The Equipment Leasing and Finance Association released a report detailing compensation practices at small and medium-sized equipment leasing and finance companies. The 2021 Small and Medium Enterprise Compensation Survey reveals trends in pay—including salaries, bonuses, benefits and commission—at bank, captive and independent equipment finance companies.

The report is based on a survey of ELFA member companies conducted by Vault Consulting, LLC. A total of 53 companies participated in the survey. The respondents reported 1,175 employees for 19 specialized revenue and support positions, ranging from CEO to collections staff to sales staff. The data are displayed by company type, new business volume, region and market segment.

Highlights from the survey include:

• The five highest paid positions, based on average total compensation, were CEO/President, Head of Sales, CFO, Senior Sales Representative, and Manager of Asset Management Remarketing. Total compensation is based on average base salary and average bonus/commission.
• Compared to the last SME Compensation Survey in 2019, the average total compensation of the top five positions changed by the following percentages: CEO/President +10 percent; Head of Sales +10 percent; CFO -9 percent; Senior Sales Representative +5 percent; and Manager of Asset Management Remarketing +9 percent.
• A bonus/commission was reported for 75 percent of the submitted employees. A total of 82 percent of sales staff received a bonus/commission and 6 percent were indicated as commission only sales staff.
• The top quantitative factor used to determine executive leadership incentives was profitability (88 percent) and the top qualitative factor was managerial effectiveness (72 percent).

How to Access the Report
The 2021 Small and Medium Enterprise Compensation Survey is available for purchase from the ELFA website at https://bit.ly/2021SMEComp.