How To Become A Control Accountant: What It Is and Career Path

What is a control accountant and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted expert

Stephen Moehrle Ph.D.

Suppose you're dedicated to making the most out of your company's budget, developing financial reports, and analyzing their various accounts. In that case, you may want to consider applying for the Control Accountant position.

More than just a general accountant, Control Accountants work with other teams and departments to compile, analyze, and adjust finances based on various audits, risk analysis, and strategies developed. You'll need to be detail-oriented and up to date with the latest company policies and spending guidelines.

Most companies will require an incoming Control Accountant to have five years of experience in accounting or a similar field. A bachelor's degree in accounting, business, finance, or a similar field is also commonly requested, although a master's degree is also preferred. While your base pay will depend on the industry and company, Control Accountants make, on average, about $64,000 per year.

What general advice would you give to a control accountant?

Stephen Moehrle Ph.D.

Professor and Chairman of Accounting, University of Missouri - St. Louis

It was a great time to be entering the accounting industry, before the pandemic. Our students were serving in internships in huge numbers and our graduates were enjoying 100% placement, usually with multiple offers. The entry-level professionals were entering a profession marked by emerging and evolving technologies that made even the entry-level duties especially interesting. Further, our tech-comfortable young professionals were experiencing quick advancement because of their ability to employ the new technologies.

Most of the above remains true so the only open question is job availability. It would be unrealistic to say things are great. However, it seems that job prospects for accounting majors will be better than for those of virtually every other entry-level profession during difficult times. I have been speaking with firm leaders across the spectrum of firms and most do intend to be on campus in the fall recruiting season. Of course, they have a lot of time to learn more about the economy over the next few months, but we are cautiously optimistic. Again, I am confident that whatever the state of job availability for young CPAs-to-be, prospects will be better for accounting graduates than virtually any other profession.

They will be entering the profession at a fascinating moment in time. Of course, the technological advances assure this regardless of economic conditions. However, there are business disruption-related issues that will provide rich opportunities for making a difference. For example, audit staff will be working with clients to see them through these troubling times. Lamentably, I fear that these young professionals will learn more about the going concern determination than they desire to know. Tax staff will help clients to optimally use the tax loss carrybacks and carryforwards that are arising by the day. Entry level professionals in corporate accounting will get a day-to-day front row seat in business management through crisis. While lamentable times, these are times when young professionals can make a difference that saves jobs.

ScoreControl AccountantUS Average

Salary

5.2

Avg. Salary $66,563

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

5.4

Growth rate 6%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.4

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.46%

Asian 12.11%

Black or African American 8.83%

Hispanic or Latino 11.18%

Unknown 3.97%

White 63.45%

Gender

female 50.83%

male 49.17%

Age - 43

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 43

Stress level

5.4

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.3

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

6.7

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a control accountant

Explore control accountant education requirements

Most common control accountant degrees

Bachelor's

72.8 %

Associate

13.2 %

Master's

10.5 %

Start to develop specific control accountant skills

Skills	Percentages
Reconciliations	10.99%
General Ledger Accounts	6.82%
Payroll Taxes	6.22%
Account Reconciliations	5.07%
Accruals	5.03%

Complete relevant control accountant training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New control accountants learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a control accountant based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real control accountant resumes.

Research control accountant duties and responsibilities

Prepare internal financial reports for treasury manage accounts include in external compliance reports.
Collect, analyze, interpret, and document information to support quarterly SOX reviews.
Ensure proper accounting in compliance with GAAP, regulatory reporting requirements and joint ownership contracts.
Identify variances between corporations, establish payable/receivable ledgers, and clear open variances in accordance with GAAP.

Prepare your control accountant resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your control accountant resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a control accountant resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable control accountant resume templates

Build a professional control accountant resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your control accountant resume.