Accountant Salary NZ
Accounting is one of the quieter engines of the New Zealand workforce. Tahatū, the government careers service, counts about 29,000 accountants and auditors working here, spread across chartered accounting firms, finance teams inside businesses and councils, and one-person practices.
Pay in the profession spreads widely. Where you sit depends less on the job title on your door and more on four things: whether you hold the CA designation, how many years you have behind you, the sector you work in, and the region you work in. This guide sticks to figures published by Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand (CA ANZ), the profession’s own body, and by Tahatū. Every figure below is labelled with its source and year, because salary numbers age quickly and the source matters.
One thing to know before the numbers: CA ANZ reports total remuneration, meaning base salary plus bonuses and other benefits such as KiwiSaver contributions, for full-time members. Tahatū reports pay for the occupation as a whole, chartered or not.
Accountant salary at a glance
- Most accountants and auditors in New Zealand earn $71,000–$131,000 a year. Pay starts around $56,000 at the lower end and reaches $181,000 at the top (Tahatū, accessed October 2026).
- A CA ANZ provisional member, someone working while studying the CA Program, reported median total remuneration of $76,000 (CA ANZ Remuneration Survey, 2023).
- An accountant holding CA membership reported a median of $86,748, and a senior accountant $101,920 (CA ANZ, 2023).
- Finance managers reported a median of $144,400, financial controllers $170,770, and chief financial officers $267,350 (CA ANZ, 2023).
Salary by experience level
Experience is the single biggest lever on an accountant’s pay. CA ANZ’s survey work shows a steep climb in the first decade, then a slower rise as members move into management.
| Experience | Median total remuneration | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Provisional member (studying the CA Program) | $76,000 | CA ANZ Remuneration Survey 2023 |
| 0–5 years’ experience | Around $77,000 (implied, see note) | CA ANZ Remuneration Survey 2025 |
| 6–10 years’ experience | $118,300 | CA ANZ Remuneration Survey 2025 |
| All accountants and auditors, most common range | $71,000–$131,000 | Tahatū, accessed 2026 |
Note on the 0–5 years figure: CA ANZ’s February 2025 release reported the 6–10 years median directly and stated that this group earned 53 percent more than members with 0–5 years’ experience in New Zealand. Working backwards from $118,300 puts the early-career median at roughly $77,000.
The jump between those two bands is worth pausing on. A 53 percent gap between the first five years and the next five is steep compared with most professions, and it reflects what happens in that window: members finish the CA Program, move from supervised work to owning client relationships or a reporting cycle, and become much harder to replace.
Tahatū’s occupation-wide range tells a similar story from the other direction. The floor of $56,000 captures entry-level and part-qualified roles across the whole occupation, while the $181,000 upper figure reflects experienced chartered accountants in senior positions.
Salary by role
Job titles in accounting follow a fairly standard ladder, especially inside larger organisations and firms. These are the New Zealand medians CA ANZ reported for full-time members in its 2023 survey.
| Role | Median total remuneration (NZ, full-time) |
|---|---|
| Assistant accountant | $75,000 |
| Accountant | $86,748 |
| Senior accountant | $101,920 |
| Financial accountant | $108,032 |
| Management accountant | $110,000 |
| Accounting manager | $115,000 |
| Finance manager | $144,400 |
| Financial controller | $170,770 |
| Partner (public practice) | $215,700 |
| Chief financial officer | $267,350 |
Source: CA ANZ Remuneration Survey 2023. The partner figure comes from a small sample and CA ANZ flags it as indicative only. Partner earnings in practice also work differently from a salary, since partners own a share of the firm.
Two patterns stand out. First, the move from accountant to senior accountant is worth roughly $15,000 a year at the median, and the move into finance management is worth much more again. Second, the top of the table is dominated by roles that carry responsibility for an organisation’s whole financial position rather than for a set of accounts. A financial controller runs the accounting function. A CFO answers for strategy, funding, and risk, and the pay reflects that.
Specialist tracks sit inside the same range. Senior tax managers, audit managers, and finance business partners all reported medians between roughly $128,000 and $150,000 in the same 2023 survey, so deep technical expertise pays comparably to people management for those who prefer it.
Public practice vs industry
Accountants split their careers between public practice (firms that serve many clients) and roles inside a single organisation, often called industry or corporate roles. Government and not-for-profit employers form the other two big groupings.
