Location-based job market activity: Sydney (public practice)

One in five Australians live in the Sydney metropolitan area and every day still more people commute into this thriving business community full of vitality and opportunities. In this environment, Sydney's public practice market is flourishing with many opportunities across all sectors.

The strongest job opportunities are for:

• all areas of auditing
• all areas of tax
• senior business services accountants
• junior insolvency accountants

Driving these opportunities is economic growth, the introduction of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), Sarbanes-Oxley legislation and independence issues.

The expansion of smaller city practices has created a rise in insolvency work while a flow of tax and audit candidates into commerce and industry has created a shortage of candidates in these areas.

Geographically, the CBD, Parramatta and the Hills district have the majority of key job opportunities. The 2001 Australian Bureau of Statistics census showed that the rate of employment growth in the City of Sydney (including the CBD) was double that of the Sydney metropolitan area in the five years to 2001. Since then there has been a huge growth in the Sydney metropolitan area, particularly in the Hills district and Parramatta where high levels of housing and commercial developments have seen employment activity rise dramatically.

Graduate recruitment

Low levels of graduates recruited in 2001 and 2002 has produced a shortage of graduates with 18 months experience from a recognised accounting firm. As a result it is not uncommon to see employers recruiting cadets and putting them through university.

In some cases, the cadets are offered block university releases so they can study full time for a semester while receiving approximately $150 per week from the firm while on release.

Remuneration

Following the large increases in salaries in the lead up to GST implementation, salaries have continued to increase recently due to Sarbanes-Oxley, IFRS and a shortage of accountants.

The 2004 Hays Accountancy & Finance salary survey shows that business services roles increased by 4.8 per cent compared to the previous year, with the biggest average remuneration package increases for managers (up to $90,000 from $80,000 in 2003), senior managers with two to five years experience (up to $110,000 from $100,000 in 2003) and for principals/directors (up to $150,000 from $140,000 in 2003).

Packages experienced a 4.5 per cent increase overall compared to the previous year in audit. For example, the average remuneration packages for IT auditors, typically CPA/CA qualified and at the senior, supervisor or assistant manager level with 2.5 to 3.5 years experience is $65,000 (up from $60,000 in 2003). With 3.5 to 5 years experience, the package is $75,000 (up from $70,500 in 2003), and with over five years experience it is $85,000 (up from $77,500 in 2003).

At the graduate level, average remuneration packages rose $2,000 to $40,000 for graduates with no experience, to $42,000 for one to two years experience and to $52,000 for three or more years experience.

Insolvency salaries rose on average by 3.9 per cent. For example, insolvency professionals at the senior, supervisor or assistant manager level, typically with their CPA/CA completed, rose to $58,000 (from $54,500 in 2003) for candidates with 2.5 to 3.5 years experience, to $62,000 (from $59,500 in 2003) for candidates with 3.5 to 5 years experience and to $72,000 (from $69,500 in 2003) for candidates with five or more years experience.

Recent placements

Hays Accountancy & Finance recently placed a senior business services manager with a medium tier chartered accounting firm in the CBD. Candidates were required to have five to 10 years post qualification chartered experience. The successful candidate received a $105,000 package, including superannuation.

Also recently placed was a senior business services accountant in a large international second tier firm. The role required four years experience, CPA/CA qualification, management experience, strong client relationship and communication skills, exposure to large clients, excellent TER and university results, and first time passes. The successful candidate received $55,000.

The next 12 months

The next 12 months will see an increase in positions available as the candidate market tightens and legislative changes create increased demand for suitably qualified staff.

As Sydney firms look to grow their specialist business units and tackle the increasingly complex technical environment, we expect senior business services accountants, newly qualified auditors and junior to intermediate insolvency staff will continue to have strong career and job opportunities over the following months.

For new jobseekers and graduates, we would advise candidates to stay committed to continual studies, keep up-to-date with accounting standards and taxation law changes, and gain relevant work experience.

University graduates with experience have an edge over counterparts without work experience. It is becoming increasingly important to demonstrate good communication and interpersonal skills in a job interview since firms need employees who are credible with their clients.

Speaking to employers, it is clear that communication and presentation remains an area of improvement for public practice candidates. With an increasing use of behavioural interview questions, candidates need to be able to communicate their past behaviour in particular real-life situations in order to demonstrate their competencies and attributes.

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