Malaysian salary survey by CIMA

Between August and September 2007 CIMA conducted a salary survey with CIMA qualified professionals in Malaysia. Accountants and finance professionals are among the most highly sought after vocations in the world. Major employers seeking accountants compete fiercely for new recruits every year. As a result, Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) professionals are constantly in demand. CIMA is the only professional body that qualifies accountants solely for business. CIMA members have an increasingly pivotal role to play in driving business success at the heart of the organisation – providing the basis for support for strategic decision. By the time Malaysia achieves its expected developed nation status by 2020, the country may have a shortage of 60,000 accountants. The accounting industry is already feeling the pinch as several countries are luring Malaysian accountants with salary offers of four times their earnings. This survey not only looks at how much a qualified CIMA member earns in Malaysia, but also the types of benefits they receive and how far this matches their expectations. The survey was sent to all 1,639 CIMA members in Malaysia for whom we have an email address. Of these, 213 useable responses were received, representing a response rate of 13.0%. The demographic profile of a typical respondent to this survey is a 42 year old ACMA financial professional with 13 years post qualified experience. The average monthly salary for a qualified CIMA professional in Malaysia is RM120,000 per annum, compared with the national average income for Malaysia as a whole, which stands at just RM21,000 per annum2 – representing almost a six-fold difference. CIMA members working in the media sector receive the highest salaries by far, equating to RM175,000 per annum. Nine out of ten of CIMA members working in Malaysia are expecting a bonus in 2007. The average bonus potential is RM25,000, with a privileged 2% expecting to receive bonuses in excess of RM100,000. On average, newly qualified members are expecting higher bonuses in 2007 than those with between one and ten years post-qualified experience. This reflects the strong levels of demand for newly qualified CIMA members in Malaysia. Newly qualified members are, on average, expecting to receive a bonus in the region of RM20,800 in 2007. This is almost the same as the average national income in Malaysia of RM21,000 per annum. Bonuses top the list of benefits received with 87% entitled to a bonus. This is also considered to be the most important benefit, with none of the 213 respondents to the survey saying that this benefit was of no importance to them. Of the most desired benefits, the two that organisations are failing to meet most in terms of staff requirements are pensions and life assurance.