Plan Smarter, Hire Better:
Get the 2025 Salary Guide Today
Built for Accountancy and Finance, Change and Transformation Hiring Leaders and Professionals
Hiring in 2025 is a high-stakes balancing act. Salaries are rising, but so are expectations, from both talent and executive boards. Our latest Salary Guide brings together market data, pay benchmarks and hiring insight from across the UK’s accountancy, finance, and transformation sectors. Whether you’re building capability, planning budgets or protecting against attrition, this guide gives you the clarity to make informed, commercially sound decisions.
More than just numbers, it’s a lens into what today’s professionals want, what your competitors are paying, and where your hiring strategy could be at risk. Backed by real hiring data and sector insight, this is your tool to plan with confidence and act with purpose.
What’s Inside the Salary Guide
Understand what competitive pay looks like across role levels and regions
See where matters most to talent when considering total compensation
Align pay strategy with business outcomes, not just budget constraints
Pay Expectations Are Outpacing Budget RealityMost employers plan to hire, but few are adjusting salaries fast enough to stay competitive.
Internal Pay Parity Is Breaking DownBenchmarking gaps are creating trust issues and slowing hiring decisions, especially in mid-level roles.
Interim Talent Is Gaining Strategic ValueInterim professionals now drive key programmes and bridge leadership gaps across all sectors.
Employer Outlook
Salary expectations exceed budget
Difficulty retaining skilled talent
Gaps in entry-level readiness
Lack of internal upskilling resources
Long or inefficient recruitment cycles
Top Technical Skills in Accounting and Finance
- ERP system experience, including NetSuite, SAP and Oracle
- Financial modelling and scenario planning
- Advanced Excel and automation tools (e.g. Power Query, VBA)
- Regulatory reporting and compliance expertise
- Strategic forecasting and FP&A tools knowledge
Top Technical Skills in Change and Transformation
- AI and RPA implementation experience
- ERP transformation delivery (cutover, data migration, post-go-live support)
- Business analysis and stakeholder mapping
- Data governance and architecture planning
- Change management frameworks and user adoption strategies
“There’s a growing gap between employee expectations and what employers are offering around flexibility, pay, and speed. At Cedar, we aim to help close that gap and ensure both sides feel understood and supported.”
— Chris Morrison, Group Managing Director, Cedar
