for anti-fraud professionals · our 2015/2016 compensation guide for anti-fraud professionals, they...

COMPENSATION GUIDEF O R A N T I - F R A U D P R O F E S S I O N A L S

2015/2016 GLOBAL SALARY STUDY

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Table of Contents

Letter from the President and CEO ............................................................................. 3

Accounting .................................................................................................................. 4

Accounting Median Total Compensation �� 4

CPA/CA or Equivalent �� 5

Forensic Accountant �� 6

Controller �� 7

Management Accountant �� 8

Other Accounting / Finance �� 9

Compensation Ranges for Accounting Job Functions �� 10

Respondent Geographic Profile ................................................................................ 12

Survey Methodology ................................................................................................. 14

About the ACFE ......................................................................................................... 15

www.acfe.com/compguide

ACCOUNTING | 3

Letter from the President and CEOWe often say that there is much more to earning the Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE) cre-

dential than simply adding three new letters after your name� It’s what those letters mean

to you, your employers and your colleagues that make the accomplishment so profound�

So, what exactly do those letters, CFE, mean? They could mean hard work, expertise, drive,

commitment, knowledge, insight — the list could go on and on� And, as we have found in

our 2015/2016 Compensation Guide for Anti-Fraud Professionals, they also mean a 23 percent

salary premium�

It’s a unique opportunity for us to see the tangible and intangible benefits of earning the CFE

credential� Because satisfaction and career development are intangible items, we often don’t

have a specific way to measure the true impact earning the credential has on someone’s life,

both professionally and personally�

But with our new Compensation Guide, we can capture what it looks and feels like to not

only increase your salary, but your worth�

I hope you find the information in this Compensation Guide as interesting and enlightening as

I do� Most importantly, thank you to all who submitted data for this study — this guide would

not have been possible without you�

James D� Ratley, CFE

President and CEO, Association of Certified Fraud Examiners


Figure 1: Accounting Median Total Compensation

AccountingThe field of Accounting consists of five individually selected job functions: CPA/CA or

equivalent, Forensic Accountant, Controller, Management Accountant and Other Accounting/

Finance. This field includes three of the top 10 job functions (Forensic Accountant, CPA/CA or

equivalent and Other Accounting/Finance).

$0 $20,000 $40,000 $60,000 $80,000 $100,000

Non-CFE

CFE $92,505

$75,246


ACCOUNTING | 5

Median Total Compensation

CFE Non-CFE

Level of Responsibility

Executive $139,400 N/APartner/Principal $150,000 $130,000Director $138,000 $114,000Supervisor/Senior Consultant $77,500 $65,000Manager $90,000 $80,000Staff/Consultant/Analyst $68,400 $60,264

Primary Industry of Focus

Education N/A $46,107Financial Institutions $96,500 $116,643Government $92,000 $83,500Health Care $95,000 N/AInsurance $120,000 N/ALaw/Legal Services $90,000 N/AManagement Consultants $95,538 N/AManufacturing $116,400 $94,500Non-Profit $92,405 N/APublic/Chartered Accounting $109,200 $75,000Real Estate $128,242 N/AServices $108,476 $62,209

Years of Experience

0-2 years N/A $53,0403-4 years $60,000 $45,5005-9 years $72,000 $75,00010-19 years $109,200 $107,50020+ years $123,000 $106,000

Figure 2: Compensation Ranges for CPAs/CAs or Equivalent



CFE Non-CFE


Executive $140,000 N/APartner/Principal $270,000 $200,000Vice President $140,000 N/ADirector $160,000 $166,500Supervisor/Senior Consultant $91,500 $85,000Manager $110,000 $103,950Staff/Consultant/Analyst $85,575 $78,000


Financial Institutions $112,000 $75,000Government $92,330 $89,000Health Care $126,375 N/AInsurance $119,500 $90,000Law Enforcement $95,762 $85,000Law/Legal Services $128,000 $182,000Management Consultants $131,086 $95,000Manufacturing $142,500 N/APublic/Chartered Accounting $127,500 $74,721Services $113,987 $96,889

