Female accountants still earn £17,000 less than men

The gender pay gap within the accounting profession shrank by 3% the past year.

However financial inequalities still exist between the two sexes with male accountants earning nearly £20,000 more than female colleagues.

Women are also earning substantially less than men when it comes to annual bonuses, according to new research from financial recruitment firm Marks Sattin.

Female accountants earn £67,680 a year on average, whereas male practitioners earn approximately £84,970, a gap of more than £17,000.

In 2015 the basic salary in accountancy was £71,890 for men, and £59,420 for women, meaning a woman’s average basic salary was 83% of that awarded to a man.

In regards to bonuses, women earned an average of £8,260 – 36.9% less than the £13,080 received by men.

Despite this £17,000 pay gap, accountancy managed to perform above the UK average in terms of salary equality.

Remuneration packages for women in accountancy increased between 2013 and 2015, with basic pay packages growing 3%, to £59,420 from £57,650.

Marks Sattin managing director Dave Way said: “Earning equality between the genders is crucial for ensuring we continue to attract the highest calibre of talent to the profession but, in our experience, as accountants become more senior the pay gap often becomes wider.”

The Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT) also released research on the gender pay gap, finding that men were twice as bullish as women about salary expectations and were more likely to push for and receive pay rises.

According to the AAT, two thirds of men thought men and women were treated equally in terms of pay and progression, compared to just four in ten women.