Accountancy Capital publishes salary guides for every qualified finance role we recruit at £50,000 and above. The data is drawn from our active placement market — live searches, candidate conversations and confirmed placements — and updated continuously rather than collected annually by survey. Each guide covers base salary by region and experience level, the qualification premium, sector context where significant, bonus benchmarks and interim or fractional day rates.
There are four types of salary guide in this section: role-specific guides covering a particular finance role across the UK, senior finance guides covering FD and CFO level appointments, location guides covering all qualified finance roles in a specific city, and rates guides for fractional and interim finance models.
Financial Controller and Senior Finance Salary Guides
The guides below cover Financial Controller, Finance Director and CFO salary benchmarks across the UK, including business-type and sector adjustments, PE-backed premium, bonus and total remuneration benchmarks.
| Salary Guide | London Range | Midlands & North |
|---|---|---|
| Financial Controller Salary Guide UK | £65k–£130k | £52k–£105k |
| London Financial Controller Salary Guide | £65k–£130k | — |
| Group Financial Controller Salary Guide UK | £75k–£125k | £58k–£97k |
| Head of Finance Salary Guide UK | £68k–£120k | £55k–£98k |
| Finance Director Salary Guide UK | £90k–£280k+ | £75k–£200k+ |
| CFO Salary Guide UK | £160k–£500k+ | £130k–£350k+ |
Role Salary Guides — UK 2026
Each guide covers base salary by region (London / South East / Midlands & North), salary by business size and ownership structure, the qualification premium, bonus and benefits, and interim day rates for the relevant role.
| Salary Guide | London Range | Midlands & North |
|---|---|---|
| Finance Manager Salary Guide UK | £55k–£95k | £44k–£76k |
| Finance Business Partner Salary Guide UK | £60k–£110k | £47k–£84k |
| FP&A Manager Salary Guide UK | £62k–£108k | £48k–£82k |
| Management Accountant Salary Guide UK | £50k–£85k | £40k–£67k |
| Financial Accountant Salary Guide UK | £52k–£95k | £40k–£73k |
| In-House Tax Manager Salary Guide UK | £60k–£140k | £47k–£106k |
Fractional and Interim Rates — UK 2026
The rates guides below cover fractional and interim engagement models: day rates, monthly retainer structures, IR35 considerations and total cost comparisons with permanent equivalents.
| Rates Guide | London Day Rate | Monthly Retainer (2 days/wk) |
|---|---|---|
| Interim Financial Controller Rates UK | £380–£850/day | — |
| Fractional Financial Controller Rates UK | £375–£650/day | £3,600–£5,500/month |
| Fractional CFO Rates UK | £650–£1,300/day | £6,400–£10,500/month |
Location Salary Guides
The location guides below cover salary benchmarks across all qualified finance roles in a specific city or region — from Accounts Assistant through to Finance Director level. Useful for employers benchmarking multiple roles in a single location and for candidates wanting a comprehensive overview of the local market.
| Location Guide | Covers |
|---|---|
| London Accountancy Salary Guide | All qualified finance roles in London — Accounts Assistant to Finance Director. The most comprehensive location benchmark we publish. |
| London Financial Controller Salary Guide | Deep-dive FC salary data for London — by sector, business size, PE vs owner-managed, and interim day rates. |
| Birmingham Accountancy Salary Guide | Salary benchmarks for qualified finance roles across Birmingham and the Midlands — including comparison to London rates. |
| Oxford Accountancy Salary Guide | Finance salaries across Oxford and Oxfordshire — including the life sciences and tech cluster premium, university sector and comparison to London. |
| Cambridge Accountancy Salary Guide | Finance salaries across Cambridge and Cambridgeshire — the Cambridge Cluster premium, deep tech and life sciences, university sector, and comparison to London. |
How to Use These Salary Guides
Salary guides give market ranges, not definitive numbers. The actual salary for any specific hire is determined by the intersection of several factors: the specific scope of the role, the size and ownership structure of the business, the location, the qualification level and post-qualification experience of the candidate, and the competitive alternatives available to that candidate in the current market.
The most common salary benchmarking error we see is using the wrong reference point for the business context. A Financial Controller at a PE-backed technology business of £25m revenue commands a materially different salary from an FC at a stable owner-managed services business of the same revenue — typically £15,000–£20,000 more in London. The FC Salary Guide UK and the Finance Director Salary Guide UK both include detailed business-context adjustments to help employers and candidates navigate this.
The right approach is to identify the range for your specific region from the guide, then adjust for PE vs owner-managed (+15–25%), technology or financial services (+10–15%), and the specific experience depth required. Then check your adjusted figure against the current market by calling us before formally committing to a salary range in the brief.
Salary Guides for Candidates
If you are a finance professional using these guides to understand your own market value, the most important benchmark is not the overall range for your role title — it is the range for your specific business context. A Financial Controller at a £15m PE-backed business with five years of post-qualification experience is benchmarked against the PE-backed FC range at that revenue level, which sits at the upper end of the overall range and may be materially above what their current employer pays.
If you have used the guides and believe you are being paid below the market rate for your specific scope, experience level and business context, the most useful next step is a direct conversation with a specialist finance recruiter. Register with Accountancy Capital and we will have that conversation with you directly.
Need a Specific Salary View?
The guides above give market ranges. For a specific view on what a particular role at your business, in your location, at your required experience level will cost in the current market — call Accountancy Capital before you brief the search. We give straight market intelligence in a short conversation, without any obligation.
Talk to us → 0204 553 8893 — Mon–Fri 9am–5:30pm
A Note from Our Founder — Adrian Lawrence FCA
Salary guides are one of the most useful and most misused tools in finance recruitment. Used correctly — as a starting point that is then refined against the specific business context, location and candidate profile — they significantly improve the quality and speed of a search by ensuring the salary is set at a realistic level before the market is approached. Used incorrectly — as a precise number to be applied mechanically regardless of context — they produce exactly the shortlist problems they are meant to prevent.
The most important thing I can tell any employer about salary is this: the best candidates are not primarily motivated by salary, but they will not accept a salary that is materially below what they could earn for the same scope elsewhere. Setting the salary at the midpoint of the range for your specific context — not the minimum, not the maximum — and communicating it clearly in the brief gives you access to the full candidate pool. Anything below the midpoint starts to narrow the field before the search has even begun.
Adrian Lawrence FCA, Founder, Accountancy Capital — verify via ICAEW.
Adrian Lawrence FCA
Founder, Accountancy Capital — Qualified finance recruitment specialists, £50,000 and above. Adrian is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales — verify via ICAEW.
Related Pages and Resources
| FC and Senior Finance Guides Key salary benchmarks. | Role Salary Guides All role-specific benchmarks. | Rates Guides Interim and fractional day rates. | Location Guides Regional salary benchmarks. |
Finance Salary Intelligence — 0204 553 8893
Accountancy Capital gives straight salary market intelligence before every search. Call us before you set the range — same-day response.
Tell us about your hire → Register as a Candidate → 0204 553 8893