Chief Financial Officer - CFOs in Europe

CFOs in Europe

A CFO in Germany is not the same as in Italy. Although the career path of CFOs in one country is quite homogeneous, there are major differences between countries. This already starts at income levels. A CFO in Germany earns potentially 60 times more that a CFO in Poland. There are two areas of CFO income in Europe: there are few countries, like France, Germany or UK, where CFOs earn more that 1 million Euro per year; and there are the other countries (Spain, Portugal etc.) where a CFO does not make more than 1 million Euro per year. The reason for this major difference is not the economic development, but the different roles of CFOs in the countries. Although they have the same job title, they do not have the same responsibilities. Usually the CFO is responsible for financial and administrative areas, but in some countries they have more responsibilities, such as operational duties.

There are also some differences regarding age. The average age of a CFO in Europe is 50. While the average age of CFOs in Germany is 53, it is 41 in Russia. This could explain the higher income in Germany, as more experienced personnel will have more power and therefore more responsibility, than younger, inexperienced ones.