Accountants with itchy feet are more interested in challenging and enjoyable job roles than improving their pay packet, though a sufficiently increased salary would keep them committed to their current employer, new research has found.

The survey by Marks Sattin revealed that the key motivation in moving on to new pastures would be a more interesting position (37%), while a further 29% saw a greater challenge as being important. A job switch for purely financial reasons would be made by 28% of those questioned.

One in 10 of the 540 accountants polled stated it would take a 50% pay rise to reject an external job offer.

In addition, a separate survey by the accounting recruiters found a quarter who left roles this year were given the temptation of a better pay package by their employer - an increase on 2011 where 12.5% were counter offered.

The average counter offer was 15% of current salary, a significant rise on the 5% in 2009, but is only 75% of what the interviewed accountants considered enough to remain in the job.

Dave Way, Marks Sattin managing director, said: 'Money isn't the be all and end all for the majority of accountants that we speak to, so wage hikes are rarely a long term solution. By the time people have decided to move, applied for jobs, interviewed, accepted a role and resigned, they've made a huge mental shift and are already imagining their future at another business. Offering more money simply papers over the cracks.

'Using counter-offers as a retention tool can also be destabilising for a workforce as a whole. It can be disastrous if individuals know they can increase their chances of a pay-rise by threatening to leave. But the accountancy industry is smarter than most when it comes to staff retention. While 25% of accountants were offered counter-offers this year, across the wider market, 28% of companies use pay-rises as a key method of retention.'