Salary Guide
India Finance Salary Guide 2026
What finance roles pay, and what moves them within the range.
Compiled June 2026 · India and the Middle East · Startups, Corporates, BFSI, GCCs, PE and VC
Section 02
Foreword
Every year, clients and candidates ask us the same question: what should this role pay? It is a reasonable question with an unreasonable answer.
The honest reply is that it depends. Two Finance Controllers with the same years behind them can be worth 35 lakh and 55 lakh, and the difference isn't seniority. It's scope: how many entities, which reporting framework, whether there is an audit worth the name, and whether the person is running a finance function or building one.
I qualified as a Chartered Accountant and spent my early years at KPMG and in boutique tax and audit practice before starting HireGenie in 2022. That background is the reason the firm exists, and the reason this guide covers finance and nothing else. Finance hiring goes wrong in ways that are invisible unless you have done the work yourself. A Finance Controller is not a Finance Manager with more years. A candidate who audited a close has not run one. These distinctions decide whether a hire succeeds, and they rarely appear in a job description or a salary band.
So the guide does two things. The tables tell you what roles pay, by industry, by scale and by experience. Two later sections tell you where inside those ranges a specific role actually sits, and they are the ones I would read first.
Three things stood out in our searches this year. FP&A became the hardest finance role to fill, not for lack of candidates but because clients now expect automation and AI fluency alongside modelling, and most candidates stop at spreadsheets. Counter-offers reached the highest level we have seen, driven largely by notice periods that leave a candidate exposed for two to three months. And client briefs shifted, with more weight on long-term commitment and an explicit expectation of automation capability in roles where it was optional two years ago.
A word on the numbers. The salary tables here are compiled from publicly available compensation data, cross-referenced across sources and reviewed against what we see in live searches. The commentary, hiring guidance and market observations are drawn from our own search work. We have kept those two things separate deliberately, and the methodology below sets out exactly what sits behind each.
Use the numbers as a starting range. Use the rest to work out where in that range your role actually sits.
— CA Ayush Mehta, Founder, HireGenie
Section 03
How to Use This Guide
Start with the industry, not the role. A CFO in a Series B startup and a CFO in a 10,000 Cr manufacturing business are different jobs at different prices. Each industry has its own section, and the leadership rows are split further by funding stage, revenue or headcount.
Expect wide ranges, then narrow them. A band of 35 to 55 lakh is not vagueness. It reflects real variation in scope. A later section sets out the factors that decide where a role sits within its band.
Experience means post-qualification experience. Bands run Fresher, 2 to 5, 5 to 10, 10 to 15 and 15+ years.
All figures are annual compensation in INR lakhs, for roles based in India, unless a section states otherwise. The Middle East section uses AED and SAR.
A dash means we would not put a number on it. Some roles do not exist at some experience levels, and we have left those blank rather than guess.
These are benchmarks, not offers. City, sector, funding stage and the specific mandate all move the number. If you want a view on a live role, talk to us.
Methodology
What this guide is. A compensation reference for finance roles in India, with a short section on the UAE and Saudi Arabia. It covers permanent, full-time roles across six industry contexts. It does not cover contract or interim day rates.
Where the numbers come from. The salary tables are compiled from publicly available compensation data, cross-referenced across LinkedIn, Naukri, AmbitionBox, Glassdoor, PayScale, SalaryExpert, ERI, ICAI's published campus placement data and published industry salary reports. Every figure is triangulated from three reference points: public compensation aggregators, which are self-reported and weighted toward large employers, so they set the ceiling rather than the answer; HireGenie's 2025 working ranges for the same roles, adjusted forward; and cross-checks against live searches, which pull the aggregator numbers back toward what is actually being paid. Where sources disagreed materially, we took the narrower range. Figures are indicative ranges, not averages, and rows are marked for confidence so you can see which numbers are solid and which are indicative.
Where the judgement comes from. The market observations, the guidance on what moves a candidate within a band, and the notes on qualification, notice periods and counter-offers are drawn from HireGenie's own search work. These sections are not derived from public data and are not benchmarks. They are our view.
