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The differences between accounting managers and cost accounting managers 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 a cost accounting manager. Additionally, a cost accounting manager has an average salary of $89,286, 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 a cost accounting manager are variance analysis, financial analysis, and reconciliations.
| Accounting Manager | Cost Accounting Manager | |
| Yearly salary | $84,451 | $89,286 |
| Hourly rate | $40.60 | $42.93 |
| Growth rate | 17% | 17% |
| Number of jobs | 92,089 | 61,135 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 73% | Bachelor's Degree, 78% |
| 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.
A cost accounting manager is responsible for analyzing and evaluating pricing and costing systems of the goods and services of an organization, ensuring its adherence to the internal guidelines and state regulations. Cost accounting managers review business and financial transactions to generate accounting reports for management reference. They also identify business opportunities that would provide revenue resources and profits by monitoring industry trends and public demands. A cost accounting manager must have excellent analytical skills and accounting principles knowledge, especially in resolving account and expense discrepancies.
Accounting managers and cost accounting managers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Accounting Manager | Cost Accounting Manager | |
| Average salary | $84,451 | $89,286 |
| Salary range | Between $60,000 And $117,000 | Between $67,000 And $118,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | Boston, MA |
| Highest paying state | Vermont | Connecticut |
| Best paying company | Morgan Lewis | Microsoft |
| Best paying industry | Finance | Manufacturing |
There are a few differences between an accounting manager and a cost accounting manager in terms of educational background:
| Accounting Manager | Cost Accounting Manager | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 73% | Bachelor's Degree, 78% |
| Most common major | Accounting | Accounting |
| Most common college | University of Pennsylvania | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between accounting managers' and cost accounting managers' demographics:
| Accounting Manager | Cost Accounting Manager | |
| Average age | 46 | 46 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 40.4% Female, 59.6% | Male, 71.7% Female, 28.3% |
| 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, 7.6% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 14.6% Asian, 9.2% White, 64.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 11% |