Financial accountants at funded Australian startups earn a median of A$106k a year, and half of the figures we hold sit between A$94k and A$130k, according to our startup finance salary data[1].
The 2026 range
Across 28 figures from 17 funded startups, the median financial accountant salary is A$106k. A quarter of the figures sit below A$94k and a quarter above A$130k, so half of the figures sit in the A$94k to A$130k band. The full spread runs from A$56k to A$190k, and the top of it is mostly senior financial accountant titles.
That lines up with what I see on searches. A financial or management accountant sits at roughly A$95k to A$120k plus super in my chartered accountant salary ladder. Above that band the title usually changes, and the senior accountant salary is the number to compare against.
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
28 figures
Role as stated | Industry | Stage | City | Source | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Silicon Quantum Computing | Senior Financial AccountantAccountant | A$140,000 to A$190,000 | Deep tech | Seed | Sydney | 2026 | JobLeads |
| Culture Amp | Financial Accountant (12 Month FTC / Maternity Cover)Accountant | A$145,000 to A$155,000 | Tech | Series D+ | Melbourne | 2026 | SEEK |
| NEXL | Senior Financial AccountantAccountant | A$120,000 to A$180,000 | Tech | Series B | Sydney | 2026 | Jobsora |
| Prospa | Senior Financial Accountant (12 month contract)Accountant | A$120,000 to A$150,000 | Fintech | Growth | Sydney | 2026 | JobLeads |
| Silicon Quantum Computing | Senior Financial AccountantAccountant | A$133,000 | Deep tech | Seed | Sydney | 2026 | Glassdoor |
| Silicon Quantum Computing | Senior Financial AccountantAccountant | A$121,000 to A$144,000 | Deep tech | Seed | Sydney | 2026 | Glassdoor |
| Employment Hero | Financial AccountantAccountant | A$110,000 to A$150,000 | Tech | Series D+ | Sydney | 2026 | JobLeads |
| RateMyAgent | Senior Financial AccountantAccountant | A$120,000 to A$140,000 | Tech | Before first round | Melbourne (HQ) | 2026 | Glassdoor |
| Simpro | Financial Accountantnear Accountant | A$120,000 to A$140,000 | Tech | Growth | Brisbane (HQ) | 2026 | SEEK |
| Ofload | Senior Financial AccountantAccountant | A$119,236 to A$137,262 | Tech | Series C | Sydney (HQ) | 2026 | Indeed |
| Ofload | Senior Financial AccountantAccountant | A$127,932 | Tech | Series C | Sydney (HQ) | 2026 | Indeed |
| MoneyMe | Senior Financial Accountantnear Accountant | A$113,880 to A$141,714 | Fintech | Before first round | Sydney | 2026 | Indeed |
| MoneyMe | Senior Financial Accountantnear Accountant | A$127,037 | Fintech | Before first round | Sydney | 2026 | Indeed |
| Harrison.ai | Financial AccountantAccountant | A$90,000 to A$125,000 | Tech | Series C | Sydney | 2026 | JobLeads |
| Harrison.ai | Financial AccountantAccountant | A$90,000 to A$120,000 | Tech | Series C | Sydney | 2026 | JobLeads |
| Novotech | Senior Financial Accountant (contractor, Sydney based)Accountant | A$85,000 to A$120,000 | Other | Growth | Sydney | 2026 | Job ad (linkedin.com) |
| MoneyMe | Financial AccountantAccountant | A$87,563 to A$113,073 | Fintech | Before first round | Sydney (HQ) | 2026 | Indeed |
| MoneyMe | Financial AccountantAccountant | A$99,504 | Fintech | Before first round | Sydney (HQ) | 2026 | Indeed |
| SunDrive | Financial AccountantAccountant | A$97,000 to A$99,000 | Deep tech | Series A | Sydney | 2023 | Job ad (indeed.com) |
| Hapana | Financial Accountantnear Accountant | A$97,404 | Tech | Series A | Not stated | Not stated | Indeed |
| TRIBE | Financial Accountantnear Accountant | A$94,000 | Tech | Series A | Sydney | 2021 | Glassdoor |
| Employment Hero | Financial AccountantAccountant | A$93,033 | Tech | Series D+ | Sydney (HQ) | Not stated | Indeed |
| Stake | Financial AccountantAccountant | A$87,000 to A$93,000 | Fintech | Series A | Not stated | 2026 | Glassdoor |
| Vow | Financial AccountantAccountant | A$89,647 | Deep tech | Series A | Sydney (HQ) | 2026 | Indeed |
| Q-CTRL | Financial AccountantAccountant | A$59,000 to A$100,000 | Deep tech | Series B | Sydney | 2026 | Glassdoor |
Sydney, Melbourne and the rest
Most of the figures come from Sydney startups. There the median is A$105k across 23 figures from 12 companies, with the middle half between A$94k and A$129k, according to our data[3].