What we have not done. We have not run a primary compensation survey this year. We do not publish city-level breakdowns, though we note in the relevant sections where city variation is material. We have not adjusted for equity, which is discussed separately rather than folded into the ranges. For the Middle East section, we have relied on public data alone and have said so on that page.
Compiled June 2026. Compensation moves through the year, and the ranges here should be read as a position at that point rather than a live figure. Treat a range as the boundary of a sensible conversation, not as an answer.
What should your role pay?
Pick a country, a role and an experience band — the range comes straight from the tables in this guide, in that market's own currency.
₹80–150 lakh
CFO (Series C and beyond) · Confidence: Medium
Indicative annual range. India reads in INR lakhs, the UAE in AED and Saudi Arabia in SAR. Where a role sits inside its range depends on scope — see 'What Moves a Candidate Within a Band'.
Section 04
Startups
Priced by funding stage, not by headcount.
Finance compensation in startups is set by funding stage more than by revenue or headcount. A Series A company and a Series D company can look similar on an org chart and pay very differently for the same title, because the scope of the role, the fundraising exposure and the equity component all move with the stage.
Two consequences worth naming. Leadership roles below are split by stage rather than by experience alone, because a finance lead at Series A is doing a materially different job from one at Series C. And cash compensation in venture-backed businesses typically runs 10 to 20% below a corporate benchmark at the same level, offset by equity. The ranges below are cash only. Equity is dealt with separately.
Leadership — split by funding stage
| Role | 5–10 yrs | 10–15 yrs | 15+ yrs | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CFO (Series C and beyond) | – | 80–150 | 150–350 | Medium |
| CFO (Series A to Series C) | – | 60–100 | 100–200 | Medium |
| VP Finance / Head of Finance (Series C+) | 45–70 | 70–120 | 120–200 | Medium |
| VP Finance / Head of Finance (Series B–C) | 35–55 | 55–90 | 90–140 | Medium |
| Finance Controller (up to Series A) | 35–55 | 55–75 | 75+ | High |
The CFO ranges are wide because the top of each band is set by a small number of large, late-stage businesses. Most Series C CFO hires we see sit in the lower half.
Core finance roles
| Role | Fresher | 2–5 yrs | 5–10 yrs | 10–15 yrs | 15+ yrs | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Finance Manager | 12–15 | 15–28 | 28–45 | 45–65 | 65+ | High |
| FP&A / Business Finance | 12–16 | 18–35 | 35–60 | 60–95 | 95–160 | High |
| Corporate Finance / Fund Raise / IR | 14–18 | 20–40 | 40–70 | 70–115 | 115–200 | Medium |
| Taxation | 12–15 | 15–28 | 28–45 | 45–70 | 70–110 | High |
| Treasury | 12–14 | 15–30 | 30–55 | 55–85 | 85–130 | Medium |
| Finance & Accounts / Consolidation | 10–14 | 14–28 | 28–50 | 50–70 | 70–110 | High |
| Internal Audit & Controls | 12–14 | 14–28 | 28–50 | 50–70 | 70–120 | Medium |
| Accounts Payable / Receivable | 6–10 | 10–20 | 20–35 | 35–50 | 50+ | High |
Three things that move a startup finance number
The stage the person is hired to reach, not the stage the company is at. A Series A company hiring someone to take it through Series B is buying a different profile from one hiring someone to run the current close. The second is cheaper and often the right answer.
Whether the role builds or maintains. The first finance hire in a startup builds the function. That commands a premium over an equivalent title joining an established team, and job descriptions almost never distinguish the two.
Equity, and how the candidate reads it. A 10 to 20% cash discount against a corporate benchmark is normal in venture-backed businesses and is usually accepted where the equity is explained properly. Where it is not explained, it is read as a lowball and the candidate withdraws.
Section 05
Corporates
Manufacturing and services. Scale sets the leadership number.
Manufacturing and services businesses are treated together here because the core finance function is largely the same in both. Reporting, tax, treasury, controls and business finance carry comparable scope and comparable pay. What differs is the leadership scale, and a small set of roles that exist only in manufacturing.
