Budget accountant vs cost accountant

The differences between budget accountants and cost accountants can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a budget accountant and a cost accountant. Additionally, a cost accountant has an average salary of $60,528, which is higher than the $59,192 average annual salary of a budget accountant.

The top three skills for a budget accountant include financial data, fixed assets and journal entries. The most important skills for a cost accountant are reconciliations, variance analysis, and GAAP.

Budget accountant vs cost accountant overview

	Budget Accountant	Cost Accountant
Yearly salary	$59,192	$60,528
Hourly rate	$28.46	$29.10
Growth rate	6%	6%
Number of jobs	33,777	39,925
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 77%	Bachelor's Degree, 77%
Average age	44	44
Years of experience	4	4

Budget accountant vs cost accountant salary

Budget accountants and cost accountants have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Budget Accountant	Cost Accountant
Average salary	$59,192	$60,528
Salary range	Between $43,000 And $80,000	Between $45,000 And $81,000
Highest paying City	New York, NY	Edison, NJ
Highest paying state	New York	New Jersey
Best paying company	Genentech	Google
Best paying industry	Finance	Energy

Differences between budget accountant and cost accountant education

There are a few differences between a budget accountant and a cost accountant in terms of educational background:

	Budget Accountant	Cost Accountant
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 77%	Bachelor's Degree, 77%
Most common major	Accounting	Accounting
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	University of Pennsylvania

Budget accountant vs cost accountant demographics

Here are the differences between budget accountants' and cost accountants' demographics:

	Budget Accountant	Cost Accountant
Average age	44	44
Gender ratio	Male, 49.6% Female, 50.4%	Male, 52.6% Female, 47.4%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 8.5% Unknown, 4.0% Hispanic or Latino, 10.8% Asian, 13.7% White, 62.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%	Black or African American, 8.7% Unknown, 4.0% Hispanic or Latino, 11.0% Asian, 12.2% White, 63.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%
LGBT Percentage	7%	7%

Differences between budget accountant and cost accountant duties and responsibilities

Budget accountant example responsibilities.

Manage the review, enhancement, and creation of department policy and procedure documentation require for Sarbanes-Oxley auditing and compliance.
Prepare budgets, reconciliations and outcome reports for grants.
Facilitate data transfer and reconciliation between systems (TSI/T-II and PeopleSoft).
Review staffing compensations, medical benefits, professional insurances, headcount, and FTE metrics.
Collaborate extensively with CPA's office during preliminary and year-end audit/review process to ensure completeness of financial statements and tax returns.
Develop ROI analysis model for propose capital investments and authore requirements policy and process flow, which streamline decision-making process.

Cost accountant example responsibilities.

Manage ledgers and perform month end journal entries.
Manage the payroll with ADP system and account receivable.
Manage costing control as well as accounts payable (A/P) and accounts receivable (A/R).
Prepare internal financial reports for treasury manage accounts include in external compliance reports.
Prepare raw material and WIP inventory reconciliations.
Develop tracking of GAAP inventory valuation for all inventory inherit from the bankrupt former company.

Budget accountant vs cost accountant skills

Common budget accountant skills

Financial Data, 14%
Fixed Assets, 14%
Journal Entries, 14%
Reconciliations, 13%
Budget Preparation, 6%
Balance Sheet, 6%

Common cost accountant skills

Reconciliations, 9%
Variance Analysis, 6%
GAAP, 4%
Account Reconciliations, 3%
Cost Analysis, 3%
Financial Analysis, 3%