Tech, fintech and deep tech
By industry, the median is A$118k in tech (14 figures) and A$98k in deep tech (7). Deep tech has the widest spread. Silicon Quantum Computing's senior financial accountant figures reach A$190k, while Q-CTRL's financial accountant figures start at A$56k. Two quantum companies, two very different jobs: the industry tells you less than the scope of the role.
What moves a financial accountant up the band
Ownership. A financial accountant who runs the close, the consolidations and the audit file without a controller checking every step is priced closer to a senior accountant. One who processes entries someone else reviews is priced closer to an accountant.
If you are pricing a senior financial accountant close to finance manager money, check what a finance manager earns at a startup first: the pool between the two is thinner than the titles suggest.
This is also the role AI is now aimed at. One CFO I spoke to for my AI in finance workflow guide told me he does not think he will ever hire a financial accountant again, after building AI workflows into his finance function. The other workflows I talked through on the AccountDads podcastwere narrower: a reconciliation workflow built for the 80% that is a simple match, with a human in the loop for the anomalies[2]. The financial accountants who hold their price are the ones who own those calls: accruals, reconciliations that do not reconcile, and what goes in front of the auditor.
When a startup hires one
A financial accountant is rarely the first finance hire. The first hire I place is usually a finance manager, a finance lead or a senior accountant who can run the whole function, often at 10 to 20 people. The financial accountant comes next, once that person needs the ledger, the close and statutory reporting done properly so they can spend their time on cash and the board.
A common shape at a growing startup is two people in Australia under the CFO, a financial accountant and a management accountant, with transaction processing and payroll outsourced[4]. And do not try to fill the top seat at this price: you cannot hire a CFO on a financial accountant's salary[5].
If you are working out who the first finance person should be, start with how we run a first finance hire.
If the role needs to own the reporting rather than produce it, compare the financial controller band.
Common questions
How much does a financial accountant earn in an Australian startup?
The median is A$106k a year across 28 sourced figures at 17 funded Australian startups, and half of the figures sit between A$94k and A$130k. The figures are base salary as each source states it, without super added.
What does a financial accountant earn in Sydney?
In Sydney the median is A$105k across 23 figures from 12 startups, with the middle half between A$94k and A$129k.
Is a senior financial accountant paid more?
Yes. Most of the figures above A$130k in our data are for senior financial accountant titles. Once a role owns the close, consolidations or controls on its own, it is priced closer to a senior accountant than an accountant.
Should a startup hire a financial accountant as its first finance hire?
Usually the first finance hire is broader: a finance manager, a finance lead or a senior accountant who can run the whole function. A financial accountant tends to arrive as the second or third hire, once someone senior owns the numbers and needs the ledger, the close and statutory reporting done well.
References
- Our data: 28 annual figures for financial accountant titles at funded Australian startups, from the Startup Finance Salary Database snapshot of 2026-11-05. 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) or equity. Senior financial accountant titles are included. The database groups this role under Accountant; how we collect, match and de-duplicate figures is in about the data.
- The CFO who said it runs finance at a mining tech company and is all in on AI, and good on him. Most of what I heard was narrower than his: tools that clear the routine matches and leave the outliers to a person.
- 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; no other city does yet for this role, so treat the national figure as the benchmark outside Sydney.
- One client's finance team, as I described it on a call in 2026: two people in Australia below the CFO (a management accountant and a financial accountant), an outsourced offshore transaction team of five, and outsourced payroll providers for the international entities.
- I made this point on LinkedIn in October 2025: it is unrealistic to expect to hire a CFO at a financial accountant's salary.
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.