Leadership compensation in these businesses is set by the size of the organisation rather than by experience alone. Manufacturing scales by revenue, because the capital base and the plant footprint determine the complexity of the job. Services scales by headcount, because there is no equivalent capital base and cost sits mostly in people. The leadership table below uses both, so read whichever applies to you.
Leadership — split by scale
| Role and scale | 5–10 yrs | 10–15 yrs | 15+ yrs | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CFO — 10,000 Cr+ revenue, or 10,000+ employees | – | 100–180 | 200–500 | Medium |
| CFO — 1,000–10,000 Cr, or 1,000–10,000 employees | – | 70–130 | 140–300 | Medium |
| CFO — 200–1,000 Cr, or 200–1,000 employees | – | 55–100 | 100–200 | Medium |
| Finance Director / Head of Finance | 45–75 | 60–100 | 100–180 | Medium |
| GM / Finance Controller — 10,000 Cr+ or 10,000+ emp. | 45–70 | 65–110 | 120–190 | High |
| GM / Finance Controller — below that | 35–55 | 50–90 | 90–150 | High |
CFO ranges widen sharply at the top because a small number of large listed groups set the ceiling. Most CFO appointments we see in each band sit in the lower half of the range, and the upper end is usually reached through long tenure rather than at hire.
Core finance roles — manufacturing and services
| Role | Fresher | 2–5 yrs | 5–10 yrs | 10–15 yrs | 15+ yrs | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Finance Manager | 10–14 | 15–26 | 26–42 | 42–60 | 60–90 | High |
| FP&A / Business Finance | 12–15 | 18–36 | 36–62 | 62–95 | 95–150 | High |
| Corporate Finance / M&A / IR | 14–18 | 20–40 | 40–72 | 72–115 | 115–190 | Medium |
| Direct & International Tax | 12–14 | 15–28 | 28–46 | 46–72 | 72–115 | High |
| Indirect Tax / GST | 12–14 | 15–28 | 28–45 | 45–70 | 70–110 | High |
| Treasury | 12–14 | 15–32 | 32–58 | 58–90 | 90–145 | Medium |
| Financial Reporting & Consolidation | 12–14 | 14–28 | 28–52 | 52–78 | 78–130 | High |
| Internal Audit, Controls & Risk | 12–14 | 14–28 | 28–52 | 50–75 | 75–135 | Medium |
| Accounts Payable / Receivable | 7–11 | 11–18 | 18–30 | 30–45 | 45+ | High |
Manufacturing only
| Role | Fresher | 2–5 yrs | 5–10 yrs | 10–15 yrs | 15+ yrs | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plant / Unit Controller | – | 22–35 | 35–55 | 55–80 | 80–120 | High |
| Costing & Inventory | 9–12 | 12–18 | 18–30 | 30–48 | 48–75 | High |
| Supply Chain Finance | 12–14 | 15–32 | 32–58 | 58–85 | 85–125 | Medium |
These three have no direct equivalent in a services business. Where a services company advertises a costing role, it is usually a pricing or margin analysis role and prices closer to FP&A. City variation is material at every level: Mumbai and Bengaluru run above the ranges shown, Gurgaon and Delhi NCR broadly in line, and Pune, Chennai and tier-2 manufacturing locations below. Plant-based roles typically sit below the corporate office equivalent at the same grade.
What actually differs between manufacturing and services
Manufacturing pays for cost, services pays for consolidation. The premium skill in a manufacturing finance function is understanding where cost is created: standard costing, absorption, variance analysis, inventory valuation and capital expenditure. In services, it is handling multiple entities, multiple currencies and group reporting under an unfamiliar framework. Candidates rarely have both, and a business that hires for the wrong one discovers it at the first close.
Plant exposure is the manufacturing dividing line. A candidate who has sat at head office and consolidated plant numbers is doing a different job from one who has sat at the plant and produced them. For any role touching cost or inventory, ask which of the two it was.
Listed status moves manufacturing pay more than services pay. Cost audit, statutory reporting obligations and board scrutiny add real scope to a manufacturing controllership. In a services business the same status adds less, because the reporting burden is lighter relative to the operation.
