Demand and pay for accounting professionals in northern Nevada is up over a year ago, says a study by a national placement firm.
"We are seeing a significant improvement over 2002," said Dave Araldi, a regional manager for Robert Half International Inc.
"There's a solid gain in the number of placements in the Reno market."
He said demand has been particularly strong for accounting professionals in health care, real estate and construction, financial services and hospitality.
The growth in demand in the hospitality sector, Araldi said, appears to be driven by the rapid development of Indian gaming in California.
Most of the companies that provide management and other services to the Indian casinos are based in Nevada, and those companies are muscling up their accounting staffs.
Also strengthening the market for accountants, Araldi said, are the increased disclosure requirements on publicly held companies requirements that increase the demand for mid-career accountants.
But even with the increased demand, accountants and bookkeepers can't write their own tickets.
"Companies are still conservative in their hiring, and there are a lot of qualified applicants in the market," Araldi said, adding that top-flight candidates remain in strong demand no matter what market conditions.
While higher costs of living particularly for housing in northern Nevada may pressure salaries upward, Araldi said the hiring market appears to be closely tracking national figures.
Nationally, Robert Half International projected these salary developments for 2004:
* General and audit accounting managers at large companies will see average pay increases of 2.9 percent.
* Starting salaries for senior tax and cost accountants at large companies will be up 1.6 percent; those at small companies will be up 1.9 percent.
* Credit and collections clerks at large companies will see pay increases averaging 5.1 percent, while the pay of credit managers will rise an average of about 4.1 percent.
* The salaries offered to entry-level accountants at large companies will decline by 2.3 percent compared with this year's offers.
* Vice presidents of finance can expect job offers that will be an average of 12.3 percent lower than this year's offers.