Years of Experience

0-2 years N/A $53,0403-4 years $60,000 $45,5005-9 years $72,000 $75,00010-19 years $109,200 $107,50020+ years $123,000 $106,000

Figure 3: Compensation Ranges for Forensic Accountants


ACCOUNTING | 7


CFE Non-CFE


Executive $126,379 N/AVice President $120,000 N/ADirector $112,486 $93,500Supervisor/Senior Consultant $76,500 $85,000Manager $89,040 $90,594Staff/Consultant/Analyst $73,529 N/A


Education $100,000 N/AFinancial Institutions $80,931 $89,000Government $90,000 $82,500Health Care $90,000 N/AManufacturing $97,462 $94,000Non-Profit $89,040 $55,000Services $94,000 $92,500

Years of Experience

5-9 years $84,000 N/A10-19 years $93,200 $82,50020+ years $114,000 $96,102

Figure 4: Compensation Ranges for Controllers



CFE Non-CFE


Supervisor/Senior Consultant $70,710 $52,229Manager $80,000 $60,000Staff/Consultant/Analyst $72,800 $51,979


Education $75,000 N/AFinancial Institutions $100,000 N/AGovernment $80,496 $70,262Health Care $80,000 N/AManufacturing $61,755 N/ANon-Profit $75,000 $60,000

Years of Experience

5-9 years $70,710 $50,60010-19 years $78,523 $60,00020+ years $89,301 $77,000

Figure 5: Compensation Ranges for Management Accountants


ACCOUNTING | 9


CFE Non-CFE


Executive $143,000 N/APartner/Principal $178,000 N/AVice President N/A $160,000Director $138,307 $89,000Supervisor/Senior Consultant $72,500 $60,000Manager $91,963 $55,000Staff/Consultant/Analyst $64,840 $50,000


Education $77,000 $50,500Financial Institutions $64,000 $53,032Government $85,000 $51,750Health Care $70,000 N/AInsurance $85,000 N/AManagement Consultants $80,800 N/AManufacturing $70,000 $53,000Non-Profit $70,000 $68,299Public/Chartered Accounting $60,500 $43,000Services $60,264 $60,000

Years of Experience

0-2 years N/A $50,0003-4 years $56,000 N/A5-9 years $69,497 $46,07810-19 years $82,400 $50,00020+ years $88,387 $78,625

Figure 6: Compensation Ranges for Other Accounting/Finance


Figure 7: Compensation Ranges for Accounting Job Functions

$0

$25,000

$50,000

$75,000

$100,000

$125,000

$150,000

$175,000

$200,000

Other Accounting/Finance

Management Accountant

ControllerForensic Accountant

CPA/CA or Equivalent

$150,000

$120,000

$142,304

$90,634

$71,600

$80,000

$52,000

$155,000

$105,000

$84,370

$143,000

$96,660

$114,000

$80,000

$56,000

$78,523

$64,427

$113,072

$90,200$81,744

$55,000

$38,724

$60,000

$41,752

$90,594

$65,840

$97,000

$75,000

$102,000

$72,000

CFE Non-CFE

75th75th

75th

75th

75th75th

75th

75th

75th

75th

50th 50th

50th

50th 50th50th

50th 50th

50th

50th

25th

25th

25th

25th

25th

25th

25th

25th

25th

25th

Compensation ranges reflect 25th, 50th (median) and 75th percentile.


ACCOUNTING | 11

I look back on my childhood and realize that I showed the signs that I should be a

CFE and CPA, but just didn’t know it at the time. My mother likes to joke about how I

apparently always walked around with a clipboard� People think I am crazy for saying

this, but I am very lucky to have found my true calling� Public perception is that we are

boring, stuffy accountants — but that is the furthest from the truth� I have never been bored

in my career and cannot ever see myself being bored�”

Danielle Supkis Cheek, CFE, CPA, CVAFounder, D. Supkis Cheek, PLLC

“


Respondent Geographic ProfileTwenty-nine percent of the overall respondents indicated their primary location was outside

the U�S�, the highest in the history of the survey�

The table below illustrates the total cash compensation by geographic region for all respon-

dents, classified by CFEs and non-CFEs.