The CMA is relevant here in a way it is not elsewhere. Cost accountancy qualifications carry genuine weight in manufacturing costing and plant finance roles, and very little in services. Note that CMA means two different qualifications, the Indian ICMAI and the US IMA, which are not interchangeable.
Section 06
BFSI
Where the finance function and the regulator are inseparable.
Banking, financial services and insurance is the one sector where the finance function and the regulator are inseparable. Every reporting decision sits inside a framework set by the RBI, SEBI or IRDAI, and a finance hire who cannot operate fluently in both languages will slow the function down regardless of how strong the accounting is.
That has two effects on compensation. Regulated roles carry a premium over their general corporate equivalents at mid-levels, because the pool of people who have genuinely done the reporting is smaller than the pool who understand it. And the ceiling at the top is set by banks and large NBFCs rather than by the sector as a whole, so the leadership ranges widen sharply.
Leadership
| Role | 5–10 yrs | 10–15 yrs | 15+ yrs | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CFO — bank, large NBFC or insurer | – | 90–160 | 160–400 | Medium |
| CFO — mid-size NBFC or fintech | – | 60–110 | 110–250 | Medium |
| Finance Controller / Head of Finance | 35–60 | 55–95 | 95–160 | High |
Core finance roles
| Role | Fresher | 2–5 yrs | 5–10 yrs | 10–15 yrs | 15+ yrs | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Regulatory & Financial Reporting | 12–14 | 15–28 | 28–48 | 48–75 | 75–125 | High |
| Business Finance / FP&A | 12–15 | 16–32 | 32–55 | 55–85 | 85–140 | High |
| Treasury / ALM / Fund Raising | 12–15 | 16–34 | 34–60 | 60–95 | 95–160 | Medium |
| Taxation | 12–14 | 15–27 | 27–45 | 45–70 | 70–110 | High |
| Internal Audit | 12–14 | 14–26 | 26–45 | 45–68 | 68–115 | High |
| Credit Underwriting, Monitoring & Risk | 12–14 | 14–26 | 26–42 | 42–70 | 70–120 | Medium |
| Compliance | 9–13 | 14–24 | 24–38 | 38–60 | 60–100 | High |
| Company Secretary — listed entity | 8–12 | 12–22 | 22–38 | 38–60 | 60–100 | Medium |
| Finance & Accounts / Operations Finance | 8–12 | 12–22 | 22–36 | 36–55 | 55–90 | High |
Sub-sector adjustment
The ranges above describe the sector as a whole. Apply the following:
| Sub-sector | Adjustment against the ranges above |
|---|---|
| Banks and large NBFCs | At the ranges, and above them at leadership level |
| Insurance | Broadly in line; actuarial and solvency reporting run above |
| Fintech | Above at 2 to 8 years, below at 15+ where equity substitutes for cash |
| Small and regional NBFCs | Below, sometimes materially, particularly outside metros |
Mumbai sets the benchmark for this sector and runs above every other city. Bengaluru and Gurgaon follow. Regulated reporting roles outside those three are thinner in supply and can price unpredictably in either direction.
Two questions that decide a BFSI finance hire
Name the regulator, not the sector. A candidate who has prepared RBI submissions is not interchangeable with one who has prepared SEBI disclosures or IRDAI returns. The frameworks, the deadlines and the consequences of getting them wrong are different. A brief that says BFSI without naming the regulator will produce a shortlist that looks right and interviews badly.
Ask whether they have faced an inspection. Preparing a regulatory return and defending it under inspection are different experiences, and only one of them tells you how a person behaves when the numbers are challenged. This rarely appears on a CV and almost never gets asked.
Two things make compensation in capability centres and shared services different from everywhere else in this guide.
The first is qualification. A GCC finance function is deliberately layered, with qualified accountants over a larger base of semi-qualified and commerce graduate staff. The two layers price completely differently for work that can look similar on an org chart, and the split is the single largest cost lever in building a centre. We have set them out as separate tables for that reason.
