Free Access No Registration Updated: 2026-06-01

Controller Career Market Report 2026

2,221 active jobs. 998 companies. Median salary $130K. Data from Greenhouse, Lever, Workday, Ashby, SmartRecruiters, Workable, and 14 additional ATS sources. Last computed: 2026-06-01.

2,221
Active Job Openings
998
Companies Hiring
$130K
Median Salary (US)
71%
With Salary Data

About This Report

The Controller market data on this page is updated daily from 800,000+ active job postings across 20 ATS platforms.

Greenhouse Lever Workday Ashby SmartRecruiters Workable + 14 more ATS sources

Salary: Extracted via NLP. Only USD $5K-$3M included. Skills: Named entity recognition, noise-filtered (generic soft skills excluded). Experience: Inferred from title + description. Coverage: 71% of positions include salary data.

Key Findings

Median salary: $130K in the US

Middle 50% of salaries range from $93K to $205K.

Remote roles pay 19% above the US national median

Remote-first employers competing nationally for talent. The premium reflects company quality (remote-first firms tend to be well-funded), not a work-mode bonus.

Excel is the most-demanded skill at 42%

SAP demand rose +17.5pp — fastest-growing skill

stafffinancialgroup leads hiring with 57 open positions

Biggest salary jump: Manager → Director (+$59K, +41%)

Salary increase: +$59K · Sample: Manager → Director

AI automation risk: medium-high (score 70/100)

Score: 70/100 · AI/LLM demand: 0% of postings

Week-over-week changes reflect dataset expansion, not market surge

Recent growth in tracked postings is from adding new data sources, not a one-week hiring boom. Interpret trend data with this in mind.

Salary by Experience Level

LevelJobsP25MedianP90
Senior39$81K$125K$209K
Mid-Level29$84K$110K$175K
Junior12$65K$91K$270K
Director8$157K$202K$250K
Manager6$115K$143K$160K

What jumps out

Manager → Director: +$59K (41%) — the biggest single-step increase. The salary curve is back-loaded: the largest raises come at transitions where scope changes from executing tasks to owning outcomes, or from owning outcomes to shaping architecture across teams.

Salary by Country

CountryJobsMedianCurrency
United States146$143KUSD
Remote14$170KUSD
Canada8$91KUSD
United Kingdom4$66KUSD

Work Mode

ModeShare
On-Site3.3%
Remote6.9%
Hybrid2.3%

~80% of postings do not specify work mode. Figures show only positions where it is explicitly stated.

Top Skills in Demand

Excel
42%
Financial Reporting
37%
CPA
26%
GAAP
25%
SAP
18%
AI/LLM
15%
Accounts Payable
14%
Financial Planning
13%
Financial Analysis
13%
Accounts Receivable
12%
Auditing
10%
SOX Compliance
10%

Skills on the Rise

SAP ↑+17.5ppExcel ↑+11.4ppAuditing ↑+10.3ppFinancial Reporting ↑+9.6ppIFRS ↑+8.4pp

Declining in Demand

Journalism ↓-46.3ppAttention to Detail ↓-11.2ppProcurement ↓-10.4ppSustainability ↓-9.1pp

Top Companies Hiring

CompanyOpeningsShare
stafffinancialgroup572.6%
Turnertownsend482.2%
Accorhotel341.5%
Lextorahlds251.1%
Boschgroup200.9%
Hitachi180.8%
Maersk170.8%
Parsons160.7%

Top Countries by Job Volume

CountryJobs
United States537
United Kingdom142
India68
Germany59
Remote57
Canada44
Philippines37
Netherlands36

Education Requirements

LevelSharePositions
Associate Degree45.6%715
Master's Degree19.0%297
Bachelor's Degree16.5%259
MBA3.1%48
PhD / Doctorate0.3%5
High School / GED0.1%2

Certifications

CPA (26%)MBA (5%)CMA (4%)CFA (2%)

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