Compensation: audit, compliance areas best bets for pay hikes.

Get ready to pay more for finance specialists, especially in the compliance arena. While starting salaries for accounting and finance professionals are expected to go up by a ho-hum average of 2.4 percent next year, internal auditors and professionals focused on The Sarbanes-Oxley Act and other corporate governance-related initiatives will be the beneficiaries of the greatest demand for their services--and get the biggest pay hikes.

That's according to the 2005 Salary Guide from Robert Half International Inc., whose annual finance salary survey is based on an analysis of the thousands of job orders managed by the company's U.S. offices.

In corporate accounting, there is heightened demand for internal audit professionals, particularly within public companies. Internal audit managers at large companies (more than $250 million in annual sales) are expected to see a 12.5 percent increase in average starting salaries in 2005, to the range of $69,500 to $90,000 per year. Internal auditors with one to three years of experience at mid-sized companies ($25 million to $250 million in annual sales) can expect the largest percentage increase in base compensation of any accounting and finance position, with average starting salaries projected to rise 16.8 percent, to $42,250 to $50,000 annually.

"Compliance-related issues are fueling demand for individuals with expertise in internal auditing procedures and corporate governance regulations," said Max Messmer, chairman and CEO of RHI. Demand for accounting and finance professionals is expected to remain strong in the healthcare and real estate industries, Robert Half said, adding that "hiring activity varies significantly by geographic region."

The entire survey is posted on FEI's Web site at: www.fei.org/careers/surveys.cfm.