The second is the maturity of the centre itself. A newly established shared services function running record to report hires very differently from a centre of excellence that owns controllership and FP&A for the group. Both call themselves GCCs. Neither pays like the other.
Qualified accountants — CA, CPA, ACCA, CMA
| Role | Fresher | 2–5 yrs | 5–10 yrs | 10–15 yrs | 15+ yrs | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GM / Finance Controller | – | – | 40–65 | 60–110 | 110–200 | Medium |
| FP&A / Business Finance | 12–15 | 16–32 | 32–58 | 58–90 | 90–150 | High |
| Record to Report / Consolidation | 11–14 | 14–28 | 28–52 | 52–78 | 78–130 | High |
| Taxation | 12–14 | 14–28 | 28–48 | 48–72 | 72–120 | High |
| Treasury | 12–14 | 15–30 | 30–56 | 56–85 | 85–140 | Medium |
| Internal Audit & Controls | 12–14 | 14–27 | 27–50 | 48–72 | 72–125 | Medium |
Semi-qualified accountants and commerce graduates
| Role | Fresher | 2–5 yrs | 5–10 yrs | 10–15 yrs | 15+ yrs | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FP&A support / analyst | 7–10 | 10–18 | 18–32 | 32–48 | 48–70 | High |
| Record to Report | 6–9 | 9–16 | 16–28 | 28–42 | 42–60 | High |
| Procure to Pay / Order to Cash | 5–8 | 8–14 | 14–25 | 25–38 | 38–55 | High |
| Taxation support | 6–9 | 9–16 | 16–28 | 28–42 | 42–60 | Medium |
| Internal Audit & Controls support | 6–9 | 9–16 | 16–28 | 28–42 | 42–62 | Medium |
Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Gurgaon carry the largest finance GCC populations. Mumbai runs above the ranges for BFSI and fintech centres. Pune and Chennai typically sit slightly below Bengaluru at the same grade.
Maturity decides the hire more than the title does
The same role in two centres at different stages of maturity is not the same job. It is worth naming where a centre actually sits before writing the brief.
| Stage of the centre | What the finance function owns |
|---|---|
| Transactional | AP, AR, record to report. Process is defined by the parent and executed here. |
| Shared services | GL, close and reconciliation owned locally, with review sitting overseas. |
| Centre of excellence | Controllership and FP&A owned outright, including judgement calls. |
| Strategic partnership | Business partnering, transformation and decision support for the group. |
A candidate who has run a defined process well is not automatically able to build one. Centres moving from shared services to centre of excellence consistently underestimate this and hire for continuity when they need capability.
What actually decides a GCC finance hire
The qualification split is a design decision, not a recruitment one. Deciding which layer a role sits in before the search begins is what controls both the cost and the calibre of the shortlist. Briefing a role as open to qualified and semi-qualified candidates produces a shortlist that cannot be compared and an offer that satisfies nobody.
Stakeholder management across time zones is the scarce skill. The technical work in a mature centre is not harder than the equivalent in an Indian corporate. What is harder is owning a number that a controller in another country is accountable for, and holding that position on a call at seven in the evening. That capability rarely shows on a CV and is worth testing directly.
Centres compete with each other in the same three cities. Attrition and counter-offers in GCC finance are driven by other GCCs a short distance away rather than by industry. Public data points the same way, with capability centres projected to give increments around 19.4% in 2026 against an India average nearer 9.1%, and running 12 to 20% above IT services on base pay. Those figures are technology-weighted, so read them as direction rather than a finance benchmark.
Section 08
PE, VC and Family Offices
Two markets that are routinely confused for one.
Finance hiring in this sector is not one market. It is two, and they are routinely confused.
There is the finance function inside the fund or the office itself: fund accounting, capital calls, LP reporting and regulatory compliance. And there is the finance capability deployed into portfolio companies: operating finance, value creation and exit readiness. The two draw on different experience, answer to different audiences and price differently. We have separated them below for that reason.
