Accounting director vs account director

The differences between accounting directors and account directors can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 6-8 years to become both an accounting director and an account director. Additionally, an accounting director has an average salary of $132,126, which is higher than the $114,728 average annual salary of an account director.

The top three skills for an accounting director include CPA, GAAP and internal controls. The most important skills for an account director are account management, project management, and work ethic.

Accounting director vs account director overview

	Accounting Director	Account Director
Yearly salary	$132,126	$114,728
Hourly rate	$63.52	$55.16
Growth rate	17%	5%
Number of jobs	56,323	132,260
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 76%	Bachelor's Degree, 80%
Average age	46	46
Years of experience	8	8

What does an accounting director do?

An Accounting Director supervises the general accounting and financial reporting functions, as well as financial services within a company or organization. They also ensure that all transactions and financial policies for their organization meet federal regulations and standards.

What does an account director do?

An account director is responsible for managing client accounts, monitoring budgets, and sales forecasting. Their goal is to maintain stable account management strategies, meet clients' demands, develop healthy professional partnerships that would generate revenues, increase profitability, and achieve the organization's long-term goals objectives. Account directors supervise the account management staff, ensuring the project's successful completion with the highest efficiency and accuracy. An account director also plans training programs to maximize their performance and productivity, especially when dealing with deadlines and clients' requests.

Accounting director vs account director salary

Accounting directors and account directors have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Accounting Director	Account Director
Average salary	$132,126	$114,728
Salary range	Between $89,000 And $193,000	Between $82,000 And $158,000
Highest paying City	Cambridge, MA	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	Massachusetts	New Jersey
Best paying company	Yuma Regional Medical Center	BuzzFeed
Best paying industry	Technology	Professional

Differences between accounting director and account director education

There are a few differences between an accounting director and an account director in terms of educational background:

	Accounting Director	Account Director
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 76%	Bachelor's Degree, 80%
Most common major	Accounting	Business
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	University of Southern California

Accounting director vs account director demographics

Here are the differences between accounting directors' and account directors' demographics:

	Accounting Director	Account Director
Average age	46	46
Gender ratio	Male, 52.0% Female, 48.0%	Male, 50.9% Female, 49.1%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 7.7% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 14.7% Asian, 8.6% White, 64.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%	Black or African American, 3.2% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 9.8% Asian, 4.1% White, 78.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%
LGBT Percentage	11%	7%

Differences between accounting director and account director duties and responsibilities

Accounting director example responsibilities.

Manage and coordinate ACH preparation, positive pay and execution activities.
Manage and review annual preparation of work papers for CPA firm to coordinate federal returns and state franchise returns.
Manage daily receipts, payment reversals, adjustments, ACH and wire payments, and other accounts receivable activity.
Lead finance team in major ERP implementation project in the areas of inventory, accounts payable, and general ledger.
Lead the effort to establish accounting policy, streamline operating procedures and implement Sarbanes-Oxley compliance processes.
Manage foundation accounting and establish internal accounting controls and accounting procedures to ensure contributions are accounted for in accordance with GAAP.

Account director example responsibilities.

Manage coordination with HCP agencies for launch.
Manage the development and creation of print and broadcast advertising and in-store merchandising.
Manage relationships with all GPO pharmacy, medical device, and physician preference teams.
Manage client accounts as well as introducing cross selling into other verticals to increase the portfolio.
Manage RFP / RFI process and drive all opportunities that provide a consultative, long-term solution and support.
Increase clients SEO rankings and achieve first page placement both locally and nationally for highly search phrases for a client.

Accounting director vs account director skills

Common accounting director skills

CPA, 10%
GAAP, 9%
Internal Controls, 7%
Reconciliations, 5%
External Auditors, 5%
Payroll, 5%

Common account director skills

Account Management, 9%
Project Management, 7%
Work Ethic, 7%
Healthcare, 7%
Digital Marketing, 5%
Email Marketing, 4%

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Accounting Director
Accounting Director vs Account Director

Updated January 8, 2025

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