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The differences between accounting managers and assistant controllers 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 manager and an assistant controller. Additionally, an assistant controller has an average salary of $91,447, which is higher than the $84,451 average annual salary of an accounting manager.
The top three skills for an accounting manager include reconciliations, CPA and GAAP. The most important skills for an assistant controller are reconciliations, CPA, and GAAP.
| Accounting Manager | Assistant Controller | |
| Yearly salary | $84,451 | $91,447 |
| Hourly rate | $40.60 | $43.96 |
| Growth rate | 17% | 17% |
| Number of jobs | 92,089 | 58,643 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 73% | Bachelor's Degree, 76% |
| Average age | 46 | 46 |
| Years of experience | 8 | 8 |
An accounting manager is responsible for supervising and monitoring the overall accounting department operations. Duties of an accounting manager include reviewing account information and account statements, processing invoices, analyzing financial data, performing account reconciliations, assisting with tax processing and audit reports, and generating financial reports for presentation with the board. An accounting manager must have excellent knowledge of the accounting principles and legislation to assist the team with the company's financial goals. Accounting managers must have the outstanding analytical, critical thinking, and decision-making skills to develop the best competitive financial strategies.
An assistant controller is an individual who supports and reports to the corporate controller about all the organization's accounting-related activities such as managerial accounting and financial activities. Assistant controllers are instrumental in maintaining the accountability of the organization's financial resources and protecting the assets of its investors. They delegate data entry tasks with junior accounting staff and coordinate financial audits with the vice president and chief financial officer (CFO). The minimum educational attainment of an assistant controller is to obtain a bachelor's degree in finance or accounting related field.
Accounting managers and assistant controllers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Accounting Manager | Assistant Controller | |
| Average salary | $84,451 | $91,447 |
| Salary range | Between $60,000 And $117,000 | Between $63,000 And $132,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | Stamford, CT |
| Highest paying state | Vermont | Connecticut |
| Best paying company | Morgan Lewis | Cloudflare |
| Best paying industry | Finance | Finance |
There are a few differences between an accounting manager and an assistant controller in terms of educational background:
| Accounting Manager | Assistant Controller | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 73% | Bachelor's Degree, 76% |
| Most common major | Accounting | Accounting |
| Most common college | University of Pennsylvania | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between accounting managers' and assistant controllers' demographics:
| Accounting Manager | Assistant Controller | |
| Average age | 46 | 46 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 40.4% Female, 59.6% | Male, 49.8% Female, 50.2% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 7.7% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 14.8% Asian, 10.0% White, 63.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% | Black or African American, 7.7% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 14.8% Asian, 9.1% White, 64.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 11% |