Managing a large staff and having budgetary authority are the two variables most associated with higher salaries in Credit. Clearly, being at a large company is the best way to earn more money in credit, as many tables Credit Today's 2007-2008 Salary & Job Satisfaction Survey demonstrate.

Education Is Critical

The one variable in the top five that has nothing to do with the size of your company is education. There is a steady increase in pay at each level of education level. This year we added an additional category to capture those who have more than a college degree but have not yet received a graduate degree - those with "post graduate" credits. As might have been expected, those in that category earn more than those with a college degree, but less than those who have completed a graduate degree.

In addition, certification pays off. The average CCE in the survey earns $92,579 compared to those without a CCE designation at $73,165, or $19,414 more per year.

Credit Today compared salary figures in the survey to all other data in order to determine which factors had the most impact on salaries. The results are tabulated based on a statistical measure known as Pearson's Coefficient, which measures the strength and direction of the relationship between two phenomena.

The Pearson's Coefficient is a number between 0 and 1.0 or 1.0 and -1. A positive number (or, a "positive correlation") means that the two numbers move in the same direction. When one goes up, the other tends to go up. A negative number or correlation means that the numbers move in opposite directions. A Pearson's Coefficient of 1 would imply a perfect relationship between two numbers.

Zero means that there is no relationship-the numbers are completely random. The higher the number, the stronger the relationship.

When reviewing data, it is important to remember that correlation and causation are not the same. Two things can be correlated, but you cannot necessarily say one causes the other.

Top Correlations to 2007 Base Salary

We have listed below only those correlations that are statistically significant at the .01 level.

Job includes budgetary authority .483

Total staff overseen .445

Number of staff in your department .376

Education level .372

Number of invoices generated per day .354

M/F .352

Time spent in internal meetings .346

Hours worked per week .342

Those who believe their compensation package is fair .326

Cell phone received as benefit .326

Size of budget .319

Years of experience in credit .309

Time spent on personnel issues .306

Benefits include stock options .293

Top credit executive vs. not top executive .284

Bonus expected in 2007 .266

Public (higher) vs. Private (lower) .225

Job has responsibility to set credit policy .244

Evaluation of job performance includes ability to manage staff .212

Annual sales .210

Age .199

Job includes international credit responsibilities .187

CCE vs. non-CCE .193

Company car received as benefit .193

Important to continued job satisfaction: opportunuty for leadership .167

A/R portfolio size .161

Time spent on customer visits .160

Number of years at current company .160

Credit Today subscriber .147

Job evaluated includes ability to implement technology .145

Time spent at credit group meetings .144

Those who rate their department's performance favorably .142

Time spent on education/training .135

Senior management is in touch with the contributions of credit .130

Factor most likely to cause job dissatisfaction: lack of a challenge .121

Time spent on bankruptcy/insolvency issues .121

Factors most important for continued job satisfaction: challenge: .115

Staff turnover rate .110

Time spent on computer system activities .109

Urban over suburban over rural location .108

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