The Equipment Leasing and Finance Association released a report detailing compensation practices at small and medium-sized equipment leasing and finance companies. The 2022 Small and Medium Enterprise Compensation Survey revealed trends in pay — including salaries, bonuses, benefits and commission — at bank, captive and independent equipment finance companies. The survey is part of the ELFA’s Knowledge Hub, a source for business intelligence on the equipment finance industry.

The report is based on a survey of ELFA member companies conducted by Vault Consulting. A total of 46 companies participated in the survey. The respondents reported 1,118 employees for 19 specialized revenue and support positions, ranging from CEO to collections staff to sales staff. The data in the report are displayed by company type, new business volume, region and market segment.

Survey Highlights

• The five highest paid positions, based on average total compensation, are CEO/president, CFO, head of sales, senior sales representative and team leader. Total compensation is based on average base salary and average bonus/commission.
• Compared to the last SME compensation survey in 2021, the average total compensation of the top five positions changed by the following percentages: CEO/president -6%; CFO +41%; head of sales -6%; senior sales representative +6%; and team leader +22%.
• A bonus/commission was reported for 79% of the submitted employees. A total of 85% of sales staff received a bonus/commission and no companies reported commission only sales staff.
• The top quantitative factor used to determine executive leadership incentives was profitability (95%) and the top qualitative factor was managerial effectiveness (74%).