Accounting director vs senior accountant

The differences between accounting directors and senior accountants can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 6-8 years to become an accounting director, becoming a senior accountant takes usually requires 2-4 years. Additionally, an accounting director has an average salary of $132,126, which is higher than the $71,967 average annual salary of a senior accountant.

The top three skills for an accounting director include CPA, GAAP and internal controls. The most important skills for a senior accountant are reconciliations, CPA, and GAAP.

Accounting director vs senior accountant overview

	Accounting Director	Senior Accountant
Yearly salary	$132,126	$71,967
Hourly rate	$63.52	$34.60
Growth rate	17%	6%
Number of jobs	56,323	76,816
Job satisfaction	-	4
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 76%	Bachelor's Degree, 78%
Average age	46	44
Years of experience	8	4

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 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.

Accounting director vs senior accountant salary

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

	Accounting Director	Senior Accountant
Average salary	$132,126	$71,967
Salary range	Between $89,000 And $193,000	Between $55,000 And $92,000
Highest paying City	Cambridge, MA	Washington, DC
Highest paying state	Massachusetts	New York
Best paying company	Yuma Regional Medical Center	Google
Best paying industry	Technology	Finance

Differences between accounting director and senior accountant education

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

	Accounting Director	Senior Accountant
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 76%	Bachelor's Degree, 78%
Most common major	Accounting	Accounting
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	University of Pennsylvania

Accounting director vs senior accountant demographics

Here are the differences between accounting directors' and senior accountants' demographics:

	Accounting Director	Senior Accountant
Average age	46	44
Gender ratio	Male, 52.0% Female, 48.0%	Male, 46.9% Female, 53.1%
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, 8.5% Unknown, 4.0% Hispanic or Latino, 10.8% Asian, 14.5% White, 61.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%
LGBT Percentage	11%	7%

Differences between accounting director and senior accountant 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.

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.

Accounting director vs senior accountant skills

Common accounting director skills

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

Common senior accountant skills

Reconciliations, 13%
CPA, 8%
GAAP, 7%
External Auditors, 4%
Internal Controls, 4%
Payroll, 4%

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Accounting Director vs Senior Accountant

Updated January 8, 2025

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