Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between accounting managers and staff 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 manager, becoming a staff accountant takes usually requires 2-4 years. Additionally, an accounting manager has an average salary of $84,451, which is higher than the $54,216 average annual salary of a staff accountant.
The top three skills for an accounting manager include reconciliations, CPA and GAAP. The most important skills for a staff accountant are reconciliations, account reconciliations, and GAAP.
| Accounting Manager | Staff Accountant | |
| Yearly salary | $84,451 | $54,216 |
| Hourly rate | $40.60 | $26.07 |
| Growth rate | 17% | 6% |
| Number of jobs | 92,089 | 115,930 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 4 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 73% | Bachelor's Degree, 76% |
| Average age | 46 | 44 |
| Years of experience | 8 | 4 |
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.
Staff accountants are employees who are part of the company's accounting department. They are usually certified public accountants (CPAs). Staff accountants should be familiar with accounting tasks. Previous accounting experiences play a huge advantage in their success. They perform a variety of accounting responsibilities such as information verification and analysis, financial report preparation and presentation, financial account reconciliation, billing and payment receiving activities, vendor database management, and invoice processing requirements. They should also know how to do bookkeeping. Staff accountants should have good communication skills, analytical skills, and decision-making skills. They should also be organized and trustworthy since they will be handling confidential information.
Accounting managers and staff accountants have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Accounting Manager | Staff Accountant | |
| Average salary | $84,451 | $54,216 |
| Salary range | Between $60,000 And $117,000 | Between $42,000 And $68,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | Washington, DC |
| Highest paying state | Vermont | New York |
| Best paying company | Morgan Lewis | Meta |
| Best paying industry | Finance | Government |
There are a few differences between an accounting manager and a staff accountant in terms of educational background:
| Accounting Manager | Staff Accountant | |
| 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 staff accountants' demographics:
| Accounting Manager | Staff Accountant | |
| Average age | 46 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 40.4% Female, 59.6% | Male, 41.6% Female, 58.4% |
| 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, 8.5% Unknown, 4.0% Hispanic or Latino, 10.8% Asian, 14.4% White, 61.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 7% |