Finance salaries decline for first time as gender pay gap widens to 35% in UK

Published on June 5, 2025

In a year marked by economic uncertainty, the finance profession faces significant challenges, as revealed in the 2025 edition of the CFO Salary Benchmark Report.

For the first time since the annual survey began, finance salaries have declined across most roles and regions, while job dissatisfaction rises and the gender pay gap persists. However, amid these challenges, technological advancements and changing workplace dynamics offer new opportunities for finance professionals willing to adapt.

Key findings: A shifting financial landscape

The 2025 edition of the CFO Salary Benchmark, which is based on responses from over 600 finance professionals across 40+ countries, reveals several significant trends that UK finance leaders should note:

1. Finance salaries in decline

After years of steady growth, the average finance salary has decreased by 6.2% to £101,268 in 2025, down from £107,952 in 2024. This decline affects most job titles, with notable exceptions being Heads of Finance (+5%) and Heads of Accounting/Controlling (+17%).

UK finance professionals now earn an average of £102,324, representing a 2.8% decline from 2024, while German colleagues face a steeper 6% decline. Meanwhile, France (+9%) and the US (+8%) have bucked the trend with salary increases.

2. The persistent gender pay gap

The gender pay gap remains a significant issue, with men in finance earning 25% more than women globally (£111,573 vs £86,739). While this represents a slight improvement from the 27% gap in 2024, it remains substantially higher than the average across all professions (12.7% in the EU).

Particularly concerning is the UK situation, where the gap has widened dramatically to 35% (up from 24% in 2024). Women in UK finance now earn £90,068 compared to men's £128,431 – a staggering £38,363 difference.

This places the UK as the second-worst country for gender equality in finance, behind only Germany at 40%, while France (12%) and the US (14%) demonstrate more progress toward equality.

3. Rising job dissatisfaction

Nearly half (49%) of UK finance professionals are considering looking for new roles in the next 6-12 months, up from 43% in 2024. This increase is driven primarily by salary concerns, with 24% citing better pay as their motivation (up from 20% in 2024).

Junior roles show the highest dissatisfaction, with 69% of FP&A Managers and 64% of Finance Managers considering moves. The talent retention crisis is particularly acute among women, with 28% actively seeking new roles specifically for fair compensation.

4. Technology and AI reshaping finance

Despite challenges, finance professionals express optimism about technology's impact on their work. 83% report that finance technology has increased their productivity, and 92% believe tech skills will be crucial for career advancement.

Regarding AI specifically, 52% of respondents are excited about its potential benefits, while 40% have mixed feelings. Only 7% view AI as overrated or potentially harmful to finance teams.

CFO spotlight: Stability amid change

While many finance roles have seen salary decreases, the average CFO salary has remained stable at £133,929. However, this masks significant regional variations:

UK CFOs: £149,623 (+1.3% from 2024)
US CFOs: £196,468 (-7.8% from 2024)
German CFOs: £145,090 (-5.6% from 2024)
French CFOs: £97,030 (+5.6% from 2024)

The UK CFO salary range remains vast, from £69,900 to £274,548, reflecting the diverse nature of the role across company sizes and stages.

Notably, CFOs appear more content in their positions than other finance professionals, with 58% not considering a job change in the next year – the highest stability rate among all finance roles.

Practical implications for UK finance professionals

With finance salaries stagnating and nearly half of professionals considering job changes, standing out in this competitive landscape requires a strategic approach to your professional development and personal brand.

1. Building your value proposition in a competitive market

As the job market tightens and salary growth stalls, UK finance professionals must focus on developing a compelling personal brand and skill set:

Develop technology proficiency: With 92% of respondents believing tech skills will impact career advancement, investing in AI, automation, and data analytics capabilities is essential.
Highlight soft skills: Beyond technical expertise, emphasise stakeholder management, communication, and leadership abilities that set you apart.
Build your personal brand: Define your unique value proposition and actively shape how you're perceived through consistent messaging, networking, and demonstrating expertise.
Master strategic compensation negotiations: In a climate where fixed costs are scrutinised, learn to negotiate complete packages including equity, performance bonuses, and other benefits.

