Publishers of Blueprint · Vanguard Law · Equity Magazine · A shortlist on your desk in 48 hours · Start Hiring →
Reading Time: 5 minutes

TRUELINE TALENT | ACCOUNTING & FINANCE INSIGHTS

2026 Q2 Accounting & Finance Hiring Report

A look inside the roles Trueline Talent’s accounting & finance recruiting team closed for clients this quarter — salaries, markets, and how long each search took from kickoff to offer.

Start Hiring

122

Construction roles closed

25

U.S. markets represented

10

Role types covered

Trueline Talent

Construction & Engineering practice

88 Roles

Filled this quarter

$137,205

Average placement salary

10.2 Days

Average time to fill

20 Markets

Covered

KEY TAKEAWAYS

What the quarter's placements tell us

Across 88 closed searches in 20 markets, Trueline Talent’s accounting & finance desk covered everything from staff-level bookkeeping to the C-suite—and the data shows just how differently those searches behave.

  • Staff and Senior Accountants drove volume. Together they accounted for 45 of the 88 placements (51%)—Staff Accountant at $108,652 average salary and 7.9 days to fill, Senior Accountant at $113,273 and 8.6 days—the two fastest-moving, highest-volume categories on the desk.
  • The C-suite pays the most—and takes far longer to fill. CFO placements averaged $224,071, nearly 1.6x the report-wide average, but took an average of 34.1 days to close—more than three times the 10.2-day report average and by far the longest of any role. Controller searches averaged $182,679 and 9.7 days, the second-highest salary with a far more typical timeline.
  • Management-tier roles filled fastest. Accounting Manager (7.0 days average) and FP&A Manager (7.1 days) were the quickest categories to close, even though both carry six-figure-plus average salaries ($126,375 and $144,050 respectively).
  • Placements were concentrated in major metros. 20 markets each saw three to five closed searches, led by Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles, Dallas, Boston, New York, Phoenix, and Houston at five apiece.
  • Every one of the slowest searches was a CFO role. The longest was a CFO search in Austin, TX at 40 days, followed by Houston, TX (39 days), Dallas, TX (34 days), and Philadelphia, PA (33 days)—a clear sign that executive finance searches need meaningfully more runway than the rest of the desk.
FASTEST FILLS
Staff Accountant
Chicago, IL
5 days
Staff Accountant
Los Angeles, CA
5 days
Staff Accountant
Miami, FL
5 days
Staff Accountant
New York, NY
5 days
Senior Accountant
Atlanta, GA
5 days
LONGEST SEARCHES
CFO
Austin, TX
40 days
CFO
Houston, TX
39 days
CFO
Dallas, TX
34 days
CFO
Philadelphia, PA
33 days
CFO
Atlanta, GA
32 days
HIGHEST-PAID PLACEMENTS
CFO
Philadelphia, PA
$254,000
CFO
Dallas, TX
$240,000
Controller
San Francisco, CA
$234,000
CFO
Austin, TX
$228,500
Controller
Boston, MA
$225,500

BY THE NUMBERS

Salary and time to fill, by role

Average salary and average time to fill for every role type closed this quarter.

COVERAGE

Markets with 5+ closed searches this quarter

88 placements across 20 U.S. markets—number of roles closed per market shown alongside each city.

Atlanta, GA

5

Austin, TX

4

Boston, MA

5

Charlotte, NC

4

Chicago, IL

5

Dallas, TX

5

Denver, CO

4

Houston, TX

5

Los Angeles, CA

5

Miami, FL

4

Minneapolis, MN

4

Nashville, TN

4

New York, NY

5

Orlando, FL

4

Philadelphia, PA

4

Phoenix, AZ

5

San Francisco, CA

4

Seattle, WA

4

Tampa, FL

4

Washington, DC

4

FULL DATASET

Every role closed this quarter

All 88 placements, grouped by role and sorted by salary within each group.

Staff Accountant

23 roles closed Avg. salary $108,652 Avg. time to fill 7.9 days Range $90,000–$140,000
MarketSalaryTime to Fill
San Francisco, CA $140,000 12 days
New York, NY $129,500 9 days
New York, NY $129,000 9 days
Los Angeles, CA $128,000 5 days
Los Angeles, CA $126,000 9 days
New York, NY $121,500 5 days
San Francisco, CA $116,000 7 days
Washington, DC $115,000 8 days
Seattle, WA $112,500 5 days
Houston, TX $105,500 6 days
Dallas, TX $105,500 8 days
Minneapolis, MN $104,000 5 days
Chicago, IL $103,500 5 days
Miami, FL $102,500 9 days
Philadelphia, PA $100,500 19 days
Miami, FL $99,500 5 days
Austin, TX $99,000 9 days
Nashville, TN $98,500 7 days
Orlando, FL $95,500 5 days
Atlanta, GA $93,000 7 days
Charlotte, NC $93,000 9 days
Atlanta, GA $91,500 9 days
Phoenix, AZ $90,000 9 days