Fund side — leadership, split by fund size
| Role and fund size | 5–10 yrs | 10–15 yrs | 15+ yrs | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CFO / Controller — global fund | – | 90–150 | 150–300 | Medium |
| CFO / Controller — USD 500M to 1B | – | 70–110 | 110–200 | Medium |
| CFO / Controller — below USD 500M | 45–70 | 55–90 | 90–150 | Medium |
Fund side — core roles
| Role | 2–5 yrs | 5–10 yrs | 10–15 yrs | 15+ yrs | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fund Accounting / Finance Manager | 14–30 | 30–55 | 55–85 | 85–130 | Medium |
| Investor Relations & LP Reporting | 16–35 | 35–65 | 65–110 | 110–200 | Medium |
| Fund Tax & Structuring | 15–30 | 30–52 | 52–80 | 80–140 | Medium |
| Compliance & Regulatory (SEBI AIF) | 14–25 | 25–42 | 42–65 | 65–110 | Medium |
Portfolio side — operating finance placed into portfolio companies
| Role | 2–5 yrs | 5–10 yrs | 10–15 yrs | 15+ yrs | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Portfolio CFO | – | – | 70–120 | 120–250 | Medium |
| Portfolio Finance Controller | – | 40–65 | 60–100 | 100–170 | Medium |
| Value creation / operating finance | – | – | 80–140 | 140–280 | Indicative |
| FP&A / Business Finance | 18–35 | 35–62 | 62–95 | 95–150 | High |
Mumbai sets the benchmark for fund-side roles and runs materially above every other city. Bengaluru and Gurgaon follow, with Bengaluru stronger for venture and Gurgaon for growth and buyout. Portfolio-side roles price according to the portfolio company, not the fund, and should be read against the relevant industry section of this guide.
Family offices
Single-family and multi-family offices typically sit below institutional fund ranges on cash, often materially, with the gap addressed through co-investment rights rather than salary. The trade is scope: a family office finance lead usually covers fund accounting, personal and entity tax, and investment reporting in one role, where an institutional fund would split those across three people. Candidates who value breadth accept the discount. Candidates who value scale do not.
A note on scope. This guide covers finance roles. Investment-side compensation for analysts, associates, principals and partners is a different market with a different structure, driven by carry rather than cash, and it is not covered here.
What actually decides a PE, VC or family office finance hire
Fund side and portfolio side are different disciplines. Fund-side finance answers to limited partners and lives in capital calls, distributions, NAV and regulatory reporting. Portfolio-side finance answers to management teams and lives in operating performance, working capital and preparing a business for sale. Conflating the two in a single brief is the most common mistake firms make in this sector, and it is usually discovered at second interview.
Exit readiness is a distinct skill, not a level of seniority. Producing accurate reporting and producing diligence-ready reporting are different jobs. A Controller who has been through a sale process knows what a buyer's advisers will ask for and builds toward it. One who has not will produce clean numbers that still take three months to make presentable.
Family office roles are broader than the title suggests. The scope typically spans fund accounting, entity and personal taxation, and investment reporting, sometimes alongside operational responsibilities that have nothing to do with finance. Briefing it as a Controller role attracts institutional candidates who find the breadth unstructured rather than interesting.
Section 09
What Moves a Candidate Within a Band
Every range in this guide is wide. That is not imprecision. A band of 35 to 55 lakh describes real variation in what the job actually involves, and the difference between the two ends is usually scope rather than seniority.
This section sets out the seven things that decide where a role sits inside its band. They apply across every industry section, and they are worth working through before a search begins rather than after the first offer is declined.
Entity structure
Reporting framework
Audit complexity
Team size
Systems
Build or maintain
Ownership
Most roles sit at the top on two or three of these and at the bottom on the rest.
Working through it
Entity structure is the fastest filter. Consolidating four entities across two currencies is a different skill from closing one. It also narrows the pool sharply, which is why roles requiring genuine multi-entity consolidation sit at the top of their band and take longer to fill. Ask how many entities a candidate has actually consolidated, not how many the group had.
Build versus maintain is the biggest single swing. A Controller joining an established function with a working close is a different hire, at a different price, from one who has to create it. This is the distinction job descriptions almost never make, and the one that most often explains why a search is failing.
