Accountant internship vs senior staff accountant

The differences between accountant interns and senior staff 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 internship and a senior staff accountant. Additionally, a senior staff accountant has an average salary of $65,019, which is higher than the $33,484 average annual salary of an accountant internship.

The top three skills for an accountant internship include R, account management and powerpoint. The most important skills for a senior staff accountant are reconciliations, account reconciliations, and CPA.

Accountant internship vs senior staff accountant overview

	Accountant Internship	Senior Staff Accountant
Yearly salary	$33,484	$65,019
Hourly rate	$16.10	$31.26
Growth rate	6%	6%
Number of jobs	82,924	112,760
Job satisfaction	-	5
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 80%	Bachelor's Degree, 77%
Average age	44	44
Years of experience	4	4

What does an accountant internship do?

An accounting intern is responsible for assisting an organization's accounting department, observing practical applications and processes, and performing accounting duties under the supervision of tenured accounting staff. Accounting interns support the accounting operations by preparing and organizing financial reports, helping with accounts reconciliation, researching financial and stock market trends, utilizing various accounting software, and managing feedback from their mentors. An accounting intern must be detail-oriented and a fast-learner, immediately adjusting to the company's culture and actively cooperating with the team to ensure a smooth flow of operations.

What does a senior staff accountant do?

A senior staff accountant is responsible for managing the accounting operations of the company's accounting department, reconciling accounts, and finalizing financial reports to discuss with the management. Senior staff accountants resolve account discrepancies, analyze the company's financial status, and verify financial transactions. They must have excellent analytical skills and extensive knowledge of the accounting principles to perform accounting duties that would minimize the financial risk of the company. A senior staff accountant provides strategic recommendations to prevent overspending and increase efficiency across all departments to drive more revenues and profits.

Accountant internship vs senior staff accountant salary

Accountant interns and senior staff accountants have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Accountant Internship	Senior Staff Accountant
Average salary	$33,484	$65,019
Salary range	Between $24,000 And $45,000	Between $48,000 And $86,000
Highest paying City	Bellevue, WA	Washington, DC
Highest paying state	Washington	New York
Best paying company	Novogradac	Calumet Specialty Products Partners
Best paying industry	Media	Professional

Differences between accountant internship and senior staff accountant education

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

	Accountant Internship	Senior Staff Accountant
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 80%	Bachelor's Degree, 77%
Most common major	Accounting	Accounting
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	University of Pennsylvania

Accountant internship vs senior staff accountant demographics

Here are the differences between accountant interns' and senior staff accountants' demographics:

	Accountant Internship	Senior Staff Accountant
Average age	44	44
Gender ratio	Male, 46.4% Female, 53.6%	Male, 42.6% Female, 57.4%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 7.6% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 9.9% Asian, 18.4% White, 59.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%	Black or African American, 8.8% Unknown, 4.0% Hispanic or Latino, 11.2% Asian, 12.1% White, 63.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%
LGBT Percentage	7%	7%

Differences between accountant internship and senior staff accountant duties and responsibilities

Accountant internship example responsibilities.

Develop and manage CRM system to identify cross sell and up sell opportunities.
Create RFP responses for IDHN's to achieve a more compliant, long term agreement.
Work with manage care, medical reimbursement and Medicaid issues/challenges.
Perform market research, creating a client PowerPoint presentation with competitive intelligence.
Leverage senior role to train and mentor associates with day-to-day performance.
Support sales team to deliver presentations, premise visits and RFP preparations.

Senior staff accountant example responsibilities.

Manage month end close process including journal entries, departmental analysis and preparation of consolidate financial statements and account reconciliations.
Involve in revenue recognition research (ASC 985-605 vs. ASC 605-25).
Aid managers in performing AP duties, generate financial reports for CPA, and reconcile bank accounts for corporate office.
Prepare balance sheet reconciliations and general ledger analysis in accordance with GAAP.
Advance SaaS deal and rev accounting.
Cultivate productive, trustful relationship with external CPA firm, critical to producing successful audits and year-end reporting.

Accountant internship vs senior staff accountant skills

Common accountant internship skills

R, 9%
Account Management, 8%
PowerPoint, 8%
Renewable Energy, 8%
Journal Entries, 5%
Payroll, 4%

Common senior staff accountant skills

Reconciliations, 13%
Account Reconciliations, 7%
CPA, 7%
GAAP, 5%
General Ledger Accounts, 5%
Balance Sheet Accounts, 4%

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Accountant Internship
Accountant Internship vs Senior Staff Accountant

Updated January 8, 2025

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