Comptroller vs finance director

The differences between comptrollers and finance directors can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 6-8 years to become both a comptroller and a finance director. Additionally, a finance director has an average salary of $118,518, which is higher than the $81,446 average annual salary of a comptroller.

The top three skills for a comptroller include payroll taxes, external auditors and general ledger accounts. The most important skills for a finance director are CPA, financial analysis, and payroll.

Comptroller vs finance director overview

	Comptroller	Finance Director
Yearly salary	$81,446	$118,518
Hourly rate	$39.16	$56.98
Growth rate	17%	17%
Number of jobs	20,780	90,012
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 67%	Bachelor's Degree, 71%
Average age	46	46
Years of experience	8	8

Comptroller vs finance director salary

Comptrollers and finance directors have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Comptroller	Finance Director
Average salary	$81,446	$118,518
Salary range	Between $52,000 And $126,000	Between $76,000 And $183,000
Highest paying City	New York, NY	Palo Alto, CA
Highest paying state	New York	California
Best paying company	Scotiabank	Meta
Best paying industry	Hospitality	Manufacturing

Differences between comptroller and finance director education

There are a few differences between a comptroller and a finance director in terms of educational background:

	Comptroller	Finance Director
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 67%	Bachelor's Degree, 71%
Most common major	Accounting	Accounting
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	University of Pennsylvania

Comptroller vs finance director demographics

Here are the differences between comptrollers' and finance directors' demographics:

	Comptroller	Finance Director
Average age	46	46
Gender ratio	Male, 48.2% Female, 51.8%	Male, 65.1% Female, 34.9%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 7.7% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 14.8% Asian, 8.3% White, 64.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%	Black or African American, 7.6% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 14.5% Asian, 9.4% White, 64.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%
LGBT Percentage	11%	11%

Differences between comptroller and finance director duties and responsibilities

Comptroller example responsibilities.

Work with the users for the UAT test phase and lead the UAT test sessions.
Complete responsibility for high-volume billing functions and managing client trust accounts, including bank reconciliations.
Manage payroll and all taxation matters, coordinate independent audit; communicate with outside organizations and agencies.
Coordinate CPA preparation of year-end financial statement compilation and tax returns.
Design and implement appropriate reports and procedures to monitor and control execution of monthly journal entries and account reconciliations.
Assist the users with the UAT test plan.

Finance director example responsibilities.

Manage treasury functions considering the inflationary situation and changes in economic patterns to minimize any negative impact they may involve.
Improve internal controls and operating efficiency by training accountants and converting general ledger reconciliations to GAAP formats.
Prepare financial data and footnotes for independent CPA annual audit financial statements.
Develop financial models in Hyperion to aggregate sales data and allocate expenses for profitability analysis.
Complete Sarbanes-Oxley procedural requirements for entire incentive development, administration and reporting process.
Develop an electronic billing capacity and are the first Montana health care provider to bill Medicaid electronically.

Comptroller vs finance director skills

Common comptroller skills

Payroll Taxes, 11%
External Auditors, 7%
General Ledger Accounts, 6%
Reconciliations, 6%
CPA, 4%
Journal Entries, 4%

Common finance director skills

CPA, 7%
Financial Analysis, 6%
Payroll, 4%
Work Ethic, 4%
Oversight, 4%
Financial Management, 4%