Post job

Assistant controller vs finance manager

The differences between assistant controllers and finance 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 assistant controller and a finance manager. Additionally, a finance manager has an average salary of $101,374, which is higher than the $91,447 average annual salary of an assistant controller.

The top three skills for an assistant controller include reconciliations, CPA and GAAP. The most important skills for a finance manager are financial analysis, CPA, and customer service.

Assistant controller vs finance manager overview

Assistant ControllerFinance Manager
Yearly salary$91,447$101,374
Hourly rate$43.96$48.74
Growth rate17%17%
Number of jobs58,643125,345
Job satisfaction-5
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 76%Bachelor's Degree, 66%
Average age4646
Years of experience88

What does an assistant controller do?

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.

What does a finance manager do?

A finance manager is responsible for monitoring the financial system of a company. Their tasks include handling their organization's financial status, generating cost estimates and budget goals, identifying business opportunities to increase revenues and profitability, improving financial strategies, reducing costs, analyzing account statements, processing invoice as needed, analyzing market trends, searching potential partnerships, and presenting reports. A finance manager must have excellent analytical skills and knowledge of the accounting and financial industry. They are responsible for providing the best recommendations for the organization's growth.

Assistant controller vs finance manager salary

Assistant controllers and finance managers have different pay scales, as shown below.

Assistant ControllerFinance Manager
Average salary$91,447$101,374
Salary rangeBetween $63,000 And $132,000Between $71,000 And $144,000
Highest paying CityStamford, CTNew York, NY
Highest paying stateConnecticutNew York
Best paying companyCloudflareBarclays
Best paying industryFinanceFinance

Differences between assistant controller and finance manager education

There are a few differences between an assistant controller and a finance manager in terms of educational background:

Assistant ControllerFinance Manager
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 76%Bachelor's Degree, 66%
Most common majorAccountingBusiness
Most common collegeUniversity of PennsylvaniaUniversity of Pennsylvania

Assistant controller vs finance manager demographics

Here are the differences between assistant controllers' and finance managers' demographics:

Assistant ControllerFinance Manager
Average age4646
Gender ratioMale, 49.8% Female, 50.2%Male, 60.0% Female, 40.0%
Race ratioBlack 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%Black or African American, 7.6% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 14.6% Asian, 10.2% White, 63.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%
LGBT Percentage11%11%

Differences between assistant controller and finance manager duties and responsibilities

Assistant controller example responsibilities.

  • Lead divisional capital management through ROI analysis on new products and other capital investments to maximize returns.
  • Facilitate the implementation of ERP system, which increase productivity in efficiently and effectively manage the functionality of the organization.
  • Initiate ongoing departmental projects to automate daily tasks which include the calculations for income distributions and the daily income account reconciliation.
  • Maintain timely and accurate general ledger account reconciliations, oversee treasury management, and handle fixed asset tracking and reporting.
  • Direct balance sheet and inter-company reconciliations according to GAAP and ensure compliance across accounting, payroll, and inventory management systems.
  • Oversee corporate financial internal controls including a complete re-write of all standard operating procedure documentation and supporting annual SOX audit work.
  • Show more

Finance manager example responsibilities.

  • Manage the preparation of monthly reporting packs and board presentations with robust variance analysis, commentaries and forward looking KPIs.
  • Manage a team of sales persons, business managers, sales manager, A/R, A/P, and general managers.
  • Lead successful sales team and provide direct oversight on overall dealership business profitability.
  • Manage accounts payable/receivable, deposits, payroll preparation, purchasing and inventory management, liaison to accountant.
  • Oversee financial analysis, financial audits, G/L, A/R, A/P and fixed-asset accounting in accordance with GAAP standards.
  • Execute simple SQL queries to validate data in tables.
  • Show more

Assistant controller vs finance manager skills

Common assistant controller skills
  • Reconciliations, 9%
  • CPA, 8%
  • GAAP, 7%
  • Internal Controls, 5%
  • Payroll Processing, 5%
  • External Auditors, 5%
Common finance manager skills
  • Financial Analysis, 7%
  • CPA, 7%
  • Customer Service, 6%
  • Hyperion, 4%
  • Financial Models, 4%
  • Strong Analytical, 4%

Browse executive management jobs