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Accountant/consultant vs accounting consultant

The differences between accountant/consultants and accounting consultants can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both an accountant/consultant and an accounting consultant. Additionally, an accountant/consultant has an average salary of $64,298, which is higher than the $62,830 average annual salary of an accounting consultant.

The top three skills for an accountant/consultant include account management, product knowledge and strong analytical. The most important skills for an accounting consultant are CPA, GAAP, and reconciliations.

Accountant/consultant vs accounting consultant overview

Accountant/ConsultantAccounting Consultant
Yearly salary$64,298$62,830
Hourly rate$30.91$30.21
Growth rate6%6%
Number of jobs38,91674,894
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 71%Bachelor's Degree, 73%
Average age4444
Years of experience44

What does an accountant/consultant do?

Accountants/consultants perform accounting tasks for organizations or companies. The accountants improve accounting practices and prepare financial statements at the end of every year. They analyze financial data and offer advice on regulatory compliance issues to the finance department. It is their job to make sure that the online system is secure. Most of the day, they organize invoices, prepare statements, and supervising systems. They should be equipped with analytical skills, industry knowledge, critical thinking, and interpersonal communication.

What does an accounting consultant do?

An Accounting Consultant is a person tasked to assist the accounting department of a company. The consultant advises businesses concerning the accounting system used by the organization. It is also through the accounting consultant's help that improvements in the accounting process are proposed, the determination of problematic areas in the workflow, possible issues in the future, and everything that needs upgrading. The accounting consultant also helps businesses conform to legal policies set about by State and Federal legislation.

Accountant/consultant vs accounting consultant salary

Accountant/consultants and accounting consultants have different pay scales, as shown below.

Accountant/ConsultantAccounting Consultant
Average salary$64,298$62,830
Salary rangeBetween $47,000 And $86,000Between $45,000 And $86,000
Highest paying CitySan Francisco, CASan Francisco, CA
Highest paying stateCaliforniaCalifornia
Best paying companyIBMJordan Company
Best paying industryFinanceManufacturing

Differences between accountant/consultant and accounting consultant education

There are a few differences between an accountant/consultant and an accounting consultant in terms of educational background:

Accountant/ConsultantAccounting Consultant
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 71%Bachelor's Degree, 73%
Most common majorBusinessAccounting
Most common collegeUniversity of PennsylvaniaUniversity of Pennsylvania

Accountant/consultant vs accounting consultant demographics

Here are the differences between accountant/consultants' and accounting consultants' demographics:

Accountant/ConsultantAccounting Consultant
Average age4444
Gender ratioMale, 47.1% Female, 52.9%Male, 49.3% Female, 50.7%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 8.6% Unknown, 4.0% Hispanic or Latino, 10.9% Asian, 12.2% White, 63.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%Black or African American, 8.5% Unknown, 4.0% Hispanic or Latino, 10.8% Asian, 13.4% White, 63.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%
LGBT Percentage7%7%

Differences between accountant/consultant and accounting consultant duties and responsibilities

Accountant/consultant example responsibilities.

  • Manage a staff of five to ensure their compliance with GAAP as well as best practices.
  • Manage company responsibilities for budgets, forecasting, payroll and accounts receivable.
  • Manage personnel financial matters including salaries, taxation procedures and other relate issues.
  • Select and run weekly check run, ACH payments, and foreign payments.
  • Process bi-weekly ACH and EFT payment to vendors, reimbursement and rush check payments.
  • Coordinate with external CPA on financial tax filings i.e. , 990 for IRS regulations and maintain of IRS 501C status.
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Accounting consultant example responsibilities.

  • Work independently on line of business projects to automate derivative processes and system enhancement testing.
  • Share oversight for recruitment, human resources and advertising.
  • Provide support to accounts payable department in tagging and recording of fix assets during an ERP system transition
  • Work with governance and internal audit team ensuring SOX compliance during monthly & quarterly reviews as well as the annual audit.
  • Collaborate with accounting department in monthly closing process and development of internal controls to support SOX requirements.
  • Improve audit performance of major medical center by clearing backlog of account reconciliations across multiple medical billing systems.
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Accountant/consultant vs accounting consultant skills

Common accountant/consultant skills
  • Account Management, 17%
  • Product Knowledge, 14%
  • Strong Analytical, 13%
  • Leveraged, 9%
  • Customer Service, 8%
  • Customer Satisfaction, 6%
Common accounting consultant skills
  • CPA, 15%
  • GAAP, 11%
  • Reconciliations, 8%
  • ERP, 4%
  • Shared Services, 4%
  • SOX, 4%

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