Ownership is what separates two identical CVs. Two candidates with the same title and the same years can differ entirely on whether their work was reviewed before it left the building. The question worth asking is simple: what did you sign off, and who checked it?
Section 10
Qualification and Notice Periods
Two practical matters that decide more finance hires than compensation does, and that sit outside every salary table in this guide.
CA, CPA, ACCA and CMA are not interchangeable, and hiring for the wrong one is expensive. Choose by the reporting framework the role sits inside, not by which qualification sounds most senior.
Which qualification the role actually needs
| Qualification | Awarded by | Strength | Hire when |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA | ICAI, India | Ind AS, Indian GAAP, direct and indirect tax, statutory audit | The entity files in India, or the role owns Indian compliance, tax or audit |
| CPA | US state boards | US GAAP, SEC reporting, SOX | The parent is US-listed or US-owned, or the role feeds a US consolidation |
| ACCA | ACCA, UK | IFRS, UK and Gulf reporting | The parent reports under IFRS, or the role sits in or reports into the UAE or Saudi Arabia |
| CMA | ICMAI (India) or IMA (US) | Cost accounting, management reporting, unit economics | The role is costing, plant finance or FP&A rather than statutory reporting |
Notice periods, counter-offers and what holds an acceptance together
Sixty to ninety days is standard in India at manager level and above. The consequence is that an accepted offer stays exposed for a full quarter, and that window is where most failed hires now fail.
| Level | Typical notice | What to plan for |
|---|---|---|
| Analyst and executive | 30 to 60 days | Usually straightforward. Buyouts are common and often accepted. |
| Manager and Controller | 60 to 90 days | The highest-risk window. Counter-offers and second offers both land here. |
| Leadership | 90 days or more | Expect the start date to move at least once. Plan the handover around it. |
What we see about counter-offers
They arrive faster and higher than they used to, and increasingly include a title change rather than only money. Where a counter-offer was once a last resort, it is now a first response.
Most are made to buy time, not to solve the reason someone was looking. The underlying issue is rarely compensation, and a raise does not address it.
A meaningful share of candidates who accept one leave anyway within the year. The counter-offer solved the employer's timing problem rather than their retention problem.
Section 11
Middle East
UAE and Saudi Arabia. Where the package matters more than the number.
Indian finance professionals move to the Gulf in meaningful numbers, and Gulf employers recruit from India constantly. Despite that, almost nothing published in India puts the two markets side by side in a way that lets either party compare an offer properly.
This section is compiled from public sources alone, which is stated plainly in the methodology and repeated here. Treat the ranges as orientation rather than benchmarks. What follows the tables matters more: package structure in the Gulf is different enough from India that comparing headline numbers is misleading.
United Arab Emirates — total annual package, AED
| Role | 2–5 yrs | 5–10 yrs | 10–15 yrs | 15+ yrs | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CFO | – | – | 500k–900k | 800k–1.5M | Indicative |
| Finance Director / Controller | – | 240k–380k | 330k–550k | 500k–850k | Medium |
| Finance Manager | 156k–240k | 220k–360k | 320k–480k | – | Medium |
| FP&A / Business Finance | 150k–260k | 250k–400k | 380k–560k | – | Medium |
| Tax — VAT and corporate tax | 150k–250k | 240k–390k | 360k–550k | – | Medium |
| Internal Audit | 140k–240k | 230k–370k | 340k–520k | – | Medium |
| Senior Accountant | 96k–156k | 140k–230k | 200k–300k | – | Medium |
Saudi Arabia — total annual package, SAR
| Role | 2–5 yrs | 5–10 yrs | 10–15 yrs | 15+ yrs | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CFO | – | – | 480k–840k | 780k–1.5M | Indicative |
| Finance Director / Controller | – | 240k–400k | 350k–560k | 500k–840k | Medium |
| Finance Manager | 150k–240k | 220k–360k | 320k–480k | – | Medium |
| FP&A / Business Finance | 150k–260k | 240k–390k | 360k–540k | – | Medium |
| Tax — Zakat and corporate tax | 150k–250k | 240k–380k | 350k–520k | – | Medium |
| Internal Audit | 140k–230k | 220k–360k | 330k–500k | – | Medium |
| Senior Accountant | 96k–150k | 140k–220k | 190k–290k | – | Medium |
Figures are total package including allowances. Dubai and Abu Dhabi set the UAE benchmark; Riyadh sets the Saudi one and has moved ahead of Jeddah on senior finance roles. Both markets are tax-free on employment income.
