CFEs Earn 25% More Than Non-Certified Counterparts

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Ross Pry, CFE
ACFE Membership Director

Bookmark this page: ACFE.com/SalaryCenter. Save it to your favorites, email yourself the link, tie a string around your finger. Do whatever it takes to remember the information contained on this site when your annual review comes around or you’re in the market for a new job.

The ACFE recently released the 2013/2014 Compensation Guide for Anti-Fraud Professionals and a Salary Calculator for you to compare your compensation against that of your peers.  These new resources from the ACFE will provide you with the ammunition you need to show those around you just how valuable you really are.  

The Salary Calculator is a new feature allowing you to create individualized reports based on three important factors: industry, level of responsibility and job function. Of course, there are more determining factors to take into consideration when comparing your salary to a number on a graph (such as experience in the field, size and type of company and additional credentials), but it will definitely provide you with a functional framework.

In addition to a new calculator, a global salary survey was conducted by independent research group, Industry Insights Inc., and completed by 5,486 anti-fraud professionals worldwide. The findings are consistent with previous surveys and show there is a significant pay advantage for those who earn the CFE credential. Overall, the median total compensation for CFEs is 25 percent higher than non-CFEs:

 

To view the full report (PDF) click here, and don’t forget to write yourself a note to “Check ACFE’s Salary Center” before your next review or interview. 

Year in Review: ACFE Publishes 2010 Report to Members

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Scott Patterson, ACFE Media Relations Specialist

The ACFE’s Report to Members is one of the publications I really enjoy working on every year. The Report to Members is unique because it is one of the few opportunities we have to look back, reflect on endeavors and successes, and works-in-progress. The theme of this year’s Report is “Leading the Profession: 2010 in Review,” which I find appropriate because the ACFE truly is the leader in fraud training and resources. Our membership grew by almost 10 percent in 2010, and we now have members in more than 150 countries, an amazing feat considering the difficult economic times.

What the Report is really about, though, is looking at the things the ACFE has done (and is doing) to support our members and remain in this position of leadership. The benefits we provide make joining the ACFE one of the best decisions an anti-fraud professional can make. The letter in the Report from our president and CEO, James D. Ratley, CFE, mentions many of these initiatives. The new Fraud Magazine website; an improved CFE Exam Prep Course®; online chat with member representatives; the new 2010 Report to the Nations on Occupational Fraud and Abuse and Compensation Guide for Anti-Fraud Professionals with international data; the largest and best annual fraud conference in the world; the list goes on. The Report also includes initiatives we are rolling out in 2011, such as the ACFE Advisory Council and an enhanced Career Center on ACFE.com.

Another great aspect of the Report is the ACFE member profiles we’ve included. Read about Ashley Busa, CFE, and Boyd Foster, CFE, and learn about their journeys to become professional fraud fighters. Also, one of the coolest new things about this year’s report is an embedded video interview with another CFE, Corey Costa. Corey sat down with us at the 21st ACFE Fraud Conference & Exhibition in Washington, D.C., last year to discuss how membership and the CFE credential have helped him along the way. Having his video interview available in the report truly adds a multimedia element to it.

I hope ACFE members enjoy reading the 2010 Report to Members as much as we enjoyed creating it. I’m already looking forward to next year’s edition.

Download the 2010 Report to Membershere.

New Report Finds CFEs Earn Nearly 22% More Than Colleagues

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Leslie Simpson, CFE, ACFE Membership Director

Whether through news articles, e-mails or social media updates, I hear every day about the valuable contributions our members are making to the fight against fraud. Thanks to the newly-published 2010/2011 Compensation Guide for Anti-Fraud Professionals, I can now point to comparative analysis and data to back that up. The research in this newly-published study is based on the survey responses of more than 3,000 ACFE members (both CFEs and non-CFEs) conducted by the independent research firm Industry Insights in May 2010.

What is most encouraging about the data is how consistent the patterns have remained despite the economic downturn of the past two years. The pay advantage for having the CFE credential is still as evident and significant today as it was in our previous study in 2008.

 Key findings:   

• CFEs earn nearly 22 percent more than their non-certified colleagues in the anti-fraud profession.
• The CFE is especially valuable to forensic accountants, IRS agents, external auditors and management accountants. These were among the top-ranking job functions that showed the highest median salary advantage for having the CFE credential, with CFEs earning 39–45 percent more than non-CFEs.
• In the U.S., respondents in almost every geographic region reported that having the CFE credential increased their compensation.

Read the complete 2010/2011 Compensation Guide for Anti-Fraud Professionals here.