Senior Accountant

22 roles closed Avg. salary $113,273 Avg. time to fill 8.6 days Range $90,000–$146,000
MarketSalaryTime to Fill
New York, NY $146,000 5 days
San Francisco, CA $144,500 7 days
Boston, MA $139,500 22 days
Los Angeles, CA $129,000 8 days
Los Angeles, CA $125,000 6 days
New York, NY $121,500 9 days
Chicago, IL $120,500 7 days
Boston, MA $120,000 6 days
Boston, MA $118,000 5 days
Denver, CO $116,500 5 days
Chicago, IL $116,000 6 days
Austin, TX $111,000 7 days
Houston, TX $109,500 6 days
Dallas, TX $105,500 16 days
Miami, FL $100,000 6 days
Atlanta, GA $100,000 5 days
Minneapolis, MN $99,000 17 days
Charlotte, NC $99,000 6 days
Tampa, FL $98,500 9 days
Tampa, FL $93,000 7 days
Tampa, FL $90,000 16 days
Orlando, FL $90,000 9 days

Controller

14 roles closed Avg. salary $182,679 Avg. time to fill 9.7 days Range $151,000–$234,000
MarketSalaryTime to Fill
San Francisco, CA $234,000 9 days
Boston, MA $225,500 7 days
Washington, DC $202,000 22 days
Seattle, WA $189,000 19 days
Philadelphia, PA $186,500 7 days
Philadelphia, PA $186,000 9 days
Austin, TX $183,000 8 days
Chicago, IL $180,000 7 days
Houston, TX $180,000 5 days
Miami, FL $165,000 9 days
Phoenix, AZ $163,500 8 days
Phoenix, AZ $158,500 6 days
Phoenix, AZ $153,500 9 days
Phoenix, AZ $151,000 11 days

Accounting Manager

12 roles closed Avg. salary $126,375 Avg. time to fill 7.0 days Range $109,500–$162,500
MarketSalaryTime to Fill
Boston, MA $162,500 6 days
Seattle, WA $144,000 7 days
Los Angeles, CA $140,500 5 days
Chicago, IL $138,000 8 days
Dallas, TX $127,000 7 days
Dallas, TX $122,000 8 days
Houston, TX $117,500 9 days
Nashville, TN $116,000 9 days
Charlotte, NC $115,000 5 days
Charlotte, NC $114,500 7 days
Minneapolis, MN $110,000 5 days
Nashville, TN $109,500 8 days

FP&A Manager

10 roles closed Avg. salary $144,050 Avg. time to fill 7.1 days Range $123,500–$177,000
MarketSalaryTime to Fill
Seattle, WA $177,000 6 days
Washington, DC $172,500 7 days
Washington, DC $156,000 6 days
Denver, CO $153,500 8 days
Atlanta, GA $136,500 8 days
Denver, CO $134,000 9 days
Denver, CO $132,000 5 days
Orlando, FL $130,000 8 days
Minneapolis, MN $125,500 9 days
Tampa, FL $123,500 5 days

CFO

7 roles closed Avg. salary $224,071 Avg. time to fill 34.1 days Range $204,000–$254,000
MarketSalaryTime to Fill
Philadelphia, PA $254,000 33 days
Dallas, TX $240,000 34 days
Austin, TX $228,500 40 days
Orlando, FL $219,500 31 days
Nashville, TN $218,500 30 days
Atlanta, GA $204,000 32 days
Houston, TX $204,000 39 days

RECAP

2026 Q2 Accounting & Finance Hiring, at a Glance

This quarter, Trueline Talent’s accounting & finance desk closed 88 roles across 20 U.S. markets in an average of 10.2 days—spanning staff-level accountants all the way up to the CFO seat.

88 Roles

Filled this quarter

$137,205

Average placement salary

10.2 Days

Average time to fill

20 Markets

Covered
  • Staff Accountant was the most-placed role—23 closes (26% of all placements) at an average of 7.9 days.
  • Management-tier roles filled fastest: Accounting Manager (7.0 days) and FP&A Manager (7.1 days) both closed in about a week.
  • Placements concentrated in major metros, with eight markets—including Atlanta, Chicago, and New York—each closing 5 searches.
  • CFO commanded the biggest paycheck—$224,071 average, roughly 1.6x the report-wide mean.
  • CFO searches took dramatically longer than everything else—34.1 days average, more than 3x the report-wide average of 10.2 days.
  • The single longest search was a CFO role in Austin, TX at 40 days; the single highest-paid was a CFO placement in Philadelphia, PA at $254,000.

Source: Trueline Talent internal placement data, Accounting & Finance practice. Figures reflect base salary and calendar days from search kickoff to accepted offer; three additional summary rows in the source file (average salary, average time to fill, roles closed) were used to validate these totals and are not counted as individual placements.

Ready to build your next finance team?

Our accounting & finance recruiters fill specialized roles in an average of 10.2 days. Let’s talk about what’s open on your team.

Start Hiring