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2025 marked Barden’s eighth year of partnership with Chartered Accountants Ireland to produce the Chartered Accountants Leinster Society Salary Survey. Almost 1,000 members completed this survey, allowing us to collate these insightful findings.
Our Newly Qualified Accountant team in Leinster breaks down some of the survey statistics and shares their insights.
The Stat: Average Basic Salary for Newly Qualified Accountants in all sectors
- 2024: €62,374
- 2025: €66,998
- Change: +€4,624 (+7%)
The Insight: €66,998 is tracking slightly above the average of what we typically experience for newly qualified accountants, which is approximately €65k (€65,357, to be exact, as per our Q3 2025 Newly Qualified Accountant (Leinster) Talent Monitor>>>). This marginally elevated figure is likely due to a specific variable included in the analysis. For instance, if more accountants from private equity or aircraft leasing firms participated in the Survey this year, the results would naturally skew higher, given their higher base salaries. It is more common for newly qualified accountants to secure roles in these industries with salaries of around € 70,000.
The Stat: 49% of respondents describe the state of the employment market for Chartered Accountants in Leinster as “reasonably buoyant”, whilst 25% describe it as “static”
The Insight: It is great to see such a positive overall response to the market, with 49% of respondents expressing optimism about employment prospects. At the newly qualified level, we have seen the natural dip in vacancies during the summer of 2025. This is to be expected, as hiring managers are often away on leave, and activity at this level is typically quieter over the summer months. Encouragingly, we anticipate the usual increase in opportunities between September and November, as hiring managers return and companies seek to attract the latest cohort of newly qualified accountants completing their training contracts in Q4. From our perspective on the ground, the sentiment at this level may feel weighted more towards the “market is static” response at present.
The Stat: 28% of accountants use AI in their day-to day work
In our daily conversations with newly qualified accountants, AI seems to be embedded in their day-to-day work tasks. Thus, we were surprised that this result was surprisingly low and likely underestimates the true level of adoption for those in the earlier stages of their career. Our conversations with newly qualified accountants suggest that, being younger and typically more adaptable to new technology, they appear to have embraced AI at a higher rate than other peer groups included in the Survey.
Finishing your training contract in 2025? Do you want to make sure you make the very best first step after qualifying? Do you want a coffee meeting with an expert talent advisor, someone who is a qualified accountant, just like you (meet our Leinster team here>>> and our Munster team here>>>)? Do you want a little help to create your very own best financial future? No problem. Just drop us a line today at hello@barden.ie and we will take it from there. Simple.