Accounting recruitment, by a firm that employs accountants.
Assistant accountants through to financial controllers, public practice and commercial, recruited across Australia by a group whose own accounting firm hires these roles every year. Rates from 15%, first candidates within 10 business days, six-month replacement guarantee.
The roles we place, and what we test for.
Every candidate is interviewed by someone currently doing that job. This is what that screen actually looks at.
| Role | What we screen for | Typical, Aug 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Assistant Accountant | Reconciliation accuracy and whether the fundamentals are genuinely solid under volume. | $80,000 |
| Financial Accountant | Statutory reporting depth, and we open a Xero file with them rather than taking it on faith. | $108,000-$110,000 |
| Management Accountant | Whether they can explain a variance to someone who is not an accountant. | $105,000-$115,000 |
| Finance Manager | Team leadership evidence and the commercial judgement the title is supposed to carry. | $145,000 |
| Financial Controller | Ownership of the close, board-level communication, and how they handle being wrong. | $170,000 |
On these numbers. Indicative only, and moving. Typical advertised figures as at August 2026, excluding super - Brisbane where the data supports it, national otherwise. The market is shifting and rates are moving constantly, so treat these as a starting point rather than a benchmark: you'll get Ayu's current read on your specific role, from searches running this month, in the first conversation.
Benched against Advisors
This market, read by an employer in it.
Good accountants are scarce and they know it. The pattern we see from our own hiring is that strong candidates are fielding counter-offers within days of resigning, and that a competitive offer made slowly still loses to an average offer made quickly. Notice periods then stretch start dates further than most hiring plans allow for.
The other shift worth pricing in is that public practice and commercial no longer compete for separate candidate pools. Practice-trained accountants move to commercial roles for lifestyle and salary, and the firms losing them are the ones still benchmarking against last year. We hire into both sides of that market ourselves, which is where our read comes from.
Interviewed by working accountants
LINK Advisors employs accountants across compliance and advisory and hires them every year. Your candidates are assessed by people currently doing the job - which means the Xero file gets opened, the workpapers get read, and the market-rate conversation is grounded in what we actually pay.
Public practice and commercial
We recruit into both because we sit in both: a practice that hires practice accountants, and a group whose own finance function hires commercial ones. That is an unusually honest vantage point on which side a candidate genuinely suits.
Your search is run by Ayu.
Talent Manager, LINK · Professional Services & Technology Recruitment
Close to a decade in recruitment across professional services, technology and government. She recruits for every division of the LINK group, which is where the salary and time-to-fill read on this page comes from. More about Ayu
Your questions, straight answers.
What do accounting recruitment agencies charge in Australia?
A percentage of first-year salary, typically 15-25%, with industry averages around 17-18%. On a $100,000 role that is roughly $17,000-$18,000 at the average. LINK's rates start from 15% and top out around 20%, published up front and confirmed in writing before the search, with a six-month replacement guarantee rather than the three-month rebate most agencies attach to the same percentage.
Do you recruit CA and CPA qualified accountants?
Yes, across both. We also recruit part-qualified and QBE accountants where the role genuinely calls for them - and we will tell you honestly when a role is over-specified, because insisting on a postnominal the job does not need is one of the more common reasons a search stalls.
Do you recruit for public practice as well as commercial roles?
Both. LINK Advisors is a public practice that hires practice accountants, and the wider group hires commercial finance staff for its own teams, so we recruit into both markets from direct experience of each rather than treating one as an adjacent specialty.
Do you recruit accountants outside Brisbane?
Yes. We are based in Fortitude Valley and strongest in South East Queensland, but accounting roles are increasingly hybrid and we run searches Australia-wide. For compliance-heavy and process-driven work we will also price an offshore accountant against the local hire so you can compare properly.
Should I hire an accountant locally or offshore?
It depends on the work, and it is usually the most valuable part of the first conversation. Client-facing advisory and anything requiring judgement in the room generally wants a local hire. Compliance, workpapers, reconciliations and BAS preparation frequently do not - LINK runs a dedicated Philippine accountant alongside Brisbane accountants in its own firm. You will get both sets of numbers side by side.
Contact Ayu, your recruitment specialist.
Tell us the role and within one business day you'll have our market read in writing - whether or not you engage us.
Prefer to talk? 07 3899 8311