Healthy Salary Outlook in California

James Rubin says Robert Half Finance & Accounting's annual salary survey offers cautiously optimistic news about the job market for accountants in California. Over the next year, Half expects demand for many positions to remain strong and salaries to increase at a healthy rate. It holds true for other financial professionals, as well.

The recruiter predicts controller, senior finance analysts and account managers will be among the hottest jobs in Los Angeles, San Diego, Sacramento, San Jose and Orange County. A controller can expect to earn 4 - 5 percent more next year than in 2007. "There has been an accounting shortage for these positions," says Brett Good, Half's district president for California and Arizona. "That remains a pressure point for skills sets in the marketplace."

The crisis in the sub-prime mortgage market may further boost demand both in California - and beyond - as governmental agencies consider regulations to prevent a re-occurrence. Good sees similarities to the aftermath of corporate scandals of five or six years ago that led to passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in 2001. "There are rumblings from a regulatory standpoint," he says.

As such, skilled controllers - who have initial oversight over auditing and similar functions - may play a particularly important role in upcoming months.