own their own business.  Those members who own a business other than a CA firm ($394,116) and those who are partners in a CA firm ($303,075) receive the highest compensation on average. The compensation of sole practitioners ($181,303) is more in line with non-owners ($165,127).
  • Average compensation for a new CA in 2010 was $67,921 and, as usual, this compensation rises with each year of experience. Again, compared to 2008, average compensation is lower now (a new CA in 2008 received an average of $71,817, or 6% higher).

If you have any questions regarding the compensation survey, please direct them to Paul Long (paul.long@cica.ca).