Finance executives are among the highest-paid members of the C-Suite, often just behind operational executives. This competitive compensation position has been maintained through steady increases to CFO cash pay since at least 2019––even through the economically volatile Covid-19 pandemic.
Just-released numbers, however, suggest a deeper insight: that fluctuations to CFO bonus pay are fundamental to this positive momentum. According to Chief Executive’s new 2025-26 CEO & Senior Executive Compensation Report for Private U.S. Companies, the average annual rate of change for CFO base salaries and bonuses between 2019 and 2026 lies at 3.6 and 6.0 percent, respectively.
Put plainly, CFO bonuses have increased at a rate almost double that of their base salaries in recent years. There has thus been a shift in how finance executives are being rewarded: In response to the growth of performance- and incentive-based compensation frameworks, yearly changes to CFO pay have begun to depend upon shifts in variable income more than predetermined salaries.
“Many executives are opting for more steady raises to their base salary as the targets for target-based incentive pay are becoming increasingly difficult to set, let alone hit. The CFO occupies a special role in the C-Suite, and their preference may diverge, based on financial insight into company performance, and playing a large role in setting these targets,” says Isabella Mourgelas, lead research analyst and author of the compensation report.
A look at how CFO bonuses alone have shifted from year to year shows just how integral they are to overall compensation trends. Between 2019 and 2026, base salaries have continually risen; bonuses, on the other hand, have tended to be much more volatile.
Over 2023-2024, bonuses fell 12.5 percent in response to moving profitability targets that are becoming increasingly difficult for companies to hit. When examining the same period with respect to total cash compensation, we observe an overall lack of growth––the only lag since 2019. Modest slumps in bonus rewards, then, can cause significant fluctuations to total finance executive pay.
The yearly analysis also suggests a fundamental division between CEO and CFO compensation. We found last month that CEO bonus pay has been in a prolonged depression since 2019, with little signs of recovery in the near future. Finance executives, on the other hand, have not been exposed to this stagnation: While their bonuses slightly fell post-Covid, they have generally been on an upward trajectory since then and continue to be into 2026.
“In private companies, CEOs are often part of the ownership structure. Our research has found that CEOs are consistently the last position in the C-Suite to receive raises, often in an attempt to preserve the compensation of their executive team, including the CFO,” says Mourgelas.
THE POWER OF PROFITABILITY
One of the most influential drivers of CFO bonus pay is company profitability. There is a 200 percent difference between the bonuses reported by unprofitable firms and those with EBITDA margins higher than 30 percent.
Base salaries are less responsive: Among the organizations which reported the lowest EBITDA values (less than 10 percent) in 2024, for example, the numbers are relatively the same at just above $200,000.
For private companies, this year’s data underscores critical insights: While base salary is an important component of finance executive pay, bonus fluctuations are integral to overall compensation growth from year to year. Ownership structure, industry and size also continue to drive big differences in CEO and senior executive pay into 2026. The 2025–26 CEO & Senior Executive Compensation Report for Private U.S. Companies unpacks these trends across roles and industries, with detailed breakdowns and forward-looking insights to guide your 2026 planning.
Order your copy and make informed, future-ready compensation decisions at chiefexecutive.net/compensationreport/order/.
