Chief accountant vs business partner

The differences between chief accountants and business partners can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 2-4 years to become a chief accountant, becoming a business partner takes usually requires 8-10 years. Additionally, a business partner has an average salary of $96,324, which is higher than the $61,481 average annual salary of a chief accountant.

The top three skills for a chief accountant include external auditors, reconciliations and general ledger accounts. The most important skills for a business partner are analytics, project management, and customer service.

Chief accountant vs business partner overview

	Chief Accountant	Business Partner
Yearly salary	$61,481	$96,324
Hourly rate	$29.56	$46.31
Growth rate	6%	10%
Number of jobs	52,287	106,251
Job satisfaction	4	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 69%	Bachelor's Degree, 65%
Average age	44	39
Years of experience	4	10

What does a chief accountant do?

Chief accountants develop financial strategies, oversee the accounting department, make investment decisions, and develop financial strategies. They provide assistance to departments with their reviews and budgets, tax studies, and internal control. It is part of their job to respond to the accounting questions from time management. They take charge of monitoring and recording financial transactions based on corporate regulations and policies. Also, they recommend changes to the procedures of accounting.

What does a business partner do?

A business partner is an individual who is involved in a legal business partnership with other individuals to manage a business as co-owners. Business partners invest their money into the business, and each partner benefits from any profits and sustains part of any losses. They must file with the state in which they do business and are governed mostly by state laws. Business partners can also be either liable or not for the actions taken by the company.

Chief accountant vs business partner salary

Chief accountants and business partners have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Chief Accountant	Business Partner
Average salary	$61,481	$96,324
Salary range	Between $43,000 And $87,000	Between $66,000 And $140,000
Highest paying City	New York, NY	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	New York	Washington
Best paying company	IBM	ZS
Best paying industry	Retail	Technology

Differences between chief accountant and business partner education

There are a few differences between a chief accountant and a business partner in terms of educational background:

	Chief Accountant	Business Partner
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 69%	Bachelor's Degree, 65%
Most common major	Accounting	Business
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	University of Georgia

Chief accountant vs business partner demographics

Here are the differences between chief accountants' and business partners' demographics:

	Chief Accountant	Business Partner
Average age	44	39
Gender ratio	Male, 57.0% Female, 43.0%	Male, 56.2% Female, 43.8%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 8.2% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 10.5% Asian, 15.3% White, 61.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%	Black or African American, 3.0% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 8.7% Asian, 8.2% White, 74.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%
LGBT Percentage	7%	10%

Differences between chief accountant and business partner duties and responsibilities

Chief accountant example responsibilities.

Manage and monitor accounting procedures for compliance with Sarbanes-Oxley and coordinate and facilitate external audit requirements.
Prepare monthly trial balance, balance sheets, and profit and loss statements according to GAAP.
Prepare monthly account reconciliations (bank reconciliation, accounts receivable reconciliation, accounts payable reconciliation, and general ledger reconciliation).
Research, advise and resolve accounting and business issues, ensuring compliance with U.S. GAAP and head office requirements.
Monitor deposits and withdrawals of revenue and expenses, review payroll, and ensure accurate processing and timely bank reconciliations.
Prepare daily SOX audit documentation, ensuring that bank account activity have been reconcile and to identify any outstanding variances.

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Business partner example responsibilities.

Manage publicity online, in medias such as Facebook and Instagram.
Negotiate and manage vendor relations using SLA's and metric management.
Lead the establishment of key ERP, database and java applications environments.
Implement and manage social media strategies and blog content as well as customer relationships on Salesforce.com.
Lead all operational, financial and customer relationship aspects of MMI's largest global OEM customer, IBM.
Plan, manage, supervise and lead the development, QA, UAT and deployment efforts towards on time delivery.

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Chief accountant vs business partner skills

Common chief accountant skills

External Auditors, 13%
Reconciliations, 10%
General Ledger Accounts, 9%
Balance Sheet Accounts, 7%
Financial Reports, 5%
Internal Controls, 4%

Common business partner skills

Analytics, 8%
Project Management, 7%
Customer Service, 6%
Human Resources, 5%
Performance Management, 5%
Excellent Interpersonal, 4%

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Updated January 8, 2025

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