Finance salary benchmark: Averages & trends in the UK, US, and EU

Published on July 10, 2024

How do CFO salaries compare between major European markets like London and Paris? And what are the expected increases as a finance professional moves up through the ranks, from Finance Manager, to Controller, to Head of Finance, to VP?

Salary information is often hard to find in the public domain. Cultural norms mean people don’t feel comfortable talking about their earnings, and most companies aren’t transparent with remuneration.

If you’re looking for a clear benchmark of finance team salaries, you’ve found it. This article includes the latest figures from the annual CFO Salary Benchmark report, published by CFO Connect and Spendesk.

The present article focuses on job titles and geographic differences. For more detailed analysis of pay relative to experience, gender disparities, education, extra benefits, and remote work, download the full report.

About the report

This study was conducted in April and May 2024 with a representative sample of the CFO Connect community. More than 700 finance leaders were surveyed, with a significant majority at CFO, Head of Finance, and Finance Director levels.

The majority of respondents work in Europe, most notably France, Germany, and the United Kingdom. 66.9% are male.

Around one third work in companies with fewer than 50 employees. 42% have between 51-250 employees, and a further 27% over 250 FTEs.

The most heavily represented industry is SaaS/software, with 27% of respondents working in these businesses, and a further 13% in IT. 38% identify their businesses as Scaleups, with 24% choosing Startup, 28% in Private Enterprise and 6% in Public Enterprise.

Here’s what the survey uncovered.

Average finance salary by country

Across all job titles, our survey found significant differences in the average finance team salary between countries.

Average finance salaries in brief

United Kingdom: £105,700 / €125,000 (+1.8% vs. 2023)
France: £79,400 / €94,000 (-0.3% vs 2023)
Germany: £104,000 / €123,000 (+7.1% vs 2023)
United States: £150,000 / €176,500 (-9%% vs 2023)

We see huge differences in how finance experts are paid across Europe, with salaries in France being by far the lowest in Middle and Northern Europe. In Germany, salaries are on average 31% higher, and in the UK 33% higher than their French counterparts.

We also see a huge difference in the growth of salaries between geographies. Compared with our 2023 benchmark, German salaries saw a 7.1% increase, while UK finance salaries only saw a 1.8% rise.

Average finance salary by role

Naturally, the average amount earned also differs by job title.

Interestingly, the report found that the average VP of Finance earned more than the average CFO. This is likely due to the fact that the “CFO” can apply in a wide variety of companies, many where the CFO is the first finance team member. But only companies of a certain size and turnover hold VP positions, and thus the average here is higher.

Let’s look now at a detailed breakdown of each of the above roles.

CFO salaries 2024

Overall average: £134,340 / €158,900
Highest reported: £855,500 / €1,012,000 (USA; male; age 40-50; 5000+ employees; construction industry)
Lowest reported: £31,700 / €37,500 (Thailand; male; age 30-40; 1-50 employees; information technology & services industry)
Average female CFO salary: £110,000 / €130,000
Average male CFO salary: £142,500 / €168,000

CFO salary by country

United Kingdom: £146,600 / €175,300
France: £92,100 / €109,000
Germany: £154,200 / €182,400
United States: £214,000 / €253,000

VP of Finance salaries 2024

Overall average: £148,2000 / €175,300
Highest reported: £311,100 / €368,000 (United States; male; age 30-40; 500-1,000 employees; health & wellness industry)
Lowest reported: £27,900 / €33,100 (Malta; female; age 40-50; 1-50 employees; hospitality)
Average female VP Finance salary: £134,300 / €158,900
Average male VP Finance salary: £155,500 / €183,500

VP of Finance salary by country

United Kingdom: £195,000 / €230,650
France: £99,300 / €117,500
Germany: £148,800 / €176,000
United States: £181,300 / €214,500

Finance Director salaries

Overall average: £112,200 / €133,200
Highest reported: £217,600 / €258,200 (US; female; age 40-50; 5000+ employees; SaaS/software industry)
Lowest reported: £53,500 / €63,500 (Spain; female; age 40-50; 1-50 employees; IT industry)
Average female Finance Director salary: £98,900 / €117,400
Average male Finance Directory salary: £117,400 / €139,400

