Certified public accountant vs fund accountant

The differences between certified public accountants and fund 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 certified public accountant and a fund accountant. Additionally, a certified public accountant has an average salary of $76,693, which is higher than the $60,203 average annual salary of a fund accountant.

The top three skills for a certified public accountant include CPA, customer service and IRS. The most important skills for a fund accountant are reconciliations, calculation, and securities.

Certified public accountant vs fund accountant overview

	Certified Public Accountant	Fund Accountant
Yearly salary	$76,693	$60,203
Hourly rate	$36.87	$28.94
Growth rate	6%	6%
Number of jobs	78,792	35,702
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 69%	Bachelor's Degree, 84%
Average age	44	44
Years of experience	4	4

What does a certified public accountant do?

A certified public accountant (CPA) acts as an advisor to small businesses and chief financial officers to Fortune 500 companies. They typically work for both small and large public accounting firms. They offer advice on many issues, such as accounting and taxation. They aid businesses and individuals to plan and achieve their financial goals. There are several requirements to become a CPA, including having a degree in accounting, passing the CPA examination, and obtaining a CPA license to practice.

What does a fund accountant do?

A fund accountant provides accounting for an investment portfolio. The investments needed include commodities, securities, and/or real estate in an investment fund like a hedge fund or mutual fund. The role of fund accountants includes activity capturing and recording. Fund accountants prepare accurate and timely values, distributions, yields, and fund accounting output for review. They manage activities associated with fund accounting and domestic equity transactions. Also, they work alongside supervisors when it comes to budget development.

Certified public accountant vs fund accountant salary

Certified public accountants and fund accountants have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Certified Public Accountant	Fund Accountant
Average salary	$76,693	$60,203
Salary range	Between $49,000 And $119,000	Between $44,000 And $80,000
Highest paying City	Washington, DC	New York, NY
Highest paying state	New Jersey	New York
Best paying company	Applied Materials	Warburg Pincus
Best paying industry	Finance	Finance

Differences between certified public accountant and fund accountant education

There are a few differences between a certified public accountant and a fund accountant in terms of educational background:

	Certified Public Accountant	Fund Accountant
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 69%	Bachelor's Degree, 84%
Most common major	Accounting	Accounting
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	University of Pennsylvania

Certified public accountant vs fund accountant demographics

Here are the differences between certified public accountants' and fund accountants' demographics:

	Certified Public Accountant	Fund Accountant
Average age	44	44
Gender ratio	Male, 43.2% Female, 56.8%	Male, 61.5% Female, 38.5%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 8.5% Unknown, 4.0% Hispanic or Latino, 10.8% Asian, 12.4% White, 64.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%	Black or African American, 7.6% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 9.9% Asian, 18.4% White, 59.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%
LGBT Percentage	7%	7%

Differences between certified public accountant and fund accountant duties and responsibilities

Certified public accountant example responsibilities.

Mentor highly skil accounting and tax management team to achieve establish objectives including conformity with GAAP compliance.
Maintain monthly client bookkeeping including bank reconciliations, account payable and prepare preliminary financial statements for CPA review.
Conduct bookkeeping, bank reconciliations and generate general ledgers as well as raise concerns about expenditure classifications and revenue recognition.
Prepare and review month-end close, including journal entries, general ledger account reconciliations, and financial statement supporting documentation.
Gain a working knowledge of audit objectives and procedures in compliance with GAAP and GAAS.
Prepare and monitor audit programs, assist management in design and monitoring of SOX compliance programs.

Fund accountant example responsibilities.

Manage fund accounting activities for five funds for an investment manager with $80b in AUM.
Manage accoutningtransition from Quickbooks to Yardi.
Prepare internal financial reports for treasury manage accounts include in external compliance reports.
Record efficiently accounting records, securities positions, corporate actions and journal entries accordance with department policies and procedures.
Process complex transactions for foreign and domestic bonds, equities, futures, and options.
Prepare annual and semi-annual financial statements using GAAP.

Certified public accountant vs fund accountant skills

Common certified public accountant skills

CPA, 48%
Customer Service, 22%
IRS, 7%
State Tax Returns, 5%
Payroll Tax Returns, 2%
Financial Statement Preparation, 1%

Common fund accountant skills

Reconciliations, 12%
Calculation, 5%
Securities, 5%
GAAP, 5%
Accruals, 5%
Journal Entries, 4%

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Certified Public Accountant vs Fund Accountant

Updated January 8, 2025

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