Our comprehensive accountancy and finance practice salary guide gives you the data and insights needed to navigate this evolving landscape and build a strong, future-ready team and achieve lasting success in your career.
The guide highlights key salary trends across seven practice areas, broken down into 13 regions in the UK, enabling you to effectively benchmark your team’s salaries or find out what you could, or should, be earning. It also offers expert commentary into each area of practice and insight into what benefits employees want in 2026.
Our accountancy and finance practice salary guide covers the following practice areas:
Business services outsourcing
Audit and assurance
Personal tax
Corporate and indirect tax
Corporate finance
Corporate recovery and insolvency
Forensics and investigations
In this complex market, how can firms stand out and keep their best people? The focus is shifting from purely financial incentives to a more holistic approach centred on culture, development, and reputation. In a market saturated with small and medium-sized practices, reputation is everything.
Accountancy and Finance Practice Expert, Reed
Who is the 2026 accountancy and finance practice salary guide designed for?
Our accountancy and finance practice salary guide is ideal for:
Employers aiming to attract talent by benchmarking salaries against competitors.
New practice startups determining competitive pay for their employees.
Firms looking to retain talent by aligning existing salaries with market standards.
Graduates and young professionals entering the industry, providing a clear understanding of salary expectations.
Accountancy and finance professionals ensuring their current earnings align with regional averages.
Professionals planning to relocate, offering insights into local job markets and salary trends.
Jobseekers preparing for salary negotiations with potential employers.
Looking for accountancy and finance practice benchmarking insights?
Our salary guide provides a detailed overview of current pay trends and market dynamics across all seven key practice areas. Whether you’re hiring a director or partner in personal tax, an AAT/CAT-qualified accountant in corporate finance, or a first-year trainee in forensics and investigations, this guide is your essential resource for accurate benchmarking.
Beyond salaries, you’ll gain insight into skills in demand, regional variations, and the factors influencing talent attraction and retention in today’s market. Use it to make informed decisions, stay ahead of industry shifts, and ensure your compensation strategy is competitive.
Curious about what you should be earning?
Whether you’re exploring a career in accountancy and finance practice, negotiating a pay rise and want to enter discussions with confidence, or considering new opportunities, our salary guide is your ultimate benchmarking tool.
Packed with comprehensive salary data and market insights, this guide helps you understand where you stand and what’s realistic in today’s competitive landscape.
How can Reed’s accountancy and finance practice salary guide assist with benefits and rewards benchmarking?
At the end of 2025, we conducted our annual survey of 5,000 UK workers to understand how they feel about their salaries, benefits, role and responsibilities, as well as job satisfaction and market trends.
Some key findings include:
20% of professionals feel unhappy with their current salary.
The overwhelming reason for salary dissatisfaction is that pay hasn't kept pace with the cost of living.
26% of respondents have £100 or less leftover each month after essential bills, with seven per cent stating their entire salary goes to essentials.
To switch jobs, individuals expect a substantial average pay increase of £12,139.55.
On average, men earn £48,367.15, while women earn £33,852.12, a difference of over £14,500.
And women have significantly less disposable income, with an average of £626.61 left over monthly compared to £983.38 for men.
Younger workers (25-34) are most willing to sacrifice benefits for higher pay…
… while older workers (55+) are significantly less willing to do so, suggesting they value their existing benefits more.
See all the results from our survey and use this guide to make informed decisions on salaries and benefits in the UK accountancy and finance practice sector for 2026.
Download your copy now.