Finance Director salary by country

United Kingdom: £111,300 / €132,100
France: £79,400 / €94,300
Germany: £99,900 / €118,600
United States: £126,500 / €149,600

Head of Finance salaries

Overall average: £81,500 / €96,700
Highest reported: £213,200 / €253,000 (US; male; age 30-40; 251-500 employees; software/SaaS industry)
Lowest reported: £32,500 / €38,640 (US; male; age 30-40; 51-100 employees; software/SaaS)
Average female Head of Finance salary: £72,900 / €86,600
Average male Head of Finance salary: £86,200 / €102,300

Head of finance salary by country

United Kingdom: £81,600 / €96,900
France: £77,100 / €91,500
Germany: £79,000 / €93,800
United States: £131,000 / €155,500

Financial Controller salary

Overall average: £82,100 / €97,500
Highest reported: £542,700 / €644,000 (Liechtenstein; male; age 40-50; 500-1000 employees; IT industry)
Lowest reported: £28,600 / €34,000 (Spain; male; age 25-30; 251-500 employees; automotive industry)
Average female Financial Controller salary: £91,700 / €108,000
Average male Financial Controller salary: £75,900 / €90,100

Financial Controller salary by country

United Kingdom: £63,600 / €75,500
France: £52,600 / €62,500
Germany: £47,700 / €56,600
United States: £110,600 / €131,300

Finance Manager salary

Overall average: £53,000 / €62,900
Highest reported: £155,000 / €184,000 (US; male; age 30-40; 500-1000 employees; IT industry)
Lowest reported: £19,300 / €23,000 (male; Belarus; age 30-40; 51-100 employees; financial services industry)
Average female Financial Controller salary: £51,500 / €61,200
Average male Financial Controller salary: £54,100 / €64,300

Finance Manager salary by country

United Kingdom: £53,100 / €63,000
France: £49,700 / €59,000
Germany: £48,100 / €57,100
United States: £82,100 / €97,400

3 keys to progress and increase your finance team salary

Having seen the finance salary figures above, what can you do to move up the ladder and into higher-paying roles?

1. Build valuable relationships

Few things in your career will be more valuable than the support of others. That includes current managers, peers in other companies, or mentors to help guide your career journey.

Melissa Patino of N26 explains that getting others invested in her career was the big boost she needed. “I was in the shadows, the new CFO didn’t know what I was doing. I did something completely different, I started building relationships, making sure they were vouching for me in my career. I talked to leaders and managers to make sure my work wasn’t invisible. That got me to scale up. It was a big learning experience.”

Explore horizontal moves in place of linear progression

Not all career progression comes through working your way up the ladder. Particularly in times of slow growth, companies don’t always open more senior positions and career paths can quickly stagnate.

Instead, taking a sideways step into a business partner role or a whole new field altogether may be the catalyst in advancing your career.

As Grover Senior Financial Controller Sahil Kamani says, “de-center the myth that vertical growth is the only option. Maybe this was true for our parents’ generation, the more traditional path.

“We should broaden our mindset, think outside of the box when it comes to our career growth. Be innovative and nimble. You may develop interest in another department. Keep your mind open!”

Develop a modern mindset

There’s an outdated cliché that finance teams must be risk averse, and defend cash at all costs. Of course, you must be a good steward of company funds, but modern businesses can’t grow without experimentation and the odd risk.

As executive recruiter John Watkins of Altima explains, the modern CFO needs to have an entrepreneurial mindset and welcome the uncertain:

“CFOs today are tasked with making changes fast, and making financial decisions that might have serious and often unpredictable consequences. You need to be able to embrace uncertainty and risk, and still have the confidence to make the calls you need to make.”

Take these chances in more junior roles and prepare to show your comfort with risk as you move up.

Stay up to date on finance team salaries

For more detail and context on the numbers above, please download the full CFO Salary Benchmark Report. We’ll also be sure to send you each annual edition with new data, as soon as we have it.

Finance leaders Finance Insights

Patrick Whatman

Patrick Whatman is a content marketer and writer. He lives in Paris, loves music, and writes his own brand of cultural criticism for fun. Tweet him @mrwhatman where he mainly talks digital marketing, American sports and New Zealand trivia.

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