Treasury and finance professionals with a Master's degree or MBA on average earned $9,000 more than their peers whose highest level of education was a Bachelor's degree, according to new research by the Association for Financial Professionals. 

AFP also found that for the second secon year in a row treasury and finance professionals enjoyed an increase in pay. The 2015 AFP Compensation Survey of more than 3,300 treasury and finance professionals found that respondents received a 4.1 percent gain in their base salaries in 2014, an increase from the 3.8 percent increase reported in last year’s survey.

This year’s compensation report includes updated job descriptions for the 20 titles tracked, and it covers compensation data for financial planning and analysis (FP&A) professionals.

Raises occurred in 2014 on every professional level:

• Executive-level finance professionals’ salaries increased 3.5 percent.
• Management-level finance professionals’ salaries increased 4.6 percent.
• Staff-level finance professionals’ salaries increased 3.4 percent.

“The 2015 Compensation Survey shows how highly organizations value the skills and expertise of treasury and finance professionals,” said Jim Kaitz, president and CEO of AFP. “Just as they helped steer their companies through difficult times, treasury and finance professionals are also helping them grow.”

In the executive tier, treasurers and controllers/comptrollers garnered the highest average base salary increases of 4 percent and 3.9 percent, respectively. Within the management tier, cash managers obtained the highest average salary increase of 8.3 percent—the largest increase for the 20 job titles tracked in the survey.

Bonuses were bountiful in 2014, as 72 percent of organizations awarded bonuses to their treasury and finance employees. On average, finance professionals received bonuses equivalent to 18 percent of their 2014 base salary. Executive-level finance professionals received the largest bonuses, with an average bonus of $57,500 or 34 percent of base salary. Education played a role in compensation as well. In addition, professional certifications such as AFP’s Certified Treasury Professional (CTP) contribute to the upward mobility and career advancement of financial executives.  

View the entire 2015 AFP Compensation Survey at www.AFPonline.org/CompReport.