Gulf packages are structured differently, and it matters
A Gulf offer is not a single number. It is a basic salary plus allowances, and the split has real consequences that an Indian employer or candidate will not expect.
| Component | Typically | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Basic salary | Around 60% of the total | End-of-service gratuity is calculated on basic alone, not on the total |
| Housing allowance | Around 25 to 30% | Often the largest allowance, and the first thing cut in a tight negotiation |
| Transport allowance | Around 10% | Usually fixed rather than reimbursed |
| Other allowances | The balance | Schooling, annual flights home and medical cover vary widely by employer |
Two offers with the same headline number can differ substantially once the basic split is compared, because gratuity accrues on basic only. It is worth asking for the breakdown before comparing, not after.
Comparing an India offer with a Gulf offer
Gulf employment income is not taxed. An Indian package therefore has to be materially higher to deliver the same take-home. As a working rule:
| Level | India gross needed to match the same Gulf take-home |
|---|---|
| Manager level | Around 1.3 times |
| Controller and senior | Around 1.4 to 1.45 times |
| CFO level | Around 1.5 times |
What differs in the hiring itself
IFRS is the working framework, not a bonus. Both markets report under IFRS. Indian candidates with Ind AS experience transfer readily, which is why the flow works. Those with only Indian GAAP exposure do not.
Saudi Arabia has nationalisation targets that affect finance hiring. Accounting roles fall within the Saudization framework, and quotas influence which positions are open to expatriate candidates. Confirm the position before running a search, not after shortlisting.
Notice periods run shorter, and visas run longer. Gulf notice periods are typically 30 to 60 days, against 60 to 90 in India. Visa processing and relocation absorb the difference, so the practical time to onboard ends up similar.
Regional experience is priced. A candidate who has already worked in the Gulf commands a premium over an equally qualified one moving for the first time, because employers price the risk of a relocation that does not stick.
Section 12
How We Evaluate, and About HireGenie
This guide describes a market. This section describes how we work within it, because the two are connected: the ranges here are wide precisely because scope varies, and evaluating scope properly is the whole job.
Every candidate we present is assessed against the same seven dimensions before reaching a shortlist. A resume can confirm the first two. The other five have to be evaluated by someone who understands finance well enough to know what they are looking at.
The seven dimensions
| Dimension | What we are actually testing |
|---|---|
| Technical competency | Genuine functional depth, not keyword familiarity |
| Industry experience | Whether the candidate has operated in your kind of business |
| Career progression | The trajectory behind the titles, not just the titles |
| Business understanding | Commercial judgement beyond technical accuracy |
| Leadership capability | How they manage teams and stakeholders under pressure |
| Communication skills | Whether they can influence people who are not in finance |
| Organizational fit | Whether they suit this business, at this stage |
Hiring decisions fail on context far more often than on competence, and most of what matters sits below the surface of a resume. That is the part generalist recruiting skips, and it is usually the part that decides whether a hire works.
About HireGenie
HireGenie is a specialist finance recruitment firm working across India and the Middle East. We place finance professionals and nothing else, from the first finance hire in a startup through to CFO and finance leadership appointments: 500+ finance hires placed, 250+ clients served, 400K+ finance professionals mapped, and 92% of placements still in role at twelve months. Those figures describe our search work, not the compensation data in this guide — the methodology above sets out where the numbers come from.
Disclaimer
This guide is published for general information. The salary tables are compiled from publicly available sources and are indicative ranges, not offers or valuations. Compensation varies by city, sector, company scale and the specific mandate. Nothing here constitutes financial, legal or professional advice, and readers should apply their own judgement before acting on it. Compiled June 2026. © 2026 HireGenie.
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