CA ANZ’s 2023 report found the corporate sector paid the highest median total remuneration of the four, followed by not-for-profit, then government, with public practice fourth. Practice has historically traded lower salaries in the junior and middle years for training quality and the partnership track at the top. The same report noted that median remuneration for New Zealand members in government and not-for-profit organisations rose 9 percent in 2023, the fastest growth of any sector that year, as public sector pay settings loosened.
By the 2025 survey, released in February 2026, the corporate sector had recorded New Zealand’s largest increase again, with median remuneration up 6 percent. The practical reading: industry roles tend to win on salary from the mid-career years onward, while practice competes on training, variety of work, and the long-term partnership prize.
Pay by region
Auckland pays the most, and it is not particularly close. In CA ANZ’s 2022 survey, the median total remuneration for full-time members was:
| Region | Median total remuneration |
|---|---|
| Auckland | $150,000 |
| Wellington | $142,147 |
| Canterbury | $124,013 |
| North Island, outside the main centres | $123,508 |
| South Island, outside Canterbury | $122,488 |
Source: CA ANZ Member Remuneration Survey 2022.
Wellington’s position reflects the concentration of government finance roles and head offices. The gap between Auckland and the regions was about $26,000 at the median, although regional living costs, especially housing, claw back part of that difference.
Regional pay is not static. CA ANZ’s 2025 survey found Otago and Nelson/Marlborough recorded double-digit growth in median remuneration, outpacing the main centres, which the organisation linked to pockets of regional economic strength. Accountants willing to move, or to work remotely for a main-centre employer from a regional base, have more leverage than the older data suggests.
Chartered vs non-chartered accountants
There is no official head-to-head dataset that compares CA members with non-chartered accountants doing identical work, and any article that quotes you a precise “CA premium” is working from recruiter data. What the primary sources do show is this:
- Tahatū’s range for the whole occupation, qualified and unqualified together, tops out at $181,000, with most accountants between $71,000 and $131,000.
- Within CA ANZ’s membership, medians for established roles sit at or above the top of that common range once members reach finance manager level and beyond.
- The senior roles that carry the highest pay, CFO, financial controller, audit partner, almost always require the CA designation or an equivalent. Public practice partners must be qualified, and most large employers list CA membership as a requirement for financial controller and CFO appointments.
The honest summary is that the CA is less a pay rise in itself and more a gate pass. It unlocks the roles where the top salaries sit, and it signals to employers that your training has been supervised and examined to a set standard. CA ANZ also reported a gender pay gap among New Zealand members of 24 percent in its 2025 survey, a reminder that headline medians hide wide variation within the profession.
What else affects an accountant’s pay
Bonuses. Not every accountant gets one. In CA ANZ’s 2023 survey, 31 percent of full-time New Zealand members received a bonus, and among those who did, the median bonus was $18,280. Bonuses are more common in corporate roles and senior positions.
Specialisation. Tax, audit, insolvency, and forensic accounting all develop their own pay scales. Scarce skills, such as experience with large audits or complex tax work, command premiums that generalist medians smooth over.
Organisation size. Larger employers generally pay more, reflecting bigger finance teams, more complex reporting, and formal salary bands. Small practices and small businesses pay less but often offer faster breadth of experience.
Staying or moving. CA ANZ’s surveys consistently find younger members reporting the largest pay increases, partly because early-career accountants move employers to climb. In the 2025 survey, 76 percent of respondents received a pay rise, although nearly half of those rises were 2.5 percent or less.
If you are weighing accounting against other public service professions with set pay scales, our guides to nurse salary NZ and teacher salary NZ show how those careers compare. Accounting has no national scale, which cuts both ways: slower certainty early on, a higher ceiling later.
How to become an accountant in NZ
You can work as an accountant without the CA designation. Many do, particularly in smaller businesses. The chartered pathway, though, is the standard route into the profession’s senior ranks, and it runs like this:
- Get a degree. Most candidates complete a bachelor’s degree, usually in accounting or commerce, that CA ANZ has accredited. If your degree is not accredited, CA ANZ runs a CA Foundations pathway to fill the gaps, and there are now masters pathways at several New Zealand universities that bundle the qualification with CA study.
- Become a provisional member. With an accredited degree (or after assessment of your prior learning), you apply for provisional membership of CA ANZ. Provisional members are the ones studying toward full membership while they work.
- Complete the CA Program. The program has two parts that run together. The Graduate Diploma of Chartered Accounting (GradDipCA) covers nine subjects, seven core and two elective, and can be finished in about a year of full-time study or part-time over two or more years alongside work. Alongside it sits Mentored Practical Experience: three years of approved work (at least 500 days) under a mentor who is a full CA member.