2. Addressing the gender pay gap

The widening gender pay gap in UK finance (35%) demands attention from both employers and employees:

For employers:

Implement transparent salary bands and regular equity audits
Review promotion criteria and processes for unconscious bias
Provide mentorship and development opportunities for women

For female finance professionals:

Research market rates rigorously before negotiations
Build networks with other female finance leaders
Consider roles in sectors or companies with better equality records

3. Preparing for AI and technology changes

With over half of finance professionals excited about AI's potential impact:

Stay informed: Follow developments in finance-specific AI applications and understand how they might affect your role
Develop complementary skills: Focus on areas AI cannot easily replicate – strategic thinking, stakeholder management, and ethical decision-making
Embrace efficiency gains: Use technology to automate routine tasks, freeing time for more strategic contributions

Looking forward: Navigating uncertainty

The 2025 edition of the CFO Salary Benchmark reveals a profession at a crossroads. Economic headwinds have halted salary growth, while technological changes promise to transform how finance teams operate. For UK finance professionals, this environment presents both challenges and opportunities.

"The latest data from our annual CFO Salary Benchmark reveals concerning trends in pay equity across UK and European finance. The UK's widening gap is especially troubling, while for EU companies — who, in one year's time, must be implementing the EU Pay Transparency Directive — there is a long way to go."

Rodolphe Ardant, Founder of Spendesk

Those who can adapt to changing expectations, develop both technical and soft skills and position themselves as strategic partners to the business will be best placed to thrive. Meanwhile, employers must address persistent inequalities and create environments where finance talent can develop and contribute meaningfully.

While the immediate salary outlook may be challenging, finance professionals who invest in their capabilities and navigate these changes thoughtfully can position themselves for success as the economic cycle eventually turns. The profession's fundamental importance to business decision-making remains unchanged, even as how that value is delivered continues to evolve.

Download the CFO Salary Benchmark Report

For a deeper dive into all the data, insights, and expert commentary, download the full report.

The 2025 edition of the CFO Salary Benchmark was conducted by CFO Connect in partnership with Spendesk and Deel, surveying 619 finance professionals across 40+ countries between January and March 2025.

Future of work

Chris Dunne

Chris Dunne is our Content Marketing Manager. Based in Derry, he brings over 15 years of marketing experience to our content strategy. Outside of work, Chris loves spending time with his two young children, playing football, and exploring Ireland.

Get started with Spendesk

Close the books 4x faster, collect over 95% of receipts on time, and get 100% visibility over company spending.

Business spending includes different types of spend:

Strategic spend is usually centralized and managed by C-level executives with dedicated spenders. It can be managed through invoices, wire transfers and purchase orders.
Discretionary and operational spend is also centralized, but spending is done by managers and employees during their daily professional lives. It includes card purchases, subscription payments, digital ads, events, office orders, and business travel.
Expenses, unlike strategic spend, represent a significant amount of small purchases that can be difficult to track. These include card payments, expense claims, team perks, and travel expenses.

Spend management is the process through which companies manage business spending. It takes into account the end-to-end process when someone needs to spend: getting purchase approvals, providing payment methods, submitting and processing invoices, submitting and reimbursing expense claims, chasing receipts and invoices for reconciliation, and assigning the right analytical codes, expense accounts, and VAT rates to all those expenses for bookkeeping.

Spend management tools become necessary when the number of employees increases and the need for clear processes, better visibility and control starts to grow for finance teams.

Employees need flexible, user-friendly tools, in order to spend easily and be empowered to do their job.

That’s when Spendesk can be a good fit.

Spendesk provides payment methods for modern businesses, and a powerful platform for finance teams to manage spending. This includes debit cards to replace old-fashioned company credit cards, virtual cards for online purchases, and automated expense reports for unexpected payments.

For employees
Employees no longer need to spend out-of-pocket. They request funds for a particular purchase, and can use their Spendesk card or virtual card to execute the payment.

If for any reason the employee can’t use their Spendesk card, they snap a picture of the receipt via the Spendesk mobile app and create an expense claim on the spot. This is sent directly to their manager for validation, and on to the finance team.

For finance teams
Each employee has their own Spendesk profile and debit expense card. So unlike the company credit card, you always know who’s spending company money.

The platform lets controllers create spending limits and pre-approvals. C-Level executives or managers will have a different level of pre-approved spend from other staff. Should a team member need to go over their pre-approved budget, they can make a request to their manager via the mobile app or the platform online.

When an expense is made with a Spendesk card, the employee simply snaps a picture of the receipt at the time of purchase. Which means no more lost receipts.

Finance teams can see real-time company spend and follow up on missing receipts or invoices by sending reminders to employees via the platform.

Reviewing expenses is also easier as finance teams can group expenses and assign them the right VAT rates and expense accounts before exporting everything easily to their accounting tools.

Spendesk streamlines the whole business spending process, making spend management intuitive, simple and efficient.