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Accountant/consultant vs senior accountant

The differences between accountant/consultants and senior accountants 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 a senior accountant. Additionally, a senior accountant has an average salary of $71,967, which is higher than the $64,298 average annual salary of an accountant/consultant.

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

Accountant/consultant vs senior accountant overview

Accountant/ConsultantSenior Accountant
Yearly salary$64,298$71,967
Hourly rate$30.91$34.60
Growth rate6%6%
Number of jobs38,91676,816
Job satisfaction-4
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 71%Bachelor's Degree, 78%
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 a senior accountant do?

A senior accountant is responsible for organizing financial reports, analyzing cost estimates, reviewing budget goals regularly, and making adjustments with the company's account statements as necessary. Senior accountants' duties also include managing account reconciliations, preparing tax documents, maintaining audit records and balance sheets, generating invoices, and providing recommendations to minimize possible financial loss. A senior accountant must have excellent analytical and critical-thinking skills and extensive knowledge of accounting and financial principles.

Accountant/consultant vs senior accountant salary

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

Accountant/ConsultantSenior Accountant
Average salary$64,298$71,967
Salary rangeBetween $47,000 And $86,000Between $55,000 And $92,000
Highest paying CitySan Francisco, CAWashington, DC
Highest paying stateCaliforniaNew York
Best paying companyIBMGoogle
Best paying industryFinanceFinance

Differences between accountant/consultant and senior accountant education

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

Accountant/ConsultantSenior Accountant
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 71%Bachelor's Degree, 78%
Most common majorBusinessAccounting
Most common collegeUniversity of PennsylvaniaUniversity of Pennsylvania

Accountant/consultant vs senior accountant demographics

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

Accountant/ConsultantSenior Accountant
Average age4444
Gender ratioMale, 47.1% Female, 52.9%Male, 46.9% Female, 53.1%
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, 14.5% White, 61.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%
LGBT Percentage7%7%

Differences between accountant/consultant and senior accountant 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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Senior accountant example responsibilities.

  • Manage complex pricing structure and maintain SalesForce CRM funnel for forecasting accuracy.
  • Prepare internal financial reports for treasury manage accounts include in external compliance reports.
  • Manage the review, enhancement, and creation of department policy and procedure documentation require for Sarbanes-Oxley auditing and compliance.
  • Compile and analyze financial information to prepare monthly accruals, payroll journal, general journal and bank reconciliations.
  • Research and develop policies around Medicaid and Medicare billings and prepare Medicaid cost reports.
  • Coordinate submissions of financial data from regional divisions and prepare the consolidated company financial statement using Hyperion program.
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Accountant/consultant vs senior accountant skills

Common accountant/consultant skills
  • Account Management, 17%
  • Product Knowledge, 14%
  • Strong Analytical, 13%
  • Leveraged, 9%
  • Customer Service, 8%
  • Customer Satisfaction, 6%
Common senior accountant skills
  • Reconciliations, 13%
  • CPA, 8%
  • GAAP, 7%
  • External Auditors, 4%
  • Internal Controls, 4%
  • Payroll, 4%

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