CFOs are closing the wage gap with CEOs

Chief financial officers are starting to close the wage gap with their CEO counterparts.

The BDO 600 CEO and CFO Pay Study analyzed companies with annual revenues ranging from $25 million to $1 billion in eight different industries to determine how CEO and CFO pay have changed year-over-year.

According to the study, CEO compensation from 2013 to 2014 grew by a relatively small 0.7%, while CFO compensation increased by a larger 4.9%.

"CEO total compensation ($3,055,628) only grew by 0.7 % this year compared to a more robust 12.6% last year ($3,034,366). CFOs fared slightly better with a total compensation increase of 4.9% this year ($1,215,957), but still down from the 8.2% increase they enjoyed during the same period last year ($1,158,664)," the survey says.

Randy Ramirez, a senior director in the Global Employer Practice at BDO, explains that one possible reason for the rapid rise in CFO pay is that their companies have "increased responsibility placed on CFOs to leverage market momentum in order to realize a company's financial vision."

Pay levels by company size

The study found that CEOs at small-to-medium sized firms ($25 million to $325 million) had their pay decreased by 32% (CEO) and 22% (CFO) in 2014. That's compared to 2013 when the smallest revenue range ($25 million to $325 million) increased by 39% (CEO) and 15% (CFO).

Compensation changes by industry

For both CEOs and CFOs, when it comes to change in total direct compensation, energy executives suffered the biggest drop, with CEO compensation falling by 23% and CFO salary dropping by 12%.

CEOs in healthcare were given massive 55% pay increases, while CFOs were awarded with a 34% increase in the same field.

The survey examined companies located in the energy, healthcare, manufacturing, real estate, retail, and technology industries that are publicly traded. The survey includes proxy statements that were filed between May 15, 2014, and May 15, 2015.