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The differences between accountant-contractors and cost 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-contractor and a cost accountant. Additionally, a cost accountant has an average salary of $60,528, which is higher than the $56,906 average annual salary of an accountant-contractor.
The top three skills for an accountant-contractor include reconciliations, general ledger accounts and payroll taxes. The most important skills for a cost accountant are reconciliations, variance analysis, and GAAP.
| Accountant-Contractor | Cost Accountant | |
| Yearly salary | $56,906 | $60,528 |
| Hourly rate | $27.36 | $29.10 |
| Growth rate | 6% | 6% |
| Number of jobs | 60,024 | 39,925 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 72% | Bachelor's Degree, 77% |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
An accountant contractor directly manages a customer's business. The contractor works exclusively on the company and organizes all its financial reports. The accountant contractor controls, inspects, and encodes all the company's financial transactions, ensuring that everything is well-accounted for and adequately documenting its activities. The contractor must be licensed, have expert skills in accountancy, be well-organized, have a high level of communication skills, and work under pressure.
A cost accountant specializes in determining the total cost incurred by a company from producing goods and services. Through the various financial data they collect, the cost accountant will devise plans and strategies that will be a vital factor in the next budget and marketing preparations of a company. Aside from this, a cost accountant is responsible for various tasks such as conducting research and analysis in different areas, keeping financial records and inventory, producing financial reports involving profitability and expenditures, and proposing a budget and other financial plans.
Accountant-contractors and cost accountants have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Accountant-Contractor | Cost Accountant | |
| Average salary | $56,906 | $60,528 |
| Salary range | Between $44,000 And $73,000 | Between $45,000 And $81,000 |
| Highest paying City | Newark, NJ | Edison, NJ |
| Highest paying state | New Jersey | New Jersey |
| Best paying company | Broadridge | |
| Best paying industry | Energy | Energy |
There are a few differences between an accountant-contractor and a cost accountant in terms of educational background:
| Accountant-Contractor | Cost Accountant | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 72% | Bachelor's Degree, 77% |
| Most common major | Accounting | Accounting |
| Most common college | University of Pennsylvania | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between accountant-contractors' and cost accountants' demographics:
| Accountant-Contractor | Cost Accountant | |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 43.8% Female, 56.2% | Male, 52.6% Female, 47.4% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 8.9% Unknown, 4.0% Hispanic or Latino, 11.2% Asian, 12.1% White, 63.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5% | Black or African American, 8.7% Unknown, 4.0% Hispanic or Latino, 11.0% Asian, 12.2% White, 63.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5% |
| LGBT Percentage | 7% | 7% |