Hard Data on CFO Compensation

The industry with the fastest pace of salary increases for CFOs and other financial executives is: …. advertising.

Advertising? You heard right.

That's one finding of an annual compensation study released earlier this month by the Financial Executives Research Foundation, the research arm of Financial Executives International (FEI). Among more than 1,900 respondents – nearly half of whom were CFOs – those in advertising reported an 8 percent average salary increase. Metals came in second, at 7.5 percent. Across all industries, the average salary increase was 4.75 percent.

"While the current economic conditions and market turmoil are likely to impact the C-Suite this year, our results show that the salaries of the overall financial professional group are still up," said Michael P. Cangemi, president of both the foundation and its parent, FEI.

CFOs of public companies reported a median base salary range of $226,000 - $250,000, while their counterparts at private companies reported a median range of $176,000 - $200,000. Public company CFOs also fared better at bonus time: most received bonuses between 21 – 70 percent of base, while the range for private company CFOs was somewhat lower at 11 percent – 60 percent.

FEI Study: Financial Executives' Salaries Up 5 Percent [Press release]