Accounting supervisor vs senior staff accountant

The differences between accounting supervisors and senior staff accountants can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both an accounting supervisor and a senior staff accountant. Additionally, an accounting supervisor has an average salary of $68,923, which is higher than the $65,019 average annual salary of a senior staff accountant.

The top three skills for an accounting supervisor include reconciliations, GAAP and account reconciliations. The most important skills for a senior staff accountant are reconciliations, account reconciliations, and CPA.

Accounting supervisor vs senior staff accountant overview

	Accounting Supervisor	Senior Staff Accountant
Yearly salary	$68,923	$65,019
Hourly rate	$33.14	$31.26
Growth rate	6%	6%
Number of jobs	56,377	112,760
Job satisfaction	-	5
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 73%	Bachelor's Degree, 77%
Average age	44	44
Years of experience	4	4

What does an accounting supervisor do?

Account supervisors are in charge of the accounting and financial operations within an organization's accounting department. They supervise the account team and provide feedback about their performance and recommend improvements when necessary. It is their responsibility to review the company's financial statements for accuracy. They even reconcile the enterprise's general ledger accounts and oversee the communications and marketing plans of the clients. Also, they maintain profitable and long-term customer relationships to keep the trust of the clients.

What does a senior staff accountant do?

A senior staff accountant is responsible for managing the accounting operations of the company's accounting department, reconciling accounts, and finalizing financial reports to discuss with the management. Senior staff accountants resolve account discrepancies, analyze the company's financial status, and verify financial transactions. They must have excellent analytical skills and extensive knowledge of the accounting principles to perform accounting duties that would minimize the financial risk of the company. A senior staff accountant provides strategic recommendations to prevent overspending and increase efficiency across all departments to drive more revenues and profits.

Accounting supervisor vs senior staff accountant salary

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

	Accounting Supervisor	Senior Staff Accountant
Average salary	$68,923	$65,019
Salary range	Between $50,000 And $93,000	Between $48,000 And $86,000
Highest paying City	Washington, DC	Washington, DC
Highest paying state	New York	New York
Best paying company	eBay	Calumet Specialty Products Partners
Best paying industry	Finance	Professional

Differences between accounting supervisor and senior staff accountant education

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

	Accounting Supervisor	Senior Staff Accountant
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 73%	Bachelor's Degree, 77%
Most common major	Accounting	Accounting
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	University of Pennsylvania

Accounting supervisor vs senior staff accountant demographics

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

	Accounting Supervisor	Senior Staff Accountant
Average age	44	44
Gender ratio	Male, 39.7% Female, 60.3%	Male, 42.6% Female, 57.4%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 8.6% Unknown, 4.0% Hispanic or Latino, 10.9% Asian, 12.2% White, 63.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%	Black or African American, 8.8% Unknown, 4.0% Hispanic or Latino, 11.2% Asian, 12.1% White, 63.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%
LGBT Percentage	7%	7%

Differences between accounting supervisor and senior staff accountant duties and responsibilities

Accounting supervisor example responsibilities.

Initiate ongoing departmental projects to automate daily tasks which include the calculations for income distributions and the daily income account reconciliation.
Audit ledgers to ensure they contain correct information, such as billing addresses and invoice numbers.
Review the monthly account reconciliations for all GL accounts including inter-company and validate accuracy and substance of schedules supporting the reconciliations.
Process all student account updates and maintain student ledgers.
Verify and post transactions to journal ledgers and other records.
Reconcile foreign tax GL account and remit funds to IRS.

Senior staff accountant example responsibilities.

Manage month end close process including journal entries, departmental analysis and preparation of consolidate financial statements and account reconciliations.
Involve in revenue recognition research (ASC 985-605 vs. ASC 605-25).
Aid managers in performing AP duties, generate financial reports for CPA, and reconcile bank accounts for corporate office.
Prepare balance sheet reconciliations and general ledger analysis in accordance with GAAP.
Advance SaaS deal and rev accounting.
Cultivate productive, trustful relationship with external CPA firm, critical to producing successful audits and year-end reporting.

Accounting supervisor vs senior staff accountant skills

Common accounting supervisor skills

Reconciliations, 11%
GAAP, 6%
Account Reconciliations, 6%
CPA, 6%
Customer Service, 5%
General Ledger Accounts, 5%

Common senior staff accountant skills

Reconciliations, 13%
Account Reconciliations, 7%
CPA, 7%
GAAP, 5%
General Ledger Accounts, 5%
Balance Sheet Accounts, 4%

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Accounting Supervisor vs Senior Staff Accountant

Updated January 8, 2025

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