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Canadian Accounting Firms Are Getting Rid of Bonuses So They Can Pay More?

Posted on by Adrienne Gonzalez
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CPA Canada has shared some Canadian accounting firm hiring trends worth keeping an eye on. Among them? Ditching bonuses.

Despite their longtime presence in the traditional CPA compensation package, bonuses are being abandoned in some firms, notes Adele Harraway, managing partner, Canadian Accounting Consultants, which specializes in CPA recruitment. Instead, firms are upping the starting salary to entice candidates. This is in line with the results of a CPA Canada poll, where members ranked salary as the top benefit that would affect their decision to accept a new job.

“Salary increases have not kept up with inflation with many companies capping increases at five per cent, often resulting in people having to leave to get an increase,” says Harraway. “As a result, companies are getting more creative in their recruitment efforts by upping the base salaries to above the market average.”

And firms with generous WFH policies might get away with paying less than their militant office-working counterparts:

“The first question I get asked now by candidates is whether the role is remote, hybrid or in the office. Not what the job pays,” says Jennifer Mazzarolo, CPA, president of GTA-based firm, Maverick Consulting Group, which specializes in recruitment, transition and coaching services for CPAs. “Base salary is still important, but people are willing to give a little in that regard to get the flexibility we have all enjoyed during the pandemic.”

Friendly reminder: do not accept a pay cut for the privilege of working remotely.

CPA Canada also breaks down annual mental health coverage provided by three of the four Big 4 firms in the Great White North offered as part of overall wellness incentives:

  • KPMG: CA$2000 ($1,557)
  • Deloitte: CA$4000 ($3,115)
  • EY: CA$5000 ($3,894)

The average accounting firm salary in Canada is CA$50,000 ($38,978) per year or $25.64 per hour. Entry-level positions start at $42,800 per year, while most experienced workers make up to $95,000 per year (Talent.com).

“It’s an active candidate-driven market,” says Mazzarolo. “Instead of The Great Resignation, I think it’s ‘The Great Awakening.’ Candidates are looking at what’s in it for me, realizing they are the architects of their own careers.”

Work-life balance preferred over big salaries, CPAs say [CPA Canada]

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Credentials for Accountants: Certified Management Accountant

Last week we kicked off our certification series by looking at the CFE for those of you interested in becoming numbers sleuths that also have the figurative iron-clad stones that Sam Antar insists are imperative for any CFE.

This week we look at the Certified Management Accountant (“CMA”) credential and while it’s probably not as sexy as the CFE, a lot of you may want to consider the CMA if you see yourself spending a good portion of your career working as an in-house accountant or finance pro.


The credential is administered by the Institute of Management Accountants whose website states that “85% owork inside organizations, where expertise in decision support, planning, and control over value-adding operations are crucial elements of operational success,” and boasts 60,000 members worldwide.

Here’s the rundown on the CMA:

Education Requirement
You can meet the education requirement by verifying that you have a bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university or that you have a professional qualification, such as a CPA (here’s a partial list of global certifications that qualify).

Professional Requirements
The professional requirement for the CMA is two continuous years of experience in management accounting or financial management. This can be completed prior to the application or within two years of passing the CMA exam. The website states that, “Qualifying experience consists of positions requiring judgments regularly made employing the principles of management accounting and financial management.”

There is a long list of experience that will satisfy this requirement including financial analysis, budget preparation, management information system analysis, financial management, management accounting, auditing in government, finance or industry, management consulting, auditing in public accounting, research, teaching or consulting related to management accounting or financial management.

CMA Exam
The CMA Exam is currently transitioning from a four-part format to a two-part format. The two-part format rolls out on May 1st but testing of the four-part format will be available through December 31, 2010. The new format will focus on financial planning, analysis, control, and decision support. The two four hour exams consist of 100 multiple choice questions and two 30 minute essay questions.

Part 1 breaks down like this:
Planning, Budgeting and Forecasting (30%)
Performance Management (25%)
Cost Management (25%)
Internal Controls (15%)
Professional Ethics (5%)

And Part 2:
Financial Statement Analysis (25%)
Corporate Finance (25%)
Decision Analysis and Risk Management (25%)
Investment Decisions (20%)
Professional Ethics (5%)

There’s a lot of information on the new exam format including fees, testing windows, and more that can be seen here.

After certification, you are required to complete 30 hours of CPE annually, of which, 2 hours are required to be in ethics.

Career Options
Many CMAs work in budgeting, financial planning, cost accounting, performance evaluation, asset management and other various capacities. The work often times result in internal reports that will help management make prudent decisions rather than just taking wild stabs at running their respective companies. So it goes without saying that this is important stuff.

For those of you still working in the public realm, you can get benefits out of a CMA too. Our favorite Exuberant Accountant, Scott Heintzelman, has a CMA and he told us that it helps him better understand the needs of his manufacturing clients, “I had a bunch of clients in the manufacturing space and many of the controllers were CMA’s. I thought taking the time to get this certification would give me more creditability with this group…it helped me gain more manufacturing clients as they saw me as one of them, not just a CPA.”

Compensation and Other Benefits
According to the IMA’s most recent survey, CMAs earn 24-31% more than their non-certified colleagues. Those surveyed that have both a CMA and a CPA have even higher salaries. Now, we know what that you’re hung up on money but there are some other advantages too.

According to Scott, “Partners then had this belief [then] that the CMA was a brutal test (and it was). So a year later I started the process and actually was fortunate to pass the entire test on the first attempt. I had also passed the CPA exam on the first attempt a year earlier and so my partners suddenly thought I was some super smart young accountant and many believed I was ‘fast tracked’ to partner. I believe I just worked my butt off to learn that stuff, but none the less several of my partners looked at me differently. A very key moment in my young career.”

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