- Apply for full membership. Once both parts are done, inside a maximum of eight years of provisional membership, you can apply to use the CA designation.
All up, the typical timeline is a three-year degree followed by about three years of working and studying, so most newly qualified CAs are in their mid to late twenties. There is also a separate Accounting Technician (AT) designation for people working in accounting support roles who want a recognised qualification without the full CA.
Career progression
A common path runs graduate or assistant accountant, then accountant, senior accountant, and into either management (accounting manager, financial controller, finance manager, CFO) or deeper specialisation (tax manager, audit manager, finance business partner). In public practice the equivalent ladder ends at partner.
The CA ANZ 2025 survey counted members working in more than 660 different job titles, including chief executives, sustainability leads, and cybersecurity directors. That breadth is a genuine feature of the qualification: the CA trains you in how organisations run, not just in how their ledgers work, and members regularly move into general management. The general manager median in CA ANZ’s 2022 survey was $246,600 in New Zealand, second only to CFOs among common roles.
For more career and pay guides, see our Jobs & Education section.
FAQs
How much do accountants earn in New Zealand?
Most accountants and auditors earn between $71,000 and $131,000 a year, according to Tahatū, with pay starting around $56,000 and top earners reaching $181,000. Among chartered accountants, CA ANZ reported a median of $86,748 for accountants and $101,920 for senior accountants in 2023.
What do accountants earn while training for the CA?
CA ANZ’s 2023 survey put the median total remuneration for provisional members, the accountants studying the CA Program while working, at $76,000. That is a median across all provisional members, including people near the end of their training, so first-year graduates usually start below it.
Do chartered accountants earn more than other accountants?
There is no official dataset that isolates the CA effect on identical roles. CA ANZ member medians sit high relative to Tahatū’s whole-occupation range, and the best-paid roles in the profession, partner, financial controller, and CFO, generally require the designation. Treat the CA as the entry ticket to those jobs rather than a guaranteed premium at every level.
Which city pays accountants the most?
Auckland, with a median total remuneration of $150,000 for full-time CA ANZ members in the 2022 survey, ahead of Wellington on $142,147. Regional pay grew faster in the 2025 survey, with Otago and Nelson/Marlborough both recording double-digit increases.
How long does it take to become a chartered accountant?
About six years in total for the standard route: a three-year accredited degree, then the CA Program, which combines the Graduate Diploma of Chartered Accounting with three years of mentored practical experience in a job. The study and the work experience usually run at the same time.
Is accounting a good career in NZ?
Tahatū lists about 29,000 people employed as accountants and auditors, with employment change rated steady, and advertised roles in every region. Pay progression in the first decade is strong by professional standards, particularly once the CA is finished. The trade-offs are the study load while working and busy peak periods, especially around balance dates and tax deadlines.
Do accountants get bonuses?
Some do. In CA ANZ’s 2023 survey, 31 percent of full-time members in New Zealand received a bonus, with a median of $18,280 among those who got one. Bonuses are more common in corporate and senior roles than in public practice or the public sector.
Sources
- Tahatū (TEC), Accountant and auditor occupation profile, pay and employment data, accessed October 2026: https://tahatu.govt.nz/work/explore-career-ideas/occupation/T00101-accountant-and-auditor
- Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand, 2023 CA ANZ Member Remuneration Survey Report, 2023: https://www.charteredaccountantsanz.com/-/media/2421f4859101421994a0666b90bdfdaa.pdf
- Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand, 2022 Member Remuneration Survey, 2022: https://www.charteredaccountantsanz.com/-/media/1e4a938b2186406290e237b0a504b707.pdf
- Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand, media release on the Remuneration Survey (6–10 years experience data), February 2025: http://www.charteredaccountantsanz.com/news-and-analysis/media-centre/press-releases/pay-rises-flexible-working-and-gender-pay-gap-new-survey-for-cas
- Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand, media release, 2025 CA ANZ Remuneration Survey, 4 February 2026: https://d35nv8m6ay1zkp.cloudfront.net?j=1043347&s=2&k=3547635
- Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand, Mentored Practical Experience requirements: https://www.charteredaccountantsanz.com/become-a-member/course-descriptions/ca-program/mentored-practical-experience-mpe
- Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand, CA Program entry requirements: https://www.charteredaccountantsanz.com/become-a-member/entry-requirements/chartered-accountant
General information only. Salary figures are survey medians from the sources and years shown, and actual pay varies by employer, location, and market conditions. Total remuneration figures from CA ANZ include base salary plus bonuses and other benefits, so they are not directly comparable with base salary figures quoted elsewhere.