Figure 8: Overall Geographic Representation: By Region

By Geographic Region

CFE Non-CFECFE Premium

25th percentile

Median75th percentile

25th percentile

Median75th percentile

Based on median

Africa/Middle East

$24,089 $48,775 $90,686 $17,000 $34,135 $67,945 42.9%

Asia $22,500 $61,512 $114,149 $16,437 $34,245 $70,286 79.6%

Australia and New Zealand

$67,373 $91,759 $136,083 $70,763 $87,498 $121,775 4.9%

Canada $67,496 $81,156 $100,440 $57,452 $72,317 $100,440 12.2%

Europe $62,645 $100,912 $148,000 $47,596 $80,113 $124,246 26.0%

Latin America $45,922 $83,145 $125,257 $32,352 $47,060 $92,000 76.7%

Other Countries Not Listed

$45,620 $65,000 $90,600 $22,575 $42,000 $52,000 54.8%

United States $72,000 $96,000 $131,000 $60,000 $82,142 $117,500 16.9%


ACCOUNTING | 13

Figure 9: CFE Premium By Region

4.9%

42.9%

54.8%

79.6%

76.7%

16.9%

12.2%

26.0%

Africa/Middle East

Other Countries Not Listed

Europe

Latin America

United States

Canada Asia

Australia and New Zealand


Survey MethodologyIn order to ensure the confidentiality of the data, the

ACFE contracted an objective, third-party research

company, Western Management Group, to collect and

compile the results� An email with a link to an online

questionnaire was sent to approximately 62,000 ACFE

members in early February 2015� A total of 10,436 com-

pleted and useable responses were received by the end

of February in time for processing, representing a 17%

response rate� Based on 10,436 presumably random

responses and 62,000 for the total population, this study

has a +/- 0.87% margin of error (MOE) at a 95% level

of confidence. In other words, we can be 95% certain

that for a question with 10,436 responses, the survey’s

figure would be within +/- 0.87% percentage points of

the actual universe’s response� A margin of error of +/-

5% is typically accepted as the “standard” in association

research, so this study’s +/- 0.87% figure indicates a

stronger than typical level of statistical integrity�

All data were checked both manually and by a specially

designed computer editing procedure. Strict confidence

of survey responses was maintained throughout the

course of the project.

Visit ACFE.com/CompGuide to access the salary

calculator and create

your individual report�




ACCOUNTING | 15

About the ACFE The ACFE is the world’s largest anti-fraud organization and the premier provider of anti-fraud

training and education� Together with more than 75,000 members, the ACFE is reducing the

incidence of fraud and white-collar crime worldwide and inspiring public confidence in the

integrity and objectivity within the profession.

Members of the ACFE include CPAs, auditors, lawyers, investigators, law enforcement offi-

cers, security professionals, executives, managers and anyone whose job involves prevent-

ing, detecting or deterring fraud�

Certified Fraud Examiners (CFEs) The ACFE established and administers the Certified Fraud Ex-

aminer (CFE) credential. Globally preferred by employers, the

CFE credential denotes proven expertise in fraud prevention,

detection, deterrence and investigation�

For more information about the ACFE and Certified Fraud Examiners, visit ACFE.com�

CERTIFIED FRAUDEXAMINER

www.acfe.com

© 2015 Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, Inc. “ACFE,” “CFE,” “Cer-tified Fraud Examiner,” “Association of Certified Fraud Examiners,” the ACFE Seal, the ACFE Logo and related trademarks, names and logos are the prop-erty of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, Inc., and are registered and/or used in the U�S� and countries around the world�

GLOBAL HEADQUARTERS • THE GREGOR BUILDING716 West Avenue • Austin, TX 78701-2727 • USAPhone: (800) 245-3321 / +1 (512) [email protected] • ACFE.com

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for anti-fraud professionals · our 2015/2016 compensation guide for anti-fraud professionals, they...

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