Finance & Accounting
Controller salary
Head of accounting operations and financial reporting. Based on 10 job-posting observations from Southern California nonprofits, reconciled with IRS filings.
Based on 10 postings✓ Full range shown (10+ postings)✓ Verified against IRS Form 990
nis the number of individual job postings a figure is calculated from. The more postings behind a number, the more you can trust it. We never publish anything based on fewer than 5.
Finance & accounting ladderCareer path
Nonprofit accounting climbs from transactions to the close to the whole finance function: process payables and billing, then own the general ledger, then run the accounting team, then own the audit and the financials, then sit at the executive table. Payroll, budget analysis and grants & contracts are specialist branches off the middle rungs.
- Step 1Accounting Clerk (AP/AR & Billing)$56,160median of 44 postings
- Step 2Staff Accountant$72,652median of 35 postings
- Step 3Accounting Manager$97,500median of 16 postings
- Step 4 · this pageController$150,440median of 10 postings
- Step 5Chief Financial Officer$192,500median of 5 postings
Each rung shows the posted-salary median from its own page.
By career level
| Staff / Specialist | $147,500 | 9 postings |
ⓘNot shown (fewer than 5 postings): Entry / Support (1).
Actual compensation (IRS Form 990)
| $10M-$20M | $168,880 | 8 employees |
| $20M-$50M | $175,212 | 7 employees |
| $50M-$100M | $172,216 | 6 employees |
| $100M+ | $216,868 | 9 employees |
ⓘNot shown (fewer than 5 postings): $2M-$10M (2). Reported compensation of incumbents from the most recent Form 990 filings — actual pay, not posted ranges.
Want the reported figures behind these numbers?
See the actual executive compensation reported on IRS Form 990 filings, and each organization’s full pay profile.
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Orangewood Foundation$125,000–$150,000View org →
Child Care Resource Center$220,000–$250,000View org →
Transitions-Mental Health Association$93,766–$124,430View org →