Assistant accountants at funded Australian startups earn a median of A$73k a year, and half of the figures we hold sit between A$65k and A$78k, according to our startup finance salary data[1].
The 2026 range
Across 13 figures from 7 funded startups, the median assistant accountant salary is A$73k, and half of the figures sit between A$65k and A$78k. The full spread runs from A$55k to A$96k. Graduate roles sit at the bottom: Splend's graduate assistant accountant ads run at A$55k to A$75k. The top is a Splend assistant accountant and graduate listing reported at up to A$96k. Outside Splend, AutoGrab's band reaches A$90k.
In tech startups the median is A$73k, from 5 figures. Treat the national median as the floor for someone with a year or two of experience and the graduate band as the entry point.
Reading the chart
Filter these figures by industry, stage, city and year in the accountant salaries view of the database.
The figures behind the chart
13 figures
Role as stated | Industry | Stage | City | Source | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PlanCare | Assistant Accountantnear Accountant | A$80,000 to A$85,000 | Tech | Seed | Perth (HQ) | 2026 | SEEK |
| Morse Micro | Assistant AccountantAccountant | A$75,000 to A$85,000 | Deep tech | Series C | Sydney (HQ) | 2026 | SEEK |
| AutoGrab | Assistant Accountantnear Accountant | A$70,000 to A$90,000 | Tech | Before first round | Melbourne | Not stated | JobLeads |
| Splend | Assistant Accountant / GraduateAccountant | A$60,000 to A$96,000 | Other | Before first round | Sydney | 2026 | Glassdoor |
| Employment Hero | Assistant Accountantnear Accountant | A$73,052 | Tech | Series D+ | Sydney (HQ) | Not stated | Indeed |
| Splend | Assistant Accountant (Graduate)Accountant | A$70,000 to A$75,000 | Other | Before first round | Sydney | 2026 | Job ad (seek.com) |
| Splend | Assistant Accountant (Graduate)Accountant | A$70,000 to A$75,000 | Other | Before first round | Sydney | 2026 | Job ad (seek.com) |
| Splend | Assistant Accountant (Graduate)Accountant | A$65,000 to A$75,000 | Other | Before first round | Sydney | 2026 | Prosple |
| Sympli | Assistant Accountant (12-month fixed-term contract)Accountant | A$66,000 to A$68,000 | Tech | Before first round | Sydney | 2026 | Glassdoor |
| Splend | Assistant Accountant (Graduate)Accountant | A$55,000 to A$75,000 | Other | Before first round | Sydney | 2026 | JobLeads |
| Employment Hero | Assistant AccountantAccountant | A$60,000 to A$70,000 | Tech | Series D+ | Sydney (HQ) | Not stated | Startup Jobs |
| Splend | Assistant Accountant (Graduate)Accountant | A$55,000 to A$70,000 | Other | Before first round | Sydney | 2026 | JobLeads |
| Zip Co | Assistant Accountant Internnear Accountant | A$60,000 | Fintech | Growth | Sydney | 2026 | Jooble |
Sydney
Almost all of the figures come from Sydney. There the median is A$70k across 11 figures from 5 companies, with the middle half between A$65k and A$73k, according to our data[2].
Fewer graduates, a different job
The pipeline into this role is shrinking. My rough read is that accounting graduate numbers have fallen by about half over the last ten years, and there is less transactional work for the ones who do come through. They come in overseeing the ledger and the automation rather than keying entries, so they need a mentor, a finance manager or a financial controller, as the specialist human in the loop[3].
That is the hiring point for a startup. An assistant accountant without someone senior to learn from will stall, and you will pay for the mistakes later. Hire one once that person exists.
Where the role sits in a startup
By the time a startup hires its first CFO, it typically already has a bookkeeper and a financial controller or head of finance in place[4]. The head of finance or controller is usually the first operational finance hire; the assistant accountant is the support around them.
If you are deciding who the first finance person should be, start with how we run a first finance hire.
For the next step up the ladder, see what senior accountants are paid.
Common questions
How much does an assistant accountant earn in an Australian startup?
The median is A$73k a year across 13 sourced figures at 7 funded Australian startups, and half of the figures sit between A$65k and A$78k. The figures are base salary as each source states it, without super added.
Do graduate assistant accountants earn less?
Yes. The graduate assistant accountant roles in our data are mostly advertised at A$55k to A$75k. Assistant accountants with a year or two of experience sit higher: the Morse Micro, PlanCare and AutoGrab bands reach A$85k to A$90k.
What does an assistant accountant earn in Sydney?
In Sydney the median is A$70k across 11 figures from 5 startups, with the middle half between A$65k and A$73k.
Does a startup need an assistant accountant?
Usually not as its first finance hire. By the time a startup hires its first CFO it typically already has a bookkeeper and a financial controller or head of finance. The first hire is the person who owns the numbers; the assistant accountant comes once there is someone senior to learn from.
References
- Our data: 13 annual figures for assistant accountant and graduate assistant accountant titles at funded Australian startups, from the Startup Finance Salary Database snapshot of 2026-11-05. Six of the figures are for one company, Splend, which advertised graduate roles on several job sites. Each is either the company's own advertised band or a salary for that role at that company reported on a public page and cited in a Google AI Overview. Figures are base salary as each source states it; we do not add super (12% from July 2025). The database groups this role under Accountant; how we collect, match and de-duplicate figures is in about the data.
- We quote a median only where at least 5 figures from 5 source pages, 3 companies and 3 different sites back it. Sydney clears that for this role; no other city does yet. Perth and Melbourne have one figure each so far.
- I said this on the Brewed Abroad podcast in June 2026, with the caveat that the graduate figure is my estimate rather than a published statistic.
- What I see on CFO searches: the head of finance or financial controller is often the first operational finance hire, sometimes after a fractional CFO, and the full-time CFO arrives at Series A or B.
Accountant salaries in Australian startups: the data
Our Startup Finance Salary Database holds 256 sourced salary figures from 104 funded Australian startups: pay bands from the companies' own job ads, and salaries reported for the same role at the same company. Every figure links to its source.
- Accountant salaries (118 figures)
- Finance salaries in tech startups (170 figures)
- Finance salaries in deep tech startups (37 figures)
- Finance salaries in fintech startups (30 figures)
These guides set out how we see it, drawn from the searches we run and the finance leaders we work with. They are general information about the market, not financial, accounting or legal advice, and they are no substitute for advice on your own circumstances.